Bad Objects is a series chronicling films with cursed productions, controversial content, disastrous releases, polarizing legacies, and sometimes all of the above.
Beginning with Iron Man in 2008 Marvel has held an iron grip on movie theaters for the past 16 years. Across 34 filmsthey’ve made over 30 billion dollars and for better or worse been the center of the cultural conversation regarding film. While Iron Man may mark the start of the MCU Marvel comics characters had been finding success in cinemas for a fulldecade before Iron Man was released.
In 1998 New Line released Blade in which they adapted a lesser-known, adult-oriented, non-superhero character to hugesuccess. After the success of Blade, the floodgates opened with characters like the X-Men, Spider-Man, and the Fantastic Four all receiving adaptations within a few years of Blade.
While Blade was the film that began the boom of Marvel comics adaptations it was not the first, it also was not the first to be an adaptation of a lesser-known, adult-oriented, non-superhero character, that film is of course, Howard the Duck. While it is somewhat strange that a Blade movie came out before an adaptation of the X-Men or Spider-Man, it is not totally inexplicable. Blade is a katana-wielding, vampire hunting, badass. Whether or not he was a well-known character at the time he was still a character that would play well on screen.
Howard the Duck on the other hand is an irritable, cigar-chomping, anthropomorphic duck. So while it’s not shocking that Howard the Duck became a bit of a cult phenomenon, or even that someone would want to adapt him for the big screen, it’s very strange that he made it there before any other Marvel character. Part of the reason he made it to the big screen so early is because the person who wanted Howard the Duck in multiplexes across the country was George Lucas.
By 1984 Lucas was a hard man for a study to say “no” to, he had already helmed the Star Wars original trilogy, he had helped bring Indiana Jones into existence, and he had four Oscar Nominations (two for American Graffiti, two for Star Wars). So when Lucas wanted to make a Howard the Duck movie Universal jumped at the chance. Lucas would bring on USC classmates Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz to write and direct the film. Huyck and Katz had collaborated with Lucas before writing both American Graffiti and Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom, they had also written and directed the cult classic horror film Messiah of Evil.
Huyck and Katz are not filmmakers lacking in talent, they certainly had the ability to turn Howard the Duck into a good film. While they could make a good film out of Howard the Duck they were never going to be able to make a commercial one. Unfortunately, the studio disagreed, pushing the film to be released in their 1986 summer window as something of a tentpole, this release date also meant the film would have to be done in live-action as animation (which is what Huyck and Katz wanted) would take too much time.
Since the film could not be animated Lucas would turn to his legendary special effects company Industrial Lights and Magic to bring Howard the Duck to life. Industrial Light and Magic has won 16 Academy Awards across their storied history, they’ve also won a Razzie and it was for Howard the Duck.
Universal’s effort to make Howard the Duck a big summer blockbuster backfired in more ways than just the visual effects. On a budget of $38 million, the film grossed $37 million, it received near universal disdain from critics and audiences, and it was nominated for seven Razzie’s winning four including Worst Picture.
Having seen the film I cannot say that I am surprised audiences rejected it so violently. Howard's design is somewhat unsettling at first, and certainly takes a while to get used to. The first half of the film is pure 80s sleaze, set mostly at night,on the rain-soaked, neon-drenched streets of Cleveland. The first half of the film is also appallingly horny, from humanoid duck breasts crafted by the fine artists at ILM, to a prolonged sequence where Howard is working at a hot tub sex palace, to Howard's sexual relationship with the human Beverly (Lea Thompson).
In the second half which focuses on Howard and the goofy but well-meaning scientist Phil Blumburtt (Tim Robbins) attempting to stop the demon-possessed Dr. Jennings (Jeffrey Jones), the film approaches a tone more fitting of an 80s blockbuster. But just because the film becomes less depraved and niche as it goes does not mean it ever stops being depraved and niche. The film may have a more traditional structure in the second half but it is still about a duck battling a Lovecraftian demon.
It should be obvious at this point that Howard the Duck was a profound misstep on Universal’s the idea that this would ever be a mainstream success is preposterous. With that being said, I actually quite like Howard the Duck. While I cannot deny the film's flaws, and what one may find unappealing with the film, I think it has quite a bit of charm. A film like this could never be made in today’s landscape, especially in regard to comic book adaptations. Howard the Duck is constantly taking risks and has a deeply weird creative direction, and while it may not work for everyone it works for me.
The Razzie nomination that Howard the Duck received that I struggle the most with is Tim Robbins in Worst Supporting Actor. I find Tim Robbins’ performance in the film quite funny, it’s obviously over the top and has a certain camp quality to it, but it’s very clearly deliberate and he’s very clearly succeeding in what he’s endeavoring to do. That goofy, campy quality extends beyond just Robbins to the film as a whole, and while most audiences rejected it, I find it largely successful.
I do not entirely know why Huyck and Katz tried to make the film they did, but they certainly succeeded in bringing their vision to life. Howard the Duck is distasteful and depraved, but it is also funny and wholly unique. There is nothing like Howard the Duck, and there likely will never be anything like it again. Maybe that’s for the best, but even if it is, I’m glad there was one brief moment where a movie like Howard the Duck could be Universal's big summer release.
Rating: 6/10