Popeye (1980)

An underrated film

Yes. Robert Altman never got to make the big ending that he wanted. But this film still has a sweetness and charm that stays with you. It also does an amazing job of emulating the early Fleischer Brothers Cartoons of the 1930's and translating them into live action. I will always wonder "what might have been" had the studio not pulled the plug on this film (shame on them). But I still really like this movie. June 30, 2008

Love It or Hate It...Who Cares?

Sure, POPEYE doesn't fulfill conventional expectations, but Altman chose (perhaps as a snarky contrarian to Disney and Paramount, his financiers) to deliberately produce a film that retained the context of the original Segar cartoons and the Dada antics of the Fleischer cartoons at the expense of making a fun, forgetful, and irrelevant cookie-cutter film for the whole family.

Jules Feiffer, the film's screenwriter and one of the great keepers of the Segar/Popeye flame (and someone who understands the iconic value of Popeye better than anyone I can think of), thought Altman restored the spirit of Segar's original strips, saving it, effectively, from the decades of mainstream mediocrity that Popeye suffered from, largely as a result of the patriotic exploitation of the character in the wake of World War II.

I watch and greatly appreciate this film for what Altman is doing with the Popeye "legend,'" and not for its (lack of) entertainment value (which, ipso facto, makes me an "Altman apologist." Yeah, right. Whatever).

Let's put one ignorant myth to rest, shall we? POPEYE was not a bomb. This tall tale was promulgated by a few egomaniacs in the industry who wanted to bury both the film and Altman's career. It did have a problematic production history, as did dozens of films from this era, a time when the studios were going through a major upheaval and wound up playing it extremely safe in the 1980s. Altman (along with nearly all of the great or at least interesting auteurs of the 1970s) became persona non grata practically overnight.

But let's not let history get in the way of opinion... June 14, 2008

Cinematic Spinach

The late Robert Altman was a cinematic auteur, portraying ordinary people's ordinary lives, be it during the Korean War ("MASH") or at a country music fest ("Nashville"),or even at a British country estate ("Gosford Park"). In "Popeye", Altman attempted to bring the beloved comic books to life. It was a change of pace for him. He was going from arty indie movies to a mainstream one.

"Popeye" was an offscreen disaster. There were problems during production in Malta, and it shows. Onscreen, "Popeye" doesn't work either. Robin Williams is obnoxious as the spinach-scarfing sailor. Shelley Duvall is annoying as Olive Oyl. The plot is oddly timely- the people are suffering from burdensome taxes thanks to the unseen Commodore and his enforcer, Bluto. Instead of voting Reagan into office, they have Popeye come to the rescue. There's a plot that makes sense to the kids! In the meantime, Olive has a psychic infant in tow who may or may not be Popeye's progeny (Popeye procreating-ugh) The movie ends with fisticuffs between Popeye and Bluto.

"Popeye" was a cinematic disaster. Altman realized he had a tin ear with children's movies, and resumed making serious dramas for the grown-ups. Malta forgave and forget. Luckily, Malta is now remembered for the Ggantija Temples (the most ancient free-standing structures in the world,monolithic temples dating back to the Neolithic era), "Final Justice"-a MST3K classic starring Joe Don Baker, and Jason Bateman. June 12, 2008

Quick and easy

I wanted a movie that I have had trouble finding in stores. I bought it. I got it in about a week. I'm very satisfied. April 16, 2008

Still a Fun Movie After All These Years

I loved this movie from Day 1 and had made a poor VHS copy from HBO back when they ran it. I was delighted to see that Amazon carried the DVD. It arrived the other day, and I watched it last night. I've never been able to understand the critics' total panning of this film or Robin Williams' apparent shame over his performance. I think the film is fun and Robin's performance very good, along with that of the other members of the cast. Some accolades must go to the set designers,costume designers and, of course, Malta for beautiful scenery. The setting, costumes and characters are surreal, as they perhaps should be when translated from a cartoon. The songs are catchy and humorous, as when Olive sings about Bluto and can say in his favor only that he's large. The satirical "Sweet Sweethaven" is humorous as well. I'm just glad that I checked Amazon to learn that a DVD of "Popeye" was available and that I bought it! February 24, 2008

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