Robert Altman's Popeye

[Kirkman1987]

What do people think of this movie? I'm a pretty diehard Popeye fan and I've never understood the bad reputation this film has had since release. There are some flaws but on the whole I've always thought it was a very enjoyable movie.

If I were to list the flaws, I'd say some of the musical numbers fall flat, and there should have been a bit more action/punching. The ending especially needs more oomph, and it's current status is the result of being scaled back due to budget issues.

Other than that though, the movie is excellent. The casting is perfect. the sets are beautiful. One issue is that the dialogue may just be a bit to hard to understand at times (an Altman trademark), but the lines are often very clever.

I can only think that people wanted something more in line with the cartoons and weren't familiar with Segar's Comic Strip. As an adaptation of Segar's Popeye, It's likely one of the most faithful comic adaptations ever.

 

[marksound]

I think it might have been better received if it hadn't been a musical.

 

[Forbin]

The casting WAS perfect, wasn't it. Especially Shelly Duval.
Maybe, sometimes, you just can't translate a comic to real life. It just didn't click for me, and I really couldn't express why.

 

[Kirkman1987]

I think it might have been better received if it hadn't been a musical.

This I think is true. Wasn't the musical kind of a dead genre around 1980? That said, I completely understand the intent. The Fleischer cartoons (and let's be honest, I don't think too many people have much love for the later Famous studios or.....eek....TV cartoons.) had a lot of singing in them, so it's not as though it's out of left field for the property.

 

[Guy Gardener]

I had a stray thought about how beautiful Shelly was (70s pretty isn't regular pretty.) when I was lampooning Robin about a different subject a few hours ago...

But the movie didn't capture the very centre of The Olive Oyl complex which was explained to me in a turn of the century sitcom call Off Centre where Sulu from the nu movies, back when he was a nobody, tried hitting on Shannon Elizabeth (I only just remembered now that they were in American Pie together with Eddie.) only wanted to frakk John Cho after she had tricked some other bloke much larger than than Harold to beat the little guy senseless.

The 1980 movie was about how Popeye had to learn to lke Spinach, it's a pro steroids movie for fucks sake, but a better movie (in my opinion) is about how wet Olive gets when two husky men are bashing the shit out of each other to see who gets to take her home for the night.

Don't look at me like that!

She dated Bluto, willingly. There was an attraction. He was not imaging shit, sometimes she fancied him, and other times she didn't.. That girl had it in for him.

Poor Bluto.

Such a dumb fat bastard.

 

[Christopher]

I can only think that people wanted something more in line with the cartoons and weren't familiar with Segar's Comic Strip. As an adaptation of Segar's Popeye, It's likely one of the most faithful comic adaptations ever.

That's probably part of it. It was true to the comic strip, and thus seemed unfamiliar to people who only knew the animated cartoons. (Although Robin Williams did an impressive job of subsuming his own persona beneath a pretty solid imitation of Jack Mercer's muttering, improvisational Popeye.)

And it was kind of an odd, offbeat movie. Like Popeye himself, it's somewhat freakish and off-putting, but not unloveable if you're willing to see its virtues.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

double post

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I had a stray thought about how beautiful Shelly was (70s pretty isn't regular pretty.) when I was lampooning Robin about a different subject a few hours ago...

But the movie didn't capture the very centre of The Olive Oyl complex which was explained to me in a turn of the century sitcom call Off Centre where Sulu from the nu movies, back when he was a nobody, tried hitting on Shannon Elizabeth (I only just remembered now that they were in American Pie together with Eddie.) only wanted to frakk John Cho after she had tricked some other bloke much larger than than Harold to beat the little guy senseless.

The 1980 movie was about how Popeye had to learn to lke Spinach, it's a pro steroids movie for fucks sake, but a better movie (in my opinion) is about how wet Olive gets when two husky men are bashing the shit out of each other to see who gets to take her home for the night.

Don't look at me like that!

She dated Bluto, willingly. There was an attraction. He was not imaging shit, sometimes she fancied him, and other times she didn't.. That girl had it in for him.

Poor Bluto.

Such a dumb fat bastard.

I can't believe you're not writing movie reviews somewhere.

I enjoyed the movie for the campy live action cartoon it was.

 

[Sindatur]

I never had any great love for the cartoons (Don't think I'm at all familiar with the comics), but, I recall enjoying the movie. Don't really remember it much, other than, yea, it was a cartoon come to life.

LOL Guy, summed up perfectly. Olive Oyl really was a bit of a trollop and fickle. And she really did give Bluto/Brutus the short end of the stick, she was always happy to be with him, unless Popeye was showing an interest in her, and sometimes even then, she chose Bluto

 

[marillion]

^^ Extra points for the use of "trollop."...

For me, it was the musical numbers that put me off.. I can appreciate the characterizations, sets and the "plot" for what it was.. And while I'm not big on origin stories in general, I can see how Popeye's disdain for Spinach and eventual use of, worked into the larger picture..

I'm just not a fan of musicals unless the film is an adaptation of a musical (ala West Side Story or the Producers)...

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Fun fact: The sets for this film are still there, and are a popular tourist attraction to this day.

 

[Chaos Descending]

I liked it. I don't understand the hate either.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I have always liked it. Whenever it was on tv or cable when I was growing up I watched it. I own the DVD. I like some of the songs. I think if a few where cut it would quicken the pace though. Its definitely a very slow movie.

 

[Galileo7]

I liked the film back in 1980 as a boy. Excellent casting and good sets. However, the film's story falls apart in the third act, very anticlimactic.

 

[J.T.B.]

I liked it more as an adult than I did as a kid in 1980. It seemed to go way too long between action and/or comedy, IIRC. It would inevitably be considered a kid's movie, of course. But in a way Altman did a similar thing to what he did in movies like Nashville and A Wedding, that is get inside a community or subset and explore and even celebrate its oddness. The town in the movie has a very well-realized and idiosyncratic look and feel. The casting and performances are terrific, the art direction and wardrobe very memorable.

Wasn't the musical kind of a dead genre around 1980?

Kind of, though Grease had been a big hit and so would the Blues Brothers, also in 1980. And Popeye was quite successful at the box office, too, but it didn't seem to hold much long-term appeal over the years. OTOH Disney had largely abandoned musical numbers in its films at the time, Pete's Dragon being the only exception I can think of in the '70s.

 

[Misfit Toy]

I can only think that people wanted something more in line with the cartoons and weren't familiar with Segar's Comic Strip. As an adaptation of Segar's Popeye, It's likely one of the most faithful comic adaptations ever.

That's probably part of it. It was true to the comic strip, and thus seemed unfamiliar to people who only knew the animated cartoons. (Although Robin Williams did an impressive job of subsuming his own persona beneath a pretty solid imitation of Jack Mercer's muttering, improvisational Popeye.)

And it was kind of an odd, offbeat movie. Like Popeye itself, it's somewhat freakish and off-putting, but not unloveable if you're willing to see its virtues.

I agree - I found it quite enjoyable, but I was a Segar fan too.

 

[Christopher]

^Oops, that was meant to say "Like Popeye himself." Fixed now.

 

[Redfern]

Robin Williams used to say if one ran the film backwards, it actually had a plot. I don't know if he seriously felt that negatively about the film, and if he did, whether or not his opinion has mellowed.

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Nerys Myk]

.

I'm just not a fan of musicals unless the film is an adaptation of a musical (ala West Side Story or the Producers)...

The Producers was a movie before it was a musical.

 

[Davros]

Popeye is a fun movie and an enjoyable musical. As others have pointed out it is also an example of nearly perfect casting.