Watch Xanadu For Free

Please don't spend money on this.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Xanadu should rank right at the top of the best Hollywood musicals, in the same company as the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers movies, Singing in the Rain, An American in Paris, White Christmas, Mary Poppins, Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, etc. Unfortunately, the reason it doesn't is due to one missing ingredient that glares out at the audience right in the opening credits.The opening credits blazon the names of Gene Kelly and Olivia Newton John. And then after the movie's opening scene comes on screen, the movie adds almost as an afterthought "Michael Beck".That's the central problem of Xanadu right there. When Gene Kelly is on screen, you can't take your eyes off him. When Olivia Newton John is on screen, you can't take your eyes off her. Unfortunately, Kelly is the supporting player and Newton John is the leading lady, but neither is the main star. Michael Beck is not bad. He's not good either. He's NOTHING. Kelly and Newton John are valiantly trying to push forward this train lacking an engine to pull it, two stars of first magnitude orbiting a black hole. There's a simple way to demonstrate this reality. If you've seen the movie, I'm sure there's any number of trippy scenes you could easily pull out of your memory. However, aside from that opening quiet scene of a drawing being sketched, I defy anybody to recall any scene in Xanadu which took place in that artists studio. That's because there's no Danny McGuire or Kira character to prop up the Sonny Malone character while he's working at his day job--it's up to Michael Beck alone to carry those scenes, and he's just not up to it.It undermines the romantic plot line that is so key to the climax of Xanadu. Supposedly Kira is smitten by a forbidden erotic passion for Sonny Malone. Again, I ask those who have seen the movie, is it really credible that Newton John's character would be totally immune to Gene Kelly's charms decades before (heck, was it that believable that she would have been immune to Danny McGuire in the MODERN DAY?) and totally fall for a nonentity utterly lacking in charisma like Sonny? Frankly, the Nick character in that old movie watched by Sonny and Kira at one point in Xanadu showed more charisma and stage presence in those few seconds than Michael Beck showed in the entirety of Xanadu!As heretical as it was to Hollywood's legendary ageism, I think Xanadu would have been immensely better if the movie had centered around just Gene Kelly and Olivia Newton John. As it is, Xanadu becoming a successful stage musical shows the vehicle itself was never at fault in the movie. Xanadu does have many great songs, superb choreography, and a superb tribute paid to the nostalgia of Golden Age Hollywood. So the movie is well worth watching, if for no other reason to ponder what it might have been with a REAL LEADING MAN.

The best thing by far in this movie is the music.There are some wonderful heartfelt songs that deservedly were smash hits. The locations are good and the basic idea is good. It's just that not enough effort went into the storyline, script and acting. I heard an interview with a member if the Hammerstein family once, of Sound of Music fame, and he said in the 1920s and 30s, before Rodgers and Hammerstein, there were many musicals that flopped because their producers tried to build flimsy productions around a bunch of catchy songs. He said Rodgers and Hammerstein succeeded because FIRST they thought up a plot and the musical's 'book' and THEN wrote songs that were guided by that story. So Xanadu is like those early flop musicals. It's got an idea, it's got the songs but the producers seem to think the rest will look after itself. Can't Stop The Music is similar. It has some killer songs and great singing, but it's all choreography that doesn't add up to a coherent whole. The musical 'Fame' was much more well put together, with a strong script, good acting, excellent songs, and characters you cared about. It makes Xanadu look like a pile of hollow candy.

Favorite movie quote - "Don't give me any of your "white-ass" attitude!" If you're seriously looking for the cheesiest of the cheesiest of the cheesiest in movie-musicals (circa. 1980), then just say "Xanadu, please!" Nominated for 7 Golden "Razzy" Awards in such top categories as "Worst Actress", "Worst Actor", "Worst Picture", and "Worst Musical", Xanadu so rightly won this highly-coveted prize for "Worst Director" which so deservedly went to Robert Greenwald.When it comes to all-out silliness and stupidity that seems to prevail with so many Rom-Com/Fantasy/Musicals, I honestly don't think that any others in this genre get much more empty-headed and mind-numbingly inferior than did the likes of Xanadu.Neither camp, nor cute, nor hip, nor clever, Xanadu literally scraped the absolute bottom of the barrel when it came to its terribly conceived story-line, its lousy musical numbers and its completely amateurish performances by actors who convinced me that they were total boobs acting out their parts in a second-rate, high school production.This "so-bad-it's-bad" musical extravanganza was a total embarrassment on all counts. Xanadu took the meaning of the word "sucky" to a whole new level of loathsomeness.I cannot fathom why people incessantly rave about veteran actor Gene Kelly and his role in this musical mess. Kelly was 68 years old in Xanadu and not only was he pathetic to watch during his dance numbers (just like everyone else was), but his screen-charisma, in my opinion, registered at a complete "zero".Besides that, I thought that the trite and snivelling on-screen romance that transpired between the 2 lead characters (played by Olivia Newton-John & Michael Beck) sucked to the 10th power, and beyond.I can't believe how utterly dismal Xanadu's visual effects were. With its $20 million budget I should have been wowed right out of this world with this film's dazzling production values.And, talk about a shallow plot-line - Xanadu's dumber-than-dumb story actually hinged on (get this!) having one of Zeus's daughters (Kira) sent to Earth with the all-important mission of seeing to it that Hollywood got to have its very own roller-skating, disco place. (Spare me!) Yes. I will admit that some of ELO's catchy, synth-pop tunes were toe-tapping good, but this was in no way nearly enough to save this piece of extravagant nonsense from sinking down into the muck & mire of movie-musical disaster.I would call Xanadu the Titanic of all musicals, bar none. If you're like me you'll love to hate this movie with an undying passion.

This movie was just bad. I remember watching it when I was 7 years old and going to school and bragging about seeing it. Thank God I transferred to a different school a year later. The movie is embarrassing to watch. The dances and acting are so overblown and over-the-top it makes your toes curl as you watch. The only thing I can think is Hollywood was DESPERATE for musicals to make a serious comeback into the mainstream. All the dancers just danced too hard and their smiles were too big! It was just embarrassing to watch. You could say its a great "camp movie" but that's not so either. Camp movies were never meant to be blockbusters, this was. If you want to see a good camp movie from the 80's see Earth Girls Are Easy or Trancers!