User Reviews

I remember my Dad taking me to watch this film as a Christmas treet. This film was made here in Malta and we are very proud of it, the set still stands today as a tourist attraction in Anchor bay. i remember loving this film. Robbin Williams was only known for the series of "Mork and Mindy', he still had a very long way to go but you can see that he was more than a promising star in the entertainment business. I learnt that at the time he was having serious troubles with cocaine and a cheating wife. This film was really cool and should they re-attempt it(not that Popeye is so much in vogue this days....although he should be) I can't imagine anyone but Robin Williams himself for the part.

Just for the record, I love musicals, and some of my favourite movies(West Side Story, Wizard of Oz, My Fair Lady) are musicals. Popeye I wasn't sure whether I wanted to see due to its dubious reputation, but I saw it anyway because of the cast.

I actually thought Popeye was decent. However I do think it could have been better, and while I personally don't think it is as bad as its reputation I can understand some of the criticisms made. Popeye is far from the best movie musical, I do not think it is as bad as Xanadu, Can't Stop the Music, Mame or Grease 2.

And while it is one of Altman's weakest efforts of what I've seen it is as far as disappointing movie musicals from great directors go it is not as bad as Lumet's The Wiz or Attenborough's A Chorus Line(I am in the minority who loves Huston's Annie, despite its maligning).

For my thoughts on the movie, Altman's directing is not as efficient as it was with Gosford Park, MASH, Nashville or Macabe and Mrs Miller, but while it lacks buoyancy he does do what he can and while some scenes are better directed than others, it is not as heavy handed or as lethargic as the directing jobs of The Wiz and A Chorus Line.

Popeye does have its flaws. Some of the editing is a little scrappy, not always but some scenes don't always flow from one scene to another as seamlessly as it could've done. The story benefits from a great idea once you get over the idea of Popeye hating spinach(people say that it is a contradiction to the timeless cartoons and I am sorry to say they're right), but is bogged down sometimes by some pacing that comes across as a little too manic and the fact its execution is a tad too over-simplistic.

The dialogue is often silly, some of the slapstick didn't work for me such as the destruction of Popeye's room, and I think incomprehensible too, I understand they were trying to recreate the spirit of the spirits with the mumbling but with it happening a vast majority of the times here I think they went a little overboard though I credit them for effort. There were however some lines I chuckled at such as the Baby Oyl one and was touched by.

My feelings on the songs were mixed. Some are great, I enjoyed Popeye the Sailor Man and also He Needs Me, SweetHaven and I'm Mean. Others suffer from forgettable melodies that lyrics that either don't make sense or don't have much of a structure. The incidental score however especially in the end credits is fantastic.

I was also mixed on the effects. Most of them are not too bad actually. One however looked cheap and in a very distracting sense as well, and that was the octopus puppet.

Flaws aside, the film aside from some scrappy editing looks fantastic. Sweethaven is beautifully designed here, the costumes show some effort to stick to the cartoon/comic's spirit, the camera angles are good and the atmosphere is evoked very well.

The choreography is not the most sprightly I've seen nor the most inept. In general it was decent, and fitting with the tone of the song. The characters are one-dimensional, but pretty likable.

The casting aside from how the film looks is the best asset of the movie. Robin Williams is pitch perfect as Popeye and Shelley Duvall was born for a more seductive Olive-Oyl. Paul L.Smith is great as Bluto, and Ray Walston and Paul Dooley are solid. Wesley Ivan Hurt is an adorable Swee'pea.

Overall, not bad, not good, just decent in my eyes. 6/10 Bethany Cox

POPEYE was Robin Williams' first starring role in a feature film, and he inhabits the character perfectly. This movie, more than any other that I can remember, is the best example of a live action cartoon, in the best sense of the term. Watching it was like a cartoon come to life. It was truly wonderful and extremely funny to watch characters behaving as if they were in one, from their movement to the way they spoke. And none exemplify this better than Robin Williams in the title role, who channels his unbridled comic talent into a completely dedicated performance which is equally hilarious and touching. The story is fairly simple, though. Popeye rows into the town of Sweethaven looking for his 'Pap.' While there, he (and the audience) find out about how messed up that town really is. They have an absurd amount of taxes, and everyone is kept in fear of a mysterious Commodore and Captain Bluto, who run the town. He also meets Olive Oyl, played (at times screechingly) by Shelley Duvall (who also fits her role perfectly). This film is also a musical, and there several catchy numbers which have the capacity to stick in your head if you aren't careful. If I have any complaints, it's that Shelley Duvall isn't as good a singer as she is an actress, but nothing she does really ruins the picture. The biggest flaw in the film is direction the narrative takes about two thirds of the way through. I also thought that Bluto wasn't really given his due as a character. Still, for Robin Williams fans this will be essential viewing. It's a wacky, manic experience that demands to be seen.

This project was reviled by critics and disowned by Altman and Williams. It corresponded to DuVal's breakdown, and was all but the end of the heavy drinker Nilsson's adventures in film.

But I think its great. You have to remember that it predates every comic/cartoon to film project except 'Superman,' which really was a version of the TeeVee show. And you have to appreciate that 'Popeye' the cartoon is one of the very few that featured humans and therefore was more abstract than most.

Watch it now, and see that it was well ahead of its time and now stacks up as extremely introspective: along the lines of 'Alphaville.'

It had Robin Williams and Ray Walston, both famous TeeVee aliens, or so they were known at the time. It was penned by the notoriously ironic, cartoonist Feiffer, someone who specialized in personal social angst. The songs - a major element here - were by the self-destructive genius Nilsson, and directed by Altman when he was interested in social commentary.

All, plus Duvall, were at the height of their powers. Even the quirky Van Dyke Parks appears.

What makes this project so interesting and appealing is that everyone is completely simpatico with Feiffer's Jarryesque vision, which is disconnected from reality and had no cinematic model.

How so many talents could be so adventuresome and coordinated at the same time is a real puzzle.

The bit about how 'large' Bluto is - and how Shelly mentions it - makes me smile every time I recall it. The social text is a bit heavy, but so what?

This is what made Tim Burton possible.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

I'm not sure if you ever could have made a good picture out of the Popeye cartoon or comic. The characters and general schtick of the thing work well for half an hour at most. Still, what these filmmakers gave us in the end is worse than could ever be imagined: this is a nightmarish piece of cinema, one of the worst major Hollywood productions I have ever seen.

It's almost miraculous how wrong everything went, because the casting is perfect. The sets and costumes are perfect. Such a shame the screenplay is terrible, meandering from plot point to plot point, vaguely connected and with the most ear bleeding-ly horrible "musical numbers" in between. Every piece of dialogue is mere noise, a cacophony of mumbling and screeching and pratfalls. I almost wished I were dead watching it.

How anyone could ever procure joy from this will be the eternal mystery for me. To call it unpleasant would be an understatement.

Popeye (Robin Williams) travels to Sweethaven. There he meets and falls in love with Olive Oyl (Shelley Duvall). Unfortunately she's to be married to Bluto (Paul L. Smith) who has a nasty temper. Also Popeye adopts an abandoned baby (Wesley Ivan Hunt).

How anybody thought this could work is beyond me. It was directed by Robert Altman. He was easily one of the best directors around but he made his mark in low budget adult movies like "Nashville" or "MASH". Giving him a big budget cartoon movie AND musical (yes--it's a musical too) to direct was just stupid. Altman obviously didn't know how to direct musical numbers--the staging on them seemed off. It doesn't help that the songs and lyrics themselves are unmemorable. As for the dialogue--a mess. Popeye's mumblings in the old cartoons were actually pretty funny. Here we have Altman's trademark overlapping dialogue drowning out most anything Popeye says. There are a few cute lines ("Olive Oyl? Sounds like a lubricator.") but not enough. Also Popeye HATES spinach here! Huh???? Who came up with that idea? How did he got those muscular arms to begin with? That's just stupid. This also contains some of the most painfully unfunny slapstick I've ever seen in a movie. Watch the scene where Duvall accidentally and "hilarously" destroys Popeye's room. Casting helps somewhat. Williams and Duvall and Smith look exactly like their cartoon characters and their acting isn't bad. Also Hurt (Altman's real life grandson) is just adorable. But bad songs, incomprehensible dialogue, a stupid plot and lousy comedy sink this one. Supposedly it DID make a tiny profit but Altman later said this almost ended his career. It was two solid years before he did another theatrical film. Boring, stupid and a real mess. A 1.

It sucked! Right? Seriously, this is a nightmare of a picture. You have the horrible dubbed in voices that make Robin Williams' Popeye character sound like he was reading his lines over the phone. You have the endless musical numbers that lack anything remotely close to something you could tap your foot to. You have Shelly Duval repeating the same irritating lines, over and over and over and over. Part of me wanted to like this film as I am a huge fan of the cartoon and character. However, this film is just so boring and so tiring. I often wondered if it was the longest movie ever filmed, it seemed like it.

I didn't see Popeye the movie for the first time until it came out on video. But I remember how my dad told me he saw it in the movie theater. He told me afterwards "Popeye hads its moments, sos I, halfway throughs the movie, I wents out to me car to gets me cigarettes, hads me a puffs or two, then wents back inside to wartch the rest of me movie, geh geh geh geh geh." A couple of years later, we rented Popeye on video and I saw it, and I'd seen it several times since. Its not too bad. Robin Williams is fairly convincing as Pop-eye. Paul Smith as Bluto, looking large and menacing like his cartoon version. Paul Dooley isn't too bad as Wimpy. And Ray Waltson as Poopdeck pappy. And Shelly Devaul as Olive fits her role pretty good. She does sort of seem like Olive Ole come to life, with the looks and mannerisms. However, the late Zasu Pitts who starred in several different 1930s films such as "Meet the baron" and "Dames" would've been an even better Olive with her looks and the very Olive Ole like way she went "oh my" in her films. I read somewhere that they took some of Zasu's mannerisms and appearance when creating Olive's character when the Popeye cartoon was first made. I always watched Popeye as a kid growing up even before seeing this movie. I liked the neat special effects, too such as steam really coming from Bluto's ears when he got mad, just like the cartoon. They also had Popeye's (Robin's) forearms really bulging out and him doing the squint with his eye just the right way, and his pipe. They made the seaport town Sweethaven look quite convincing. It always had an English seaside town feel. Anyways, this movie overall had some good, funny, and interesting moments. A few other moments were a little less below par. And I personally don't think the songs in the film were that good, or necessary. Popeye the cartoon was not a musical. Overall though, this is always a pretty good film for a mom or dad to watch with their kids.

Note; I wrote this review about a year and a half ago, and no one has clicked on either 'useful' or 'not useful' yet. Can someone reading this please click on one? I won't be offended either way on which you click on, I'm just curious on what others may think of this review. Thanks

Working my way through Robert Altman's back catalogue, I decided to risk another look at his chaotic and largely unintelligible Popeye, which I'd not seen for many years, though I'd once somehow ended up owning the soundtrack album (exclusively for Van Dyke Parks' contributions).

I keep on hearing it's worth a reappraisal, and in some ways it is, since it's such an oddity, and so well made in a number of secondary areas: the photography and sets are amazing, successfully bringing to life the fantasy seaside town of Millhaven. The fight scenes are also great fun, recreating the kind of far-fetched, physically impossible comedy violence of the cartoons well. Every corner you peek at is filled with loving detail.

What goes wrong, really, is the story, the songs, and most of all the dialogue. Robin Williams looks the part, but his entire role is incomprehensible and overdubbed so close to the microphone he sounds in every scene as though his drunken, muttering head is resting upon your shoulder. Since none of the other characters sound this way (or at least not this bad), it creates an uncomfortable, frustrating and disorientating atmosphere that continually breaks the spell throughout.

The rest of the cast look fine, too, especially Shelley Duvall, who physically was born to play Olive Oyl, but that's about as far as it goes. If there IS some good dialogue, it's lost through the rambling delivery and haphazard structure. And practically none of it is funny. It strikes me it would actually have been much better as a silent film.

The sloppiness of Altman's style, with everyone talking over each other, and the camera lurching around, turns out to be an absolute catastrophe when it comes to the tight precision and coordination necessary to carry off a Hollywood musical, and Popeye is a musical filled with songs it's impossible to sing along with. The first Robin Williams tune, "Blow Me Down" is so mumbled and meandering that it's impossible to even follow, let alone hum. The only one which really works and remains memorable is Olive Oyl singing "He Needs Me", since it has a shape and a simplicity and a repeated melody that enables it to stick in the mind. The rest of them, like the rest of the film, need subtitles just to be able to grasp most of what is being said at all, even though there's nothing all that much *wrong* with the songs themselves, just the delivery.

One gets the feeling that, with such an amazing setting, cast and detailed craftsmanship, all this film needed was a tighter, more professional and less self-indulgent direction to pull off something as loveable and entertaining as, say, the first Pirates of The Caribbean.

And so the responsibility has to lie squarely on Altman's shoulders that it was the enormous failure it turned out to be, and it now seems entirely understandable why the studios didn't want to throw money at him anymore for awhile.

Wow, again "the worst movie ever made". At least when you go by those self proclaimed internet-movie-critics on IMDb who never bother to bestow upon the heavily bored public their highly imaginative musings like "Two hours of my life I will never get back", without even having one (a life that is) in the first place. Fact is: Every movie in this database is "the worst ever made" ... for someone ... then scroll up or down a bit and suddenly the same movie will become a "never fully appreciated masterpiece". What does this teach us? The truth, like always, lies somewhere in between and is highly subjective. Go and see it for yourself. Don't be interested in what I have to say. Well, if you still are: I quite liked it.

I see that lots of people hate this movie. I guess I can see why. It's so idiosyncratic, so loose, so out there, so...Altman. But this is truly one of the sweetest, gentlest, and most tender movies I have ever seen. This movie can be enjoyed if for no other reason than for its total lack of irony. Like Popeye, it is what it is. And I believe it to be a masterpiece.

This was Robin Williams first serious movie role (2 full years before Garp) and he is a brilliant Popeye. He brings so much humanity and pathos to this character that it is easy to see the great movies in his future. Shelly Duval was born to play Olive Oyl and she does not squander the role of a lifetime. And in a smaller role, a standout performance is turned in Bill Irwin as Ham, Olive's bumbling, stumbling, clown of an ex-boyfriend.

The real star of the show, however, is the atmosphere that Altman conjures up, bringing the 2d comic strip vividly to life and setting you down in this magical little island town of Sweet Haven. Harry Nilssons score is pitch perfect and his songs help to sketch out the characters motives and emotions ("He Needs Me", sung by Duvall, is currently being revived thanks to it's being prominently featured in PT Anderson's "Punch Drunk Love").

One more thing about this movie- I can watch it with my three year old son and we sing the songs and both enjoy it immensely. There are so few movies that can do that. Like I said, a masterpiece!

I am not ashamed to admit it but I love Popeye, the cartoon and the movie starring the amazing Robin Williams as Popeye. He is almost unrecognizable in the role but completely believable. I love Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl because she really does a superb job living up to and beyond my expectations as the ultra-skinny love interest to muscular Popeye. It's like watching old friends. "I'll pay Tuesday for a Hamburger today" was a common statement. Of course, Popeye and Olive Oyl have Brutus as an obstacle to their happiness and almost the loss of Sweet Pea. It's a kind a family film too. It has music and dancing. Okay, it's not the greatest musical film ever made but it's always worth watching again. It reminds me of being 7 years old and seeing this film at the movie theater.

This 1980, live-action, feature film called "Popeye" is absolute T-R-A-S-H! Absolutely!! Absolutely!! ABSOLUTELY!!!

I guarantee you that there's not a single, solitary funny, or even slightly amusing, moment in this movie's entirety. There isn't. Popeye has got to be one of the ultimate fiasco movies of all time. It wouldn't (and it couldn't) even amuse a 5-year-old child.

For all the extensive time, effort, and cost that was obviously put into the design and building of the elaborate and goofy "Looney-Tune" sets for Popeye, and, not to mention, Robin Williams' special Popeye make-up effects, I'd have thought there'd be, at least, some worthwhile and humorous entertainment value to this flick. But, nope, there wasn't. Popeye was pure G-A-R-B-A-G-E!!.... There's no if's....and's...or, but's, about it.

The Popeye cartoon character is, without a doubt, one of my all-time favourite, animated heroes. He's such a dynamic and complex sailor-dude. Popeye ranks right up there with Superman in my books.

And, yet, in this flick Robin Williams almost single-handedly succeeded in destroying Popeye's wonderful charm and winning character with his cringe-worthy portrayal. Williams was absolutely pathetic as Popeye. He, literally, rendered Popeye contemptible. I loathed the way he tried to emulate Popeye's gestures and imitate Popeye's unique speech pattern and distinctive chuckle.....Blah!

All anybody, in their right mind, has to do is simply watch any one of Popeye's amazing animated shorts from the 1930's or 40's.

It doesn't take a genius to immediately realize that there's no comparison here between one of these classic cartoon episodes and this crummy, little excuse of a movie. A simple, short, 7-minute Popeye cartoon from 1938 surpasses this inferior flick by literal miles when it comes to likable characters, genuine humour, and real, honest-to-goodness imagination.

It is very nice to see a revival of interest in this quirky little film. The art direction of this film is simply amazing, and deserved to win an Oscar for being able to completely capture the homely innocence of the story's setting, in rich detail.

Many have derided the story as unfocused, but there is an epic sweep to the storyline, which requires an episodic approach. This film requires paying attention on multiple levels, and rewards viewers who do so, as few other epic films have.

There are some detractors who can't handle the fact that the film is part Musical, but this is definitely in keeping with original cartoons, which frequently featured music in their storylines. In any event, the half-dozen or so songs come at appropriate intervals, and in some cases are Broadway quality set-piece showstoppers, like the scene in the Rough House Diner, and Pappy's diskgruntlement about Kids!

I will leave it to others to comment on the all-round fine ensemble acting, but I would like to finish by saying, that this is truly a film where the whole is greater than its parts. From the rich tapestry of Elzie Segar's original imaginings, to the lush production values brought to this vision by Robert Altman and company, this is a film that fails on some levels but succeeds on many more.

Rarely does one have the chance to see so much talent and effort being thrown away on such a lost cause....You would think that a movie with such a strong cast and such a renowned director would be at least watchable, but Altman's _Popeye_ is based on such an AWFUL concept that it probably never had a chance. The mumbling cartoon sailor (with a taste for spinich) of the 40's and 50's SINGING in a MUSICAL must rival the storied "Springtime for Hitler" in all time bad concepts. Robin Williams is so constrained by his terrible role that even he isn't entertaining, which is a shame considering his comedic skills. This is a horrible, horrible movie.

E.C. Segar's comic strip characters Popeye the Sailor Man, his sweetheart Olive Oyl, her dejected fiancé Bluto, the hamburger-eating Wimpy, and the townspeople of Sweethaven fail to emerge in this muddled live-action adaptation, directed by Robert Altman as if he were still doing "McCabe and Mrs. Miller". Altman, who doesn't appear to have seen any of the wildly popular Fleischer Studios cartoons which extended the comic strip, doesn't have the buoyancy for a musical-comedy, and the songs by Harry Nilsson are a leaden lot. As Popeye, Robin Williams squints and mutters disgustedly to himself, but he simply doesn't have the material to kick this thing into high gear; Shelley Duvall fares a bit better, yet both performances are ruined by the gloppy cinematography and the scrappy editing. Simply dreadful. NO STARS from ****

Kids hate it. Adults don't understand it. Comic book and cartoon fans are confused by it. Robin Williams mostly inaudible mumblings don't help but it's not his incomprehensible utterances that kill this film, it's the complete lack of any structure that would tie anything together. It's hard to believe that Robert Altman could have overseen this mess. A terrible film.

I saw this movie as a kid and I loved it, I saw it again just the other day and I loved it even more. I try my best to watch older movies and view them as if I was still in that era. Robin Williams does a phenomenal job as Popeye as does Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl. Everyone was so animated and comical that you couldn't help but laugh, if not chuckle. There aren't many feuds better than that between Popeye and Bluto. It was great the way they went at it. I liked the acrobatic stunts, the vibrancy of the characters, and the wholesomeness of the movie. It is a movie the entire family can enjoy. I would give it a better score except the singing was so awful. I give it a 7/10.

this movie is like a car wreck: so bad, you can't watch it, but so fascinating you can't make yourself turn away. shelley duvall was born to play olive oyl and robin williams, as always, adds his own special touches to the title role. however, even the two of them can't overcome a weak script, and probably the most dreadful score ever to appear on the screen. and yet, i have seen this movie about 20 times. why? i can't quite explain it, but there's something that implores me to watch it again and again (something subliminal, perhaps?)

Simply put, the worst movie ever made. It also has the "honor" of being the only movie I've ever fallen asleep in. Not that it didn't try: The sets are great, Robin Williams does an admirable job, even if you can't understand a thing he says. One wonders if this were part of his performance, or if they simply forgot to write the script.

What's with all the bashing? I never get tired of watching this warm, visceral musical that pulls me in with its myriad textures, striking colors, and unpredictable pacing and dialogue which never seems contrived or scripted (and of course was often expertly improvised). It is the unfettered antithesis to all the shiny, over-produced media of our age. No pretty faces. No product placements. No feel of a commercialized film crafted to be anything other than a comedy musical adaptation of one of my favorite comic strips. It adapts the world of E.C. Daily's style, before King Features "cleaned it up" for animation. Disjointed, rambling...borderline insane, just like the comic! And the music is bonus all the way through. Quirky, playful, simple numbers that perfectly reflect the feel of the old comic. But then again, I liked Hudson Hawk and the Forbidden Zone, so you probably don't want to listen to me. I'm not holding my breath for a commentary-loaded SE DVD.

This movie marked the debut of Williams, in a role suited to his skills at the time as an actor. He looks the part and has fun with the silliness, making the title character likable. Shelley Duvall matches his ability to make her role as Olive Oil likable and she gets some well-deserved laughs in some scenes. It's just good, clean fun.

Superb example of taking a cartoon character and doing absolutely nothing with it....absolutely no story , unsustainable noise that the producers try to pass off as music. "he needs me he needs me he needs me" ---What? You can't write another line of verse and find a word that rhymes with "me"? And, I didn't realize for the first few unending minutes that Poopdeck Pappy was supposed to be "singing" during the long, boring boat chase. Annoying background noise with him complaining about children or some such meaningless banter. The original Popeye The Sailorman song, performed at the end of this horrific mess, was the only thing even remotely true to the cartoon. Williams mumbles throughout the film and Duvall is just plain annoying. She's almost as annoying as in The Shining. This attempt at movie-making was written as they went along. terrible. I can only hope that the special town set they built for this tragedy went to the homeless locals in (Malta, was it?). Someone should benefit from the building of this fictitious town. Certainly moviegoers did not benefit. I was 27 in 1980. I remember walking out of the theater and thinking " what the heck!!!" It's on a movie channel right now and I am laughing very hard, both because of some of the reviews I've just read and am torturing myself (AGAIN)while watching a movie that is so ridiculously bad. Robin Williams...please donate your fee you got for this mess to some worthy charity, Maltan refugees.