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IMDb > Xanadu (1980)
Xanadu
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Photos (see all 17 | slideshow) Videos (see all 5)
Xanadu (1980) -- The story of a girl who makes dreams come true.
Xanadu (1980) -- Xanadu's grand opening is a roller-skating, disco dancing fantasy land.
Xanadu (1980) -- Open-ended Trailer from Universal Studios
Xanadu (1980) -- Sonny chases after the elusive roller-skating beauty who gave him a kiss.
Xanadu (1980) -- Sonny tries to track down the mysterious girl on the album cover he's painting.

Overview

User Rating:
4.4/10   4,775 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 24% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Robert Greenwald
Writers:
Richard Christian Danus (writer)
Marc Reid Rubel (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Xanadu on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
8 August 1980 (USA) more
Tagline:
The Music, The Film, A Place Where Dreams Come True. [UK] more
Plot:
The story of a girl who makes dreams come true. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
1 win & 7 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(3 articles)
Scenes We Love: Xanadu
 (From Cinematical. 8 April 2009, 6:45 PM, PDT)

Elizabeth Stanley Lifts ‘Xanadu’ to Place Where Nobody Dared to Go
 (From HollywoodChicago.com. 31 January 2009, 4:34 PM, PST)

User Comments:
Give XANADU a Chance! more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Olivia Newton-John ... Kira

Gene Kelly ... Danny McGuire
Michael Beck ... Sonny Malone
James Sloyan ... Simpson
Dimitra Arliss ... Helen
Katie Hanley ... Sandra
Fred McCarren ... Richie

Ren Woods ... Jo
Sandahl Bergman ... Muse 1
Lynn Latham ... Muse 2
Melinda Phelps ... Muse 3
Cherise Bates ... Muse 4
Juliette Marshall ... Muse 5
Marilyn Tokuda ... Muse 6
Yvette Van Voorhees ... Muse 7
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Additional Details

Runtime:
93 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
4-Track Stereo (London premiere Print) | Dolby

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
"Don't Walk Away", an animated sequence in the film, features scenes nearly identical to portions of Thumbelina (1994), namely a shot of a small girl walking behind a leaf. Both were directed by Don Bluth. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Sonny first sees the auditorium that eventually becomes Xanadu, the letters on the roof of the building that spell out auditorium are missing the A and R. Later when Kira takes him to the auditorium, the T is now missing. The following scene when Sonny and Danny arrive at the auditorium, the T is back. Finally, when Sonny and Kira are slow dancing in front of the auditorium before it magically transforms into the finished Xanadu exterior, the T is missing again. more
Quotes:
Sonny: Hey wait a minute... I don't even know your name...
Kira: [Echoing] Kira...
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003) more
Soundtrack:
Suspended in Time more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
66 out of 75 people found the following comment useful:-
Give XANADU a Chance!, 13 September 2003
Author: Ben Burgraff (cariart) from Las Vegas, Nevada

XANADU is one of the most critically and commercially panned films in Hollywood history, a 'Nouveau Art' musical with Art Deco themes, a weirdly conceived animated interlude, and performances of such widely varying caliber that a viewer might wonder if the actors were all reading from the same script! But all that being said, I would like to offer a minority opinion, and say that I didn't find the film THAT terrible, and there are some aspects of it I actually enjoyed...

First and foremost, it offers the legendary Gene Kelly, in his last musical, as charming and wonderful as ever. As retired musician/businessman Danny McGuire, Kelly has the film's best moments, including a 'classic' song-and-dance scene with Olivia Newton-John and some silly but endearing 'post-disco' routines with the talented young dancers of the cast (including future CONAN star Sandahl Bergman). Seeing him on roller-skates again, leading everyone around the club he builds, to the music of the Electric Light Orchestra, makes one realize just how irreplaceable he is. Kelly could do it all, and with style!

The premise of the film, of a Muse coming from Olympus to inspire an artist, is far-fetched, but had been done on film several times in the past (ONE TOUCH OF VENUS, with Ava Gardner and Robert Walker, and DOWN TO EARTH, with Rita Hayworth, are the examples most often cited), and while Olivia Newton-John is oddly cast in the role, she tackles it gamely, with a smile and a wink, and isn't THAT bad. On the other hand, Michael Beck, best-known as the gang leader in cliched but powerful THE WARRIORS, is totally miscast as the artist she falls in love with. An actor with limited range and no singing or dancing talent, Beck lacks the charisma to pull off the role (one wonders why British pop star Cliff Richard, who voices Beck's animated duet with Newton-John, 'Suddenly', wasn't utilized to play the part).

While the film often veers off in bizarre directions, the 'Battle of the Bands' scene between popular 80s rockers, the Tubes, and a 'Tommy Dorsey/WWII'-style orchestra (as Beck and Kelly envision what the 'look' and 'sound' of their club, XANADU, should be), actually works, and is fun to watch. The entire score, by Barry De Vorzon and John Farrar, and Jeff Lynne (with ELO) is terrific (and made the soundtrack album a hit).

Sure, the ending is hokey, but it was also the same ending of ONE TOUCH OF VENUS and DOWN TO EARTH, so XANADU can't be totally faulted!

All in all, XANADU isn't the WORST film ever made, and if you give it a chance, you might find it a guilty pleasure!

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