Popeye Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
Haves a happy holiday wit me an' Olive!
The sailor man with the spinach can!
Blow me down! It's comink for Chrustmas!
The comic strip and animated sailor hero comes to life in this meticulous live action production that looks at the origins of Popeye and his battle against arch-rival Bluto. Nearly all the characters from the strip are reproduced here.
| Robin Williams | Popeye |
| Shelley Duvall | Olive Oyl |
| Ray Walston | Poopdeck Pappy |
| Paul Dooley | Wimpy |
| Paul L. Smith | Bluto |
| Richard Libertini | Geezil |
| Donald Moffat | The Taxman |
| MacIntyre Dixon | Cole Oyl |
| Roberta Maxwell | Nana Oyl |
| Donovan Scott | Castor Oyl |
| Allan F. Nicholls | Rough House |
| Wesley Ivan Hurt | Swee'pea |
| Bill Irwin | Ham Gravy, the Old Boyfriend |
| Robert Fortier | Bill Barnacle, the Town Drunk |
| David McCharen | Harry Hotcash, the Gambler |
| Robert Altman |
4.80 out of 10 (9328 votes)
Visitor Reviews
It is what it is...
posted on 09 Aug 2009Not a total disaster, but it's still perplexing as to why POPEYE doesn't work. Seldom has so much talent come together with such mediocre results. In roles they appear to have been born to play, Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall are terrific as Popey and Olive Oyl. In fact, Duvall is excellent, mixing Olive's gawkiness and gracefulness with ease. Director Robert Altman, shooting in Malta, creates an artificial world for these characters and unfortunately that works against the film. Instead of exploiting Malta for its natural beauty, the film has a decidedly studio-bound feel and instead of making it more stylish, just makes the whole enterprise drab. And that despite the use of legendary cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno. Paul Smith is ideal as Bluto as is Altman stalwart Paul Dooley as Wimpy, however the casting of Ray Walston as Popeye's father is a major deficit. He's completely out of sync with the other actors and is far too hammy. Harry Nilsson's pop tunes are largely forgettable save for "He Needs Me," a touching song performed by Duvall.
I Yam What I Yam, just don' ask me to do any singink, ugugugugug!
posted on 04 Jul 2009One thing right off the bat: This has the worst songs of *any* movie musical, period. Harry Nilsson, shame. On the other hand, what casting! Shelley Duvall is an inspiration, and provides the ultimate in definitive interpretations as Olive Oyl. But Robert Altman ("M*A*S*H", "Nashville") as director? More, Jules Feiffer ("Carnal Knowledge") as screenwriter? Aren't these guys known for their cynical, alienated take on humanity? Still and all, this is a sweet-natured adaptation with Altman's characteristic "let the lunatics run the asylum" directing style allowing top drawer character actors to run rampant over otherwise drab sets. The movie yam what it yam. It yam fun.
Popeye is the guy
posted on 25 Jun 2009I 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 an excellent job as Popeye as does Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl. Every one was so animated and comical that you couldn't help but laugh, if not chuckle. There's not 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
Loved it
posted on 02 May 2009Live action movie version of Popeye. DVD review.Popeye (Williams) battles Bluto for Olive (Duvall).One of those movies you'll either love or hate. Altman picture with lots of wide shots and strange cutting to long angles. The kind of movie you can watch again because there's so much going on. The story is routine but it's so good natured and fun that you'll wear a smile all the way through. There's lots of background action with many characters and lots of split-second visual gags. Whether it's the baby, Popeye's dad, the octopus, or the boxing match this movie is so strange that it has to be recommended.Popeye is well worth a look.
A Cinematic Can of Sweet Spinach
posted on 29 Apr 2009Popeye - this infamous live action adaptation was something I had never glimpsed- I had read the Mad parody as a child-but I was curious.So when I saw it in the 5 dollar bin @ Wal*Mart I snagged the DVD.First off- it started in the kind of Shanty Town set I was used to from Altman(the set felt like McCabe &M*A*S*H to me).The songs were fun- Shelly Duvall was perfect for Olive Oyl- but the real revelation was Robin Williams as the imperfect hero-the mumbling outsider with the huge forearms and a big heart.Williams is sympathetic and charming as the title character.This is a fun movie that manages to convey the atmosphere of the classic cartoons ,yet feel real enough to make me suspend disbelief.The DVD was bereft of any extras- not even a trailer. B-
This Film Needs Repeated Viewings
posted on 08 Apr 2009It takes a while, but this film does grow on you. It has a very unpromising beginning, just a storm at sea and a rowboat coming in to shore, but hang in there with it. Good movies require patience and, in this case, it will be rewarded. No, it won't be rewarded with something along the lines of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, but it will be rewarded nevertheless. If you like zany, madcap fun, then this movie is for you. The thing I like about it is, as many times as I've seen this movie over the years (and that probably numbers over twenty), I always pick up on something I miss before every time I see it. Robin Williams obviously had fun doing this movie. You can tell, he just seems to be enjoying himself. But you have to really pay attention, listen to some of his mumblings. They are quite hilarious if you can catch them. ("Let me help you with the door maybe it needs a little more oil.") Favorite character? Poopdeck Pappy. He hit the nail right on the head where kids were concerned.This is the first movie I saw where they turned a cartoon into a live action movie. It does look a little weird, the zany characters and those gawky shoes they wore. And Shelly Duvall even looks like Olive Oyl in just about every movie I've seen her in. These actors did a great job of portraying the characters, and kudos should go to the costume designers and makeup artists as well. This was very well done. And the story wasn't too bad, either. It was a little slow at times, but that's forgivable. All in all, not a bad effort. Better than expected. 7 out of 10.
Best Horror/Surrealist Movie I've Ever Seen
posted on 30 Mar 2009I've seen a lot of scary movies, from slashers to thrillers to surrealist nightmares. Dream sequences and images that not only boggle the mind, but turn it inside-out, up-side down, twist and morph and stretch and squeeze it until you're left with little but a vague recollection of what sanity and reality used to feel like. I've seen images that burn themselves into the psyche, haunting the mind and driving mad the most stable and well-grounded person you could think of. I've spent my waking life seeking out the most explicit, graphic, disturbing, demented, nausea-inducing combinations of sight and sound that the deranged depths of the horror cinema world, mainstream and underground, have to offer.And nothing*.NOTHING*.Compares to the mix of emotions brought about by Popeye. Robert Altman is truly an artistic genius, bringing to life a nightmarish world filled with incomprehensibility and pain. Like being a lost in the woods at night, the film evokes a childlike fear and desperation. Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall make an amazing performance as Popeye and Olive, each of them bringing the two-dimensional characters, with all their mannerisms and quirks, to life. The special effects team takes the exaggerations and the subtle fantasy of a comic-turned-cartoon, and apply them to reality as though they were applying paint to a wall. The writers appeared to have taken inspiration, and possibly dialogue, directly from my most wild and nonsensical dreams. The end result is a movie that is, to put it simply, freaky as all hell.Burton, move over. Tarantino, get lost. King, take a hike. Never before has a big budget been devoted to making such a bizarre and erratic film so painstakingly. Never before has so much care and effort been put into making something so surreal, and so staggeringly strange. Popeye is more, much much more than a movie. It is the quintessential iota of human emotion. It is love and hate and laughter and fear rolled into one. It's the worst film that was ever made well. It speaks to the most basic part of humanity: the small voice inside all of us that looks, perplexedly, and asks, "Why?".In short: This film will blow your mind in ways you cannot possibly imagine.(*Note that while Popeye is the most frightening movie I have ever seen, it is not the worst. That honor goes to Terror Toons, which is legitimately frightening in the fact that the movie exists at all)
Second to worst movie I ever saw.
posted on 09 Mar 2009This has to be ranked as the second worst movie I ever saw. Robin Williams mumbling through the movie. No semblance of a script no wonder Jules Feffer takes writing blame for this so called script. Harry Nielson should be ashamed of himself for writing the music for this movie. Only redeemable part of this film was Ray Walston he made the movie a little more tolerable
"Popeye" Could Not Have Been Done Better
posted on 13 Feb 2009This is one of my favorite movies of all time, and I gave it a 10/10. I originally went into it because I thought it looked cute, and thought Robin Williams was a perfect choice for the lead role (he was.) When I walked out of the theater, I was in awe. Without fail, every single actor and actress they got for the well-known roles was perfect. Shelly Duvall as Olive Oyl? Who else could have done her justice? It wasn't only the cast in the movie, however. The scenery and sets, the locale, the creation of this little Sweethaven that could be Anywhere, Earth, the story itself when we meet Popeye for the first time.A co-worker of mine, who studied film in college, said that they used "Popeye" for study as one example of a technically perfect film, going far more in-depth than I ever could in this comment. Usually when I tell people that this movie is one of my all-time top five favorites, they laugh, but when I told him, I found a fellow fan who knew what an incredibly well-constructed and well-acted movie this is.It has some VERY minor harsh language, but all-in-all it's safe for the kiddies (who I'm sure have heard those words before), but has a lot of more mature elements thrown in for the grown-ups. That's another reason I love this flick: just like the earlier original cartoons, the muttering and mumbling going on in the background and on the sly is quite scandalous and funny, if you pay attention to it. I'm sure it's Williams' usual ad lib that he's well-known for.One particularly humorous ad lib is when he's reading a letter, with Sweet Pea in a basket in front of him, and Sweet Pea clearly says "Baby." Williams points to the letter and says, "Yes, you're a baby, it says right here!" going along with the baby's actual word (the baby was the grandson of the producer, if I remember right.)I don't normally like musicals, but I love every single song in this film, and have seen it so often that I can sing along to it. I especially love the Sweethaven national anthem, and Popeye's little song to Sweet Pea is very endearing.See this film, over and over again, as I have.
A Hate/Love Thing
posted on 24 Dec 2008When I was a kid, I hated the Popeye cartoons. I would actually leave the room when they came on & my brother would watch them. All because the Popeye/Bluto fights. Ironically, I grew up to love the live-action movie. It's one of my very favorites. As soon as I had it taped, I watched every day for over a week. Not very many films I can say that about. The casting was perfect. I've always been a Robin Williams fan. And Shelley Duvall, who else for Olive Oyl? The music was so cute & perfect camp. Other fave movies come and go, but this will remain on the top of my list. Thanks.
Popeye Loves Carrots,Hates Spinach
posted on 18 Dec 2008yea,i too liked this ( 6-10 ) ,,a lot unfocused,but fun...but you really have to watch ray walston ( pappy ),evry scene with him is very enjoyable!.songs were annoying but grow on ya.wlliams does a 1 note performance,duvall is splendid (annoying),,,check for dennis frantz in the diner scene.
A lot of people don't like it. I hates them best
posted on 12 Dec 2008There is something about this movie. It's bizarre, unconventional, over-the-top, unbelievable, mildly offensive, short, and disjunct. There isn't really a plot, there isn't really character development or growth, there aren't really any poignant speeches or commentaries about anything at all relevant to the real world. But, who cares? The quality that this movie has is that, it is so far removed from what one might expect from any movie, that you can't help but enjoy it. I think the only people that won't enjoy it are the types that are simply looking for specific things that they look for in all movies, or the types that can't accept something that doesn't make sense because it's not trying to make sense. The movie is innocent and child-like, with a fascinating tone to it. Half the cast are Circus performers fercrissakes! All said and done, the Casting *is* remarkable. Everyone is cast about as perfectly as you could ever imagine for a translation of all the characters from Popeye. The Sets are pretty fantastic too. The songs are all strange, but they blend with the movie perfectly. Once you get over your preconceptions about what a movie should or shouldn't be, you will enjoy this. You can't not enjoy it really. One reviewer said that not enjoying this movie is analogous to not enjoying puppies and babies playing with rubber duckies in a bubble bath. I think that is appropriate. The sheer detached nature of this film and it's complete lack of substance, combined with some truly clever wit and subversive humor, make it a real gem for anyone that enjoys the finer things in life.
Popeye
posted on 18 Nov 2008Obviously being a fan of the cartoon character, and being a fan of the quite interesting choice of lead actor, I decided to try this film, odd choice director Robert Altman (MASH, Gosford Park). Basically Popeye (introducing TV's Mork & Mindy star Robin Williams) with his traditional one-eye open, pipe and huge arms, is the sailor who has come to Sweet Haven in search of his long-lost father. He meets Wimpy (Paul Dooley), the hamburger loving man, and later love interest, Olive Oyl (The Shining's Shelley Duvall), oh, and Olive's "boyfriend", nasty pirate Bluto (Paul Smith). Popeye becomes well known for his strength, especially after taking on punks in the burger bar, stopping a Taxman (Donald Moffat), and becoming a champion boxer. It is when Popeye and Olive find an abandoned baby, naming it Swee'Pea, that they really bond, and eventually he beats nasty Bluto in the end, with the help of a can of spinach, giving him mega strength. Also starring Ray Walston as Poopdeck Pappy, Richard Libertini as Geezil, Roberta Maxwell as Nana Oyl, MacIntyre Dixon as Cole Oyl and Donovan Scott as Castor Oyl. I will admit Williams' impression of the well-known character is quite good, and being his first film he does prove quite an okay lead (he obviously gets much better later in his career), and Duvall is slightly more sassy than the cartoon Olive was, but Bluto isn't mean (or even on screen) enough, the songs (being a musical) don't help, and the story just doesn't do it for me, the cartoons are much, much better than this stupid live action attempt. Pretty poor!
Why Altman?
posted on 03 Nov 2008This movie tanked hideously at the box office, and for good reason...despite all the very good contributions from most of the production, Robert Altman's directing style (rough and verite, almost documentarian) doomed this to an unengaging set piece. With a warmer directorial style, one that involves the viewer rather than simply lets them remotely observe, would have better suited the comic strip material. Why on Earth did this project go to Altman instead of someone like Richard Lester???
Beautiful and Trippy Melodic Mess
posted on 22 Oct 2008I remember being obsessed with this movie as a young child. I think it was mostly because of Harry Nilsson's simple and super-catchy songs, but also because the whole movie has a very surreal, somewhat psychedelic vibe to it. Watching it now as a more experienced young man, I regard this movie as a beautiful work of art. The overlapping dialogue, the imaginative use of color and the inspired performances make this one of Robert Alman's more misunderstood gems. Robin William's performance is passionate and bittersweet, and Harry Nilsson's songs are truly amazing. If you are not familiar with the genius of Harry Nilsson, his extensive catalogue is well worth checking out. The music in Popeye reminds me most of his first three albums, and they rank right up there with the best of the late sixties rock period (the Beatles included, who were huge fans.) If you haven't seen Popeye, check it out with a childlike, whimsical open mindedness. If you've seen it and you don't get it, have a few glasses of wine and give it another chance.
oh so bad
posted on 25 Sep 2008Bad, really, really, really bad. The editing was some of the worst I've seen in a film with a budget, this movie seemed to have been thrown together more quickly than the homes of Sweethaven. The musical numbers were unbelievably bad. I barely made it through this movie. I think I was entertained a grand total of 90 seconds and that is a very liberal estimation. I thought back to M*A*S*H and wondered if suicide really is painless. Compared to this steaming pile of crap of a film, it must be. The only reason I did finish is because it's Robert Altman. Unless you want to see every Altman movie or for some strange reason, every Robin Williams movie or you really truly hate yourself , for the love of God skip it. Roger and Ebert loved this movie, by the way. Yet another reason to hate Roger Ebert.
This Popeye didn't eat his spinach
posted on 07 Sep 2008Some ideas for a film should just be better left alone. One example of this notion is the film Popeye. An adaptation of the comic strip character famous for his spinach-eating antics, Popeye has been loved by millions over the years in his cartoon form. However, as a live-action musical comedy, Popeye proves to be far less enchanting, an exercise in tedium, near-pointlessness and bad songwriting, all rolled up into a two-hour package that will have you wondering if you have been sitting still for much longer.To recite the plot of Popeye (what there is of one) seems to be an almost complete waste of time, but the duty must be performed: Popeye (Robin Williams) arrives in the small seaside hamlet of Sweethaven in search of his long lost "Poppa," who abandoned him as a child. He takes up temporary residence with the Oyl clan, including the headstrong Olive (Shelley Duvall) who is engaged to Captain Bluto (Paul Smith), who more or less runs the town for the mysteriously unseen Commodore. Popeye meets up with several characters, including Wimpy (Paul Dooley), who loves hamburgers, and the Taxman (Donald Moffat) who hits you up for money for almost every minor item you can think of.Popeye proves to be a somewhat unwelcome soul in Sweethaven, ridiculed for his speech patterns and his quest for his father. When he happens upon Olive trying to get out of her engagement, the two stumble upon an abandoned baby, named Swee' Pea (Wesley Ivan Hurt), and they agree to take care of him together, quickly discovering that he has a knack for predicting the future, an ability that makes him desirable to Bluto, who kidnaps Swee' Pea with the intention of using him to find missing treasure.Popeye was obviously produced with the intention of being a live-action comic strip in every way, full of the kind of outrageous things that can usually only be accomplished on the page with a pen. The characters all have exaggerated mannerisms and speech patterns, mimicking their illustrated alter-egos, and in certain scenes, such as when Popeye is hit by Bluto, for example, he rolls down some stairs in the shape of a hoop, mimicking a visual device a comic artist might use for humor.However, what screenwriter Jules Feiffer and director Robert Altman apparently failed to consider is whether the decision to bring this material to "real-life" would prove to be a good one. Based on the final results, it is not. The film that unfolds is stultifying boring and lacking in any real purpose. Popeye's characters quickly prove to be wearying, running through the same schtick over and over again, with no depth to their actions. They aren't characters so much as just voices and faces, eliciting dialogue that is either indecipherable (as in the case of many of Popeye's lines) or completely lacking in consequence. There is no depth to these people, it's all just surface. Sure, Popeye was originally a harmless cartoon character, and traditionally had thin plots and limited character development, but those were cartoon shorts or a few panels in a newspaper, but when you jump mediums, you have to adapt to the new medium. Film needs characters and story. Two hours of comic strip antics with no solid character base is a recipe for boredom, and Popeye delivers in spades.It doesn't help that for a film identified as a comedy, it's not funny. I didn't laugh one time in the entire running length of the film. The dialogue is attempting to be funny, but fails miserably. The sight gags are interesting in the sense that you say to yourself "Hey, that's a comic strip like gag" and you are momentarily interested to the extent Feiffer and Altman went to realize a live-action comic strip, but you still don't laugh. The film was also intended to be a musical (producer Robert Evans wanted the screen rights to Annie, but failed to land them, so he decided to turn Popeye into a musical. Thanks, Robert), but the majority of the songs, aside from the famous "Popeye the Sailor Man" ditty, are terrible. They are barely songs, with limp music and questionable rhyming, but worst of all, the performers deliver them badly. I am not aware of any of the cast being trained singers, and it shows. Shelley Duval is especially bad in her delivery of one ballad to Popeye, and Robin Williams isn't much better in his numbers.As far as performance, Robin Williams does his best to mimic the Popeye voice, but it makes much of his dialogue difficult to make out (you can tell many of his scenes were redubbed) and Shelley Duval is just annoying as Olive Oyl. This is more the character's fault than the actors, but still, after only a few minutes on screen, you keep hoping Bluto will kidnap Olive, and when he finally does, he doesn't gag her, leaving us to continue to listen to the character's droning voice. The lack of characterization and annoying performance also ensures that there isn't the slightest hint of chemistry to the "romance" of these characters, they might as well be wooden dolls for all the audience cares. The rest of the cast just fills in the scenery, there are no people for us to remotely care about or be interested in.Yes, Wolf Kroeger's production design is imaginative and many of the actors do resemble their comic counterparts, but is this enough to justify sitting through Popeye? Absolutely not. This is flash over depth, and Popeye proves a thin as tissue paper. If you want to see some Popeye adventures, check out the old cartoons and leave this one on the shelf.
A worthy gem.
posted on 26 Aug 2008Fans of old time cartoons know that they were aimed at adults more than children, and the Popeye cartoons certainly fit that description. Popeye constantly mutters under his breath, and if you pay attention, you discover the best dialogue. The Popeye movie stayed true to the slightly grotesque characters of the original cartoons -- not the overly polished 1970's version -- and that probably cost it some viewers and critics. Although the plot is a bit silly, this movie is carefully and perfectly cast - Shelly Duvall, Robin Williams, the amazing Bill Irwin, and an early appearance by Dennis Franz as a thug. Watch it with the grownups.
Not a film that does justice to the cartoon
posted on 27 Jul 2008I always liked Popeye Cartoons when I was a child and think Robin Williams is very talented, but as with "The Flintstones" movie, this movie fails to do the cartoon justice. I cringed at the song "He needs me" (It was extremely irritating). I wish I had read the previous reviews before yesterday as I had the misfortune to see Punch-Drunk Love which also had the same irritating song that went on and on and on... Robin Williams tried hard to make the role work, but the story was beyond saving. There may be children who still enjoy it, but you are much better off watching the classic cartoons.
For the die-hard Popeye fans only!
posted on 30 Aug 2009I 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.