‘Xanadu’ 4K UHD Blu-ray (review)

Kino Lorber

Xanadu is one of those films that flopped phenomenally when it was released, but has since become a vaseline-lensed, star-filtered cult classic.

Filled with Coppertone-tanned stars and early 1980s LA fashion, Xanadu is the kind of cringe that is so bad it’s wonderful.

Fresh off her success with Grease, Olivia Newton-John had become a household name. In this, her first headliner role, she plays Kira, the Greek Muse who inspires struggling artist and “visionary” Sonny Malone (Michael Beck, Warriors) to follow his dreams.

Sonny teams up with a former big-band musician turned construction magnate, Danny McGuire (Gene Kelly, American in Paris), to open a nightclub where people from all walks of life can express themselves freely.

Danny and Sonny create Xanadu.

However, trouble arises in paradise. As soon as Kira successfully brings about Danny and Sonny’s dream, it’s time for her to move on and inspire a new artist. This time, though, there are big complications.  Kira has fallen in love with her artist.  What will happen to our doomed lovers?

Will Xanadu be a success?

Oh, the 80s.

Only during this time would such a flimsy story get a multi-million dollar budget.  Xanadu enjoyed a media blitz, including behind-the-scenes specials shown on network television to whet film audiences’ appetites and get movie-goers in the theaters.

And then the film flopped.  Critics panned it across the board.

But, and it’s a big but,  the soundtrack was a HUGE success.

For a year, you could not escape Oliva Newton-John or Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). The Xanadu soundtrack had several Top 20 hits.  Olivia Newton-John channeling her most sultry “I’m not Sandra Dee anymore” voice sent the single, “Magic” to number 1.

Once Xanadu hit cable TV, it not only gained a viewing audience but also sustained the sales of the soundtrack, making it the beloved cult classic audiences enjoy over and over again.

Xanadu’s failure at the box office had a lot to do with timing.  It was released too late to sync with the disco and the roller skating craze.  It was also too early to take advantage of MTV in its heyday.

MTV did not arrive on the scene until a year later in 1981.  Within a few years, music videos would become commonplace.  In a way, Xanadu was ahead of its time, as it was essentially several music videos strung together with a very thin plot.

Xanadu has a special place in my heart.

When I was 6 years old, I made my mom take me to the record store and used my long-saved birthday money to buy the soundtrack.  It was the very first vinyl record I ever bought, and I played it until the grooves became worn.

I was that kid who watched it on constant rotation on cable. I loved the music, the ridiculous fashion, the sparkles, and of course, the dancing. I was fascinated by the juxtaposition of the very 80s music (and so began my love of ELO) and the call back to 1940s big-band.

Oddly, this was my introduction to Gene Kelly.  Kelly’s dance sequence with Olivia Newton-John sweetly recalls familiar routines with Judy Garland and old Hollywood musicals.  You can see both Gene and Olivia were having a ball. This began my love of Gene Kelly and my discovery of the golden age of Hollywood musicals.  As flawed as Xanadu is, what would become Gene Kelly’s final film performance, brought me to his classics, Singing in the Rain and An American in Paris.

I was too young to realize that Xanadu was probably a cocaine-induced artistic vision. It’s like the filmmakers just kept coming up with more ideas and throwing them in the pot. Need to add another ELO song, have Sonny emo roller skate around to get us to the next plot point. We finished the movie, but we need one more song! I know, let’s add an animation sequence. If you’re an animation nerd, it’s worth cueing up Xanadu just to see the Don Bluth animation sequence.  You can see where his team liberally borrowed from Fantasia, and the seeds of the original The Little Mermaid are planted.

The new restoration looks beautiful in all its neon glory.  No more bleeding colors, and the soundtrack sounds even better than when it was originally released 45 years ago.

Extras include audio commentaries, 1980 Making-of, remastered 2009 documentary with the cast and crew, TV spots, radio spots. and trailer.

So get your leg warmers out of storage and dust off those bootie shorts. Serve up some wine spritzers and open a New York Seltzer for the kiddos, while you embrace the sound and vision of 1980.

“In Xanadu did Kublai Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree…”

– Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1797