Revisiting POPEYE in 4K

POPEYE (4K + Blu-ray)

1980 / 113 min

Paramount

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😾

If you’re old enough to have seen Popeye in a theater, you probably couldn’t help but be knocked out by the opening sequence where the title character arrives in the coastal town of Sweethaven. Even today, it remains a triumph of imaginative production design. Add to that the first appearance of Robin Williams in a role he was born to play, and you had the makings of a magical musical with charming reverence for the original source material. For a while, the sheer aesthetic whimsy on display was enough to keep you engaged.

But a gorgeous aesthetic and spot-on characterizations can only carry a movie so far. Once the novelty wears off, you’re left with a weird, interminable film with about 10 minutes of actual story unreasonably stretched out to two hours…and that’s when it even bothers to get to the story. To call the first half of Popeye meandering is an understatement, with gobs of isolated sequences that try to capture the quirkiness of the original comic & cartoons with live actors…and mostly failing.

The film’s narrative shortcomings are exacerbated by a scattershot pace, occasionally clumsy direction, Williams’ unintelligible dialogue (thank God for subtitles) and laborious musical numbers with terrible songs (was Harry Nilsson on another bender when wrote these?). You certainly can’t fault the actors, all of whom perfectly embody these classic characters. But what remains shocking even today is that somebody (probably producer Robert Evans) thought director Robert Altman was the right man for the job. A fiercely independent maverick his entire career, Altman is clearly out of his element.

"Stop smoking around the baby!"

Still, Popeye does have its share of admirers. What was once written off as a pricy, slapdash trainwreck has earned something of a cult following over the years, perhaps by those who did see the film in theaters back in the day and now carry a nostalgic torch for it. Those same folks might appreciate this new 4K release, which doesn’t include any new bonus material but boasts a pretty nice video upgrade. The two audio options, DTS-HD MA 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.1, are nothing mindblowing, but strike a nice balance between the music, sound effects and dialogue (though you’ll still want subtitles whenever Williams is speaking). 

As for this writer, Popeye is pretty to look at, but ultimately something of an endurance test that stands out in Altman’s filmography like a sore thumb. Then again, what do I know? I’m the one guy who thought Quintet was actually pretty good.

EXTRA KIBBLES

4K, BLU-RAY & DIGITAL COPIES

FEATURETTES - Return to Sweethaven: A Look Back with Robin and the Altmans features interviews with actor Robin Williams, director Robert Altman and his son; The Popeye Company Players takes a look at the characters.

POPEYE’S PREMIERE is a photo gallery of the movie’s premiere screening.

THE SAILOR MAN MEDLEYS - Jump to the musical numbers.