Xanadu: Magical Music Edition

Xanadu, a remake of the 1947 fantasy Down to Earth, didn't kill the American movie musical, but it certainly didn't do roller disco any favors. A guilty pleasure with enough of a cult following to inspire a recent Broadway musical, Robert Greenwald's Xanadu is—if nothing else—one of a kind. Michael Beck is woefully miscast as a compromised artist who is kissed by a roller skating muse (Olivia Newton John), and later teams up with a former big band musician (the legendary Gene Kelly) to open up the eponymous ‘40s/'80s nightclub where the Andrews Sisters meet Electric Light Orchestra. Xanadu was Kelly's last film, and unlike, say, Errol Flynn in Cuban Rebel Girls, he survives with his dignity intact (almost 70 here, Kelly even does one number on roller skates). The soundtrack, which is also included here on a bonus audio CD, does conjure up the occasional “Magic,” and the film boasts a nifty animated sequence courtesy of Don Bluth. DVD extras include the retrospective featurette “Going Back to Xanadu,” which offers a clear-eyed assessment of the film that is more entertaining than the movie itself. Not recommended. (D. Liebenson)