It's widely (and perhapsincorrectly) viewed as one of the worst movies of all time. Yet earlier in theyear a fan-made trailer for a sequel to "Howard the Duck" turned up in the C2FCinema.
Thefollow up to the original 1986 George Lucas film takes place 15 years after theoriginal, as the LaserSpectraScope that brought Howard to earth is repaired, andHoward and Beverley (Lea Thompson) prepare to return to Duckworld. Unbeknownstto them, the Dark Overlords have taken over the entire planet, and they are infor a hell of a battle upon their return! Aided by the mysterious 'DucktorStrange', they prepare to rid the universe of this alien scum, once and for all!
This week Eli McElmurray,founder of MarvelComics Live Action e-mail group, sits down with Kevin Karstens, who remixedfootage from the original movie into an ingeniously fun trailer for "Howardthe Duck II".
Eli McElmurray (EM): Whydo a sequel of Howard?
Kevin Karstens (KK): Ehhh,no one but myself and a select handful of fans would actually care if the filmwas really ever made, most folks seemed to hate it, but I honestly don't thinkthey are looking at the original film in the right light. Yes, it's awful. Butits awful fun!
The humor and tone of theoriginal film (very dark, for the most part) are amongst the reasons it is myall time favorite 'bad film.' Add to that the best stop motion effects that ILMever produced (thanks, Phil Tippett!) and you have a great bad movie!
EM: What type of programdid you use?
KK: Actually it was aprogram used to create animated screensavers called 'Animated Screen' by Pysoft.Outside of the game creation and artwork editing software I use on a regularbasis, I can easily say this is the most versatile animation producing sharewareI have ever stumbled across!
I am currently using itexclusively to create 2 animated feature films, 'Pizzaman Vs The Dude' and'Absolution', a modern day animated Christmas tale.
EM: How Long did ittake?
KK: All in all, about 10hrs, total. Quite a bit of the trailer utilizes existing sequences from thefirst film, which were matted into new scenes, so we can see Howard staring offat the burning buildings of Duckworld, etc.
EM: Where did you getthe script from?
KK: Wrote that bad boymyself! The idea was based on an older Marvel issue of the large "Howardthe Duck" magazine.
EM: Why did you haveHoward return home, when in the Marvel Universe he has yet to do so?
KK: Not true!
In a story from the originalrun of the magazine, (July, 1980- Issue No.6) Howard did, in fact, returnto Duckworld...with Beverly! A friend of theirs, a gifted young lady with mentalabilities, used her powers to will them across time and space, back toDuckworld. If I recall correctly, the brilliant Michael Golden and Bob McLeoddid the artwork, very nice work.
EM: Do you plan on doingmore on Howard?
KK: Oh, most likely. I'ma tad obsessed with this turkey film.
EM: Howard is easily oneof the most unpopular Marvel movies. Why do a sequel when the original wasso disparaged?
KK: Just for myself andthe select few that liked the film. I just don't think people 'got' themovie. I really don't. If you look at it as an original oddity, awonderfully bad film that was, actually, pretty well written in spots,with great comic performances turned in by Lea Thompson, Tim Robbins and thatscene stealer, Jeffrey Jones, with a great score and fantastic effects: Hey,there have been far worse "comics to film," that's a certainty!
Dolph Lundgren's"Punisher", the god awful 'Fantastic Four' film by Roger Corman, thelist is endless!
I personally think more peopleliked "Howard the Duck" than you would guess. They just don't want to admitit. Just watch the VH1 "I Love The 80s" installment where they devotedseveral minutes to celebrities "admitting" they actually liked themovie. You'll see what I mean.
If you haven't actually watchedthe film for awhile, give it another shot, with the attitude that its supposedto be bad, and therein lies the fun. You just may find yourself having a goodtime!
If you haven't seen it yet,click over to the C2F Cinema and view and review Howardthe Duck II! Then head over to Kevin's Howardthe Duck fan site for more info on the film, plus original games,screensavers and photos.
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