Howard the Duck

Howard the Duck is just minding his own business, perusing pornography, when he's sucked through a portal in space and transported to Earth. He lands in Cleveland, Ohio, where he's immediately attacked by punks. The setup is very similar to what happened to Supergirl when she arrived on Earth, just without Matt Frewer and the threat of sexual violence. Howard eventually meets up with Beverly and becomes the manager of her band, Cherry Bomb. Then things take a turn and it becomes a race to stop an evil alien from bringing the Dark Overlords of the Universe to Earth. Howard the Duck is all over the place. It's a comedy. It's an adventure movie. It's sci-fi. It's a half-assed mishmash of all those things and more. It was neither successful nor well received at the time. Some still consider it one of the worst movies of all time. I wouldn't say it's that bad. It's definitely muddled and misguided but it also has an absorbing appeal that keeps me coming back to it every so often.

Rating: 65%

(Image from Wikipedia)

Fun Fact: David Paymer played a scientist in the movie. He also played a scientist in Night of the Creeps, which came out around the same time as Howard the Duck.

The Pirate Planet

The Doctor and Romana trace the second segment of the Key to Time to the cold, uninhabited planet Calufrax. Only, when they arrive, they find that the TARDIS has actually materialized on the planet Zanak. Zanak, a populated world teeming with advanced technology and an overabundance of precious gems, appears to be lorded over by the tyrannical and partially mechanical Captain. But Zanak also holds a dark secret and only by teaming up with the Mentiads, a mysterious group with psychic powers, will the Doctor and his companions be able to uncover the mystery of Zanak and find the next piece of the Key to Time. The Pirate Planet is probably most famous for being the first contribution to Doctor Who by Douglas Adams. Adams would go on to write two more stories for Doctor Who as well as being the script supervisor for the show's following season. There is some overlap, both in concepts and characters, between Adams' work on Doctor Who and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which is hardly surprising given that he was working on both around the same time.

Rating: Don't panic%

Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

Terrorists hijack a super secret military weapons satellite with the intention of blowing up the Pentagon. To avoid detection, they plan to launch the attack from a moving passenger train. Just one problem, Casey Ryback happens to be on that train. Those terrorists don't stand a chance. If Under Siege was Die Hard on a boat, then Under Siege 2 is Die Hard on a train. The only problem with that being that trains are inherently small, cramped spaces. Any action sequence happening inside the train has to be shot very close up, making the fights a little hard to follow. Under Siege 2 hits a lot of the same beats as the first movie but the action feels a little watered down. The cast is a little underwhelming as well, which is hardly their fault. How could they compete with Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey? Beloved TV crankypants Kurtwood Smith and Jonathan Banks are underused and Katherine Heigl, playing Ryback's niece, is given very little to do.

Rating: 62%

(Image from Wikipedia)

The Great Outdoors

For Chet Ripley, it was going to be the perfect vacation. A week on the lake in Wisconsin, far from the hustle and bustle of Chicago. Nothing but fishing, family bonding and hot dogs. But that was before Chet's brother-in-law Roman showed up. As much as I love The Great Outdoors, it's a bit of a shaggy dog story. The crux of the plot doesn't really come in to play until the third act. Based on the film's trailer, there were probably a number of deleted or alternate scenes that didn't make the final cut. And, given the movie's lukewarm reception, there likely won't be a Planes, Trains and Automobiles-style home video release containing the lost footage. That said, I couldn't care less. I grew up watching The Great Outdoors and have endless affection for John Candy and Dan Aykroyd.

Rating: 80%

(Image from Wikipedia)