Happy 30th Anniversary To The Howard The Duck Movie

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There are certain touchstone films in our lives that we remember forever. One of those, for me, was Howard the Duck which came out thirty years ago this week. I was nine years old and I can honestly say that Howard the Duck was a movie of firsts for me. It was the first movie I was really looking forward to that let me down. I knew that George Lucas, my hero, was producing and that up until then he had done no wrong. When I went to see this film in the theaters I came out heartbroken. It foreshadowed how Lucas would break my heart a few years later. It was also the first movie that genuinely disturbed me. Starting at the very beginning when Howard is sucked from his planet and we see a duck woman with human-like breasts. The warping of my young mind continued when Howard falls in love with Lea Thompson and it is implied that they get it on. Even at 9 this was a bridge too far.

It was also the first movie that I thought, "This is a piece of garbage." When you are a kid you have no good taste at all. You like whatever dreck comes out. Howard the Duck was the first movie that made me angry for having taken the time and having my grandfather spend the money to see it. I recently rewatched it see if it still made me feel all of those feelings. It did.