Reception
The film barely broke even at the box office in its initial release, and received a mixed-to-negative critical reception. A double feature of Xanadu and another musical released at about the same time, Can't Stop the Music, inspired John J. B. Wilson to create the Golden Raspberry Awards (or "Razzies"), an annual event "dishonoring" what is considered the worst in cinema for a given year. Xanadu won the first Razzie for Worst Director and was nominated for six other awards.
Over the years, the film has developed something of a cult audience. With a combination of contemporaneous and modern reviews, Xanadu today holds a "Rotten" rating of 39% from the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The soundtrack album (UK #2, US #4), however, was a commercial success. It was certified Double Platinum in the US and Gold in the UK, and also spent one week atop the Cashbox and Record World Pop Albums charts. The soundtrack contained five Top 20 singles:
- "Magic" – Olivia Newton-John (No. 1 (4 weeks) Pop, No. 1 (5 weeks) AC, certified gold)
- "Xanadu" – Olivia Newton-John/Electric Light Orchestra (No. 8 Pop, No. 2 AC, No. 1 (2 weeks (UK)))
- "All Over the World" – Electric Light Orchestra (No. 13 Pop, No. 45 AC)
- "I'm Alive" – Electric Light Orchestra (No. 16 Pop, No. 48 AC, certified gold)
- "Suddenly" – Olivia Newton-John/Cliff Richard (No. 20 Pop, No. 4 AC)
Read more about this topic: Xanadu (film)
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“I gave a speech in Omaha. After the speech I went to a reception elsewhere in town. A sweet old lady came up to me, put her gloved hand in mine, and said, “I hear you spoke here tonight.” “Oh, it was nothing,” I replied modestly. “Yes,” the little old lady nodded, “that’s what I heard.””
—Gerald R. Ford (b. 1913)
“Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own; which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world, and that so very few are offended with it.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
“He’s leaving Germany by special request of the Nazi government. First he sends a dispatch about Danzig and how 10,000 German tourists are pouring into the city every day with butterfly nets in their hands and submachine guns in their knapsacks. They warn him right then. What does he do next? Goes to a reception at von Ribbentropf’s and keeps yelling for gefilte fish!”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)