Howard the Duck

Howard the Duck was released in 1986 and directed by Willard Huyck. Rather than simply retelling the plot, the film is worth revisiting for the characters, conflicts and ideas that give its story its identity.

Courage and Heroism emerge through what the characters face and the choices they make, giving the story more to explore beyond its immediate plot.

Beverly Switzler, Howard the Duck and Howard the Duck do not begin the film seeing one another clearly, and watching those first impressions break down is a big part of why Howard the Duck still works.

On Duckworld, an Earth-like planet inhabited by anthropomorphic ducks, Howard the Duck is propelled out of his apartment building and into outer space; he lands on Earth, in Cleveland, Ohio.

Upon arriving, he encounters a woman being attacked by thugs, whom he defeats using a unique style of martial arts. That detail matters because it shapes the way the characters initially see one another.

Elsewhere, the woman, Beverly Switzler, takes Howard to her apartment and lets him spend the night. From there, the film can concentrate less on explaining the setup and more on what happens between the people inside it.

The following day, Beverly takes Howard to Phil Blumburtt, a scientist who Beverly hopes can help Howard return to his world.

When Phil is revealed to be only a lab assistant, Howard resigns himself to life on Earth and rejects Beverly's aid.

He gets a job as a janitor at a romance spa, but eventually quits and returns to Beverly, who plays in a band called Cherry Bomb.

At the club where Cherry Bomb is performing, Howard confronts their manager when he insults the band and plans to coerce Beverly.

A fight breaks out, which Howard wins.

Howard rejoins Beverly backstage and accompanies her back to her apartment, where Beverly persuades him to be the band's new manager.

The two flirt and get into bed, but they are interrupted by Phil and two of his colleagues, who reveal that a laser spectroscope they were inventing was aimed at Howard's planet and transported him to Earth when it was activated.

Jordan Prentice plays Howard the Duck.

They theorize that Howard can be sent back to his world through a reversal of this process.

A fight ensues when a group of truckers in the diner insults Howard.

Howard locates Phil, and they discover an ultralight aircraft, which they use to search for the Dark Overlord and Beverly.

Howard the Duck has more on its mind than the basic setup suggests. courage sits close to the centre of the film, but it is explored through the characters rather than treated like a lesson.

heroism matters just as much. The film keeps challenging the assumptions its characters make about one another, which is where much of its emotional weight comes from.

Howard the Duck could hardly be separated from the decade that produced it. Released in 1986, it carries the attitudes, style and filmmaking rhythms of the 1980s without needing to announce them.

It also sits comfortably within the era's superhero, science fiction comedy, action and comedy filmmaking, even if the movie itself is more interesting than any single genre label suggests.

That is part of why it still appears in conversations about 1980s movies and 1980s superhero movies. The film has become tied not only to its own story but to the wider memory of what 1980s movies felt like.

Watching Howard the Duck now means seeing both what has lasted and what unmistakably belongs to 1986.

What still works best is the human material. Ideas around courage and heroism have not stopped being relevant simply because the clothes, language and cultural references belong to another era.

Some moments inevitably land differently for a modern audience. Revisiting an older film properly means enjoying what still works without pretending every choice has aged equally well.

A large part of that staying power comes from the characters. Beverly Switzler, Howard the Duck and Howard the Duck are still useful shorthand for the personalities and pressures the film explores.

Howard the Duck has lasted because people continue to recognise something in it. Nostalgia helps, but nostalgia alone does not keep a movie in the conversation for decades.