The film's only real problem is the writing, which never feels as strong or epic as the premise of the utter annihilation of our world at the hands of an extra-dimensional alien should merit. The entire story is just very small-scale with no set-up or even proper foreshadowing of the eventual antagonist, so until 20 minutes before the end you're just left wondering why you're still there.
However, there are certainly moments throughout the film that have substance in their time. Tim Robbins as goofball Phil Blumburtt has more chemistry with Howard than even love-interest Beverly Switzler (Lea Thompson). He just steals the show with more zeal and heart than one would expect for such a project.
Jeffrey Jones also does well as Dr. Walter Jenning, though his talk of an evil growing inside him and his eventual descent into alien corruption is only made all the more frightening if you're familiar with his real-life career-ending actions. Sometimes it's impossible to ignore the actor to appreciate their character.
Considering the premise, it's a shame that the film's greatest failure was its inability to really sell the Howard character. You truly have to wonder how a project helmed by both George Lucas and ILM could have so utterly mishandled the duck suit. By all means it should have been better executed, or at the least much more emotive.
However, the rest of the film's effects are actually pretty good. Jenning's aforementioned alien corruption was a creepy and realistic example of pure '80s makeup effects while the Dark Overlord's true form was stunning stop-motion work hearkening back to Ray Harryhausen's best.
The film currently holds a 3.8 out of 5 on Amazon with 287 reviews (33 more than Super Mario Bros.) and, fascinatingly, a special edition DVD release featuring four archival featurettes as well as two new ones that respectively look back at its production and cult status. For a film that flopped as hard as it did it's still managed to succeed in the end with a new generation of children and nostalgic parents.
