I'd love to have this. I collect awful sci-fi movies such as PLAN 9 and MISSILE TO THE MOON, and this would fit snuggly into that group. I have a feeling Lucas is a tad embarrassed by it and might keep it from DVD release.
There was a story going around that Robin Williams or someone like that jokingly asked Lucas if he was thinking about re-releasing Star Wars and Lucas admitted to having thought about replacing the actor-in-a-suit with a CGI character. It sounded like he was deadly serious.
The actor in the suit had nothing to do with how bad that movie was. In a way, its badness is what makes it so appealing to so many people. I would gladly buy a DVD of Howard the Duck if it were ever released...in its theatrical cut...no CGI Howards needed.
I don't think Lucas was truly serious about re-releasing HTD with a CGI character because at the end he said something similiar to "you loathed it the first time, you'll hate it again" or something like that. And yes, it's been since about 1988 since I've seen this, but I would at least rent.
I saw HTD the day it was released. At the time, I enjoyed it for what it was. Of course I was also quite young. I saw that it was on television a while back and decided to sit and watch some of it. I couldn't get past the first fifteen minutes. The stuff with Howard in his own universe was clever and pretty well done, but as soon as he arrives on Earth the whole thing loses what little spark of imagination it might have posessed. I was kind of let down. Another film that I quite liked as a child laid bare under the bright light of adulthood.
I too saw this as a young kid and enjoyed it. I saw a VHS copy a few years back and stil enjoyed it's "uniqueness." I would purchase on release day and would hope it would stay as the original theater version.
I saw it as a teenager and thought it okay. I enjoyed Howard's character and the fish-out-of-water story. What bugged me was how that human actor was taken over (I've never liked that actor since), and the monsters from another dimension (or whatever) plot.
As silly as it sounds, I could accept a 4-ft tall, intelligent duck trying to fit in on Earth. When they threw in all the other shlocky sci-fi crap, they lost me.