# The 1980 movie Robin Williams compared to a hellish acid trip: “Like a killer whale farting”

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-1980-movie-robin-williams-compared-to-a-hellish-acid-trip-like-a-killer-whale-farting/
- Published: 2026-07-17T12:50:13+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/1980-movie-robin-williams-compared-to-a-bad-acid-trip/
- Topics: Art, Culture, Entertainment, Film

## Key points

- Robin Williams compared Robert Altman's 1980 Popeye to '2001: A Space Odyssey on bad acid' for its surreal, unconventional aesthetic
- The film required multiple dubbing sessions due to incomprehensible dialogue; later gained cult appreciation

## Summary

During a Rolling Stone interview, Robin Williams reflected on his breakthrough 1980s films, praising The World According to Garp whilst expressing severe reservations about Robert Altman's Popeye, which marked his first major leading role. He described the film's dialogue as so unclear that extensive dubbing sessions were necessary to make it intelligible to audiences.

Williams found the Popeye premiere disturbing enough to invoke Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey as an unlikely point of reference, characterising the overall experience as psychedelic and disorienting. Though initially poorly received, the unconventional adaptation has since attracted modern viewers drawn to Altman's distinctive creative vision and the film's deliberate embrace of visual eccentricity and narrative abstraction.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.