The film's reputation eventually developed into a strange reversal rather than a simple disappearance. For decades, its disastrous first reception made it a shorthand example of Hollywood hubris, while its scarcity—after only a 1981 videocassette release, the film was largely available through bootleg television recordings, VHS copies, and 16mm prints—helped turn it into a cult object. A 121-minute version reached Netflix in 2012, followed by a slightly longer “Definitive Director's Version” on Blu-ray in 2013. Later admirers, including filmmaker Rian Johnson and film historian Karina Longworth, argued that critics had been needlessly cruel and praised the movie's ambition, visual style, and odd live-performance energy. Richard Brody subsequently called it an “overlooked masterwork,” demonstrating that the notorious flop's historical verdict is no longer unanimous.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1970s-present
The “Worst Musical Ever” That Later Became a Cult Favorite
At Long Last Love / 1970s-present
The film's reputation eventually developed into a strange reversal rather than a simple disappearance. For decades, its disastrous first reception made it a shorthand example of Hollywood hubris, while its scarcity—after only a 1981 videocassette release, the film was largely available through bootleg television recordings, VHS copies, and 16mm prints—helped turn it into a cult object. A 121-minute version reached Netflix in 2012, followed by a slightly longer “Definitive Director's Version” on Blu-ray in 2013. Later admirers, including filmmaker Rian Johnson and film historian Karina Longworth, argued that critics had been needlessly cruel and praised the movie's ambition, visual style, and odd live-performance energy. Richard Brody subsequently called it an “overlooked masterwork,” demonstrating that the notorious flop's historical verdict is no longer unanimous.
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