Métal hurlant

One of my all-time favorite flicks is this animated anthology of stories all bound together by this glowing green "Locnar," an orb of evil unmatched in all of time and space. The animations are terrific: "Harry Canyon" about a futuristic cabbie in NYC, "DEN" about a nerd who is transported to a far off land as a hulking muscleman, "Taarna" about mankinds last stand against the power of the "Locnar," and others. My personal favorite is the short "B-17" about a bomber in WWII and the horrible power of the "Locnar." As I mentioned previously, the animation is spectacular...reminding me of a day when not everything was computer-generated. Features Cheap Trick, Riggs, Nazareth, Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, Devo and others on the kicking soundtrack. Overall, a classic of the 80's: one that shouldn't be missed at any cost. My Highest Recommendation.

Trying to con Harry Canyon in futuristic New York City ("big deal"), striking a deal with Den, having sex with a robot (or, as he puts it, using "mechanical assistance"), bribing Hanover Fiste to testify on your behalf in court, praying for Taarna to save you. None of these things have anything in common except for the Loch-nar, a green ball supposedly containing the essence and entirety of evil.

It doesn't matter if none of this makes complete sense or if it's even that good in terms of plot construction. This is Heavy Metal!

The concept of this 1981 animated experiment is two-fold: show good and evil in a constant state of flux, and bring to life the richness and erotic energy of the popular animated magazine. Add to that some science fiction, a slight reverence for history (in the beautiful ghoul scene in the WWII B-17) and a juvenile insight into drugs and sex, and you have the definition of my '80s youth culture.

I was one of those kids who'd sneak an issue of Heavy Metal, found on the magazine stands in the local drug store next to the grocery store where my father did his weekly shopping, inside another magazine and stare at the drawings, looking for some violence and humor ... and naked women with bi g breasts. I did the same thing whenever I got my hands on a National Lampoon and, if I was lucky, Hustler.

It's pre-pubescence at its hormonal best! And seeing it again as an adult brings all that excitement back to me. Every story, every piece of music ... God, every shot for that matter -- they all bring me back to being 10 years old and wrestling with my older cousin as she tried to block my eyes when the chick Harry Canyon picks up off the street strips and slides into bed with him to the tune of Journey's "Open Arms."

This movie wasn't meant to be cinematic greatness. It was meant to be a boy's fantasy and his coming of age. Sometimes we take these things too seriously. A good movie is a good movie, and a good memory is a good memory. Let's leave it at that ... and let me get a whiff of that stuff the spaceship pilots have lined along the floor...

Sure, it's not the best animation by today's standards. However, for when it was made the animation was top notch. It does have a great voice cast and the music is great. I graduated highschool in 1991 with long hair down my back. I went to my senior prom wearing a Motley Crue t-shirt--so nothing more to be said. I think anyone like me must appreciate Heavy Metal at least on some level. I also appreciate it for the art work and the small details. Watching a beatiful warrior godess slowly don her ridiculously sexy red outfit before wielding a sword to gut a bunch of mutants--it couldn't get any better. The movie as a whole, a conglomerate of strangley unrelated yet joined stories, makes this movie a cult classic--as true as they come. Perhaps that is what is lacking in Heavy Metal 2000--truely a sad attempt as a sequel, with no potential of ever being a worthy classic to sit on a shelf next to the original. The FAKK sword is the coolest thing about the movie, besides the Simon Beasley cover art. At least I think that's Simon's work and not Royo's--perhaps someone could confirm that. Okay, but not to stray from the topic of Heavy Metal (1981)---take it for what it is--don't over analyze it. Sit back, have a few laughs, poke fun at it, and at the end I think it's worth the watch.

I remember when this came out I was maybe 14 years old, and this movie had a legendary status among my crowd (none of whom ever got to see it). And why not, just looking at the poster promises everything to excite a young teenage male, basically a Rock album cover (or DnD book) come to life.

And it does not disappoint! I had no idea what to expect 40 years later, but I am more than happy with what was delivered - a sequence of loosely connected stories that, in some sense are obvious and unsophisticated, but are all strangely compelling.

And of course the girls, OMG, the girls. It's probably best I did not see this at 14 because my brain would surely have exploded.

Yes, sure, we live today in an age on infinite porn, so who cares about these girls? I think this is where some evolutionary psychology can help. Consider your male ancestor; sure there's one module in his brain for actually performing sex, doing the job; and that's the module that's tickled by porn. But there's a different module (I don't want to say more important, let's just say more subtle) that's about the search for a female mate, for the part before the porn kicks in. It is that *that* module that this movie kicks in overdrive and beyond, an on-going stream of "her, no her, no her, no HER HER HER".

And hell, it even teared me up towards the end. All in all far far better than I expected, and well worth a watch, even two or three.

HEAVY METAL (1981) **1/2 (Voices of : John Candy, Eugene Levy, Joe Flaherty, Harold Ramis, John Vernon) {Featuring songs by : Devo, Sammy Hagar, Blue Oyster Cult, Donald Fagan, Stevie Nicks, Nazareth, Grand Funk Railroad, Journey, Cheap Trick, Black Sabbath, Don Felder, Riggs, Trust} Landmark animated adaptation of the cult magazine "Heavy Metal" is a dizzying soup of noir, science fiction, fantasy and sex vignettes all strung together by the shared element of a glowing green meteorite of pure evil called Loc-Mar {which by the way has parallels to the glowing suitcase in "Pulp Fiction" and the eerie car trunk of "Repo Man"; just food for thought} that threatens a little girl as it recalls the stories for her. Somewhat dated by today's standards but nonetheless a trippy little piece of art. It's recent release on video (1996) was held up primarily by music rights for all the songs being used; includes THX sound and an excised segment "Neverwhere Land" that was cut due to running time. Executive produced by Ivan Reitman ("Ghostbusters"). Directed by Gerald Potterton.