Métal hurlant

I thought this was great back in high school and its still the best cartoon movie I ever viewed. Its a adult movie for sure. Almost doesn't feel like your watching a cartoon themed movie with all the adult situations that are handled with this. I almost laugh at the soundtrack. Its like the creators said f it. Instead of trying to make a soundtrack of what we think the future of music is, they just added music from that period of the early 80's. And it works.

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.

Grimaldi returns home from a Space Shuttle trip landing his Corvette through the atmosphere. He bring home a present for his daughter, a glowing green orb called the Loc-Nar. It turns out to be a sum of all evil. It disintegrates Grimaldi and shows the little girl how he destroys the lives of people it touches in a series of short stories.

The animation is dated with the 70s style. The material is violent and full of scantily clad women. It is sexist and juvenile. It just does it with such abandon that it fully develops what it promises. It revels in the big boobs women in tiny outfits and muscle bound men. It's grotesque. It's got good music. It's a cult classic and fully deserves to be.

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.

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.