Heavy Metal
Widely recognized as the groundbreaking effort that introduced âadult animationâ to a mainstream audience, this 1981 milestone is rather crude by todayâs standards, but nonetheless paved the way for Aeon Flux and many other alternative cartoons for a long way to come via Adult Swim etc. The biggest flaw with the film is perhaps things are too rushed, as director Gerald Potterton tries to get in six separate stories along with a framing device within a 90-minute timespan, as at least a couple of the vignettes would have been better served with some more fleshing out. The âstoryâ, as it would be, involves a glowing green orb known as the Loch Nar, which has a propensity for melting evil people, that comes to Earth and confronts a seemingly innocent little girl after killing her father, in order to tell the tales of how its âultimate evilâ has spread across the universe. The first story, taking place in New York City 2031, tells of a hard-bitten cab driver (Richard âMike Damoneâ Romanus) who picks up a beautiful girl hiding from gangsters who want to acquire the Loch Nar for themselves. While it has its moments (and certainly inspired The Fifth Element), the conclusion is ultimately very unsatisfying. Then we embark on the story of Den (John Candy), a nerdy kid transformed into a muscular superhero who comes to defeat the evil rulers of another planet in a segment that clearly inspired the later adventures of He-Man. After that is the hilarious story of Captain Sternn (Eugene Levy), on trial for various crimes whose plan of getting himself acquitted backfires with ludicrous results. The fourth segment is the most throwaway of the bunch, as the Loch Nar comes on board a warship and turns all of the dead soldiers into bloodthirsty zombies (and written by Dan OâBannon, who clearly expanded this idea into Alien). Then weâre treated to the âcomedyâ story of the bunch, about a couple of stoner aliens (and their horny robot), who kidnap a couple of Earthlings and take them to their stoner home planet full of fast food franchises, though how this story relates to the Loch Narâs antics had me scratching my head. Finally there is the story of Taarna, a gorgeous (and mute) woman warrior with long white hair called upon to defeat a horde of barbarians who have laid siege to a peaceful community of scientists. Clearly Taarna is meant to be THE star of the movie (seeing how she is featured on all the posters), and her story, while interesting, doesnât add up to much especially when we see her actual fighting skills against the barbarian leader, even as she was a clear inspiration to Xena and many other âwarrior womenâ to follow. Some have blasted the film for having a sexist, misogynistic attitude with the usually buxom and naked female characters being treated as mere sex objects, but the immaturity of the writing is really part of the fun. The soundtrack, featuring Sammy Hagar, Journey, Cheap Trick, Black Sabbath, and many others, emphasizes the over the top nature of the material, and is complimented by a fine score by Elmer Bernstein (surprising as it is that he wouldâve worked on a film like this). Overall, while not truly a moving work of art, a fast-paced, wild film that is almost never boringâŚ
8/10