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Directed by: Gerald Potterton Starring: John Candy, Eugene Levy, Harold Ramis In 2006, in a world with Hostel, Hentai and FYAD, Heavy Metal isn't especially shocking. I can only imagine how it was at the time of its release: the animated depictions of R-rated sex and violence, drug use, profanity, the warped and often amoral stories, etc. It is worth noting that for a professional animated movie with non-Japanese roots to have those things is a rarity to this day. Based on a magazine which I have no knowledge of, Heavy Metal is a loose collection of fantasy/sci-fi short stories about the influence of an evil orb on the people around it. Judging this movie on its shoestring plot or the shoestring plots of the short stories would be a grave mistake, because that isn't the point. The point is in a number of things that make this movie the anti-Disney. Black Sabbath on the soundtrack, a cynical look at the world, black humor, the assorted things which earned it an R rating, even the animation style is a testament to alternative culture at the time. 'At the time' is what made this so enjoyable for me watching it at random on Encore Action. The film came out in 1981 and is about 900% late 70s/early 80s, from the music to the art style to the dystopian mindset. The depiction of 2031 New York is based on making 1981 New York souped-up and exaggerated, outer space stuff is ripped directly from prevailing sci-fi designs and notions, the future as a bleak (post-WW3 is unspoken) hellhole, and so on. It's a trip. I think my issue with the movie is that it feels like a high-budget (9 million dollar budget!) adaptation of a high school freshman guy's notebook doodlings. Spaceships and titties and decapitations and swords abound with gusto, so if you're up for tongue-in-cheek camp this is the place for you. To me a lot of the themes have been done infinitely better since then as animation has been more democratized so the T&A and blood felt sophomoric. I also would have appreciated hearing more of the soundtrack; DON FELDER~ Giving this a 2.5 for the dark humor, the effort of old-school hand-drawn animation, the uniqueness and its value as a period piece. They succeed at what they were going for, I'm just not a big fan of said goal. RATING: 2.5 PROS: Some funny lines, very unique movie that's like a time capsule CONS: OMG BOOBIEZ/BLOOD AND GUTS shlock for content, can't hear soundtrack ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082509/
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Jan 12, 2006 22:32
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 00:12 |
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