As a magazine, Heavy Metal is an interesting mixture of both one-shot and continuing stories that feature some of the best commercial illustration available anywhere. The subject matter of those stories ranges from serious sci-fi, horror, autobiography, surrealistic fantasy, comedy and soft-core eroticism. The graphics similarly range from a cartoony drawing style to almost photographic realism. As such, many of the stories printed in the magazine would be ideal to adapt to an animated feature film.
Unfortunately, this is not what occurs in the Heavy Metal movie. The film is a loose connection of vignettes inspired by artwork and stories from the magazine and the quality of animation is roughly equal to Saturday morning levels. This is particularly distressing in the Den sequence of the film; Richard Corben's unique, almost stereoscopic imagery is abandoned in favor of character designs that foreshadow those of He-man. Perhaps if the film were made today, computer-generated animation would preserve the unique lighting effects that Corben uses in his illustrations. The George Romero-style zombie episode later in the film and the linking sequences similarly suffer from the frequently stiff animation. Other sequences are rotoscoped, such as the Taarna episode which serves as the film's finale. Taarna herself is a buxom blonde in skimpy leather gear (a precursor to Barb Wire and Xena) who successfully fights the forces of evil but is unable to overcome an essentially sexist weakness - the film makers do not allow her to speak even once, which reduces Taarna to object status. Sexism is not the film's only vice; there is a cocaine sequence that should be painfully unfunny to anyone seeing the film today. And despite the often vivid imagery, much of Heavy Metal is sleep inducing. Heavy Metal's long unavailability on home video has, unfortunately, given the film an undeserved legendary status.
For the most part, what one takes away from Heavy Metal are a series of scattered fragments. The Cheech-and-Chong style aliens, the UFO that resembles a 1970s Happy Face, the awesome power of the green orb, the sometimes gorgeous painted backdrops, Taarna's avian steed, the Corvette flying in space - all of these images are surrealistic and are as unforgettable as the assorted oddities in Yellow Submarine. We are left with fragments because the film itself is episodic and lacks a coherent underlying story line, most of which is geared towards preteens. Whether these fragments merit a rental is a matter of personal preference; I would recommend the film as a second or third choice if your store's copy of your favorite film has already been rented.
The exception is the Captain Sternn sequence. The bizarre trial of Captain Sternn is filled with unexpected twists from Sternn's character witness. The supporting characters are quickly sketched in with distinct personalities, from Sternn's defense lawyer to Skeezer, the tiny flying robot. Sternn himself looks like a DC Comics superhero and possesses an enormous amount of hubris (something Sternn is probably proud of). For once in the film, there is a close match in graphic style between the animated characters and the backdrop. The musical number (an obscure throwaway by Cheap Trick) actually works quite well in this context and the animated mayhem which ensues is exaggerated in the manner of Project A-ko. An entire film dedicated to Sternn's exploits would probably be quite entertaining.
Despite the name of the film, the soundtrack to Heavy Metal (with the exception of the Black Sabbath song in the Taarna sequence) consists mainly of obscure power pop and corporate rock. The best known song in the film is probably Journey's "Open Arms," which can be heard in the background as a snippet in an early scene. Those expecting Iron Maiden and Megadeth will instead encounter Devo and Donald Fagan. The film's violence and sexuality may pale beside the more lurid anime available for rental today, but is still too vivid for children.
 |
Other NonAnime Reviews Prince of Egypt Review* Quest for Camelot Review Sleeping Beauty Review * Space Jam Review Tex Avery Screwball Classics Review* |
Get your ownFree Home Page