Movie Reviews: Heavy Metal

Title: Heavy Metal

Cast:

Percy Rodriguez as the Loc-Nar
Don Francks as Grimaldi
Caroline Semple as the Girl
Richard Romanus as Harry Canyon
Susan Roman as the Woman
Al Waxman as Rudnick
Harvey Atkin as the Alien and the Henchmen
John Candy as Den and the Robot
Jackie Burroughs as Katherine Wells
Martin Lavut as Ard
Marilyn Lightstone as the Queen
August Schellenberg as Norl and the Narrator
Eugene Levy as Captain Sternn
Roger Bumpass as Hanover Fiste and Dr. Anrak
Joe Flaherty as the Judge
John Vernon as the Prosecutor
George Touliatos as the Pilot (Skip)
Don Francks as the Co-Pilot
Zal Yanovsky as the Navigator
Alice Playten as Gloria
Mavor Moor as Elder
Vlasta Vrana as the Barbarian Leader
Cedric Smith as the Bartender

Directed by: Gerald Potterton

Country: Canada

Distributed by: Columbia Pictures

Genre: Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi/Horror/Fantasy/Cult/Animation

Year of Release: 1981

Synopsis: Based on the magazine series created by Kevin Eastman, this 1981 animated feature film centers around the saga of an evil force called the "Loc-Nar"; a demonic entity that appears in the shape of a glowing green orb that has numerous magical powers. Heavy Metal is an anthology of several science fiction and fantasy stories adapted from the magazine series of the same name. And each of these stories focuses on the Loc-Nar and its long dark history throughout time, space, and other dimensions. The movie opens with a shuttle flying in orbit around Earth. The bay doors of the shuttle open, and release a 1960 Corvette with an astronaut named Grimaldi at the wheel. Remaining in the driver seat of the car, Grimaldi hurls his way through Earth's atmosphere and safely lands in a desert canyon. Then, after driving a few miles from his landing site, the astronaut stops by at an old house in the middle of nowhere, where he is greeted by a young girl. Grimaldi shows the girl his discovery of the Loc-Nar, which he kept enclosed inside a containment box. But as soon as he opens it, the glowing green orb rises out and graphically melts down Grimaldi. After finishing with him, the Loc-Nar, now free from its containment, introduces itself to the terrified girl as "the sum of all evils". Looking into it, the girl watches a series of stories unfold that detail how the Loc-Nar has influenced societies throughout time and space.

Personal Comments: As far back as I can remember, I didn't know about this movie when I was a kid. So I regret to say I didn't see this movie back in the 80s. For one reason, I wasn't even born when this movie first hit theatres. And another reason is because the movie was never broadcast in the Middle East where I used to live, and no tapes of it where available anywhere. And throughout the 80s and the 90s, I had absolutely no idea that this movie even existed. So unfortunately, I missed out on it back in my childhood. In fact, I didn't see this movie until 1999 when I was 16, just at the end of the 20th century. And by that year, "The Matrix" was in theatres. And I'm sure everybody remembers how big a hit The Matrix was. But I'm getting off track here. This review is about the 1981 cult classic animated film "Heavy Metal". So I'm going to stick to that. Of course, I want to let everybody know that this is going to be a long review because I have a lot to uncover here. Oh, and just in case you have never seen this movie before, be warned because this review contains spoilers.

The first thing I want to get out of the way is the history of the franchise. Before there was a theatrical movie, there were the adult themed fantasy magazine series which as I've already mentioned were created by Kevin Eastman. The series debuted back in 1977, and is known for its blend of dark fantasy, science fiction, intense violence, sexual themes, and erotica. The comics became an ongoing franchise that has continued from the late 1970s all the way to the present day. Publication of the French magazine ceased in 1987. It resumed in July of 2002 under the French name Métal Hurlant, and edited by Les Humanoïdes Associés. Interestingly, Kevin Eastman is also the co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which like Heavy Metal, is also a long running franchise. The 1981 film was adapted from several of the magazine's comic serials. Made on a budget of $9,300,000, under production for three years, Heavy Metal featured animated segments from several different animation houses with each doing a single segment. Another house animated the frame story which tied all the individual stories together. Like the magazine, the movie featured a great deal of sex, nudity, and graphic violence, though not to the degree seen in the magazine. The movie begins when the Loc-Nar, (voiced by Percy Rodriguez) terrorizes the young girl and shows her the series of stories that detail its long and dark history.

The first of these stories is the "Harry Canyon" segment, which centers around a middle aged taxi cab driver who lives in a futuristic New York City, plagued by crime, prostitution, vandalism, and illegal immigration from aliens from other worlds. For Harry Canyon, every day is just an ordinary day as he spends most of his time driving passengers to their designated locations around the city for payment. And those who try to screw him over get vaporized by a device in the passenger seat simply with the touch of a button. Harry Canyon narrates his story in "film noir" style, much like in the days when the genre was popular. Anyway, he stumbles into an incident where a fat gangster named Rudnick and his cyborg henchmen murder an archaeologist on the front steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Harry reluctantly allows the murdered man's daughter into his cab, and she tells him about her father's discovery of the Loc-Nar; an ancient artifact over which people are killing each other. The woman passes out from over anxiety, and Harry takes her back to his apartment. Later that night, the girl gets undressed, climbs into bed with Harry, and they both have sex. The next morning, Harry awakens alone when two cops bust into his apartment and ask for the girl, whose existence he denies because she disappeared. Later, Harry goes into his cab, and is confronted by Rudnick and his men. Rudnick demands Harry to deliver the Loc-Nar to him, or else he'll kill him and the girl if he does not cooperate. Later, the girl contacts Harry and offers to sell the Loc-Nar and split the proceeds with him. He agrees to take her to the exchange. When Rudnick gets the Loc-Nar, he takes it out of its isolation case, and it melts him down in a similar way it did to Grimaldi at the movie's opening. After that's over, Harry offers the woman a life of luxury with the money they obtained. But the woman becomes greedy and pulls a gun on Harry, forcing him to defend himself by using his disintegrating device to vaporize her. Harry keeps the money for himself, and writes it up as a "two day ride with one hell of a tip".

The second segment in this movie is "Den", which begins when a young boy discovers the Loc-Nar in his backyard, and takes it back into his house to add to his rock collection. Later, on a dark stormy night, the boy is seen performing some kind of lightning experiment of sorts. And as a bolt of lightning strikes, the Loc-Nar magically transports the kid into another world and dimension called "Neverwhere". And that's not all; upon his arrival to that other world, the kid is transformed into a muscular bald-headed man. After finding himself on top of a small tower, he immediately dons a loincloth to cover his private area, and then he peeks down to the ground to see that a cult is performing a strange ritual in which a young naked woman is being sacrificed. Den saves the girl, and swims all the way to safety through a tunnel in the pool where the woman was tossed in. After making it a safe distance from the cult, the two are seen alone together somewhere in a jungle, where they kindly introduce themselves to one another. The girl introduces herself as Katharine Wells, and then they proceed to make love to one another. But just before they could have some private time together, they are taken by a group of strange creatures to their leader, who introduces himself as Ard. Ard demands Den to steal the Queen's sacred Loc-Nar in exchange for Katharine's safety. Although reluctant at first, Den agrees to carry out this task and is aided by a gorilla named Norl and his team of warriors. They get through the defenses in the Queen's castle. But just as Den was close to retrieving the Loc-Nar, he is suddenly taken by surprise by the Queen's men. But as the Queen for some odd reason offers Den to have sex with her, a minion races to the Queen to inform her that the Loc-Nar is been stolen by Norl's team, which enrages her. Den escapes and makes his way back to Ard's fortress with the Queen and her henchmen in pursuit. Back at Ard's fortress, Den manages to save Katharine from Ard as he was attempting to recreate the sacrifice from earlier. A fierce and bloody battle between the Queen and Ard's soldiers ensue, and as the Queen and Ard fight over the Loc-Nar, Den ends the battle by recreating the incident that drew him to Neverwhere, banishing them both, apparently back to Earth. Refusing the opportunity to rule, Den and Katherine ride into the sunset on a giant fly, content to remain in Neverwhere as heroes in an ideal world.

The third segment in this movie is "Captain Sternn" which takes place on board on oddly shaped space station where the title character, Captain Sternn, is put on trial for numerous serious charges presented by the prosecutor. Pleading "Not guilty" against all the charges and against the advice of his lawyer, Sternn explains to his astonished lawyer that he expects to be acquitted because he bribed a witness, Hanover Fiste, to praise his character. And so, as the apparently innocent and unassuming Hanover Fiste makes his way into the court and takes his stand, he proceeds to proclaim Sternn innocent by stating positive things about him. But, prior to his arrival to court, Hanover Fiste had previously stumbled upon the Loc-Nar, which had shrunk itself into the size of a marble. And as Fiste continues to state Sternn's false innocence, the Loc-Nar takes control of him, and forces him to blurt out the truth of Sternn's evil deeds. Fiste denounces Sternn with such rage and fury, that he transforms into a hulking muscle bound giant, and proceeds to chase him around the space station. Finally cornering him to a dead end, Fiste prepares to murder Sternn. But then Sternn gives Fiste his promised payoff for his part in the escape plan, and he promptly shrinks back to his harmless original form. But shortly afterwards, Sternn pulls a lever which launches Fiste into space, and sends him hurling into the atmosphere of a nearby planet where he burns away. The last we see of him being his flaming disembodied hand clinging to the Loc-Nar.

The fourth segment is "B-17" which takes place during World War II, and focuses on a team of soldiers flying in a B-17 bomber nicked named the "Pacific Pearl". During a long and devastating air raid, the bomber suffers heavy damage and casualties, with only two of its personnel surviving the raid. As the bomber limps its way back to base, the co-pilot leaves the cock pit to check on the personnel, only to find mass carnage and dead bodies everywhere. Suddenly, the pilot notices the Loc-Nar trailing the plane. The Loc-Nar then jams itself into the plane, and reanimates the bodies of the dead crew members, turning them into ravenous flesh eating zombies. Before the co-pilot can return to the cockpit, he is attacked and killed by the zombies, leaving only the pilot, who just barely manages to escape the doomed B-17 bomber and land on a seemingly deserted island. Unfortunately for him however, it turns out that the island he landed on was infested with more zombies, which pretty much seals his fate.

The fifth segment is "So Beautiful, So Dangerous" which apparently takes place in what appears to be present day United States, where the press and the public are in panic at the reports of mutations plaguing the world. A scientist named Dr. Anrak arrives at the Pentagon for a meeting with the press members and military leaders concerning the mysterious phenomenon. At the meeting, Dr. Anrak tries to dismiss the occurrences and states them as simply an "isolated biological phenomenon". But then suddenly, when he sees a glowing green jewel (the Loc-Nar) encased inside the buxom stenographer's (Gloria) necklace, he starts behaving erratically, goes berserk, and proceeds to sexually harass her in front of the staff. In the sky above, a gigantic egg shaped space ship breaks through the roof of the Pentagon with a transport tube and sucks up the berserk doctor and by accident along with Gloria. The ship's robot soon disposes of Dr. Anrak, who is revealed to be a malfunctioning robot when he crumbles apart upon landing. But when Gloria arrives, the robot becomes sexually aroused by her appearance. Surprisingly, instead of being shocked at being sucked up by the ship, Gloria is merely annoyed by the encounter, commenting "Who's going to pay for my dry cleaning?" With the help of the ship's alien pilot and co-pilot, the robot convinces Gloria to stay on board and talks her into having "robot" sex. She even reluctantly agrees to marry him (provided they have a Jewish wedding). The segment ends upon their arrival to a gigantic space station, with the two stoner aliens just barely making a safe landing in the hangar bay.

The sixth and final segment in this film is "Taarna" which takes place in a sort of futuristic gothic fantasy type of setting. In this final story, the Loc-Nar, now the size of a giant asteroid, crashes into a volcano, and emits green ooze that turns a tribe of humans into mutated barbarians with green skin and yellow eyes who ravage a peaceful city. As the ruthless barbarians continue their rampage in slaughtering everybody in the city, the elders desperately summon the last of a warrior tribe called the Taraakians. But unfortunately, it was too late; the city's entire population had already been wiped out. The main character in this segment is a strong, beautiful, and silent female warrior named "Taarna", who arrives too late to stop the brutal massacre. Upon her arrival to the now devastated city, she stumbles upon the corpses of the many victims of the massacre, and vows to avenge them. Her first clue is a necklace with the letter "S" on it. Continuing her journey, she stops by at a bar where three mutated thugs attempt to molest her. But she makes short work of them with her sword by cutting off their heads, and gets a helpful tip from the bartender who willingly tells her where she'll find the barbarians responsible for the massacre. Her search leads to the barbarians' stronghold, where she is captured, tortured and left for dead. But with the help of her loyal bird companion, she escapes, and confronts the barbarian leader, who challenges her to a one on one duel. The two clash, and exchange some brutal gash wounds and injuries onto each other. Although wounded, Taarna manages to emerge victorious and defeats the leader by jamming her fist through his head, killing him instantly. After finishing with him, she then mounts her bird, and sacrifices herself to destroy the Loc-Nar. Back at the house from the beginning of the movie, the Loc-Nar terrorizing the young girl begins to crumble. The girl flees and races out of the house as the Loc-Nar explodes and takes down the entire house along with it. The girl awakens the next morning to find that she has survived, and a bird mysteriously appears out of nowhere. It is then revealed that the girl is the next Taraakian defender as her hair turns white and a tattoo appears on the side of her neck. The movie ends as the girl rides off on her bird and flies away into the sky.

I have to admit that this movie has really left a deep impact on me with its variety of stories along with its action scenes, sexual themes, and its overall dark and engaging atmosphere. As far as I know, this movie is probably one of the earliest examples of animated motion pictures that were targeted towards a mature audience. Because most animated films back in the day were strictly targeted towards children. In fact, most of what was seen in the US back then, were typically of the "family entertainment" variety seen in Saturday morning cartoons. Whereas Heavy Metal was completely different from the usual cartoons that my generation saw back in the day due to its dark atmosphere and adult themes. In fact, the makers of this movie took a huge risk in making something that totally broke all the rules and boundaries, and forever changed the history of animation. For this reason, I consider Heavy Metal to be one of the few and earliest examples of North American animated films that are greatly unique from the usual, and have that ability to leave audiences with a long lasting impression. As far as I know, it's very rare to come across American animated films that touch upon this kind of category since there's very few of them in existence. There are a few other examples. But nothing comes close to the epic awesomeness that is Heavy Metal. At least not in my opinion anyway. Of course, Heavy Metal is a Canadian film, meaning its not from the United States. But I guess it can still be considered an American film in some sense.

So anyway, Heavy Metal was released theatrically in Canada in 1981. In its original theatrical release, the movie has grossed nearly $20,000,000 at the box office. Since then, it's received a bit of a mixed reputation. Initially, critical response to the film was generally dismissive with some reviewers making positive comments. The film enjoyed only limited appeal in its initial run, but became a popular cult attraction for midnight theatrical showings, much like the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Legal problems with the copyrights for some of the music used in the film prevented a commercial home video release for 15 years, although the film was in rotation on some cable channels including Cinemax, HBO, and TBS, which allowed fans to record it and circulate bootleg copies. Heavy Metal may be the canonical example of a popular film or album that was unavailable to consumers for a long time for obscure reasons, despite popular acclaim or success. From what I heard, the movie didn't receive a home release until 1996 with the release of the first VHS edition. Prior to official release on videocassette, the film was re-released to select theaters on March 8, 1996 taking in $550,000. The subsequent home video release spawned over one million units. The film saw a release on DVD complete with trailers, scene selections, and other extra bonus features. The film was then released on Blu-Ray Disc on February 1, 2011 as a Best Buy exclusive and it was later released everywhere on June 14, 2011.

To my understanding, Heavy Metal also had a few deleted scenes that were not featured in the theatrical version. In the VHS tape that I rented back in 1999 along with what is featured in the bonus features of the DVD edition, there was an animated sequence called "Neverwhere Land" animated by Cornelius Cole. This segment, which is not featured anywhere in the film, takes on a completely different style of animation from the styles that were featured in the movie, and chronicles the history of the Loc-Nar. In this segment, the green orb lands on Earth during the prehistoric age. Time passes and life evolves and the orb causes violence on our planet. It all starts with dinosaurs maiming each other and continues with cavemen chasing mammoths. We see Vikings, Romans, the Plague, and Jack the Ripper. At last we see Adolf Hitler and the workprint changes to B-17. However, for the final version of Neverwhere Land, a few minor changes have been made compared to the storyboards and workprint versions. Hitler has been removed and replaced with general World War II footage. Also, Jack the Ripper's murdering of a woman has been toned down. While in the workprint he decapitates the girl while having sex with her, in the final version it is only hinted at that he stabs her. The first four screens show the workprint version while the next four show the final version. It's also worth pointing out that some scenes in some of the film's segments have been changed as well. In the segment "So Beautiful, So Dangerous", many of the character designs were changed although the events of the scenes have remained untouched from how they were originally written. Interestingly, in the "Taarna" sequence, we learn that the scene where the female warrior slowly gets dressed in her attire and acquires her sword was originally designed by capturing live footage using a real live actress. This footage was then used to create the finalized animated version of the scene, which is the version that audiences are most familiar with. This technique is what is refered to as "rotoscope animation". Another interesting note is the prologue sequence at the beginning of the film. In an early draft it was planned that the astronaut Grimaldi, after entering the house, would show the girl a giant carousel with various objects such as a B-17 or a taxi that serve as changeovers to the various episodes. In the end, during Taarna's whipping, the girl was to feel her pain and become the new guardian just like in the final version. However, this was changed to having Taarna and the girl being separate characters, with the girl turning out to be Taarna's successor.

Like many other great movies I can possibly think of, Heavy Metal is jam packed with great memorable scenes which have been etched into my mind since the first time I watched it back in 1999. From the intro sequence with the astronaut hurling his way down to Earth, to the intense action and the sex scenes from the various chapters, to the suspense and thrills that the overall atmosphere of the movie induces is enough to leave your mind with a permanent mark that can last for life. In fact, for a film that's now 30 years old, the influences of this movie are so powerful, that it's like embarking on an epic journey like no other, and forever baring the memories of that journey in your mind and soul. Just like how "Transformers: The Movie" has left such an impact on me, Heavy Metal has done the exact same thing. Only it has broadened my horizons and has opened my mind to vast variety of different genres and categories, since this movie seemed to combine various different kinds of film genres all together in one. One interesting thing I immediately caught onto when I first watched this movie, is that the first chapter of the film "Harry Canyon" seems to have been the inspiration for the 1997 film "The Fifth Element" directed by Frenchman Luc Besson. And the reason why I say this is because The Fifth Element seems to draw a lot of its inspiration from Harry Canyon in terms of the setting, character roles, and sharing a similar theme to Heavy Metal about an ancient evil entity. In fact, now that I think of it, The Fifth Element has the same kind of appeal as Heavy Metal; both movies have a significant amount of action, special effects, and sexual situations. In fact, the alikeness between these two movies should not go unnoticed. Both movies feature protagonists who are gruff but sensitive cab drivers who find themselves transporting sexy but dangerous fares. In The Fifth Element, the cabbie is Bruce Willis, a retired special ops soldier. His fare, Jovovich, is the hottie alien in human form.

I'm not entirely sure which segment is my ultimate favorite chapter in the entire movie. Because all of the stories in the movie have that epic and engaging feel to them. However, some stories like "Captain Sternn", "B-17", and "So Beautiful so Dangerous" are kind of short in comparison to the "Harry Canyon", "Den", and "Taarna" sequences. But I guess for the most part, my ultimate favorite chapter in Heavy Metal has got to be the Taarna segment. I don't know why; probably because that particular chapter in the movie has some great action, great suspense and thrills, and a sexy protagonist who has since been embedded into my mind. And I think another reason why this segment appears to be my ultimate favorite is because it revolves around some of the most commonly explored genres of some of the most popular 80s cartoons like He-Man and Thundercats in having sort of a fantasy type setting with elements of sci-fi, magic, and various warrior classes. However, it's to my belief that Conan might have been the inspiration for He-Man, since Conan was invented way long before He-Man even existed, and seems to have inspired other fictional barbarian warriors imaginable. But in this case, Taarna might have been the inspiration for She-Ra, who didn't make her debut until 1985 with her own show and toy line. Anyway, I absolutely loved the Taarna segment of Heavy Metal. Mainly for the main protagonist, who was also featured in the box art and the theatrical poster of the movie. As a mute protagonist, Taarna never spoke or made any vocal noises. So she was completely silent throughout the entire chapter. But that's what I loved about her; she was hot, sexy, attractive, and tough at the same time. She's one of those characters who lets her actions do the talking. And she did that perfectly. In fact, Taarna is everything you'd expect in a female protagonist. And she's left me with such a huge impact on my mind ever since. For this reason, I label Taarna as one of the most memorable female protagonists in the history of animated films and films in general.  

I am prepared to talk about some of the disturbing scenes in this movie. Some of them include the scene at the beginning where the Loc-Nar melts the astronaut, to the gruesome bloody battle scenes from Den, to the zombies from B-17 that look utterly grotesque and disgusting with their decomposed bodies. Hell; the zombies featured in that chapter put the zombies from "Night of the Living Dead" to shame with how gross and horrifying they look. One of the most disturbing parts in this movie for me is a scene from the "Taarna" sequence where a kid tries in vain to keep out the invaders by baring the door to the castle hall. Inevitably, the barbarians break through the door with a large battering ram, and then they kill the child with arrows before proceeding to kill the last of their victims. Now, I find child deaths in movies to be most disturbing. And this particular scene was no exception. Because seeing the boy's bloody corpse lying on the ground has definitely horrified me. And I can only imagine that had I seen this movie back in my childhood, this movie probably would have given me nightmares. So I guess I should be happy that I didn't see it until I was old enough to handle its craziness. Cuz' let me tell you; Heavy Metal is one crazy movie. And because it was intended for a mature audience, I would not recommend this movie to sensitive viewers or to children under the age of 18. But then again, I was 16 when I first saw this. So who am I to talk?

Just like "Transformers: The Movie" and other iconic 80s films I know of, one of Heavy Metal's most defining qualities is its music. The soundtrack from Heavy Metal consists of a variety of epic songs by a large variety of different artists. The soundtrack was originally released on audio cassette in 1981. But for legal reasons, it was not released on CD until 1995. I have a lot of favorite songs from the soundtrack. But in fact, I can't really decide which song is my ultimate favorite since they all sound great. However, there's one track from this movie which is not featured in the soundtrack album, and that's the song titled "Through Being Cool" by Devo, which plays at the bar scene in the "Taarna" segment. But here's a list of all the musical tracks that were featured in the movie, and are also included in the soundtrack album.

Tracks
1."Heavy Metal" (Original Version) (Sammy Hagar) (3:50)
2."Heartbeat" (Riggs) (4:20)
3."Working in the Coal Mine" (Devo) (2:48)
4."Veteran of the Psychic Wars" (Blue Öyster Cult) (4:48)
5."Reach Out" (Cheap Trick) (3:35)
6."Heavy Metal (Takin' a Ride)" (Don Felder) (5:00)
7."True Companion" (Donald Fagen) (5:02)
8."Crazy (A Suitable Case for Treatment)" (Nazareth) (3:24)
9."Radar Rider" (Riggs) (2:40)
10."Open Arms" (Journey) (3:20)
11."Queen Bee" (Grand Funk Railroad) (3:11)
12."I Must Be Dreamin'" (Cheap Trick) (5:37)
13."The Mob Rules" (alternate version) (Black Sabbath) (2:43)
14."All of You" (Don Felder) (4:18)
15."Prefabricated" (Trust) (2:59)
16."Blue Lamp" (Stevie Nicks) (3:48)

As time went on, Heavy Metal has influenced a large variety of franchises and pop-culture media imaginable. In fact, Heavy Metal was probably one of the earliest 80s films that have inspired even a large number of anime cartoons as well. However, it's to my knowledge that mature-themed animated films have been around even long before Heavy Metal was released in theatres despite their obscurity. One such example is the 1977 film "Wizards" directed by Ralph Bakshi. Like Heavy Metal, Wizards was also a mature American animated film with dark themes. And then there's the 1983 animated film "Fire and Ice", which was also directed by Ralph Bakshi. Anyway, it's to my belief that Heavy Metal has influenced (though not entirely) many American and Japanese cartoons alike in a number of ways. I could be wrong, but that's the impression that I got when I compared this movie to some of the cartoons I watched back in my childhood. And of course, for those of you who don't know, a standalone homage titled "Heavy Metal 2000" was released in the year 2000, and starred the voices of Michael Ironside, Julie Strain Eastman, and Billy Idol. The movie was never released in theatres, and instead was a direct to DVD release that was also broadcasted on the Starz Network. Though, for many reasons, I consider Heavy Metal 2000 to be inferior to its predecessor because the story is garbage and the characters are bland and uninspired. I don't hate the movie, but it's not as good or as awesome as the original. And as far as I know, it will never be as recognized as the original, which in my opinion was a huge hit in the movie industry. And I'm happy to have come across this movie when I did. Because Heavy Metal has since become one of my personal favorite movies of all time.

Overall: As you may have already guessed by now, depending on whether or not you've read this entire review, Heavy Metal is one of those movies that has influenced my imagination tremendously since the first time I watched it. Since then, it has become an instant favorite of mine. To this day, I consider it one of the mile stones of animated films that are highly influential and innovative since it took a completely different approach to the world of animation with its influences and originality. Sure, it's not Japanese anime. But that hardly matters since anime films are easier to come across than North American animated films of this category. And that's what makes Heavy Metal so special; there's hardly anything like it in existence. There are a few other examples. But I have to praise Heavy Metal highly for the impact it's had on me and on audiences everywhere. Even now, 30 years after its release in theatres, Heavy Metal stands out as one of the best animated films in existence. While the animation may seem a bit dated by today's standards, each story has its own unique tone and style which serves to maintain the mood of each story. And if you have enjoyed anime movies of this category, then I recommend you give this movie a try. It'll blow you away with all the unique surprises it has to offer. The movie is available to own on DVD, HD DVD, and Blue Ray Disk. And it's even available to order online. The soundtrack is also available to order online if you can't find it anywhere in your local musical store. The last thing I want to say is that Heavy Metal has totally revolutionized the way I see movies today. And even though there are not many movies out there that are derived from its influences, I still continue carry those influences with me, for millions of possibilities are just waiting to be explored. And Heavy Metal has most definitely earned its place in history as one of the most legendary and inspirational animated movies of all time.

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