Wizards (1977)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Ralph Bakshi

Writer:

Ralph Bakshi (writer)

Release Date:

9 February 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The ultimate futuristic fantastic epic

Plot:

On a post-apocalyptic Earth, A wizard and his faire folk comrades fight an evil wizard who's using technology in his bid for conquest.

Plot Keywords:

Wizard | Mutant | Fairy | Technology | Twins

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Bob Holt	...	Avatar (voice)
Jesse Welles	...	Elinore (voice)
Richard Romanus	...	Weehawk (voice)
David Proval	...	Peace (voice)
Jim Connell	...	President (voice) (as James Connell)
Steve Gravers	...	Blackwolf (voice)
Barbara Sloane	...	Fairy (voice)
Angelo Grisanti	...	Frog (voice)
Hyman Wien	...	Priest (voice)
Christopher Tayback	...	Peewhittle (voice)
Mark Hamill	...	Sean (voice) (as Mark Hamil)
Peter Hobbs	...	General (voice)
Tina Romanus	...	Prostitute (voice) (as Tina Bowman)

Also Known As:

War Wizards (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

Argentina:82 min | USA:80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | New Zealand:M | Netherlands:16 (original version) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Iceland:12 | Singapore:NC-16 (DVD rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG

Company:

Bakshi Productions

Trivia:

44 minutes into the film, when Weehawk falls into a chasm but urges Avatar to go on, Avatar appears to mutter a spell: "Morrow crinkle frizetta." This is a reference to fantasy illustrators Gray Morrow, Frank Frazetta and Frank's best friend, Roy Krekel.

Quotes:

Max: Fritz! Fritz, get up for God's sake! Get up! They've killed Fritz! They've killed Fritz! Those lousy stinking yellow fairies! Those horrible atrocity-filled vermin! Those despicable animal warmongers! They've killed Fritz! Take that! Take this! Take that, you green slime! You black hearted, short, bow-legged...
Fritz: Max! Max, I'm okay! I'm okay max. Just a scratch. Look I'm all right.
Max: Oh. Oh, damn. There you go again, stepping on my lines, raining on my parade, costing me medals. Oh, damn.
[Accidentally shoots Fritz]
[...]

Movie Connections:

Edited from Aleksandr Nevskiy (1938)

Soundtrack:

Only Time will tell

An animated masterpiece

Wizards is great! Even if you don't like Ralph Bakshi, you should watch this movie. The story about a fight between magic and technology is great. Two magician brothers(one evil, one good) fight in this movie. The evil one, Blackwolf, is a dark Hitler-inspired sorcerer who wants to dominate the world, while Avatar is a short, stocky, cigar-smoking, lazy, red-nose magician. Blackwolf uses old Nazi propaganda films to stimulate his troops, and uses old war machines(a.k.a. Tanks, machine guns and other World War II weapons). The story is excellent, some jokes are really funny, and the drawings and animation are beautiful and very artistic. The characters are very good, my favorite being Peace, the assassin. The bottom line is: I loved this movie. It's fun and it's not stupid at all. Along with "La Planète Sauvage", this ranks as the best animation film ever.

10 out of 10!!!