Heavy Metal (1981)

A glowing orb terrorizes a young girl with a collection of stories of dark fantasy, eroticism and horror.

Director:

Gerald Potterton

Writers:

Daniel Goldberg (screenplay), Len Blum (screenplay),

Stars:

Don Francks, Richard Romanus, John Candy

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Don Francks	...	Grimaldi (segment "Grimaldi") / Co-Pilot (segment "B-17") / Barbarian (segment "Taarna") (voice)
Caroline Semple	...	Girl (segment "Grimaldi") (voice)
Richard Romanus	...	Harry Canyon (segment "Harry Canyon") (voice)
Susan Roman	...	Girl (segment "Harry Canyon") / Satellite (segment "Harry Canyon") (voice)
Al Waxman	...	Rudnick (segment "Harry Canyon") (voice)
Harvey Atkin	...	Alien (segment "Harry Canyon") / Henchman (segment "Harry Canyon") (voice)
John Candy	...	Desk Sergeant (segment "Harry Canyon") / Dan (segment "Den") / Den (segment "Den") / Robot (segment "So Beautiful and So Dangerous") (voice)
Glenis Wootton Gross	...	Whore (segment "Harry Canyon") (voice)
Marilyn Lightstone	...	Whore (segment "Harry Canyon") / Queen (segment "Den") (voice)
Jackie Burroughs	...	Katherine (segment "Den") (voice)
Martin Lavut	...	Ard (segment "Den") (voice)
August Schellenberg	...	Norl (segment "Den") / Taarak (segment "Taarna") (voice)
John Vernon	...	Prosecutor (segment "Captain Sternn") (voice)
Eugene Levy	...	Sternn (segment "Captain Sternn") / Male Reporter (segment "So Beautiful and So Dangerous") / Edsel (segment "So Beautiful and So Dangerous") (voice)
Joe Flaherty	...	Lawyer (segment "Captain Sternn") / General (segment "So Beautiful and So Dangerous") (voice)

Storyline

A sweeping story of the battle of good against evil is told through an anthology of short animated films about a glowing green orb (the Loc-Nar) that is the personification of ultimate evil in the universe. Based loosely on the French magazine "Heavy Metal."

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Plot Keywords:

girl | heavy metal | anthology | pentagon | bomber | 

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Taglines:

Louder And Nastier Than Ever

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 August 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Heavy Metal - Universo em Fantasia

Box Office

Budget:

$9,300,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Guardian Trust Company, Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min 90 min (premiere)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The graffiti on the side of the space-going party palace reads "Martians are people too".

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Goofs

The two final scenes of "So Beautiful, So Dangerous" are reversed. The robot and the secretary exit the ship onto the space station before the ship lands. If you look closely at the lower right corner of the screen as the ship grinds to a halt in the hangar bay, the escalator ramp used by the robot and the secretary only seconds before is deployed.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: A shadow shall fall over the universe, and evil will grow in its path, and death will come from the skies.

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Connections

References Planet of the Apes (1968)

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Soundtracks

"Workin' In A Coal Mine"
Performed by Devo
Written by Allen Toussaint
Publisher: Marsaint Music/Warner Bros Music, BMI

User Reviews

Fine showcase of a great magazine.

Heavy Metal, the movie, is great encapsulation of Heavy Metal, the magazine. Heavy Metal was and is an anthology of the best of American and European comic writers and artists. It has carried the work of such masters as Moebius, Druillet, Liberatore, Bernie Wrightson, Howard Chaykin, Walt Simonson, Arthur Sydam, Enki Bilal, Richard Corben and Simon Bisley. The movie adapts some of the great stories from the glory days of the magazine.

The movie is much like the magazine: a mixed bag of sci-fi, fantasy, horror, comedy, and erotica. Some of it is good, some not. My personal favorites are Harry Canyon, Den, Captain Sternn, B-17, and Tarna. Harry Canyon is a sci-fi tale of thugs, femme fatales, and cynics ala Dashell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, transported to the future. It has been cited as an inspiration for The Fifth Element, by some; but it bears some resemblance to the works of French artist, Moebius, who created designs for The Fifth Element. Moebius also factors into Tarna, as the entire look of this sequence is almost xeroxed from Moebius' Arzach stories.

Captain Sternn is the anti-hero/criminal from Bernie Wrightson, co-creator of Swamp Thing and illustrator of a beautiful edition of Frankenstein. This is a fun sequence, full of comedy and chaos, much like the Sternn stories. Sternn has more than a slight resemblance to a certain Kryptonian.

B-17 captures the flavor of the old EC horror comics, like Tales from the Crypt and the Vault of Horror. The sequence features design work from Mike Ploog, a horror comics master and artist of Marvel's Man-Thing. It has a nice creepy, decayed atmosphere and lets the visuals tell the story.

Den is adapted from Richard Corben's tales. The melon-breasted women that Corben is known for are on fine display here. We also get the humor that also permeates Corben's work. John Candy was quite good here, giving Den the perfect adolescent voice.

Tarna is the most lush sequence, with sweeping vistas and the use of rotoscoping for the character. It is also quite violent. Again, it owes a great deal to Moebius' Arzach.

So Beautiful, So Dangerous is pretty forgettable, with juvenile humor and boring animation. Soft Landing is fairly pointless, except to serve as a title sequence. The whole linking device is unnecessary, as the segments bear little relation to one another and are stronger as separate entities. The soundtrack is great, with most pieces capturing the flavor of the animation.

Ultimately, the uneven stories and lower budget animation holds this movie back. The movie is best viewed as an anthology, rather than a complete story, and with a forgiving eye to the budget. With that said, it's still entertaining and an important work of adult animation.