Heavy Metal (1981)
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58% of critics liked it
(26 reviews) -
67% of users liked it
(37,945 ratings)
Inspired by stories from the fantasy graphics magazine Heavy Metal, this five-part animated feature combines the talents of hundreds of artists and animators from 17 different countries. A glowing green orb called Loc-Nar that contains the sum total of all evil in the universe travels through space… More Inspired by stories from the fantasy graphics magazine Heavy Metal, this five-part animated feature combines the talents of hundreds of artists and animators from 17 different countries. A glowing green orb called Loc-Nar that contains the sum total of all evil in the universe travels through space and time, spreading violence and discord in its wake. The stories that follow demonstrate Loc-Nar's malevolent presence throughout the universe. In New York in the year 2023, cabbie Harry Canyon picks up a fare who turns out to have Loc-Nar in her possession, and it turns out to be one trip he wishes that he had never made. In contemporary suburban America, a nerdy high school kid finds the orb in his backyard and is transported to a comic-book universe where he's a mighty warrior and famous spoiler of women. A robot created by an alien race falls in love with a secretary from Earth who was kidnapped by his masters, while she is at once fascinated and repelled by his sexual talents. And finally, Loc-Nar crashes into a mountain, and a world of fantasy and danger spontaneously appears in its wake, ruled by The Defender, a beautiful amazon who rides on a giant bird. The voice cast for Heavy Metal includes John Candy, Harold Ramis, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Richard Romanus, and John Vernon. The sound track features selections by Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, Nazareth, Cheap Trick, Devo, and Grand Funk Railroad. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Gerald Potterton, Jimmy T. Murakami
- Written By
- Len Blum, Dan Goldberg
- Genres
- Action & Adventure, Animation, Science Fiction & Fantasy
- In Theaters
- Jul 29, 1981 Wide
- Studio
- Columbia Pictures
Critic Reviews
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Variety Staff, Variety
Initial segments have a boisterous blend of dynamic graphics, intriguing plot premises and sly wit that unfortunately slide gradually downhill.
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Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Some of the animation is first-rate, particularly in the more modest comedy segments, and even the heavy set pieces have greater flash and dazzle than anything Ralph Bakshi mustered around the same period.
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Derek Adams, Time Out
Fantasies that are gratuitously sexist and Fascist (macho whoring and warmongering), and whose roots reach all the way back to post-hippie paranoia, feed the tangled plot-lines of a movie that... should disappoint even the teenage wet-dreamers.
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Janet Maslin, New York Times
Heavy Metal has been animated with great verve, and scored very well, with music much less ear-splitting than the title would suggest.
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Jeff Gilbert, Film.com
Regardless of its dated stylishness (which still holds up remarkably well a decade plus later), Heavy Metal was a pioneering film in 1981 and remains a pivitol and infuential body of art today.
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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Rodger Bumpass
as Fiste Dr. Anrak
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Jackie Burroughs
as Katherine
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John Candy
as Desk Sergeant Dan Den Robot
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Don Francks
as Grimaldi Co-Pilot Barbarian
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Martin Lavut
as Ard
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Eugene Levy
as Sternn Male Reporter Edsel
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Marilyn Lightstone
as Whore Queen
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Alice Playten
as Gloria
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Harold Ramis
as Zeks
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Susan Roman
as Girl Satellite
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Richard Romanus
as Harry Canyon
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August Schellenberg
as Nort Taarak
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John Vernon
as Prosecutor
- Zal Yanovsky
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Harvey Atkin
as Alien Henchman
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Thor Bishopric
as Boy
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Patty Dworkin
as Woman Reporter
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Joe Flaherty
as Lawyer General
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Douglas Kenney
as Regolian
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Mavor Moore
as Elder
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Cedric Smith
as Bartender
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George Touliatos
as Pilot Barbarian
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Charles Joliffe
as Councilman
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Warren Munson
as Senator
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Len Doncheff
as Barbarian
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Al Waxman
as Rudnick


