Review of Heavy Metal (1981) by Steve D — 12 Jul 2014

I know, it's from 1981; but I bought a copy recently so I had to give it a mention.

Great animation in this one! The film in it's entirety has some problems, but if you want some good Sci-Fi animation and a trip into various fantasy realms, I'd say give this a go.

For me, it's all about the Taarna segment of the film, but there certainly are many interesting things to see here; especially if you appreciate classic animation that isn't afraid of showing some nudity. Sure it's naked woman drawn in voluptuous fashion which could to some seem sexist, but I feel that is a bit extreme. I would definitely say that would be a sign of the time.

What you get is what you take and I took nothing here to be offensive. I know that's easy for me to say as a guy, but I think many people seem to get a bit carried away. So I'm just gonna stay and say tastefully done and very '81(and I mean that as a good thing).

The segment set in 2023 New York has things to it reminiscent of "The Fifth Element", perhaps a touch of "Blade Runner", and dare I say Taxi Driver".?That's a bit of a stretch, but there is a cabbie so I can't help but think of it even though it was done five years prior to Heavy Metal.

The soundtrack consists of music of the time which would mostly be good, but unfortunately kind of let me down. When I learned there was a Black Sabbath song used, I thought alright as a fan of the band. But the song used is an Ozzy-less Sabbath song(The Mob Rules), so I was disappointed with that. However, Devo's cover of "Working in a Coal Mine" put a smile on my face. Remember those guys with the red flower pots on their heads?

Oh, and I should mention there's a glowing green orb known as Loc-Nar flying around which contains the sum total of all evil in the universe to mix things up.

Well, I suppose I've said enough.