Review of Wizards (1977) by Ike S — 12 Aug 2007

I'm a big fan of Ralph Bakshi, the man who stood forth and snatched animation from the clutches of kiddom. You may know him best for creating the first X-rated cartoon film "Fritz the Cat", or maybe even the animated "Lord of the Rings", but most likey "Cool World.".

One of Bakshi's gems is a sci-fi fantasy called "Wizards," a story about two wizard brothers, who battle each other in the far distant future.

On a post-apocalyptic Earth, the world now consists mostly of elves, fairies, and mutants. The evil wizard Blackwolf seeks to control the world with his army of mutants by digging up Nazi propoganda and simulating the works of Adolf Hitler. He sends out a band of Bounty Hunters, lead by the assassin robot Necron 99, to wipe all the wizards or users of technology of any kind, people that could stand in his way of world domination.

Meanwhile, the good wizard Avatar is a down-to-earth, Peter Falk-like guy who is madly in love with the young fairy princess, Elinore. After Necron 99 tries to assassinate Avatar (obviously failing), Avatar knows that he most confront his evil brother as he did many years ago, this time to the death. Avatar, along with Elinore, a noble elf named Weehawk, and a reprogrammed Necron 99 travel to put an end to this war his brother created.

"Wizards" is a very avant-garde film. It's smart, strange, funny, violent and quite remarkable. Definitely worth a look..it's unlike any fantasy you've ever witnessed...unless of course you're familair with Bakshi's avante-garde works. Look for Mark Hamill's voice, he portrays a fairy named Sean (very brief, he gets shot right away).