Heavy Metal (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the 1981 Canadian film. For other uses of Heavy metal, see Heavy metal (disambiguation).
Heavy Metal

Theatrical release poster.
Directed by Gerald Potterton
Jimmy T. Murakami
Produced by Leonard Mogel
Ivan Reitman
Written by Len Blum
Corny Cole
Richard Corben
Juan Gimenez
Angus McKie
Bernie Wrightson
Starring Harvey Atkin
Thor Bishopric
Jackie Burroughs
John Candy
Eugene Levy
Marilyn Lightstone
Harold Ramis
Richard Romanus
Music by Elmer Bernstein, various artists
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) August 7, 1981
Running time 90 min
Country Canada
Language English
Followed by Heavy Metal 2000
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Heavy Metal is a 1981 Canadian animated film from executive producer Leonard Mogel, who was also the publisher of Heavy Metal magazine. With Ivan Reitman producing and Gerald Potterton directing, the work flow was expedited by having several animation houses working simultaneously on different segments.

The film is an anthology of various science fiction and fantasy stories adapted from Heavy Metal magazine and original stories in the same spirit. Like the magazine, the film has an unusual amount of bloody violence, nudity and sexuality for an animated film.

A sequel entitled Heavy Metal 2000 (aka Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.²) was released in 2000.

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

The movie's title sequence story (Soft Landing) begins with an astronaut named Grimaldi descending through Earth's atmosphere in a futuristic automobile based on a 1960 Corvette.

This leads directly into the film's framing story (Grimaldi) when he arrives at his home, where he is greeted by his daughter. He shows her something he brought back: a green sphere. Shortly after he reveals it, the orb rises out of its case and painfully melts the astronaut. It introduces itself to the terrified girl as "[the Loc-Nar], the sum of all evils." Looking into it, the girl sees how it has influenced society through time and space. The Loc-Nar forces her to watch the following stories (in order):

  • Harry Canyon: Written by Juan Gimenez. In a dystopian New York City, cynical taxi driver Harry Canyon narrates his day in film noir style, grumbling about his fares and the occasional robbery attempt (which he thwarts with a disintegrator installed behind his seat). He stumbles into an incident where a fat gangster and his cyborg henchmen murder an archaeologist. Harry grudgingly allows the murdered man's daughter into his cab, and she tells him about her father's discovery: the Loc-Nar, an artifact over which people are killing each other. Harry cannot afford to pay for a police investigation, so he takes the girl back to his apartment. That night, the girl strips, climbs into his bed, and they have sex. Harry awakens alone the next morning when the cops bust into the apartment looking for the girl, whose existence he denies. One of his fares that day is the fat gangster, who threatens Harry if he doesn't cooperate. Later, the girl contacts Harry and offers to sell the Loc-Nar and split the proceeds with him. He agrees to take her to the exchange. When the gangster gets the Loc-Nar, he takes it out of its isolation case, and he disintegrates. Meanwhile, the girl pulls a gun on Harry, who is forced to use his self-defense ray to evaporate her, after which he keeps the money.
  • Den: Based on the original story by Richard Corben. Dan, a nerdy teenager (voiced by John Candy) finds a "green meteorite" and puts it in his rock collection at home. Weeks later, during a lightning experiment, the orb hurls the boy into the world of Neverwhere, where he changes into a naked bald muscle man called Den. Landing on a giant idol, he witnesses a strange ritual and rescues a nubile young woman who was about to be sacrificed to "Uhluht'c". Reaching safety, she tells him that she is from the British colony of Gibraltar, on Earth, and that her name is Katherine Wells. While she demonstrates her gratitude with sexual favours, they are interrupted by the minions of Ard, an immortal man who wants to obtain the Loc-Nar and use it to rule the world. He puts Katherine in suspended animation and orders Den to get the Loc-Nar from the Queen (the woman who performed the ritual). Den agrees after Ard tells him "If you refuse, you die, she dies, everybody dies!", and infiltrates the Queen's palace with some of Ard's warriors. He is promptly caught by the Queen's guard, but she offers leniency if he has sex with her. He complies, while the raiding party steals the Loc-Nar. Den escapes and, with the Queen and her forces in pursuit, races back to the idol, where Ard is attempting to recreate the sacrifice himself. Den rescues Katherine, and the Queen's arrival sparks a bloody battle between her and Ard (backed by their respective armies). Den ends the battle by recreating the incident that drew him to Neverwhere, banishing Ard and the Queen. Refusing the opportunity to rule, Den and Katherine ride into the sunset, content to remain in Neverwhere as heroes with idealized bodies.
  • Captain Sternn: Based on the original story by Bernie Wrightson. On a space station, a square jawed space captain named Lincoln F. Sternn (voice by Eugene Levy) is on trial on numerous serious charges (and one moving violation) presented by the prosecutor (voiced by John Vernon). Pleading "not guilty" against the advice of his rat-faced lawyer (voiced by Joe Flaherty), Sternn explains to his astonished lawyer that he expects to be acquitted because he bribed a witness, Hanover Fiste, to praise his character. Fiste takes the stand, but his perjury is subverted when the Loc-Nar, now the size of a marble, forces him to blurt out the truth about Sternn's evil deeds until he angrily denounces Sternn to the point of suggesting gruesome execution methods (Hanging's too good for him! Burning's too good for him! He should be torn into little-bitsy pieces and buried alive!). Fiste rants with such fury that he changes into a muscled giant like the Incredible Hulk, and chases Sternn throughout the station, breaking through bulkheads after him. Eventually, Fiste corners Sternn, receives his promised payoff for his part in Sternn's plan to escape, and promptly shrinks back to his gangly original form (this may indicate that, rather than the Loc-Nar's prompting, the whole event, complete with Hanover's ability to grow and go insane, was planned ahead of time, to allow Sternn the chaos necessary to escape or fake his own death). Sternn then adds a bonus: he pulls a lever opening a trapdoor under Fiste, and the Loc-Nar reenters an atmosphere with Fiste's bodyless flaming hand still clinging to it.
  • B-17: A World War II bomber makes a difficult bombing run with heavy damage and casualties. As the bomber limps home, the Loc-Nar rams itself into the plane, and raises the dead crewmembers as rampaging, flesh-hungry zombies. The pilot barely escapes in time, only to land on an island populated by zombified airmen (this segment was based on a Dan O'Bannon script which also evolved, in quite different form, into the screenplay for Alien)[citation needed].
  • So Beautiful, So Dangerous: Based on the original story by Angus McKie. A science consultant arrives at the Pentagon for a meeting about mysterious mutations that are plaguing the USA. At the meeting, the consultant tries to dismiss the occurrences, but when he sees the green stone (Loc-Nar again) in the buxom secretary's locket, he starts behaving erratically, goes berserk, and attempts to sexually assault her. In the sky above, a colossal ship with a smiley face design breaks through the roof with a transport tube and sucks up the berserk consultant and the secretary. The robot inside the ship is irritated at the consultant, who is actually a malfunctioning android, but his mood changes when the secretary arrives. With the help of the ship's hippie crew, he convinces the secretary to stay on board and become his lover (she even agrees to marry him, provided they have a Jewish wedding). Meanwhile, the hippie crewmembers ingest a massive amount of plutonian nyborg and fly home completely stoned, crash landing in a huge space station.
  • Taarna: Inspired by Moebius' Arzach stories. The Loc-Nar crashes onto a planet, and changes a tribe of humans into mutated murderous barbarians who ravage a peaceful city. The elders desperately try to summon the last of a warrior race, the Taarakians. Taarna, a strong, beautiful warrior maiden, arrives too late to stop the massacre and resolves to avenge the city. Her search leads to the barbarians' stronghold, where she is captured, tortured and left for dead. With the help of her avian mount, she escapes and confronts the barbarian leader. Though wounded, she defeats him and in one last effort, flies into the Loc-Nar, destroying it.

As the final story ends, the Loc-Nar terrorizing the girl is similarly destroyed, blowing the mansion to pieces. Taarna's mount, reborn into a younger form, appears outside and the girl happily flies away on it. It is then revealed that Taarna's soul has been transferred across the universe and through time to her. This is further signified by the change in hair color the girl now exhibits and the appearance of the Taarakian crest on her skin. Thus the girl is revealed to be the next Taarakian herself.

[edit] Critical reaction and cult status

The critics were generally dismissive, complaining that the film was wildly uneven and appealed only to adolescent tastes.

The film enjoyed only limited appeal in its initial run, but became a popular cult attraction for midnight theatrical showings, much like the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Legal problems with the film's music rights kept it off the commercial home video market for 15 years, although it did make rotation on cable movie channels like HBO and Cinemax allowing for fans to record it. In 1996, the legal issues were resolved and the film is now generally available. Heavy Metal may be the canonical example of a popular film or album that was unavailable to consumers for a long time for obscure reasons, despite popular acclaim or success.

The cult popularity of the film continues decades later, with South Park's 2008 episode "Major Boobage" serving as a homage to the film.[1]

[edit] Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released on LP in 1981, but for legal reasons, was not released on CD until 1995. The album peaked at number 12 on the Billboard chart in 1981. Blue Öyster Cult wrote and recorded a song called "Vengeance (The Pact)" for the movie. However, the producers declined to use the song because the song's lyrics provided a capsulized summary of the "Taarna" vignette. "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" was used instead. Both songs can be found on Blue Oyster Cult's Fire of Unknown Origin album. Though used in the film, the songs "Through Being Cool" by Devo & "E5150" by Black Sabbath were not included in the released soundtrack album. These songs are on New Traditionalists and Mob Rules, respectively.

The legal difficulties surrounding the movie maker's use of some of the songs in the movie delayed its release to video. Apparently, the production company's use of the songs was limited to the theatrical release and soundtracks alone, and didn't extend to the video release of the film. Rights negotiations took over 15 years to resolve, and the official home video release didn't debut until 1996.

[edit] Tracks

  1. "Heavy Metal" (Sammy Hagar) (3:50)
  2. "Heartbeat" (Riggs) (4:20)
  3. "Working in the Coal Mine" (Devo) (2:48)
  4. "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" (Blue Öyster Cult) (4:48)
  5. "Reach Out" (Cheap Trick) (3:35)
  6. "Heavy Metal (Takin' a Ride)" (Don Felder) (5:00)
  7. "True Companion" (Donald Fagen) (5:02)
  8. "Crazy (A Suitable Case for Treatment)" (Nazareth) (3:24)
  9. "Radar Rider" (Riggs) (2:40)
  10. "Open Arms" (Journey) (3:20)
  11. "Queen Bee" (Grand Funk Railroad) (3:11)
  12. "I Must Be Dreamin'" (Cheap Trick) (5:37)
  13. "The Mob Rules" (Black Sabbath) (2:43)
  14. "All of You" (Don Felder) (4:18)
  15. "Prefabricated" (Trust) (2:59)
  16. "Blue Lamp" (Stevie Nicks) (3:48)

[edit] Score

Unusual for the time, an LP recording of Elmer Bernstein's score was released alongside the soundtrack in 1981, and it featured the composer's first use of the ondes martenot, an instrument which became a trademark of Bernstein's later career. However, it has never been released on CD except as a bootleg, though several cues have appeared in compilations and re-recordings. Some of the score found on the LP was replaced by rock music in the final film.

[edit] Tracks

  1. "Den and The Green Ball" (03:17)
  2. "Den Makes It" (02:49)
  3. "Den and the Queen" (02:56)
  4. "Den's Heroics" (02:52)
  5. "Bomber and The Green Ball" (04:41)
  6. "Space Love" (01:32)
  7. "Harry and the Girl" (03:45)
  8. "Tarna Summoned" (02:50)
  9. "Flight" (02:20)
  10. "Tarna Prepares" (03:35)
  11. "Barbarians" (03:37)
  12. "Tarna Forever" (03:37)

[edit] Rerelease

On 13 March 2008, Film Score Monthly released an official, expanded CD release of Bernstein's score, which he conducted.[2] The score was performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with the London Voices and Jeanne Loriod on the ondes Martenot.

[edit] Tracks

  1. "Beginning" 1:16
  2. "Intro to Green Ball" 1:18
  3. "Discovery/Transformation (Den and the Green Ball)" 3:15
  4. "Den Makes Out (Den Makes It)" 2:42
  5. "Castrate Him/Searching for Loc Nar" 2:04
  6. "Queen for a Day (Den and the Queen)" 2:54
  7. "Pursuit (Den’s Heroics)" 2:51
  8. "Fiste" 1:27
  9. "Getting Bombed" 3:06
  10. "Green Ball" 2:15
  11. "Dem Bones" 2:44
  12. "No Alarm" 0:58
  13. "Robot Love (Space Love)" 1:32
  14. "Harry" 1:35
  15. "The Next Morning" 1:56
  16. "End of Baby" 2:43
  17. "Council (Taarna Summoned)" 2:49
  18. "The Flight to Temple (Flight)" 2:16
  19. "The Sword (Taarna Prepares)" 3:32
  20. "Flight to Holiday Town" 2:20
  21. "Fighting" 2:43
  22. "My Whips!/Taarna Escapes Pit" 4:57
  23. "Finish (Taarna Forever)" 3:34

Bonus tracks

  1. "Den Makes Out" (film version) 2:49
  2. "Bomber and the Green Ball" (album edit) 4:35
  3. "Harry and the Girl" (album edit) 3:41
  4. "Barbarians" (album edit) 3:34

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Because of time constraints, a segment of the film called "Neverwhere Land" was cut out; in the movie it would have connected Captain Sternn to B-17. The original rough animatics are set to a loop of the beginning of Pink Floyd's "Time".
  • A spoof of the film was made by South Park, a season 12 episode titled "Major Boobage"
  • The original idea for the episode B-17 was going to see Gremlins attacking the plane and trying to dismantle it in the air, instead of the undead pilots used.
  • The Loc-Nar itself comes from the Den graphic novels, although it was not round but rather oblong, and did not speak.
  • Contrary to Den's statement in the movie (voiced by John Candy), in the graphic novels, Den did not, in fact, have a problem "running around with his dork hanging out." The change was likely made to keep an 'R' rating for the film.
  • This film would mark the second time that Richard Corben's Den character was depicted in animation. The first time was in 1968 with his self-produced animated short Neverwhere.
  • In the segment "So Beautiful, So Dangerous", after we see the pilots stoned for the first time, the ship goes through a field of space debris. Among this debris you can clearly see a heavily damaged U.S.S. Enterprise from Star Trek: The Original Series.

[edit] A new film

Variety reported that Paramount Pictures will make another animated film with David Fincher set to direct one of the film's eight or nine segments, which will also feature other directors such as animator Tim Miller and magazine owner and publisher Kevin Eastman directing another. The film is envisioned as being an animated, adult-themed R-rated film.[3]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ben Mathis-Lilley (2008-03-26). How to Understand Tonight's Epic ‘South Park’: Watch ‘Heavy Metal’. New York. Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
  2. ^ Heavy Metal: The Score from ScreenArchives.com
  3. ^ Par, Fincher put pedal to 'Metal' Eastman, Miller to direct animated segments

[edit] External links