Heavy Metal (1981)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1981
	Director: Gerald Potterton
	Actors (voices): Richard Romanus, John Candy, Joe Flaherty
	Country: CDN
	Genre: Animation, SF, Fantasy
	Conditions of visioning: 27.03.2015, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: An evil green Orb coming from Space tells of several stories in which people were corrupted by its influence.
Review: This is a cult animated anthology film based on the comics book magazine of the same same, itself a spin off of the French Métal Hurlant published in the 70's. The concept of the film/magazines is accurately described as "a blend of dark fantasy/science fiction and erotica" (Wikipedia). I would add Heroic Fantasy to this description. Only for adults needless to say. It is indeed a dream come true for a geek in the 80's, with its mix of colorful universes, perverted characters, ultra-violence and lightly-dressed large-breasted women easily giving away their body, the whole thing enveloped in a nice Rock soundtrack. The character's design reminds me a lot of the French comic books of the 70's that I have discovered thanks to some friends like La Quête de l'oiseau du temps, especially in the last segment Taarna. No wonder that this all originates from European independent writers and cartoonists. In the same spirit one can recognize the French adult animated films by René Laloux like Gandahar (1988) or La Planète Sauvage (1973). Besides, the visual aspect of the segment Harry Canyon (drawings saturated with detailed small lines) reminded me a lot of Frank Miller's Hard Boiled (1990) drawn by Geof Darrow, while the story brings to mind some parts of The Fifth Element (1997) by Luc Besson. After watching the 40-minute documentary on the Blu-ray I understand even better the motivation to produce this movie at that period of time. Indeed Disney was dominating the industry and nobody was using animation to produce movies for adults, except Ralph Bakshi with Fritz the Cat (1972), Coonskin (1975) and later on the Heroic Fantasy Fire and Ice (1983) and his adaptation of The Lord of the Rings (1978). The producers of the movie easily attracted cartoonists that confess they have always wanted to draw Fantasy and naked women since they were kids. So Heavy Metal was liberating for them and they worked like hell to accomplish this dream. The look of the movie may seem strange at first, but I was quickly absorbed by the creative energy that transpires from the short stories. It seems to me that it was the only moment in time when this piece of Art could be created, and it will never be possible anymore. From what I read the attempt to reproduce it 20 years later with Heavy Metal 2000 is a failure. I may try to watch it one day.
Rating: 7 /10