Movies - Heavy Metal

Home > Listing Index > Movies > Heavy Metal (film)

	Movies - Heavy Metal

Heavy Metal is a 1981 Canadian animated film from executive producer Leonard Mogel, who also was 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 adult-oriented 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 a North American animated film, especially in the time before the popularity of adult-oriented Japanese anime.

Mogel planned another film to be promoted under his "Heavy Metal Presents" banner, and Scott Roberts did extensive work scripting an adaptation of William Gibson's short story, "Burning Chrome", writing a total of six screenplay revisions. However, this project, planned as a live-action film, was eventually sold by Mogel to Carolco, and the film was never made. Mogel had a meeting with director Luc Besson, since he wanted Besson to direct Burning Chrome.

In 2000 a direct-to-video animated feature, Heavy Metal 2000
(aka Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.) was released.

Plot summary

The movie's framing story (Soft Landing) begins with an astronaut (possibly the "Grimaldi" mentioned in the credits) descending through Earth's atmosphere in a futuristic automobile. He arrives at a hilltop mansion, where a young girl greets him. He shows her something he brought back: a green sphere. Shortly after he reveals it, the orb glows and painfully melts the astronaut. It introduces itself to the terrified girl as "the Loc-Nar, the sum of all evils." Before it kills her, it says, it will show her how it has influenced society through time and space. The Loc-Nar then forces her to watch the following stories (in order):

Harry Canyon: Written by Juan Gimenez (illustrator of the recent The Caste Of The Metabarons series). In a dystopian future 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 gun installed behind his seat). He stumbles into an incident where a fat gangster and his cyborg henchmen murder an archeologist. Harry begrudgingly lets 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 make love. 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 finds 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 it melts him away. Meanwhile, the girl pulls a gun on Harry, who uses his self-defense ray to evaporate her. One "Harry Canyon" scene is illustrated in these . As several critics have noted, Luc Besson's The Fifth Element
(1997) has certain plot parallels with "Harry Canyon,"

Den: Based on the original story by Richard Corben. Dan, a nerdy teenager voiced by John Candy
, finds "a weird green meteorite" and puts it in his rock collection at home. Weeks later, during a lightning experiment, the orb hurls the boy into the fantasy world of Neverwhere, where he changes into a naked bald muscleman named Den (who doesn't want his "dork" hanging out). Landing on a giant idol, he witnesses a strange ritual and rescues a nubile young woman who was about to be sacrificed to "Oolotec" (this may be the name of "Cthulhu" spoken backwards). Reaching safety, she tells him that she is from Earth, her name is Katherine Wells, and that she changed into an idealized body. As 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 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.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Heavy Metal (film) ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Heavy Metal (film); it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Movies - Heavy Metal

Plot summary

Searches on eBay

Related searches on eBay