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Movies / On DVD / Heavy Metal
Heavy Metal

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Heavy Metal (1981)

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61 %
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Reviews Counted:23

Fresh:14

Rotten:9

Average Rating:5.7/10

Consensus: It's sexist, juvenile, and dated, but Heavy Metal makes up for its flaws with eye-popping animation and a classic, smartly used soundtrack.

Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Synopsis: This unique collection of six animated stories combines science fiction with fantasy, horror, comedy, sex and rock music. The segments include "Harry Canyon" and "Den." In the first, a New York... This unique collection of six animated stories combines science fiction with fantasy, horror, comedy, sex and rock music. The segments include "Harry Canyon" and "Den." In the first, a New York City cab driver gets mixed up with a beautiful femme fatale. Although he's become so hardened that he keeps a death ray in his car to kill troublesome riders, he lets his guard down long enough to fall for his latest passenger... and it could cost him his life. In "Den," a nerdy student travels to another planet and transforms into a macho stud with incredible strength. While fighting villains, beautiful women throw themselves at him. Other stories in this anthology feature the exploits of a beautiful female warrior, pilots fighting off a creature from another world, and a Pentagon secretary who gets captured by an alien. There's also one off-the-wall segment played purely for comic effect. The stories are all linked by sequences featuring a fiendish green meteorite that claims to be the cause of evil throughout the world. [More]

Starring: John Candy, Eugene Levy, Richard Romanus, Harold Ramis

Starring: John Candy, Eugene Levy, Richard Romanus, Harold Ramis, John Vernon, Rodger Bumpass, Thor Bishopric, Black Sabbath, Cheap Trick, DEVO, Sammy Hagar, Stevie Nicks, Blue Oyster Cult

Director: Gerald Potterton

Director: Gerald Potterton
Producer: Ivan Reitman
Screenwriter: Len Blum, Daniel Goldberg
Composer: Elmer Bernstein
Story: Dan O'Bannon

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Heavy Metal

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21 - 24 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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This is simply exploitation on a very juvenile level.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/01/00
Chris Hicks
Chris Hicks
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

This animated movie based on the comics of the same title is fun once you accept it on its own terms, i.e., brainless and adolescent.

Full Review Source: Sci-Fi Movie Page | comment Comment
01/01/00
James O'Ehley
James O'Ehley
Sci-Fi Movie Page

Regardless of its dated stylishness (which still holds up remarkably well a decade plus later), Heavy Metal was a pioneering film in 1981 and remains a pivitol and infuential body of art today.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Jeff Gilbert
Jeff Gilbert
Film.com

A genuinely outrageous and occasionally brilliant coupling of American animation and classic early-Eighties heavy metal.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Marc Savlov
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle
 
 
21 - 24 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2
all

Latest News for Heavy Metal

June 08, 2009: Cameron, Verbinski, Snyder to Direct Heavy Metal Opens in new window
Despite some studio setbacks, Kevin Eastman's "Heavy Metal" redux is rolling ahead -- and with some suitably weighty names attached, too. More...

April 09, 2009: Rob Zombie Approached for Heavy Metal Opens in new window
Nothing's been signed yet, but according to producer Andy Gould, Rob Zombie has been approached by David Fincher and Kevin Eastman about directing a segment of their "Heavy... More...

September 05, 2008: Fincher's Heavy Metal Lines Up Directors Opens in new window
Now that David Fincher's "Heavy Metal" is back on track at Sony, directors are once more lining up to helm portions of the anthology -- including Zack Snyder, Guillermo del... More...

July 10, 2008: Fincher's Heavy Metal Seeks New Home Opens in new window
Just weeks after it was announced, David Fincher's Heavy Metal has been dropped by Paramount due to studio nervousness about the film being "too risque for mainstream audiences." More...

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