Heavy Metal (1981)

In 1974 the French artist Moebius created a magazine with fellow artist Philippe Druillet and some financial backers.  That magazine, Métal hurlant, became popular due to its artwork as well as stories from leading science fiction writers and fantasy artists.  Heavy metal, the music, largely came from overdriven blues music using certain combinations of notes that the human ear interprets as frightening.  Although some of the original bands that helped form the sound were American, the first true heavy metal band (the term being taken from the Steppenwolf song "Born to Be Wild", referencing the sound of motorcycle engines) was Black Sabbath, a group from Birmingham, England who released their self-titled debut in 1970.  

The only connection that the magazine ever had with heavy metal music was the fact that Black Sabbath was the only actual metal artist featured on the soundtrack to the 1981 movie Heavy Metal, based on the magazine and using a number of its classic stories tied together with a wraparound narrative.  The magazine became known as Heavy Metal in the U.S. (the original name translates to "howling metal"), where it was distributed by National Lampoon as an adult comic magazine.  Science fiction and comic fans were well aware of its origins, and well aware that it had nothing to do with the music.  That hasn't changed the fact that, over the years, people are still confused on why a movie called Heavy Metal would have Devo on the soundtrack. 

The goal of the movie was to combine popular hard rock and arena rock music (plus Devo, as they sounded "futuristic" at the time), as well as a symphonic score by Elmer Bernstein, with animated versions of the stories, often featuring artwork by the artists themselves and voice acting largely done by SCTV alumni.  The result was a movie that quickly became popular with the late night stoner crowd, but not so much with the critics.  The magazine itself featured stories that often played out like male fantasy wish fulfillment, and even in the early 1980s the fact the movie was filled with large-breasted women willing to drop their clothes for the hero at the slightest suggestion was a bit too much.  Also, not having the backing of a major animation studio, it was often required for the various directors and their team of animators to do what they could in an extremely short period and with a shoestring budget. 

After returning home from a space shuttle (via a '50s-era Corvette), an astronaut (Don Francks) brings his daughter (Caroline Semple) a gift: a glowing green orb called the Loc-Nar.  It soon comes to life, voicing its intent to kill her, but first wishing to explain the reason why.  It turns out that it has existed for much of the life of the universe, bringing pain and suffering wherever it goes.  

We are introduced to Harry Canyon (Richard Romanus), a cab river in 2031 New York who gets tied up with the daughter of a scientist (Susan Roman) and the gangsters trying to buy the Loc-Nar from her.  We are then introduced to Den (John Candy), an 18-year-old boy who finds the sphere and, during an experiment with lightning, is transported to another planet and becomes a mighty hero.  The Loc-Nar also gives powers to a man named Hanover Fiste (Roger Bumpass) in order for him to get his boss, Captain Sternn (Eugene Levy) out of a jam.  It then makes its way to the Pacific campaign during World War II, reviving a plane full of dead airmen, only to later become a jewel in a necklace of a secretary (Alice Playton) at the Pentagon that is abducted by drug-snorting aliens (Harold Ramis, Eugene Levy) and their amorous robot pal (Candy).  In the last segment the Loc-Nar reveals its true desire: to bring the end to the human race by destroying its last defender, a Tarakian warrior named Taarna. 

Understandably the segments are a mixed bag of different animation and writing styles.  The beginning segment is still a fun idea, even though it probably doesn't have the same effect as it does now due to advances in animation.  It also doesn't help that the mix of Riggs's "Radar Rider", at least since the movie was re-released in 1996 after years of dealing with copyright issues, is muddy, with the vocals mixed way low.  It's a problem that pops up throughout the film despite the quality of most of its music.  The Harry Canyon sequence definitely influenced The Fifth Element in a major way, and in some cases the music mixes well (the opening using Blue Öyster Cult's "Veteran of the Psychic Wars") and other times not so well (Journey's "Open Arms" during the love scene).  Animation wise my favorites are still "Den" and "So Beautiful and So Dangerous", the latter of which is the funniest of the segments.  I do like the "B-17" story, although it ends a little too abruptly (and feels more like something from EC Comics than Heavy Metal).

The best, without a doubt, is "Taarna", in which a female warrior takes revenge upon a group of barbarians possessed by the Loc-Nar for the destruction of Kraan, one of humanity's grand capitol cities.  The animation may look a bit dated, but it was an accomplishment at the time, and features Moebius's backdrops filled with a combination of primitive dwellings attached with miles of pipelines under swirling alien skies.  It does featured an early version of Black Sabbath's "The Mob Rules" while the city is being sacked and Devo playing "Through Being Cool" in a bar, but largely the score for this one is a composition by Elmer Bernstein performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.  

For the most part Heavy Metal does what it intended, and does it well.  Is it grand storytelling?  Well, not really, at least not until we get to the end.  But then it is meant to be a movie based on an adult comic book.  Although this is the case, the main problem a lot of people will have, and have had with it since it came out in 1981, is that the portrayal of women is atrocious.  Even Taarna, who gets to fly on a giant bird and slice up bad guys with a broadsword, has to do a naked swim and put on her leather get-up before doing so.  The nipples on Catherine in the Den segment are literally drawn like rosebuds.  However the objectification is so up-front and bold that, while sometimes uncomfortable, it is so ridiculous that it is difficult to be offended. 

Despite the changes in animation, music and ideas of what is and is not appropriate in entertainment, Heavy Metal still is as entertaining as ever.  A good part of the voice talent went on to shape what remember best about the '80s - Stripes, Ghostbusters, Planes, Trains and Automobiles and more - and though some have sadly passed, we are still enjoying the talents of those that are still with us.  What was considered a niche market at the time has now become popular culture, with many of the artists involved now being held in high regard.  

Heavy Metal (1981)

Time: 86 minutes

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

Directors: Gerald Potteron, John Bruno, John Halas, Jimmy T. Murakami, Barry Nelson, Paul Sabella, Jack Stones, Pino Van Lamsveerde, Harold Whitaker