Heavy Metal (1981 animated).
- Thread starter EmmanuelZorg
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See, I remember saying that as the credits rolled the first time I saw it in the theater-but I was a fan of SCTV so they rang bells right away.
Hi JustKate,
You have to take HeavyMetal in the context of the time it was released. Back in those days not many people would shell out money to see a cartoon at the theatre unless there were kids in tow. HeavyMetal was probably the first adult cartoon to get a wide theatrical release.
I think part of the allure of this movie comes from nostalgia. I would bet most of the people who remember this film fondly saw it as I did; at midnight showings at the local theatre as a teenager. Goodtimes....
Funny enough, I always got a positive message from the movie. It always seemed to me that it was trying to say all things are possible. No one person is the hero of the tale in real life. We all have our own stories. What is the old saying? "There are a million stories in the City"
^^ Midnight showings with the sound cranked to 11, I used to have to cover my ears at parts of the Taarna sequence for fear they were going to bleed. That it wasn't ever released on VHS to my knowledge only increased the cultness of it.
I liked the short segments, you never got too bored, and there's a lot of humor. This was before we got annie may brought to our shows, and even so, there's a real western sensibility about it that is still different today.
EDIT: Just remembered another Fifth Element connection Korben Dallas / Richard Corben ("Den")
I liked the short segments, you never got too bored, and there's a lot of humor. This was before we got annie may brought to our shows, and even so, there's a real western sensibility about it that is still different today.
EDIT: Just remembered another Fifth Element connection Korben Dallas / Richard Corben ("Den")
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^ & ^^
Yeessss, I know but...
Here's the thing. I did see it back in the day. I think I saw it at a 10 p.m. showing, and I was college-age rather than a teenager, but other than that, your remembrances, Sojourner and Mr. Adventure, pretty much mirror mine, except that I apparently didn't have as much fun as you did.
And I think that right there accounts for part of the difference in our perceptions. That and maybe the fact that I was a bit older when I saw it than you guys were and no longer lived with my parents or in a dorm - loud loud LOUD music late at night was no longer a novelty for me. And maybe that I am not a guy...
And also presumably I just don't get the thrill from the animation that some of you do. And the various plots? Meh.
But the music's great. (The very first concert I ever went to was Black Sabbath and Nazareth - I think my ears actually did bleed. I'm not sure they've completely stopped ringing yet.) The soundtrack's available now - my husband just got it a few months back. I believe it took, like, forever to release it.
Yeessss, I know but...
Here's the thing. I did see it back in the day. I think I saw it at a 10 p.m. showing, and I was college-age rather than a teenager, but other than that, your remembrances, Sojourner and Mr. Adventure, pretty much mirror mine, except that I apparently didn't have as much fun as you did.
And I think that right there accounts for part of the difference in our perceptions. That and maybe the fact that I was a bit older when I saw it than you guys were and no longer lived with my parents or in a dorm - loud loud LOUD music late at night was no longer a novelty for me. And maybe that I am not a guy...
And also presumably I just don't get the thrill from the animation that some of you do. And the various plots? Meh.
But the music's great. (The very first concert I ever went to was Black Sabbath and Nazareth - I think my ears actually did bleed. I'm not sure they've completely stopped ringing yet.) The soundtrack's available now - my husband just got it a few months back. I believe it took, like, forever to release it.
Nope, soundtrack has been out since at least the day I first saw the movie. I used to have it on cassette. Funny enough over the years I keep loosing the CD and repurchasing it. Must have bought it 4 or five times now. The movie took a while to make the transition to DVD. If I recall it didn't get released until the late 90's or early 00's. At that point they made a big marketing push of having the Pink Floyd segment back in the film. Now I love some Pink Floyd, but that segment of the film just does not work for me and I usually skip it.
. Funny enough over the years I keep loosing the CD and repurchasing it. Must have bought it 4 or five times now. The movie took a while to make the transition to DVD. If I recall it didn't get released until the late 90's or early 00's. At that point they made a big marketing push of having the Pink Floyd segment back in the film. Now I love some Pink Floyd, but that segment of the film just does not work for me and I usually skip it.
^ & ^^
Yeessss, I know but...
Here's the thing. I did see it back in the day. I think I saw it at a 10 p.m. showing, and I was college-age rather than a teenager, but other than that, your remembrances, Sojourner and Mr. Adventure, pretty much mirror mine, except that I apparently didn't have as much fun as you did.
And I think that right there accounts for part of the difference in our perceptions. That and maybe the fact that I was a bit older when I saw it than you guys were and no longer lived with my parents or in a dorm - loud loud LOUD music late at night was no longer a novelty for me. And maybe that I am not a guy...
And also presumably I just don't get the thrill from the animation that some of you do. And the various plots? Meh.
But the music's great. (The very first concert I ever went to was Black Sabbath and Nazareth - I think my ears actually did bleed. I'm not sure they've completely stopped ringing yet.) The soundtrack's available now - my husband just got it a few months back. I believe it took, like, forever to release it.
I wasn't actually trying to convert you but the gender thing might have something to do with it. Heavy Metal is probably like The Three Stooges on the guy/gal scale, not to say no women like it but I imagine it's skewed toward the other end.
I'm sure nostalgia is a factor as well, like when people watch Rocky Horror in their living room for the first time and can't understand what all the fuss is about. I was watching HM last night inspired by this thread and I still enjoy it though.
The soundtrack has been unavailable at times, though, Sojourner, or at least rare - I have no idea why, but when Mr. JustKate first started looking for it (which was, oh, maybe a couple of years ago), he couldn't find it. Maybe he didn't look in the right places.
And I think your Stooges comparison is an apt one, Mr. Adventure. Because I find their appeal far more inexplicable than Heavy Metal's.
Mr. JustKate, by the way, saw Heavy Metal about 20 times - not really because he wanted to but because when he was on temporary duty on some godforsaken military base in Korea or Japan in 1982 or 1983, that was the only movie (in English) that was available and they showed it over and over and over again. He's kind of bitter about that to this day, actually. But he still likes the soundtrack, which says something.
And I think your Stooges comparison is an apt one, Mr. Adventure. Because I find their appeal far more inexplicable than Heavy Metal's.
Mr. JustKate, by the way, saw Heavy Metal about 20 times - not really because he wanted to but because when he was on temporary duty on some godforsaken military base in Korea or Japan in 1982 or 1983, that was the only movie (in English) that was available and they showed it over and over and over again. He's kind of bitter about that to this day, actually. But he still likes the soundtrack, which says something.
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^^ It must depend on your location, because I've been able to find the soundtrack, from time to time, both online and at stores.
