Customer Reviews
Heavy Metal 
2008-10-10
I bought the new revamped dvd. It said it was better than the old one. Is that nought a horible thing to read. I loved the orignal and got this. It was terrible!!! The music is very low. The last one has always been the best. Such a beautiful woman to have to save the world. They changed her face to make her look like a man in drag. Don't waste your money on this one.
This ain't 'Family Guy' 2008-09-20
Geez, where do I start with this low-tech, Reagan-era mess? No wonder the country started going into financial debt in the early 1980s -- we had stoned losers making cartoons like this!!!
See, I rented this flick cuz I figured with a neat title like "Heavy Metal," perhaps I'd get to hear rare and fresh music from greats like Cinderella, Faster Pussycat and maybe Oingo Boingo. What I got instead was Journey and Stevie Nicks, both of whom were way past their prime even in 1981, when this "revolutionary" farce was made!!!!
As for the plot of this drivel, it's all pretty thin and tedious. The movie is separated into various stories, all of which tell about a little green "orb" that wants to inexplicably rule and slaughter the already depressing planet it inhibits, using its "evil and heavy powers." Hey, I got a better idea: Just show the world this garbage and life will perish on its own!!! The end of "Heavy Metal" is so unbelievably slow -- despite the buxom yet by-the-numbers babe we get to feast our eyes upon once again -- that you'll feel like you're in the Twilight Zone -- with no stinkin' end in sight.
In short, only fans of "South Park" and "The Wall" will find this clumsy, wavy animation admirable. For real cartoon innovation that conveys worthy messages for the masses, check out "The Simpsons" or "Family Guy," two historic cartoon series that are taking the world by storm.
P.S. The musical parts with Hagar's songs aren't bad -- it was before he joined Halen but after he slyly broke up Montrose!!!!! "Call it, HEAVY METAL THUNDER!!" Pretty cool!
Thanks for your time!!!
Excellent! 
2008-09-03
DVD arrived very, very fast and in great condition! Excellent transaction! Would definitely purchase from this seller again!
Love the digital copy 
2008-08-24
The single most unique aspect here is the digital copy that's included for transfer to PC or Sony PSP. The movie itself is not really in need of review, if you wanna read Krull reviews then the internet is full of them...but this DVD includes the bonus digital copy for PC or Sony PSP. The most difficult aspect is "unlocking" the digital key that's included with purchase. Once the software is unlocked, then transfer is pretty quick and the resulting image quality is really good, especially on the Playstation Portable
Still a great film! 2008-08-23
I thought this film would be way out-dated when I first picked it up, but even in the year 2008 I still consider this to be one of the best movies I have ever seen. It is incredibly imaginative and must have been pretty ground-breaking at the time having combined animation with a level of gore, nudity and an adult-target audience which previously hadn't been seen with animated films. The plot of the movie is hard to explain because it jumps around between seemingly completely different stories, but the underlying theme is a powerful green orb is which is present in each of the stories (sounds stupid I know). Quite simply one of the best movies I have ever seen. Also, this seems like a great movie to see stoned if you're into that.
AWSOME!!! 2008-08-14
Based on the fantastical illustrated magazine Heavy Metal producer Ivan Reitman enlists the world s greatest comic book artists to create the otherworldly tale of a glowing green orb from outer space that spreads destruction throughout the galaxy. Only when encountered by its one true enemy - to whom it is inexplicably drawn - will goodness prevail throughout the universe. Lavishly drawn vignettes of the orb s dark victories include the character voices of John Candy and Harold Ramis plus a pounding soundtrack by Black Sabbath Blue Oyster Cult Cheap Trick Devo Donald Fagen Don Felder Grand Funk Railroad Sammy Hagar Journey Nazareth Stevie Nicks Riggs and Trust. Highly imaginative and full of surprising special effects Heavy Metal set the standard for alternative contemporary animation. An intoxicating experience not to be missed.System Requirements:Voices By: John Candy and Harold Ramis. Directed By: Gerald Potterton. Running Time: 90 Min. Color. This film is presented in "Widescreen" format. Copyright 1999 Columbia TriStar Home Video.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY Rating: UPC: 043396039292 Manufacturer No: 03929
"Heavy Metal" Is A Classic, But Its Time to Give Den His Own Feature 2008-08-02
No doubt about it, "Heavy Metal" is one of the most original, provocative movies of the eighties, or of any decade for that matter. A tremendous wealth of artistic talent went into creating this animated anthology. It is packed with science fiction adventure and eroticism. A multitude of high profile animators, musicians, and actors contributed to this classic. Released when MTV was booming on cable, it is understandable why it continues to have a cult following. Before "Heavy Metal" was officially released on VHS, it was one of the most pirated films in history. Every fan of the Heavy Metal magazine had to possess it.
As a fan of the Italian sword and sandal movies of the sixties, my favorite story line in "Heavy Metal" is based on the character of Den. Voiced by actor John Candy and drawn by popular adult animator Richard Corben, Den was the idol of every nerd boy who dreamed of becoming the muscle bound super hero. Take your favorite Olympian bodybuilder, imagine them nude, bald and well endowed and you have Corben's graphic novel version of Den. (The "Heavy Metal" movie has Den wearing a loincloth, much to the chagrin of numerous fans who wrote complaint letters to Heavy Metal magazine.) The Den saga exemplified the essence of Heavy Metal; it was erotically charged science fiction adventure for adults. When the feature ended, so did my patronage of Heavy Metal magazine.
Unfortunately, the story line for Den in the "Heavy Metal" movie is too short. One only receives a brief peek of Den's life. This character warrants a full length feature. "Fire and Ice" has been recently released by Blue Underground and features sensually dressed characters drawn by renown artists Frank Frazetta and Ralph Bakshi. Fans of Richard Corben should rally for a full length adult feature of their hero, Den.
Heavy Metal UMD 2008-07-22
I saw Heavy Metal when I was in high school way back in the day. It hasn't changed, its still funny and imaginative. I didn't remember all of the cartoon nudity, but I'll be OK. The PSP really does a good job with these movies. When I bought the PSP it was mainly for the games, but as I start to watch movies on it, I realize that I was missing out.
A Classic Film 2008-07-08
This film is a liberating experience in storytelling. I can't recommend it highly enough to a mature audience.
Once of the things that keeps drawing me back is the sweeping symphonic soundtrack by Elmer Bernstein. It's absolutely brilliant, and you notice it mostly during the Den and Taarna stories. This soundtrack has recently been re-released.
I did notice one negative of the remastering process; in the bootleg copies of the late 80s and early 90s there were several sounds present that did not show up in the DVD release (for example, the skeleton with no jaw that used to make a gurgling sound but no longer does). These are minor but still noticeable.
Small details worthy of scrutiny drive the continued admiration for the film. Some of the animation lacks refinement in certain segments like Den, but is exceptional in Captain Sternn.
Overall, this film is a top notch experience.
Super cheesy and great 80's animated film. 2008-06-26
Well what can I say about Heavy Metal, it was definetely one of the weirdest adult animated films out there. The storyline was cheesy as hell but I still ended up enjoying it, it did have a clever plot but some parts were uneven however it was still a very enjoyable film, one of the main reasons why I was initially interested in this film was because I heard that it was a cult classic and I also heard that they were going to make a new one next year which is going to be directed by David Fincher which should be interesting. Heavy Metal 1981 was simply a great effort that showcases a group of animators from all over the world creating different stories which were taken from the Heavy Metal magazine, I must admit that the script was all over the place but it was visually stunning in an old animated style and at that time was quite innovative cause it used the retroscoping technique, Heavy Metal is more of a sci/fi fantasy film with some added humor and it's also unintentionally hilarious cause of all the nudity and off course all the female characters happen to have huge [...] (hey not bad but it does look abit outdated) and alot of violence and gore so it's definetely not for kids, I would say maybe for teens and older. Some parts do look crude and stiff like in Harry Canyon where the main character Harry who is a cab driver in a futuristic New York city looked abit deformed especially when he was eating a sandwich. The artistry changed with each segment of the movie. You could tell that the same animators only worked on their segment, and then the style would change for the next one. Ivan Reitman who was the producer of this film decided to include his SCTV friends John Candy, Eugene Levy, Joe Flaherty and Harold Ramis to do some voice over work for the film, some of them including the late John Candy voiced more than one character.
Since there is no linear story line it is difficult to describe the plot synopsis. The movie centers around an evil orb called the Loc-Nar which has the ability to transcend time and space. The Loc-Nar traps a little girl and tells numerous star-spanning tales of those who have tried to use the Loc-Nar for their own personal gain. I don't want to spoil the mystery and surprise and plus you would probably laugh, I mean its not that bad just don't expect something like anime or the kind of animation that comes from Disney or Dreamworks. The standout segments are So Beautiful, So Dangerous, Captain Stern, Taarna, B17 and Den I didn't like Harry Canyon cause like I mentioned earlier that the animation looked very crude and choppy and the story dragged on a bit. Anyway each segment has something unique to offer to animation fans, B17 was written by Dan O'Bannon who also wrote the script for Alien and Return Of The Living Dead among others. B17 is a horror story involving the dead crew of a WW2 bomber who come back to life as zombies (my personal favorite) it has a very creepy atmosphere and some gore. Den was about this nerd who gets transported to another dimension and gets a new body with all new abilities which also includes seducing naked women, he then has to rescue a princess? or something and take the Loc-Nar from a race of viscous mutants, this was my second fave cause it was a bit funny and had the best animation along with Taarna. Taarna was about a strong and beautiful female warrior named Taarna who is the last of her race of strong warriors taking revenge upon a group of evil aliens who have destroyed and massacred a civilization, this segment had the best storyline and was beautifully animated especially when Taarna was riding her flying creature (the picture on the dvd cover) it was visually stunning and looked really cool not to mention it had an excellent orchestral score done by Elmer Bernstien.
The soundtrack to the film was also quite good and the music fit each segment nicely, you have great musicians like Blue Oyster Cult, Black Sabbath, Cheap Trick, Journey etc. and some of the songs kicked a** I might get the soundtrack later, its a good example of 80's rock and metal (no hair metal thank god!). Columbia Tristar presents HEAVY METAL in a widescreen 16x9 enhanced version (1:85:1) and the sound is in dolby digital 5.1 mix and if the superior audio and video portions don't sell you on this DVD than the special edition materials will. A highlight of the extras is a full length rough cut version of the film with audio commentary with Carl Macek (some guy who knows alot about this film) and a 35 minute documentary called IMAGINING HEAVY METAL with the usual behind the scenes show featuring interviews from Ivan Reitman and the crew. There is two deleted scenes as well called Neverwhere Land, and an alternate framing sequence. There is also a ton of artwork, photos, galleries, etc: The Artwork of Heavy Metal, Production Photo Gallery, Pencil Portfolio with Animations, and a Heavy Metal Magazine cover gallery featuring cover shots of every issue from 1977 to the present!. This is quite a remarkable animated film there has been no other film to mix sci-fi adult themes with heavy metal music since HEAVY METAL debuted in 1981. Although I can think of a handful of Japanese animated films that have come close but thats another story, the sequel however was very disappointing I expected it to be just as great or even better than this film but it wasn't, despite using a more advanced animation technique and cgi it just didn't work, it was still watchable though. Heavy Metal was a great cult classic animated film and its one of my favorites, good to watch after midnight cause its weird and cool but its probably better if your stoned out of your mind ;-).
