Heavy Metal

Gerald Potterton
1981

The horny fantasies of millions of sweaty nerds have been penned, inked, and painted into Heavy Metal magazine, and in 1981 a feature-length animated film was created as a banner for the brand. "Heavy Metal" brings together several vignettes loosely based around the Loc-Nar, a phosphorescent green orb embodying infinite evil. The worlds/scenarios presented are expectedly fantastic and varied, ranging from barbarian kingdoms, to a futuristic Neo-New York, and even an EC comics tinged horror piece involving undead WWII airforce members. The pacing sags a bit in the middle with the stronger segments bookending the film, and while the animation is generally good, one really wishes Ralph Bakshi and his rotoscoping were along for the ride. Perhaps the most telling scene is the one in which a weakling nerd is whisked away from mundane suburbia, transformed into a muscle-bound He-man, and entrusted with saving a fantasy kingdom. The cherry on top of this literal slice of comic book fandom is the boy's voice supplied by John Candy. Cartoon nudity is of course a big draw, and the buxom, thunder-thighed lasses of "Heavy Metal" provide only the slightest disappointment in being physically identical save for hair color. This is the stuff middle school dreams are made of.