Sci Fi Movie Podcast Heavy Metal

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Hosted by Remi Lavictoire,  Ian Fults and Jonathan Colbon

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This week on The Sci-Fi Movie Podcast, Rem, Ian and Jonathan dig deeper into "Heavy Metal" from 1981 and directed by Gerald Potterton.

The PositiveThis animated movie is based on the Heavy Metal Magazine, and fans of the magazine will see very familiar material on the big screen.  There's a huge nostalgia fact here if you saw it as a younger person, and the soundtrack...well, the soundtrack rocks!

The NegativeHeavy Metal has great difficulty holding up over the years, it's a very dated style of animation. The story lacks cohesion and the soundtrack is very 80's based.

The VerdictA great nostalgia watch if you saw Heavy Metal in the 80's as a teen. Does it hold up now? You might appreciated it from an historical perspective, but if you're looking for and strong story, give this a pass.

South Park tribute to Heavy Metal

Listener Feedback

Wayne HendersonAlthough the soundtrack albums didn't contain very much "heavy metal", I love the tracks from Black Sabbath, Cheap Trick, and Sammy Hagar. I had such high hopes for the movie, after reading the comic book for a few years. However, it was a big "meh" for me...unless I missed something. Looking forward to hearing what you and the gang found from digging deep into this movie.

Elizabeth IrwinHoly Crap! You guys are reviewing Heavy Metal!?!?! YES!!

Man, this movie was a TRIP, literal, figurative, whichever qualifier you want to use. The first time I saw this movie I was a young, impressionable kid. I had no idea what any of the drug references were though I was quite clear on the sexual references - as they were drawn out clearly! hehe!

Over the years I've watched it quite a few times. It's not for everyone, but for those sick and twisted (Spike and Mike's precursor?) folks like myself this is a gem.

I'm never one to critique a movie well, so I won't even attempt it. I'll just say I love this twisted, psychedelic space opera move that makes me want to play air guitar with a vengeance, light up a fake joint and just ride the crazy wave.

In conclusion: Death! DEATH! To all who oppose us!

P.S. The Syfy show Metal Hurlant Chronicles reminded me of Heavy Metal and their opening show monologue felt like it came directly out of this movie. I tried to memorize it but, alas, I am not one who can memorize.

Mitch ToddI wasn't on drugs when I saw this movie, but I felt like I was.

Brian CampbellI must confess to sneaking into this as a teen and thinking that I had stumbled onto hormonal gold. However, having seen it as an adult, barring some great songs from the movie, I find that myself, as a teenager, was the intended audience. The animation is rough, at best. The story is interesting, as it does hold up a mirror to mankind and the nature of evil and corruption, but falls apart with an overlong ending. And do I remember some cheesy narration in there somewhere? By the way, I did go out and buy the double album after seeing it in the theater. It rocked.

Evan BrookmanWhere and when I grew up the Heavy Metal magazine was pretty risque. Sounds ridiculous by today's standard but I'm confident had I been caught looking at them I would have been beaten for looking at porn. That said, I had seen some of them and recognized the cover art, which I thought was sci fi cool but I had never gotten to really read the magazines or know the stories.

When the movie was released I knew little more about it than it was animated science fiction with an R rating and I was not old enough to get in. In a weird quirk of fate I ended up going to "The Big city" Richmond, VA with my mom. She had a bunch of shopping and errands to do at or near the mall and luckily for me Heavy Metal was playing and I was transfixed by the poster. I told my mom I would like to go see this cartoon they are showing while she did whatever stuff she needed to do. Mom, bless her soul was as good a mom as you could possibly find but movies, TV, comics cartoons & scifi were not her cup of tea. The lady had about 3 movies she knew, Gone With the Wind, The Sound of Music and Marry Poppins, which was also as close to scifi as she came. So, when I asked to go see an R rated cartoon I was shocked! she seemed pretty indifferent. She verified it was indeed a "cartoon" and the people at the ticket kiosk let her buy my ticket and I proceeded to go see Heavy Metal by myself..... It was awesome for 1981 and I had certainly never seen anything like it back then.... 34 years ago..

I liked the whole movie, animated boobs probably made me blush.... But I think I liked the war scene with the bomber crashing (spoiler alert).... it ended with a connection TO a theme enjoyed by many podcastica listeners and had Mob Rules playing for much of its story....

I have a nostalgic liking of this movie and in 1981 I thought it was completely BAD ASS! Unfortunately, to me, it looks very dated now... I think I saw it on VH1 a few months ago and the animation seemed very washed out and old and the film just lacked some lustre in transition from 1981 big screen to my 2015 living room...

Chaotic muse said on Twitter:It remains your one way ticket to midnight. Really though, it's animation is dated but the stories capture the genre spirit

TheGeekLikes said:I was 18 when I say this in a theater, so you can imagine how my mind was titillated. Great musical score!

Ton de WitteBased on stories from the magazine Heavy Metal. These fantasy stories are told by the evil loc nar who is trying to corrupt the little girl who will become a future threat. I liked the different animation styles and the music, essential viewing, difficult to say but I lean towards no. If you listen to fools the mob rules, wise words from Black Sabbath.

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