Heavy Metal

The last time I watched this movie was on VHS tape. It was fun to watch it again after all these years. This isn’t everyone’s thing, I’m sure, but I love animation. This movie has some great, hand-drawn animation (no computer animation here – sorry Pixar fans), and one of the best soundtracks ever. Maybe it’s a relic, but for me it’s a revered relic. Wall-E might be cute, but he’ll never be as cool as the robot on the spaceship who gets laid by the human girl; “I’m afraid I’ll come home and find you screwing the toaster”. Love it!
Not to mention that this movie what is perhaps the greatest movie soundtrack of all time. Black Sabbath. Sammy Hagar. Stevie Nicks. Blue Oyster Cult. Nazareth. Cheap Trick. Grand Funk. Just to name a few. Hell, I still listen to the soundtrack CD just because it’s a damned find playlist unto itself.
I disagree with those who say that the animation is dated. If your only exposure to animation has been Pixar’s digital wizardry, sure… I can see why you wouldn’t be impressed by Heavy Metal. But for me, this type of hand-drawn animation is something that should not be derided. Wall-E might have been breathtaking in its use of digital gimmickry, but Heavy Metal was rendered by hand, frame by frame. That, my friends, is art.
4 out of 5 stars