Heavy Metal

Name: Heavy Metal
Genre: Adventure, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Animation
Released: August 7, 1981
Duration: 86 min
Rating: 51
Cast: Al Waxman, Caroline Semple, Don Francks, Glenis Wootton Gross, Harvey Atkin

1981

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Ratings

See All

6.9

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

6.9	Your Score
6.9	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

Heavy Metal

Now Playing: Heavy Metal

Movie Details & Credits

Columbia Pictures | Release Date: August 7, 1981 | R

Starring: Al Waxman, Caroline Semple, Don Francks, Glenis Wootton Gross, Harvey Atkin, Joe Flaherty, John Candy, Marilyn Lightstone, Richard Romanus, Susan Roman

Summary: A glowing green orb - which embodies ultimate evil - terrorizes a young girl with an anthology of bizarre and fantastic stories of dark fantasy, eroticism and horror.

Director: Barrie Nelson and Gerald Potterton and Harold Whitaker and Jack Stokes and Jimmy T. Murakami and John Bruno and John Halas and Julian Harris and Paul Sabella and Pino Van Lamsweerde

Genre(s): Adventure, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Animation

Rating: R

Runtime: 86 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

Marc Savlov

A genuinely outrageous and occasionally brilliant coupling of American animation and classic early-Eighties heavy metal (does anybody even remember Riggs and Trust?). Read full review

Janet Maslin

For anyone who doesn't think an hour and a half is a long time to spend with a comic book, Heavy Metal is impressive. Though it owes some slight bit of its toughness and nihilism to Ralph Bakshi, this animated feature is off on its own track, combining science fiction, mysticism, sex, violence and rock music. Much of the time, these elements do what the film makers want them to, and make for a heady mix. Read full review

Empire Ian Nathan

That it is a cartoon that takes kids right out of the equation is the best recommendation of all. Read full review

Jay Scott

Heavy Metal is a first-class entertainment for the class of people whose eardrums are as strong as the pans of a steel band, whose nerves could be used to conduct electricity and whose fantasies tend to the leathery: it is, in other words, a movie for horny, hell-raising teen- agers. [7 Aug 1981]

Bob Thomas

The movie, like the magazine, contains a mixture of inspired graphics and hollow content. [10 Aug 1981]

David Ansen

Heavy Metal is the bummer version of "Star Wars," an expression of adolescent revenge against the world. What gives the movie its thoroughly unpleasant integrity is the suspicion it arouses that the guys who dreamed this stuff up mean business. If only they'd saved it for their shrinks. [10 Aug 1981, p.69]

Richard Harrington

Heavy Metal is one of the worst ideas ever to be translated into a movie. [8 Aug 1981, p.C10]

SEE ALL 13 REVIEWS

Write a Review

User Reviews

christian2021

Jul 26, 2021

I find it funny that people are either offended by the childishness of the film or only know of it because of South Park. The Movie has a long rich history being bazed on the Magazine that provided a platform for comicbook artists in both Americas and Europe that doesn't fall into DC/DarkI find it funny that people are either offended by the childishness of the film or only know of it because of South Park. The Movie has a long rich history being bazed on the Magazine that provided a platform for comicbook artists in both Americas and Europe that doesn't fall into DC/Dark Horse/Marvel. People attack the movie as perverted and immature, but guess what that's what Heavy Metal Magazine was made for, Teenagers! It's a coming of age for boys and probably girls too, which is why it doesn't take sexuality seriously as who did when they were 16? Most don't even know who they are at that point. Sex, Violence and cool Magic and Scifi mixed together helps brings the emotions out. It's amazing if you like this stuff, so yeah this movie was not made for a general audience, it was made for fans of the comics. The humor is very funny and the movie has many laugh out loud moments. Keeping in tradition with the magazine it takes the names from the movie is divided into several really unrelated parts, there is a red thread keeping the movie together which is probably for the best since its a movie and not a magazine, sort of like Pulp Fiction. The soundtrack really makes the movie as with a limited budget it's very hard to get quality animation, that being said even with choppy low framerate the artwork is very good and animation is decent even if it is on par with filmation saturday morning cartoon shows, it makes up for it with the mentioned sountrack and beautiful artwork and other cool effects. You can definitely made for watching while high on drugs, but even without drugs if you're fan of the Heavy Metal Magazine it's a very good movie.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

I_amnota_robot

May 1, 2022

Stoner movie gold. A superb oddity, mobius animation, john candy, black sabbath

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Voodoo123

Mar 27, 2023

+Inspired art and story direction
+Superb soundtrack throughout
+Great variety of stories -/+Provocative female characters throughout Wasn't sure what this film would be about, its like my teenage boy brain mixed with untethered-provocative fantasy sci fi and culture pulp. I loved it!+Inspired art and story direction
+Superb soundtrack throughout
+Great variety of stories
-/+Provocative female characters throughout

Wasn't sure what this film would be about, its like my teenage boy brain mixed with untethered-provocative fantasy sci fi and culture pulp. I loved it! Certainly much of the animation and character designs dont exactly hold up well in 2023, but the conceptual essence of what the production team did here is still very good. What I found most fascinating is how much of other material I saw in this movie...Fith element...thundercats...conan the barbarian...dungeons and dragons....panzer dragoon.... and a multitude of others.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JPK

Sep 19, 2019

Time For Cheesing!
As you could tell, That was a South Park reference up there (From an episode that parodies this film), Anyways Heavy Metal is quite outdated, But it’s still pretty good.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

Meatpasta

Oct 22, 2020

I give this movie a 5, cus i didnt hate it, but it was kinda crap and childish, it could of been heaps better if more effort was put into writing it or if the person writing it wasn't a loser, there is alot of unnecessary perverted sex **** and drug **** put in seemingly just for that sakeI give this movie a 5, cus i didnt hate it, but it was kinda crap and childish, it could of been heaps better if more effort was put into writing it or if the person writing it wasn't a loser, there is alot of unnecessary perverted sex **** and drug **** put in seemingly just for that sake of it which made me think that disgusting, perverted, scummy type people(hollywood) produced this, i would never watch this film again, it had like a couple of cool scenes and visuals, like the b-52 plane scene was sick and a scene where they use psychedelic moving oil for the horizon as a car or some**** is speeding in the foreground is cool, but apart from that and a couple other visuals its very mediocre, if ur interested watch it on ur own, but i wouldn't subject someone to this crap who didn't specifically want to see this film… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

tonykurebusu

Jun 5, 2023

Chaotic. This cartoon is a green ball. The creators had fun as they could when they created this cartoon. I give points for this.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

SEE ALL 6 REVIEWS