In 1981, a movie came out that brilliantly captured the aggression, creativity, libido and adolescent humor of the average heavy metal fan. It was called, of course, “Heavy Metal.”
The animated movie was composed of stories from the edgy monthly sci-fi comic magazine of the same name, which featured graphic violence, nudity and far more adult-oriented story lines than anything dished out by Marvel or D.C. Comics. While “Heavy Metal” was definitely a vehicle for the counter-culture, it included a variety of well known animators and actors, including John Candy and Harold Ramis.
The score for “Heavy Metal” was composed by Elmer Bernstein, but the flick featured a wall-to-wall rock soundtrack highlighted by Black Sabbath’s scorching “The Mob Rules.” Other less bombastic songs were contributed by Trust, Nazareth, Blue Oyster Cult Grand Funk Railroad, Devo and Journey.
A far inferior follow-up flick, “Heavy Metal 2000″ came out in 2000, but while it paled to the original in terms of originality, violence, nudity, shock value and overall enjoyability, it sported a far more rippin’ soundtrack that included cuts by Pantera, Machine Head, Monster Magnet, System of a Down, Coal Chamber, Queens of the Stone Age and More.
Speaking of more, click “more” to watch a 35 minute documentary about the original animated masterpiece, “Heavy Metal.” (warning: if lots of animated nudity makes you squeamish, turn back now!)
