Heavy Metal (film)

This article is about the 1981 film. For the 2000 sequel, see Heavy Metal 2000. For films about heavy metal music, see Category:Heavy metal films.

Heavy Metal
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGerald Potterton
Screenplay by
Based on
Original art and stories
by
Produced byIvan Reitman
Leonard Mogel
Starring
Edited by
  • Ian Llande
  • Mick Manning
  • Gerald Tripp
Music byElmer Bernstein
Color processMetrocolor
Production
companies
Guardian Trust Company
Canadian Film Development Corporation
Famous Players
Potterton Productions
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • August 7, 1981 (1981-08-07)
Running time
90 minutes[1]
CountryCanada[2]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$9.3 million
Box office$20.1 million[3][4]

Heavy Metal is a 1981 Canadian adult animated science fantasy anthology film directed by Gerald Potterton (in his director debut) and produced by Ivan Reitman and Leonard Mogel, who also was the publisher of Heavy Metal magazine, which was the basis for the film. It starred the voices of Rodger Bumpass, Jackie Burroughs, John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Don Francks, Martin Lavut, Marilyn Lightstone, Eugene Levy, Alice Playten, Harold Ramis, Percy Rodriguez, Susan Roman, Richard Romanus, August Schellenberg, John Vernon, and Zal Yanovsky. The screenplay was written by Daniel Goldberg and Len Blum.

The film is an anthology of various science-fiction and fantasy stories tied together by a single theme of an evil force that is "the sum of all evils". It was adapted from Heavy Metal magazine and original stories in the same spirit. Like the magazine, the film features a great deal of graphic violence, sexuality, and nudity. Its production was expedited by having several animation houses working simultaneously on different segments.

Upon release, the film received mixed reviews from critics but was a moderate commercial success and has since achieved a cult following.[5] Its soundtrack was packaged by music manager Irving Azoff and included several popular rock bands and artists, including Black Sabbath, Blue Öyster Cult, Sammy Hagar, Don Felder, Cheap Trick, DEVO, Journey, and Nazareth, among others.[2]

A sequel titled Heavy Metal 2000 (2000) was released in 2000.

  1. ^ "HEAVY METAL (AA)". Columbia Pictures. British Board of Film Classification. August 19, 1981. Retrieved May 18, 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Heavy Metal". American Film Institute. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference thenumbers was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference boxofficemojo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Canadian Film Encyclopedia - Heavy Metal". cfe.tiff.net. Retrieved July 28, 2024.