New Heavy Metal animated movie in the works.

Post by **CyrusGrissom** » March 25th, 2009, 10:29 pm

That's right four directors David Fincher, Guillermo Del Toro, Gore Verbinski and Zack Sydner with producer Kevin Eastman are gonna do a revamp/reboot/reimagining of the 1981 cult animated Sci-fi/horror/fantasy adult classic "Heavy Metal". After that god-awful sequel "Heavy Metal 2000" ruined the series which was promising, Fincher decides to start back to scratch one with being more true to the adult comics that are still around today.

I hear this will be 9 stories with a few from the original redone with a variety of different animation such as traditional 2D, CGI, Clay Animation, Stop Motion, Sketchy and Japanese animation. This should be a cool and interesting experiment in animation and could bring adult animation back to the mainstream as a break from the usual family entertainment of disney, pixar and Dreamworks.

Afterall there has been some notable adult animated movies like "Akira", the original "Heavy Metal", "Ghost in The Shell", "Ninja Scroll", "Beowulf", "Fire and Ice", "Wizards", "Heavy Traffic", "Perfect Blue", "Urotsukidoji: Legend of The Overfiend", "Waltz with Behiner", "Pink Floyd The Wall", "Rock and Rule", "Starchaser: Legend of Orin", "Hulk Vs.", "South Park: Bigger Longer and Uncut", "Team America", "American Pop", "A Scanner Darkly" and more.

Post by **eddievalient** » March 26th, 2009, 7:09 am

I never saw the original Heavy Metal, but I did enjoy the sequel a good bit, so I'll keep an eye out for this.

Post by **Ben** » March 26th, 2009, 10:37 am

Starchaser: Legend of Orin is an "adult" movie?

Post by **OriginalGagBonkers** » March 26th, 2009, 5:20 pm

I heard about this new heavy metal while paying a visit with my godfather in LA, I heard the original was good but however the sequel{Heavy metal 2000} was awful. Interesting fact of the original film is that Danny Antonucci{Ed Edd n eddy creator} was one of the animators of the first heavy metal.

But to get back on the subject, This kinda sounds promising because not only that its R rated it also has a stop-motion segment. I love stop-motion animation and it may sound promising. Rock and rule! I love that movie.

Post by **CyrusGrissom** » March 28th, 2009, 5:17 pm

Anyone here thought Taarna was smokin' hot for a toon? she's that white haired mute chick from the original. And did the original movie inspired "The Fifth Element"?

Oooh a Rock and Rule fan, cool! i admired that since i taped it off cable back in 1992 on Cinemax when i was 10. If you liked that one, check out "Fire and Ice" and "Starchaser".

Post by **Ben** » March 28th, 2009, 6:21 pm

And Wizards.

Post by **CyrusGrissom** » March 29th, 2009, 5:44 pm

Yup that too, say Ben do you think she's hot for a toon? I mean she's that got that perfection going on. And do you think "The Fifth Element" was influenced by "Heavy Metal"? i mean the same futuristic cab driver thing, evil ball from space, sleazy space fantasy, very French and of course a perfect beauty to destroy evil.

Post by **Randall** » March 29th, 2009, 11:25 pm

I believe that Luc Besson has admitted to HM's influence on his The Fifth Element film. After all, it'd be hard to deny.

And, yeah, Taarna is hot. Ben and I are maybe just getting too old to make such comments.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » March 30th, 2009, 3:59 am

There's no way The Fifth Element was anything but a lift of "Harry Canyon" from Heavy Metal!

The original HM had its share of problems -- Fantasia-like in that no two segments were anything alike, disparate animation styles and varying levels of professionalism, and perhaps over-reliance on rotoscoping. The Tarna and B-17 zombie sequences are good examples (or bad depending on your POV) of rotoscoping.

Frankly, I think the Captain Sternn segment had the best character animation and was the funniest part of the film, too. It's definitely a bawdy film and NOT FOR KIDS!

I still like the film overall even though I don't think it can be duplicated. It's a product of a time that's over. You couldn't even begin to make a film today on the budget that one had that would look as good today! It's a crying shame that North America has basically priced itself out of decent feature-quality (hand-drawn) animation unless your name is Disney.

The FAKK movie (Heavy Metal 2000) has been roundly panned and this notion of doing a 9-segment film doesn't sound like a good way to start, either.

Post by **Ben** » March 30th, 2009, 7:58 am

Rand: "<I>OH...MY...GAAAAAWD!</I>"

Post by **Sunday** » March 30th, 2009, 6:56 pm

CyrusGrissom wrote:That's right four directors David Fincher, Guillermo Del Toro, Gore Verbinski and Zack Sydner with producer Kevin Eastman

There's no question these guys can turn out some very slick, moody work and I look forward to their exploring animation. But do you see the same potential for "grit" or "fringe" or "metal", as concepts, in this new project? The original has a certain underground, "to hell with Hollywood" vibe and with these modern filmmakers I see some darker work, sure, but it's still usually a product with a very marketable mainstream veneer (Se7en, 300, Hellboy II). Not niche material and without that x-factor authenticity associated with underground fantasy/comic art (or the eclectic, wild-eyed balls-to-the-wall machinations of even the magazine).

Could you folks who were there for Heavy Metal's release illuminate for me how it appealed or repelled at the time, or if its more 'establishment friendly' than I suppose?

Aside: heh, Fire & Ice... I like how Thomas Kincaid was in on that one as a background artist.

Post by **OriginalGagBonkers** » March 31st, 2009, 12:53 pm

Wizards is my favorite movie, and loved the review. I recon you saw the south park episode that payed tribute to heavy metal eh ben?

Post by **Ben** » March 31st, 2009, 2:05 pm

Indeed I did OGB!

Post by **CyrusGrissom** » March 31st, 2009, 3:39 pm

Well "Fifth Element" was influenced by Heavy Metal magazine and is also designed by the magazine and original 1981 HM movie artist Moebius. I think the original HM is still fun and has nice animation from the animators of "Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventures" with the similar animation.

Has anyone even read the magazine of HM? unique erotic and surreal stuff since 1975 and it's one of the coolest comics around. Afterall we need adult cartoons to make a comeback in the tradition of "Akira", "Ghost in The Shell", the original "HM" (not the sequel), Ralph Bakshi, "Watership Down", "Urotsukidoji", "Beowulf", "and others to prove that animation isn't just for kids or families much like the Japanese shown us.

Has anyone seen "Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend"? the nastiest and most over-the-top anime feature ever, it makes "Heavy Metal" look like "Hellraiser". It's about this demon god who is brought after 5000 years as he wants to make three realms into one world even of demons to create chaos. It's got rape, sex, masturbation, graphic gore, mutilation, lesbianism, bisexuality, tenctacle doings, heads blowing up, eye gouging and every excess around. "Heavy Metal" is mild and soft-core while "Urotsukidoji" is hardcore as in "Hustler" kind of.

Post by **Ben** » March 31st, 2009, 4:40 pm

You had me sold on "Overfiend"...

New Heavy Metal animated movie in the works.

New Heavy Metal animated movie in the works.

Re: New Heavy Metal animated movie in the works.