Heavy Metal

Heavy Metal (1981)

Timing: 1:30 (90 min)

6.474/10
665

All about film

Video 16

Photo 60

Actors and characters

Release date

1981-08-07

Country

Canada, United Kingdom

Production

Columbia Pictures, Guardian Trust Company, Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC), Famous Players, Halas and Batchelor Cartoon Films, TVC London, Potterton Productions, Atkinson Film Arts, Boxcar Animation Studios

Genre

Animation, Science Fiction, Adventure, Fantasy, Music

Budget

$9 300 000

Revenue

$20 100 000

Website

Director

Gerald Potterton

Actors

Rodger Bumpass, John Candy, Jackie Burroughs, Joe Flaherty, Don Francks, Marilyn Lightstone, Eugene Levy, Harold Ramis, Caroline Semple, Richard Romanus
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Ivan Reitman, Leonard Mogel

Operator

Composer

Elmer Bernstein

Artist

Audition

Editing

Ian Llande, Mick Manning, Gerald Tripp
All team (56)

• The film was not released on video for 15 years due to copyright issues.
• The film was inspired by the eponymous science fiction magazine, which was initially called Metal Hurlant (which translates from French as Howling Metal), and most of the storylines in the film are based on stories and characters from the magazine.
• The story of Taarna was illustrated by the famous Jean Giraud (1938-2012), a comic book author also known under the pseudonym Moebius. The background of the story features numerous pipelines, reflecting the artist's attention to environmental protection issues.
• The scene in which Dan decides to fashion a loincloth for himself in the world called Neverwhere is a playful reference to an original story from Heavy Metal magazine, which takes into account the existence of the American Film Association's rating system and keeps the film within the requirements for R-rated projects (individuals under the age of 17 are only allowed to see the film accompanied by a parent or legal guardian). According to the plot of this story, Dan and Catherine remain naked, which does not bother them at all, and they are shown as such in this fictional primitive world where nudity is not a taboo.