Quick refresher for those who never saw the original. (by the way, what the hell is wrong with you?) Heavy Metal was a collection of six stories, tied together by a larger one having to do with a green ball that was "the sum of all evils". (By the way, if this sounds familiar, it should. Luc Besson stole this idea for The Fifth Element) We got to see it travel across time and space and screw with people's lives. It was revolutionary at the time because making cartoons for adults was a new idea, only superficially explored by Ralph Bakshi's Wizards. But Heavy Metal had gratuitous gore and t&a. Lots of t&a. And it was good. For many fans, the sixth and final story, Tarrna, was their favorite. It had to do with a legendary female warrior and protector, who exacted revenge on scum of alien worlds. Rather than try to top the original, the makers of HM2000 decided to go with one single coherent story, along the same lines as Tarrna. F.A.K.K.2 was born.

The story: Tyler is a space pirate of sorts, who comes across a mystical key buried in an asteroid, which can unlock a chamber on some ancient planet, that will give him immortality and infinite powers. He's uncontrollably drawn to it, and it's also driving him insane. Voiced by Michael Ironside, he's naturally a very cool villain.

F.A.K.K. (Federation-Assigned Ketogenic Killzone) represents an extreme biohazard. F.A.K.K.2 is the same, only worse. It's usually a warning to stay the hell away, but it's also the name given to an entire planet, to keep its secrets hidden. The world is home to Julie (voiced, and drawn to look like Julia Strain), who assumes the name F.A.K.K.2 when her paradise world is devastated by Tyler and his followers during his quest for immortality. At this point, it becomes clear -- at its heart, HM2000 just a simple revenge story.

Some very cool stuff happens along the way. A showdown in a sleazy spaceport was the highpoint of the movie for me. The deep space graphics were really badass and reminded me a lot of Titan A.E., mixing CGI and traditional cell animation. It should be noted, though, that the CGI in HM2000 did not look up to par with Titan's, but this may have been intentional. For those that saw the original, think back the "soft landing" sequence. The space shuttle and corvette looked funny on purpose -- it's sort of a HM trademark.

Julie's character had some great lines, too.

Spaceport controller: "Welcome to Neo-Calcutta Spaceport. Purpose for visit:"
Julie: "Revenge."
Spaceport controller: "Does not compute."
Julie: "Um...family relations."
Spaceport controller: "48 hr access, granted."

So....the bottom line --- how does it compare to the original??

Well, time will tell. It's a tough question, because when I first saw Heavy Metal, it was 1990 and it was already a classic. Knowing that other people like a movie already always plays a role one way or the other in how you view a movie. With HM2000, I'm sure that many will say it pales in comparison. And in a way, they'd be right. By basically turning Tarrna into a full length movie (there's even a very cool homage to the famous naked swimming scene in the temple), the writer's have eliminated much (nearly all) of the trademark humor that was in the original. See, for me, Tarrna was not the highlight of the original. I preferred Den, and Captain Sternn...even Harry Canyon. So for me, I prefer the original. But that's not to say I don't dig the new one. I'm sure it'll grow on me after I've seen it a few more times. I mean, it's really like comparing Episode I to Episode V. It's hard to do, because I've seen the original 20 times. It comes down to whether you preferred the "serious" side of the original, or the goofy side. If you liked the serious side, Heavy Metal 2000 will not disappoint. Either way, it's well worth the $40 for the HM/HM2000 dvd 2 pack. Pick 'em up.

til all are one --

- Ultra Magnus

---

Average user rating