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Heavy Metal 2000

Heavy Metal 2000

List Price: $24.95
Your Price: $22.46
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Typical
Review: "Heavy Metal 2000" is absolutely perfect for thirteen year old boys (who won't know any better) and other pervs that still have a picture of that "Star Trek Voyager" girl stuck on their wall. Now why would I say that? T&A, blood, guns, and outer space all done in the most laughable way imaginable. If that sounds good to you, then you should stop reading this and buy it; you'll love it. But if that doesn't appeal to you (gee, I wonder why), then pass. This movie is drenched in sex. There's as many sexual scenes (nudity, sex, and sexual 'jokes') as there is guns in the film; and you have your predictable shower and seduction scene too. And it almost worked for this guy too. But, I have brain cells and a love for movies with an actual story in it. "Heavy Metal 2000" have neither. The story was horrible. The bad guy has a key to immortality and Julie (that was her name, right?) stalks him after he kills everyone in her town. None of the characters are interesting except for the film's heroine Julie. Julie is your typical cartoon version of Angelina Jolie (huge breasts, skimpy outfits, always seems to lose her clothes, and a bad attitude; just like Mrs. Jolie herself! (joke)) and is just as ridiculous as Lara Croft. Her appearance doesn't bother me, but the film wouldn't have suffered at all if she was a guy instead. Julie has a way of getting stuck in a lot of ridiculous situations. For example, the seduction scene with Tyler and the part were she has to kiss some alien slob to get across lava (as Julie says, 'If this is what it takes to get Tyler.....' I mean, come on! How lame is that?). And that's the other reason I didn't like it, they should've concentrated on the story, not her. She does get extra points for lame one-liners that actually work and, let's face it, any woman who could kill Pikachu is a-ok. With the exception of Julie's voice, none of the voice actors are convincing. Where's Matt Stone and Trey Parker when you need them? The animation does help save the film. It's definitely not "Ghost In The Shell", but it does look nice. Throw in some computer graphics for good measure, and you have a slick looking film. But not enough to save it. It gets boring often and you wish there were more suprises thrown in (not that lame attempt at a surprise for the ending either, that was predictable as well). You've heard me bash the film, so why the two stars instead of one? Well, the action scenes are good, the animation is good, Julie (so what if she's a cartoon centerfold?), and I'm being really generous. I doubt I'll ever watch this again though, I'll just stick with "Akira".

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Heavy Metal?
Review: After falling in love with the original Heavy Metal for its decidance of sex, drugs and rock & roll, I was a bit surprised at the muted quality of this movie. Its not as though the magazine has toned down that much. I mean there was plenty of T&A but none of the questionable morals. HM2K does out shine its predecesor for having a more complete story, but it was not exactly what I was expecting (especially since it have several opportunities of the sex). For people who want adult oriented animation, look for Heavy Metal 2000 and the original, but if you have only money for one and do not have small children at home, buy the original first.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Heavy Metal?
Review: After falling in love with the original Heavy Metal for its decidance of sex, drugs and rock & roll, I was a bit surprised at the muted quality of this movie. Its not as though the magazine has toned down that much. I mean there was plenty of T&A but none of the questionable morals. HM2K does out shine its predecesor for having a more complete story, but it was not exactly what I was expecting (especially since it have several opportunities of the sex). For people who want adult oriented animation, look for Heavy Metal 2000 and the original, but if you have only money for one and do not have small children at home, buy the original first.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: This movie can be enjoyed
Review: Although Heavy Metal 2000 is garbage on a futuristic, cosmic type level if you treat it as a joke it can be fun. A friend and I just sat around laughing at it's terrible plot and wooden characterization. I will admit that even that got dull after a while so I missed the last 1/3 of the movie. I gave it two stars because although it fails on every level it can still be useful as a benchmark on how NOT to make animated movies. Actually, I suggest just avoiding this movie, it's awful.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Heavy Metal of today
Review: Back in 1981, a film was made called Heavy Metal, based on a European graphic design magazine. It featured some of the best animation and hard rock avalable at the time. And now its Heavy Metal for our generation. Just like with it's counterpart, Heavy Metal 2000 boasts from our greatest animation. That being impressive computer graphics and mind-blowing movement of 2D animation. For better or worse, the film is focused on one main story rather than several featured in the original Heavy Metal. It's like Titan A.E. except less childish. In fact, make that 10 times less childish. Heavy Metal 2000 set out to do what the last one did: Break all the rules of animation. Swearing, violence and nudity are plentiful in this film just like the last one. The story is very similar to Titan AE in many ways, but I won't spoil it for you. Extra's include a special tribute to the main star of the film, Julie Strain. And a special voice talent video devoted to the other voices. Animation comparisons were a joy to see showing the storyboards and at the same time playing the film in a smaller box. Sound wise is pretty cool. You get English in 5.1 and 2.0, Spanish, French, Portugese and a special English track in which everything in the film is silenced except for the music. Overall, Heavy Metal 2000 won't give a huge impact on die-hard fans of the original movie, but it is still nice to see that this cult classic is still alive and kicking.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This movie rocks
Review: Excellent, this movie definately lived up to my expectations. The animation and sound quality are far superior to the first film. Fans of the magazine will love it. The battle scenes are amazing and story moves at a fast pace. This is entertainment.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Don't waste your money
Review: Fans of the "Melting Pot" books by Eastman, Talbot and Bisley will quickly be disappointed. The Heavy Metal magazine guys took a great series, borrowed the characters and rewrote the story. Except for references to names and places, there is little resemblance to the original story. If the objective was to tell a completely different story, Heavy Metal didn't need "Melting Pot" at all.

"Heavy Metal 2000" fails to deliver what "Heavy Metal" did. Apparently marketing didn't feel that audiences would be able to relate to non-human characters, so they made all of main characters human. In fact, there isnt' even a "Julie" in the original story. I find it amusing that the writers didn't even put forth the creative effort to at least think of a ficitious name for actress Julie Strain (except for an awkward reference to "FAKK2"). Clearly this movie was produced solely to advance the career of this actress. After all, I believe her husband owns Heavy Metal magazine. This is an abomination to the legitimate work put into the "Melting Pot". Eastman, et. al. should be ashamed for allowing this to happen to their work.

If you are a "Melting Pot" fan, please don't purchase this video. It ISN'T "Melting Pot Animated". If you are a teenage "Heavy Metal" fan and just want a little T&A thrown in, MAYBE this is for you. You're better off buying the original "Heavy Metal" video as this is much, much better both in character development, as well as deeper story-telling.

However, I will say that the CGI animation was very good. The character animation was rather flat (like your Saturday-morning cartoons -- think "Titan A.E"). Lots and lots of marketing went into this film, and they'll probably make more money on after-market merchandising. The film, however, fails miserably to live up to the hype. Many fans who waited for YEARS for this animated feature will be disappointed.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not as good as its predecessor, but few sequels are.
Review: For all you die-hard fans of the original "Heavy Metal" film, as I am, this movie should not be over looked. No it's not as good as the first one, but few sequels ever are as good as their predecessors.

The things that I liked better about the first "Heavy Metal" than this one are as follows:

#1 The first one was an anthology movie. Normally, I don't like anthology films, but for some reason it worked in "Heavy Metal". "Heavy Metal 2000" is not an anthology. For me, this made "HM 2K" seem a bit slow moving, but certainly not dull.

#2 The animation in the first one looked very comic bookish, which I feel only adds to the film's nostalgia and makes it more interesting to look at. In "HM 2K", the animation is very stylized, making it look like an adult version of "Titan AE". Again, I don't think this ruins the film, just makes it appear almost too classy to be a "Heavy Metal" film, therefore losing some of the "get down and dirty" underground animation feel that the original had.

#3 There are many styles of Rock today. Personally, I'm more a fan of Classic Rock, Hard Rock & '80s Metal, which are the styles that made up the original film's soundtrack (a very good soundtrack I might add, certainly worth buying). However, the soundtrack for "HM 2K" is made up almost entirely of Modern Metal, or Industrial/Goth Rock bands such as Coal Chamber, MDFMK & Monster Magnet. Not that I don't like those bands or the sound of the music they play, I just prefer the sound of the older stuff, which is sadly vanishing from the music market today. Today's "rock" bands, in my opinion, are actually (with a few exceptions) nothing more than weak little "alternative pop" bands that like to pose as actual rock bands (Foo Fighters, Lit, Eve Six, etc.)

Anyway, that's my little spiel about "Heavy Metal 2000". Again, I'd say that if you're a fan of the original, you should definitely see this one even if it's not quite as good as the first. Even, if you've never seen the first "Heavy Metal", or just didn't like it that much, you might still find this one enjoyable.

At any rate, give "HM 2K" a chance, and see what you think.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not as good as its predecessor, but few sequels are.
Review: For all you die-hard fans of the original "Heavy Metal" film, as I am, this movie should not be over looked. No it's not as good as the first one, but few sequels ever are as good as their predecessors.

The things that I liked better about the first "Heavy Metal" than this one are as follows:

#1 The first one was an anthology movie. Normally, I don't like anthology films, but for some reason it worked in "Heavy Metal". "Heavy Metal 2000" is not an anthology. For me, this made "HM 2K" seem a bit slow moving, but certainly not dull.

#2 The animation in the first one looked very comic bookish, which I feel only adds to the film's nostalgia and makes it more interesting to look at. In "HM 2K", the animation is very stylized, making it look like an adult version of "Titan AE". Again, I don't think this ruins the film, just makes it appear almost too classy to be a "Heavy Metal" film, therefore losing some of the "get down and dirty" underground animation feel that the original had.

#3 There are many styles of Rock today. Personally, I'm more a fan of Classic Rock, Hard Rock & '80s Metal, which are the styles that made up the original film's soundtrack (a very good soundtrack I might add, certainly worth buying). However, the soundtrack for "HM 2K" is made up almost entirely of Modern Metal, or Industrial/Goth Rock bands such as Coal Chamber, MDFMK & Monster Magnet. Not that I don't like those bands or the sound of the music they play, I just prefer the sound of the older stuff, which is sadly vanishing from the music market today. Today's "rock" bands, in my opinion, are actually (with a few exceptions) nothing more than weak little "alternative pop" bands that like to pose as actual rock bands (Foo Fighters, Lit, Eve Six, etc.)

Anyway, that's my little spiel about "Heavy Metal 2000". Again, I'd say that if you're a fan of the original, you should definitely see this one even if it's not quite as good as the first. Even, if you've never seen the first "Heavy Metal", or just didn't like it that much, you might still find this one enjoyable.

At any rate, give "HM 2K" a chance, and see what you think.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Jinkies!! Its Heavy Metal 2000!
Review: Heavy Metal (the original now), really tried to take animation to a new level. They tried new things and accomplished some very cool visuals.

Heavy Metal 2 on the other had seems to have taken the Hanna-Barbara playbook of [junky] animation (ala Scooby Doo and the gang) and spiced it up with some computer generated graphics here and there. All you need to do to get what I am talking about is to watch Heavy Metal and Heavy Metal 2 back to back. Compare the two pivotal fight scenes in each movie. Or see the differences between the scene in Heavy Metal when all the baddies converge on the city or when in Heavy Metal 2 the lizard army approaches their city to conquer.

In the first film, individuals appear to be doing different things. In the second installment, all the lizards bounce up and down in unison as they move along.

Oh... another thing. It has finally been proven that just because you have slept with the guy in charge, does not mean you can pull off an acting gig. Even one which will only involve your voice. Julie Strain(my patience) could not voice over her way out of a wet paper bag.

Finally, the original was a showcase for great music that integrated into the film almost seamlessly... it felt like it belonged there. No such luck with version 2 - the music feels like it was dropped in as an after thought.

In short, its a disappointment. I happen to work for the company that makes 3DSMax - software commonly used to create computer generated animations. I get to see lots of cool animations. I went in wanting to see the output of an effort to take on the conventional wisdom of animation - whether computer generated or not. I expected a story on the fringe and music that blows your socks off.

Well, I saw nothing new, mainstream story telling and my socks are still on.


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