RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Heavy Metal
Heavy Metal

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Heavy Metal (1981)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
61 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:23

Fresh:14

Rotten:9

Average Rating:5.7/10

Consensus: It's sexist, juvenile, and dated, but Heavy Metal makes up for its flaws with eye-popping animation and a classic, smartly used soundtrack.

Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Synopsis: This unique collection of six animated stories combines science fiction with fantasy, horror, comedy, sex and rock music. The segments include "Harry Canyon" and "Den." In the first, a New York... This unique collection of six animated stories combines science fiction with fantasy, horror, comedy, sex and rock music. The segments include "Harry Canyon" and "Den." In the first, a New York City cab driver gets mixed up with a beautiful femme fatale. Although he's become so hardened that he keeps a death ray in his car to kill troublesome riders, he lets his guard down long enough to fall for his latest passenger... and it could cost him his life. In "Den," a nerdy student travels to another planet and transforms into a macho stud with incredible strength. While fighting villains, beautiful women throw themselves at him. Other stories in this anthology feature the exploits of a beautiful female warrior, pilots fighting off a creature from another world, and a Pentagon secretary who gets captured by an alien. There's also one off-the-wall segment played purely for comic effect. The stories are all linked by sequences featuring a fiendish green meteorite that claims to be the cause of evil throughout the world. [More]

Starring: John Candy, Eugene Levy, Richard Romanus, Harold Ramis

Starring: John Candy, Eugene Levy, Richard Romanus, Harold Ramis, John Vernon, Rodger Bumpass, Thor Bishopric, Black Sabbath, Cheap Trick, DEVO, Sammy Hagar, Stevie Nicks, Blue Oyster Cult

Director: Gerald Potterton

Director: Gerald Potterton
Producer: Ivan Reitman
Screenwriter: Len Blum, Daniel Goldberg
Composer: Elmer Bernstein
Story: Dan O'Bannon

[See More Credits]

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Aug 5, 2008

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Heavy Metal

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/26/09
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

You have to conclude that its makers should have got out more.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
03/10/08
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

...An unabashed crowd-pleaser. Whenever possible, it goes for the fight scene, the sex joke, the jiggly breasts...

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
09/17/07
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

It's a mixed bag, but successful in a mindless, adolescent way.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
04/16/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Some of the animation is first-rate, particularly in the more modest comedy segments, and even the heavy set pieces have greater flash and dazzle than anything Ralph Bakshi mustered around the same period.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
04/16/07
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Fantasies that are gratuitously sexist and Fascist (macho whoring and warmongering), and whose roots reach all the way back to post-hippie paranoia, feed the tangled plot-lines of a movie that... should disappoint even the teenage wet-dreamers.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment 1 Comment
02/09/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out

No review available.

comment Comment
10/26/05
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

Anyone from the era will love it, while everyone else simply won't get it at all.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
07/25/05
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

No review available.

comment Comment
07/15/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Heavy Metal has been animated with great verve, and scored very well, with music much less ear-splitting than the title would suggest.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
08/30/04
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
02/20/04
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

No review available.

comment Comment
01/12/04
Bill Chambers
Bill Chambers
Film Freak Central

No review available.

comment Comment
07/18/03
Jon Niccum
Jon Niccum
Lawrence Journal-World

Heavy Metal despite all of its flaws and anacrhonisms, nevertheless represents something of a refreshment in today's sterile climate.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
05/14/03
Dragan Antulov
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews

A bit of a mixed bag. Some eye popping animation, chock full of nudity, gore, and alien landscapes. The classic soundtrack is what makes it most worthwhile when the stories fall flat

comment Comment
03/21/03
Brian Mckay
Brian Mckay
eFilmCritic.com

No review available.

comment Comment
03/11/03
Joshua Tanzer
Joshua Tanzer
Offoffoff

Wild animation, tons of blaring rock music, and fanboy wish fulfillment fantasies of the freakiest order. Good campy fun.

comment Comment
07/26/02
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
eFilmCritic.com

...visually stunning some of the time and stunningly juvenile the rest.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
04/08/01
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

A wildly sophomoric and stupid cartoon celebrating gore, rape and bad music.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
01/01/00
Barry Walters
Barry Walters
San Francisco Examiner

Asked if I wanted to see it again, I figured, why not? I would have remembered if it was really bad. But memory does play tricks.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Bruce Reid
Bruce Reid
Film.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
all

Latest News for Heavy Metal

June 08, 2009: Cameron, Verbinski, Snyder to Direct Heavy Metal Opens in new window
Despite some studio setbacks, Kevin Eastman's "Heavy Metal" redux is rolling ahead -- and with some suitably weighty names attached, too. More...

April 09, 2009: Rob Zombie Approached for Heavy Metal Opens in new window
Nothing's been signed yet, but according to producer Andy Gould, Rob Zombie has been approached by David Fincher and Kevin Eastman about directing a segment of their "Heavy... More...

September 05, 2008: Fincher's Heavy Metal Lines Up Directors Opens in new window
Now that David Fincher's "Heavy Metal" is back on track at Sony, directors are once more lining up to helm portions of the anthology -- including Zack Snyder, Guillermo del... More...

July 10, 2008: Fincher's Heavy Metal Seeks New Home Opens in new window
Just weeks after it was announced, David Fincher's Heavy Metal has been dropped by Paramount due to studio nervousness about the film being "too risque for mainstream audiences." More...

See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
78% 78% The Hangover
88% 88% Inglourious Basterds
66% 66% Public Enemies
24% 24% G-Force
44% 44% Night at the Museum: B…

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
90% 90% District 9
86% 86% 500 Days of Summer
63% 63% Extract
06% 06% All About Steve
78% 78% It Might Get Loud

More New Releases…

See All

RT On Current TV

The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...

Learn how you can be part of the show

More...

What’s Hot On RT

Best of the Decade

Best of the Decade

Find out what movies made our list!

Iron Man 2

Iron Man 2

Watch the brand new trailer now!

Clash of the Titans

Clash of the Titans

Prepare to Clash with Titans in this trailer!

Total Recall

Total Recall

RT looks back on Jude Law's best movies!

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Weekly Ketchup: Peter Jackson's Secret Sci-Fi Project
33
  • New Toy Story 3 Clip, Photos Posted Source: Slashfilm
20
  • Danny Trejo Talks Machete, Possible Sequels Source: Collider.com
14
  • It's Official: Jackass 3-D Coming in 2010 Source: Collider.com
16
  • Bryan Singer Returning to X-Men for First Class Source: Superhero Hype
102
  • Mark Strong Talks Kick-Ass, John Carter, and Robin Hood Source: Collider.com
1
  • How Avatar Happened: The Path to Innovation Source: CinemaBlend.com
19
  • Rob Marshall Says Pirates 4 Is Still a Maybe Source: ComingSoon.net
32
  • ET Teases Iron Man 2 Teaser Source: Collider.com
28
  • Tobey Maguire Refutes Hobbit Rumors Source: Hollywood Reporter
9
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Avatar Soars to #1 Spot
261
  • RT's Best of the Decade!
139
  • Brittany Murphy: 1977-2009
115
  • Five Favorite Films With Peter Jackson
69
  • Total Recall: Jude Law's Best Movies
54
  • Critics Consensus: Sherlock Holmes Is Worth Investigating
33
  • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: District 9 and (500) Days of Summer
32
  • Weekly Ketchup: Peter Jackson's Secret Sci-Fi Project
11
  • What We're Watching on Blu-ray from Disney!
8
  • Friday Harvest: Sherlock Holmes, Toy Story 3, and more!
7
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Five Favorite Films With Peter Jackson
69
  • Robert Downey Jr. talks Sherlock Holmes & Iron Man 2 - RT Interview
21
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
24
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
16
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
24
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Heavy Metal at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Heavy Metal at IGN

Fresh Links

Featured
Best Dozen of the Decade
Best Dozen of the Decade External Link

Last week, MSN gave us their top 09 films. Now see what their favorites of the decade are!

Top 50 of 2009
Top 50 of 2009 External Link

Here's a list of the 50 best movies of 2009, according to the good people over at Moviefone.

Santa's Naughty List
Santa's Naughty List External Link

Hollywood.com takes a stab at determining who in movies will be on Santa's naughty list in 2009.

Top 10 Movies of 2009
Top 10 Movies of 2009 External Link

TIME chimes in with their own list of the best films released this year.

Top 20 of the Decade
Top 20 of the Decade External Link

Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!

Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Follow RT on Twitter External Link

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo
About Us | Advertise | Contact Us | Press | Careers
IGN | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | Direct2Drive | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Game Sites | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | GIGA.DE | What They Play | Battlefield Heroes
By continuing past this page, and by your continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. | Support | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! RSS Feeds
IGN’s enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA.
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.