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Its central metaphor is a bit too on the nose, but Wizards is an otherwise psychedelic, freaky trip into an alternate version of our world. Read critic reviews
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Movie Info
After the death of his mother, the evil mutant wizard Blackwolf (Steve Gravers) discovers some long-lost military technologies. Full of ego and ambition, Blackwolf claims his mother's throne, assembles an army and sets out to brainwash and conquer Earth. Meanwhile, Blackwolf's gentle twin brother, the bearded and sage Avatar (Bob Holt), calls upon his own magical abilities to foil Blackwolf's plans for world domination -- even if it means destroying his own flesh and blood.
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Rating: PG
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Genre: Fantasy, Animation
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Original Language: English
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Director: Ralph Bakshi
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Producer: Ralph Bakshi
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Writer: Ralph Bakshi
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Release Date (Theaters): original
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Release Date (Streaming):
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Runtime:
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Critic Reviews for Wizards
Audience Reviews for Wizards
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Bakshi's first foray into fantasy animation and the experience he needed to gain confidence for his vision of 'The Lord of the Rings'. The story is simply about a post apocalyptic Earth where mutants live alongside new races of elves, dwarfs and fairies...yes. Two brother wizards battle each other, one on the side of the elves and dwarfs, the other with the mutants. They rage war to claim/save the Earth as you might have guessed. This sure is a weird combination of ideas that's for sure, hand drawn animation of goblins, elves, wizards, knights, mutants etc...Rotoscoping used for many battle sequences which appear to show various winged demons, orcs/goblins, many more knights and various live action sequences taken from other films and historic footage. The whole idea is the baddie wizard with his mutants discover ancient buried technology from our present day and use it against the good forces. This includes planes, tanks, machine guns and a film projector which projects footage of Hitler and his Nazi's. Certainly an odd inclusion for what was meant to be for youngsters as well as adults. Never the less this animated film shows how propaganda when used correctly can be devastating just as technology can be. There are a few allegories within this film which are quite clever and would clearly go over a kids head, I was never really sure who this film was really aimed at. There are plenty of bloody moments throughout just like in Bakshi's LOTR, lots of creatures getting cut down with blades and shot to pieces by gunfire, even an arrow and meat cleaver to the head for two unlucky characters! Add to this hookers that hang around in the streets of the evil wizards city of Scortch and the good wizard Avatar has a sidekick fairy in training called Elinore who is dressed in a very skimpy breast revealing little number (Jessica Rabbit eat your heart out). Clearly for the adults and clearly Bakshi utilizing his skills from previous urban based animations. A strange mix of different concepts but definitely no lack of imagination and flare. The animation is your typical 70's look which I'm OK with I guess, it does age somewhat naturally but reminds me of many tatty old foreign cartoons from my childhood which were slightly obscure. A strong colour palette much the same as LOTR incorporating nice dark cloudy skies, bleak murky landscapes and some decrepit dusty old cityscapes set the scenes nicely. The blend of animated characters and rotoscope is fine but not as natural looking as the later LOTR, this tends to look a bit crowbarred together, plus the animated characters look a tad too cartoonish in places. Overall its hard not to compare to this to his other cult work, but the Tolkien adaptation probably wins due to the story for one and the fact visually its a more oiled machine. 'Wizards' is an interesting but not very novel idea about simple ways vs technology. All the archive footage from Nazi Germany is possibly not required along with the baddie characters having Swastika's on them, comes across more like a fascists wet dream from time to time. I do like this film more for the artistic side really, the rest is somewhat dull with a lot of dialog that is uninspired. Some characters look really good like the thin soldiers wearing gas masks, whilst others look like something from a cheap kids flick. Certainly worth a watch but its nothing to rave about. A Bakshi oddity which remains a full cult with intriguing visuals but little else.
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Bakshi's fantasy sci-fi movie has his great animated style as always, and the story is very interesting. I enjoyed this movie, and if you like Bakshi's work or just fantasy cartoons, you'll like it too.
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(1977 Director: Ralph Bakshi) This was brave territory for its very gutsy 1977 release. In my theater vocabulary this wonderful animation was quite ahead of its time & is a "Must See." Watch it and judge for yourself. <div style="width:400px;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com/photos/wizards-avatar-11189288"><img src="http://content6.flixster.com/photo/11/18/92/11189288_gal.jpg" border="0"/></a><div style="text-align:center;font-size:10px;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com">Flixster</a> - Share Movies</div></div>
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An imaginative spectacle that bursts with Bakshi's uniquely homegrown sensibility. The energy and visual beauty of this film really won me over. Within its brief length of 80 minutes, it achieves an epic feel, which is in itself no small feat. A really fantastic animated movie.
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