Podcast: Heavy Metal

[Ginrai]

We have a new episode of Destroy All Podcasts DX up!

Hop on over to: http://www.destroyallpodcastsdx.com

It's about the 1981 classic, Heavy Metal, an AMERICAN movie about robots and girls. And evil space orbs. And dinosaurs. And future noir with cynical cabbies. And zombies. And lots of gore and boobs. WHY AREN'T YOU WATCHING THIS RIGHT NOW?

[lord_breetai]

WHY AREN'T YOU WATCHING THIS RIGHT NOW?

cause I hate it, it's sequal and the magazines they're based on with a level of vehemence usually reserved for Ninja Scroll.

[Gui]

Because we already watched it 20 years ago

[Ginrai]

cause I hate it, it's sequal and the magazines they're based on with a level of vehemence usually reserved for Ninja Scroll.

Oh MW, full of hate with no reasons behind the hate. Don't ever change.

[Ginrai]

Because we already watched it 20 years ago

Now THAT is a good reason. But it wasn't available on home video for 15 years and was only in the last few years made available again, so hey!

[Roy Focker]

I think Carl Maceked loved it.

The South Park pardoy was good.

[lord_breetai]

Now THAT is a good reason. But it wasn't available on home video for 15 years and was only in the last few years made available again, so hey!

I'd seen it before too... I still hate it. Over the top violence and titilation don't do much for me... sorry.

[Ginrai]

I'd seen it before too... I still hate it. Over the top violence and titilation don't do much for me... sorry.

Okay, that's better. Yeah, if you don't like over the top movies, you definitely won't like Heavy Metal. But that makes me wonder why you like anime.

[Mr March]

What anime is that funky looking robot from? The one on your splash page? It's kinda cool looking.

[lord_breetai]

Okay, that's better. Yeah, if you don't like over the top movies, you definitely won't like Heavy Metal. But that makes me wonder why you like anime.

I don't watch much anime either and most of the ones I do arn't full of titties, swearing and violence just for the heck of it. Just saying.

[Ginrai]

I don't watch much anime either and most of the ones I do arn't full of titties, swearing and violence just for the heck of it. Just saying.

What anime DO you watch?

[Gubaba]

What anime DO you watch?

Maybe he's big Chibi Maruko-chan buff...

(They really do exist; I met one once. He was...odd.)

[Ginrai]

What anime is that funky looking robot from? The one on your splash page? It's kinda cool looking.

It's from no anime. It's custom designed for us by this artist I know named Shaloop. It's our spokesrobot! That's why the handles of the swords are microphones.

[Ginrai]

Maybe he's big Chibi Maruko-chan buff...

(They really do exist; I met one once. He was...odd.)

Chibi Maruko-chan is the name of an actual show? That sounds like a joke name!

[lord_breetai]

What anime DO you watch?

Well the current anime TV shows that I watched to completion since 2003 are Haruhi, Lucky Star, Macross Frontier and Full Metal Alchemist. I've also completed some older shows... I also don't mind violence or sex or swearing in movies... but when it becomes a sundae with 80% violence-fat in the ice cream and heavy coverings of swearing and sex toppings... I dunno it doesn't offend it just gets dumb.

[Einherjar]

Heavy Metal, now that was a crazy one I remember (stupid green ball). I liked the Den and Taama segments the best. One question though: Did the movie tone down the material usually seen in the Heavy Metal Magazine? I only caught a glimpse of the magazine a couple of years ago.

Also, thanks for remembering the Claymation Christmas Celebration, especially the Joy to the World part. That one was a cop out, little/no clay involved at all! Don't know if they showed it on TV this year, but at least it's on youtube and DVD.

[Mr March]

It's from no anime. It's custom designed for us by this artist I know named Shaloop. It's our spokesrobot! That's why the handles of the swords are microphones.

Well, he's to be congratulated. It's fantastic work and it looks professional to me. Compliments to Shaloop!

[jenius]

I hate to be critical of something like this, since I have no experience putting a podcast together, but I figured since I really enjoy my memories of Heavy Metal (I haven't seen it in eons) I'd give this a listen and... to be totally frank, it sounded like two really stoned high school kids who started having a conversation and decided to turn on the recorder because, at that moment, they thought their conversation was really deep. It seemed like people were sobering up toward the end. Maybe you could lay out some structure on an ink board next time and discuss your thoughts with each other for a bit before recording rather than contradicting each other while recording. I've listened to a few previous podcasts (the robotech or macross relevant ones) and it seemed like those offered better insight into some of the surrounding stuff that went into the creation of the show, original concepts that weren't used, in-jokes, etc. but that wasn't present here. I thought it would have been cool if you had given us some production history on how such an odd piece of film got made rather than stating how it's pretty fascinating that such a niche film was produced. Yes, Heavy Metal has scanitly clad women, ultra violence, drugs, zombies, monsters but what about themes (if any), history (of the film and the inspirations for the clips), etc.?

[Ginrai]

Well, he's to be congratulated. It's fantastic work and it looks professional to me. Compliments to Shaloop!

I will pass your compliments onto Shaloop!

[Ginrai]

I hate to be critical of something like this, since I have no experience putting a podcast together, but I figured since I really enjoy my memories of Heavy Metal (I haven't seen it in eons) I'd give this a listen and... to be totally frank, it sounded like two really stoned high school kids who started having a conversation and decided to turn on the recorder because, at that moment, they thought their conversation was really deep. It seemed like people were sobering up toward the end. Maybe you could lay out some structure on an ink board next time and discuss your thoughts with each other for a bit before recording rather than contradicting each other while recording. I've listened to a few previous podcasts (the robotech or macross relevant ones) and it seemed like those offered better insight into some of the surrounding stuff that went into the creation of the show, original concepts that weren't used, in-jokes, etc. but that wasn't present here. I thought it would have been cool if you had given us some production history on how such an odd piece of film got made rather than stating how it's pretty fascinating that such a niche film was produced. Yes, Heavy Metal has scanitly clad women, ultra violence, drugs, zombies, monsters but what about themes (if any), history (of the film and the inspirations for the clips), etc.?

One of the things about the podcast is that I believe the nature of the podcast should reflect the subject. There's not really a point in trying to seriously dissect a movie with ADD about boobs and monsters and robots because there's nothing serious there. It's like to trying to dissect Canadian Bacon, so the level of is discourse is kind of determined by the subject matter. If you check out our podcast on Beautiful Dreamer or Jin-Roh, you can see we are perfectly capable of critical discussion and such. As for the history, I'm not that familiar with Heavy Metal magazine and not really interested enough to track down a bunch of back issues and really dig into the differences. In this case, it was definitely more of a "reviewing what's on the screen". We did contextualize it within the 70's and 80's underground American animation scene when we were talking about Fritz The Cat and such, but this is a movie designed to appeal to Wayne and Garth, you know? I think it's a lot of fun... if you can shut off your brain and channel your inner stoner metalhead, which is kind of where we were going on the podcast.

Normally we do in fact work from an outline and such, but on movies that are just kind of dumb, we usually don't bother and just wallow in their delicious stupidity. I mean, this is a movie that opens with a Sammy Hagar song.

But yeah, if you want well-reasoned discourse and films dissected, check out the more legitimate films in our back catalog. (The Urusei Yatsura movies are like this, anything Macross, A Kite, Jin-Roh, Patlabor The Movie... all pretty serious discussions.)

Edited December 30, 2008 by Ginrai

[anime52k8]

wow, I just started downloading this right before I found this thread. perfect timing.

[Gui]

Now THAT is a good reason. But it wasn't available on home video for 15 years and was only in the last few years made available again, so hey!

I was kidding of course: I simply had the luck to watch it in a theater when I was teen-ager (around 1990 IIRC) and I chased a VHS release during years after that: again, I had some luck and could get a record of a TV broadcast towards 1993; I religiously kept this VHS during a decade, until the DVD was finally out...

As for the 'value' of this work, well it all depends on point of view. The original magazine having been a turning point of my way of thinking when I was child (for all sort of personal reasons which have no place here...), I just couldn't miss this movie when it was in the above-mentioned theater. But, in itself, it's perfectly uninteresting and empty of all sort of sense/depth/value/etc (is it the return of Eva which brings back these terms to the discussions boards by the way?)

Concerning the magazine, it's more interesting: not because of the intrinsic values of its content but because it was a major break with the comic book market which existed at the moment. At least in France, it was some sort of revolution which set the bases of the present comics industry. Until Heavy Metal, the comics of this time clearly were intended to a young audience (mainly children, teen-agers at best...) but with this magazine all the artists of the underground could be publicly exposed in the kiosks and the bookstores, and the already established artists could give a try to different things than they usually worked on

An interesting side note is that, in french, the magazine was called Métal Hurlant, which I'd translate as Screaming Metal and not Heavy Metal: the idea, I think, was to transmit the urge of some of the most talented people of the comics industry to make something different, something better suited for this period where the social crisis (unemployment, oil prices increases, etc) slowly but surely began to become preoccupying if not threating; hence the necessity for creative people to say what they were thinking instead of remaining confined in the naive cartoons or the politically correct super heroes stories and the likes. It was also the opportunity to let all these people express their deepest feelings like all artists are supposed to do, at least if they want to induce emotions into the spectators. They simply wanted to make comics leave the world of the youth, and they did it

[Gubaba]

But yeah, if you want well-reasoned discourse and films dissected, check out the more legitimate films in our back catalog. (The Urusei Yatsura movies are like this, anything Macross, A Kite, Jin-Roh, Patlabor The Movie... all pretty serious discussions.)

And yet...you go all silly on those two shining beacons of classic world cinema, Cheerleader Camp and Revenge of the Cheerleaders. Do you not know art when you see it, sir?