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14 out of 17 people found the following review useful: Movie similar to TITAN A.E. Not a bad film but..., 20 June 2001 Author: ghost-9 from disneyland
HM 2000 is a fairly good animated movie similar to TITAN A.E. I'm 35 and remember seeing the original HEAVY METAL in 81 and I have stacks of the magazines. I searched through pawn shops till I found a bootleg tape years before it was released. It's one of my favorites. At the theater where I used to work, HEAVY METAL was as popular as ROCKY HORROR at the midnight movies. I wouldn't want my children to watch it, as it was filled with sardonic humor, sarcasm, sex, drug use (nosedive!) and violence. I wouldn't mind my children watching HM2000 as it isn't much worse than what's on t.v. these days. And therein lies the rub, the magazine is not for all ages, and neither was the original movie. Granted, the story could have been a story in HM magazine and is, but the fans expected it to be more like the original. The Rerelease of the original was touted "louder and nastier than ever" and the fans flocked to see it, including a new generation of fans that had heard about the legendary film. The video tapes sold like hot cakes, nearly everyone I know owns a copy. Now supposedly, Kevin Eastman and associates had been working on the new movie for close to 8 years. It was chosen to be one story, instead of an anthology. That's fine if the consensus is that the story is fantastic. Unlike the original, they didn't pick the best stories from the magazine and then bring them to life. Eastman decided it would be cool to use his wife, the beautiful model and actress, Julie Strain as the model for the lead character. Cool, so far so good. Hype showed Julie in skimpy costumes wielding huge swords and submachine guns. Royo and Bisley had done numerous paintings of this Xena, Red Sonja, and Rambo all rolled into one, bad-ass warrior woman. Obviously, she was to be bigger and tougher than Taarna from the original. From Bisley's MELTING POT, the comic on which it was loosely based, one would expect massive battle fields with hand to hand combat, something like the fighting in GLADIATOR, THE 13th WARRIOR, BRAVEHEART, or SOLDIER only nastier and meaner. One would have expected villains unrivaled in their cruelty and violence, villains so vile that your blood pressure would have risen whenever they were on screen. To balance this one would expect lots of humor to flavor the story. The best movies are filled with humor even if the movie is fairly serious like AMERICAN BEAUTY or SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. One would have expected lots of black humor, wise cracks and humorous situations. After all, they had 20 years to come up with a great story and a library of over 100 issues of HM that they had the legal right to use. One would have expected hot, sexy, little honeys that would have made you wish you were a cartoon, Julie Strain had done raunchy adult layouts for Earl Miller that were published in PENTHOUSE wearing the FAKK2 outfit. You would have expected this to have been one bloody, raunchy, sexy movie with a HEAVY METAL soundtrack. Would you go to a movie entitled HEAVY METAL to hear Rap or New Age or Grindcore or any other kind of music. I thought not. It does not suck because it is a bad movie, it is a relatively o.k. movie. It sucks because of what it could have been. Lastly, the decision to go cable t.v. first and then straight to video was noble, because they realized the fans would be disappointed, but stupid. We wanted to see it on the big screen. It would have earned 100 million easy. I know you don't believe me but there are LOTS of Heavy Metal fans out here and it would have. You literally threw MILLIONS of dollars away and the fans would have liked the opportunity to have seen it on the big screen even if it sucked. I know I would have and I would have been first in line for the first screening and paid my 6 bucks and all of that. My suggestion is to redeem yourselves by making a BADASS Heavy Metal 3 and go all digital, it's easier and it looks better.
7 out of 7 people found the following review useful: Not that bad, 11 October 2002 Author: David Elroy from Berkeley, CA
I've read the posted comments at this site, and wow - people are really enjoying ripping this movie to pieces. I admit, it is not a great movie by any standard, and it certainly pales in comparison to 1981's original HM. First, it's too bad that it adapts only one story, and not a diverse selection of linked stories, from the pages of the comics. Second, there are no memorable characters here - no Den, no Harry Canyon. Third, this film lacks humor and it lacks tenderness (the surprising touches of softness helped give soul to the original). YET, the animation is dazzling with a lively combination of computerized and traditional techniques. The action scenes are very exciting. The women (though only two of them) are beautiful. The soundtrack is also excellent, tho, like the film as a whole, it is lacking in tenderness. Not a must-see, but not a disaster. 6/10
8 out of 9 people found the following review useful: A disappointing sequel to a bona-fide cult classic., 2 February 2001 Author: The Dude- from Salem, VA
Being a huge and longtime fan of the original Heavy Metal film, I was ecstatic when I heard that they were finally planning a sequel.Well, after viewing it, I was nothing short of disappointed in it. The animation was stiff and unconvincing and the combination of second-rate computer animation and hand drawn art was jarring and sloppy. What made the first film work so well was that it was an anthology of stories from animators/writers around the world. It was definitely a film where the whole was greater than the sum of it's parts.The "sequel" on the other hand is just one long story. It's painfully obvious that they tried to stretch what might had made a great 30 minutes cartoon into a paper thin 88 minutes feature. The gore/violence and nudity were apparently thrown in just so it would be rated R and not PG-13.The one thing that is great is the voice acting. The choices were definitely inspired and the cast really gets into their characters.While it's by no means a bad film, it's just that it's been done before (and much better.)Rating:6
10 out of 13 people found the following review useful: Rock you like a Hurricane, 17 June 2002 Author: pumaye from Firenze, Italy
It's better than I thought of this animation movie following the cult hit of the same name of 1981. Julie Strain is the muse that has inspired the animators for creating the heroine of this movie (and any film with Julie in it, even as a cartoon clone, is worth all of your time, trust me). The story is nothing particular, but it's fun to watch. There is also a very good heavy metal score that pervades the movie. Beware: it's bloody, politically uncorrect and with a few nude scenes. Another reason to watch it and enjoy.
4 out of 5 people found the following review useful: Enjoyable!, 25 September 2000 Author: ATA238 from Queens, New York
HM 2000 is a fun, action-loaded adult-animated movie that makes no apologies for being what it is: a guilty pleasure. I loved the mixture of 2-D and 3-D animation, and the voice performances by Julie, Mike and Billy are wickedly impressive. Plus, the mad-thumping soundtrack by bands like Days of the New, MDFMK, System of a Down is a sweet icing on the cake.Based on "The Melting Pot", a comic book by Simon Bisley, Eric Talbot and Kevin Eastman (Julie's husband and head of the adult illustrated magazine "Heavy Metal"), HM 2000 is wickedly twisted, telling the tale of a power-mad space pirate who wants to live forever and the female warrior who wishes to stop him since she murdered her people and destroyed her homeworld.I wished this movie came out in US theaters, but movie-house owners are too chicken, fearing parents and politicos. What the heck is "The Simpsons" and "South Park"? Instead of a honest adult-animated film, there's a con job named "Titan A.E" which bombed at the box office. This sequel's more respectful of the 1981 classic, and I hope there's plans for a third "Heavy Metal" film.Keep the metal heavy!
6 out of 9 people found the following review useful: Not as good as the original, but worth a see., 5 April 2002 Author: ridley_64 from Sherwood Park, Canada
I found this film on Sale at a music store. Months earlier I had bought the original from another music store and I found it to be pretty good! This new version I will say right off the bat, is not as good as the original. However this film has some awesome effects, great characters, and a not too bad story. This movie follows on one large story unlike the original which was a bunch of short ones put together. What I like about this was the whole atmosphere and feeling of an old, early 80's sci-fi film and I like that. Of course the music is no where NEAR as good as the original! But it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. This film had less nudity but it still contained a nice bit of it. And it is quite obvious the part where she is swimming and than dresses up was taken right from the old film which was pretty cool. I suggest you be a little open minded and go take a look at this movie. I am telling you right away it is not as good as the classic original, but is worth a see and is no where near as bad as I've heard. All in all 7.5/10.
2 out of 3 people found the following review useful: Left me cold, 2 November 2007 Author: Nordicnorn from United States
Another review here mentioned the likelihood that this was a Julie Strain Ego stroke. I kind of have to agree. I find her a terrible,not-worth-the celluloid actress, although as a cartoon she is better than in real life. The storyline was really weak. So weak in fact one has to wonder if they wrote the entire script on a paper cocktail napkin while out drinking one night. True, the first Heavy Metal's storyline was a little disjointed, but it had multiple contributors and was the first of it's kind. And as the first it was good... and FUN. This one was not fun. There was no ironic/dark comedy moments. You knew where the story was going from moment one. Total formula I could not get involved with these characters either. The writing just never made me care. Lastly there was no sense of adventure. It was just very, repeat VERY, mediocre. Leave it on the shelf at the video store.
Decent film, but nowhere near as good as the amazing 1981 original!, 17 March 2009 Author: SouthParkFan92 from Canada(Montreal, Quebec)
Heavy Metal 2000 is the sequel to the 1981 animated-anthology film "Heavy Metal".The original Heavy Metal was a great film.It combined humor, graphic violence, sex and interesting sci-fi storyline.It was an excellent animated film and it never gets old.Being a fan of the old one, I watched the sequel as well.The sequel is fairly different from the original.While the original was told in anthology form, this one is not.I have not seen this movie in a while so I do not remember the plot that much.It is actually a bit like the final story of the original "Heavy Metal".The animation is good, the same kind as featured in the film "Titan A.E", there are a few good songs, but the soundtrack is nowhere near as good as the original film, the violence and sex are still there.Overall, it's a decent film but nowhere near as good as the first film.
Inferior sequel, though still decent comic book style violence, 2 January 2009 Author: DisgorgedMenstrualSludge from Hell
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Close to twenty years after the animated cult graphic magazine adapted sci-fi film, a much anticipated sequel finally appeared. "Heavy Metal 81'" was a cleverly offbeat fantasy, featuring a collaboration of a mixture of illustrators, stories, and animation styles. "Heavy Metal 2000" steps up to the plate with a much more standard premise involving a solidly consistent storyline, though it maintains a traditional 'edge' through it's established character designs and outlandish fantasy elements, great voice acting, and plenty of nudity and violence. There is no Loc-Nar orb this time - we instead have a crazy villain in search of a key that supposedly unlocks a "chamber of immortality" which he is intent on acquiring by any sadistic means possible. A busty babe is after him; eyes confidently set on avenging her father's death. As expected, this thing features some awesome music by Pantera, Coal Chamber, Machine Head, Monster Magnet, and Bauhaus. Not as good of a film as the original, but cool in it's own way.
Sheer entertainment, 9 August 2008 Author: m-josefsen-1 from Denmark
This movie has received a lot of hate for being rather brain-dead and in bad taste. And you know what? It is! But so what? If you wan't snappy lines, sexual innuendo, big boobies, big guns and lots of violence = this is your ticket! Personally i liked it and found it to be wholly entertaining, if not nearly as interesting as the first movie. It doesn't really stay true to the spirit of Heavy Metal Magazine in many ways, but it's neither a complete disgrace. It's simple and straightforward action with lots of monsters and lots of shots of the female lead in skimpy garments.It's entertainment on a simple level, and it works because the movie doesn't take itself too seriously, and doesn't try to be more than boobies, brawn and explosions. I recommend it. Just make sure to have plenty of snacks and beer! 7/10 - It's disappointing that it doesn't remain closer to the more "artsy" roots of HM magazine, but it's still one helluva ride.
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