Trailer Not on the DVD: Heavy Metal (1981, Gerald Potterton)

The original 1981 red band trailer has recently been uploaded to TCM's site to coincide with an airing on the channel, I would imagine.  It's voiced by the great Percy Rodrigues and has some eye-catching early '80s, post-Superman title graphics and animations.  I just love the way Rodrigues says "Heavy.  Metal."  It's a shame Sony wouldn't--or couldn't--put this on the Blu-ray in HD.

The only other trailer I've seen for the film, which appeared on VHS cassettes of American Pop and can now be seen on YouTube, is from the 1996 theatrical reissue and home video debut marketing campaign, i.e. "Louder and Nastier Than Ever!".

This one really earns its red band as you will see...

Here's a trailer for a forthcoming retrospective doc, Heavy Metal Revisited, which looks very impressive and which is, most appropriately, produced for CTV by Montreal-based Bunbury Films.  Heavy Metal was, of course, a production of Canadian Ivan Reitman and its production offices were based in Montreal.

TV Spot Not on the DVD: Heavy Metal (1981, Gerald Potterton)

"This weekend, check newspapers for a midnight metal theater near you."  Percy Rodrigues, who voiced the evil Locnar in the film proper, also voices this rare television spot for Heavy Metal. 
Unfortunately, the spot is cut off at the beginning by about 5 seconds.  I sure do wish the DVD or Blu-ray of the film would have included an original theatrical trailer for the film (not the 1996 reissue trailer, which you can find on YouTube).  There are probably not too many other examples of the trailer v.o. artist also appearing in the film, also in v.o. form.

"A Universe of...Heavy Metal."

Was going through my "archives" and found this old  Heavy Metal trailer that I edited in high school to celebrate the film's then-upcoming, inaugural release on home video.  This was edited the old-fashioned way with two 3/4" video decks.  The video is sourced from a cable television broadcast sometime in the '90s.  Keep in mind this is very pre-Final Cut and pre-HD so quality is far from pristine.  Music is by the great Elmer Bernstein and the narration is by voice-over artist John Leader. The audio comes from my 12" promotional copy of the 1981 Heavy Metal radio special, dubbed "The Ultimate Illustrated Radio Special."

 

Trailer Not on the DVD: Heavy Metal (1981, Gerald Potterton)

This looks to be the original 1981 trailer updated with new onscreen text for the 1996 home video premiere. Frequent trailer v.o. artist Percy Rodrigues did uncredited work as the voice of the Loc-nar in the film, but I don't think this is him voicing the trailer. However, one of the participants in the DVD documentary on the film indicates that it is. Anyone know the definitive answer? :

"A shadow shall fall over the universe and evil will grow in its path..."

As I continue to give my new printer / scanner / copier a workout, I bring you the front and back covers of Carl Macek's The Art of Heavy Metal. I searched high and low for this book for nearly five years in my quest to collect as much as I could from Heavy Metal: The Movie. I finally located a good condition soft cover edition of the 1981 book at a Chiller Theatre convention where I spent several minutes chatting with Heavy Metal publisher and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle co-creator Kevin Eastman about the magazine and the film and what he was doing to get it re-released in theaters and on legitimate home video. Our scintillating conversation was broken up by his wife, the truly statuesque and buxom pin-up model and actress Julie Strain, who insisted to Kevin that it was time to hit the road. Julie would later star in the Eastman-produced Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.2, which I still have not seen, before divorcing Eastman several years later--a sad day for comic geeks everywhere.

The film was finally released to VHS and laserdisc in 1996, at which point most of the mystique around the film dissipated. A one-sheet from the '96 re-release makes an appearance in John C. Reilly's bedroom (or was it Will Ferrell's?) in Stepbrothers.

My love for this film has waned over the years as I've gotten older and more discerning, but it had a certain appeal for a teenaged cult movie enthusiast beyond the abundance of bare breasts and over-the-top early '80s hard rock (often of the "so bad it's good" quality). For me, one of the biggest draws was that it was unavailable on home video for so long. Macek's exhaustive book offered hundreds of high quality film stills and sketches allowing one to really appreciate the great artwork contained in the film, which was badly degraded on the second and third generation bootlegs tapes (from premium cable airings) sold at comic and sci-fi conventions around the country.

The Art of Heavy Metal was reprinted and expanded in 1996 by Kitchen Sink Press, but the quality of the images was much lower than in the original printing so if you must have one, eschew the extra chapter on the cult appeal of Heavy Metal and buy the 1981 version, which can be found easily and cheaply on ABE Books.

Beyond the striking original artwork, design, and stories by the likes of Richard Corben, Juan Gimenez, Bernie Wrightson, Jimmy Murakami, Chris Achilleos (whose artwork adorns the book cover and most other Heavy Metal paraphernilia), Dan O'Bannon, Angus McKie, Mike Ploog, Howard Chaykin, and Alex Tavoularis, perhaps the film's best virtue is the phenomenal score by maestro Elmer Bernstein...a monumental void was filled when Film Score Monthly released the complete score on CD in 2008:

Some of the best praise I've ever seen heaped on a film, credited on the back of the laserdisc to the Los Angeles Times (Kevin Thomas?). For some strange reason this quote wasn't reused for the DVD or VHS: