Recently Watched: Wizards
Some words of advice as an opening salvo: This is not, no matter what Bakshi or the rating or the blurb on the back of the case might say, a family movie, and it is certainly not a children's movie.
This is a not-so-subtle portrayal of the sins of man, the destruction of the natural world, and the destruction of pave-it-or-shoot-it mankind. This is a cautionary tale of what evils can exist in the heart of man.
Technically, this mixes and matches Ian Miller's dark, gloomy, realistic backgrounds with cartoonish swaths of color; as in Japanese animation some characters are more defined and realistic than others, and some are rotoscoped - although usually only in battle scenes.
While even more critics harp on it and complain about such inconsistencies, this is the very element of brilliance that makes this film far more worthy than the sci fi western that knocked it out of the theaters back when it was first released (that would be Star Wars, for those wondering.)
I first came across this film through bits and pieces of its soundtrack sampled for the band Toxic's anti-television work Think This - particularly the climatic "It is done! It is done! The world is free!" line by Weehawk at the end of the movie, and Blackwolf's earlier declaration of evil as he unveiled his Dream Machine: "The key to creating hysteria: fear, godssssss..." - which, in the film, is followed by a showing of Hitler propaganda, and, on the album, is contrasted with a snippet of Ronald Reagan spouting the kind of dreams that seemed to have inspired the reign of a certain shrub.
When the scenery does not reflect dark, evil Scorch, it is reminiscent of a Roger Dean album cover, or certainly something vaguely or quite obviously psychedelic. The dialog - for good or ill - is very quotable. A couple of Blackwolf's soldiery get some of the best lines - the same two gas-masked mutants seem to get involved here and there, despite dying once or twice ("They killed Fritz!")
With all of that, there are real Truths exposed here, along with quite a bit of faerie anatomy - one reason I feel no one under 13 should watch it. By that same token, I feel that no one over 18 should go without absorbing some of the lessons in here - as common as they are, they need to be understood and absorbed to keep us from pulling a Blackwolf, resurrecting the evils of the past, and repeating said events for our own (i.e. one leader's) personal benefit at the detriment of everyone else (i.e. us, human beans.)
This is a not-so-subtle portrayal of the sins of man, the destruction of the natural world, and the destruction of pave-it-or-shoot-it mankind. This is a cautionary tale of what evils can exist in the heart of man.
Technically, this mixes and matches Ian Miller's dark, gloomy, realistic backgrounds with cartoonish swaths of color; as in Japanese animation some characters are more defined and realistic than others, and some are rotoscoped - although usually only in battle scenes.
While even more critics harp on it and complain about such inconsistencies, this is the very element of brilliance that makes this film far more worthy than the sci fi western that knocked it out of the theaters back when it was first released (that would be Star Wars, for those wondering.)
I first came across this film through bits and pieces of its soundtrack sampled for the band Toxic's anti-television work Think This - particularly the climatic "It is done! It is done! The world is free!" line by Weehawk at the end of the movie, and Blackwolf's earlier declaration of evil as he unveiled his Dream Machine: "The key to creating hysteria: fear, godssssss..." - which, in the film, is followed by a showing of Hitler propaganda, and, on the album, is contrasted with a snippet of Ronald Reagan spouting the kind of dreams that seemed to have inspired the reign of a certain shrub.
When the scenery does not reflect dark, evil Scorch, it is reminiscent of a Roger Dean album cover, or certainly something vaguely or quite obviously psychedelic. The dialog - for good or ill - is very quotable. A couple of Blackwolf's soldiery get some of the best lines - the same two gas-masked mutants seem to get involved here and there, despite dying once or twice ("They killed Fritz!")
With all of that, there are real Truths exposed here, along with quite a bit of faerie anatomy - one reason I feel no one under 13 should watch it. By that same token, I feel that no one over 18 should go without absorbing some of the lessons in here - as common as they are, they need to be understood and absorbed to keep us from pulling a Blackwolf, resurrecting the evils of the past, and repeating said events for our own (i.e. one leader's) personal benefit at the detriment of everyone else (i.e. us, human beans.)