MovieChat Forums > Rock & Rule (1987) Discussion > rock and rule vs. heavy metal

rock and rule vs. heavy metal


Which is better. I feel these are the 2 biggest films of their kind and I personally think Rocky 8: Adrien's Revenge is better than both of them. Except Rock and Rule and Heavy Metal that is. OKay?

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Rock & Rule, hands, paws, & other front appendages down!

Ratigan...I think that you are a slimy, contemptible SEWER RAT!

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Rock and Rule is definitely better than the sloppy mess Heavy Metal was. Heavy Metal has it's moments, but overall it's very inconsistant and half the production was just a bad excuse for animated soft-core nudity.

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Both have good moments but both are pretty crappy gotta say.

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what??? no way!! this is a genre that we'll never see again unfortunately

_____________________________
Big Brother isnt watching you

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Because both movies aren't very good. Heavy Metal has maybe two good stories but the rest is mostly T and A. Rock and Rule has way too many pacing problems, and the story and characters aside from Mok are just kinda meh.

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Everyone says Rock and Rule has lots of problems with the direction and pacing, and while I'm not arguing that it doesn't, I haven't noticed any-- could somebody point out a few of said problems?

With Heavy Metal, I gotta agree partially with exorcissy72-- not all of the stories were that good, and it's pretty rare to find someone who really likes all of them. It depends on your tastes, and mood. Most people I know only enjoy two or three of them. My favourites are Harry Canyon, Den, Captain Stern and the one with the alien stoners (was it called "so beautiful, so dangerous" or something?). Den, B-17 and Taarna were the only ones that really had a satisfying conclusion, in my opinion. The others didn't really have much in the way of endings-- they just suddenly stopped.

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Actually, I loved BOTH movies!

I went NUTS when I found an actual MGM copy of R&R at a local flea market for $3 back in '94 (STILL have it), and I recently bought the DVD on ebay.

Heavy Metal was supposed to capture the "flavor" (?) and style of the magazine it was named after, hence the short stories told by the Loc Nar/Evil green orb. I HATED the color scheme used in "Den"! It looked like a 6 yr old could've colored the backgrounds better!! "Captain Stern" was GREAT! "B-17" really IS a creepy/scary story!! "Harry Canyon" was, arguably, my favorite story in the movie, with "So Beautiful, So Dangerous" being my 2nd favorite. (Yes, that IS the name of the story with the stoner aliens....GOOD Nyborg, man!) Taarna ROCKED, but after awhile, it got too annoying.

I, for one, thought Heavy Metal 2000 was a TOTAL DISAPPOINTMENT! First, the character was loosely based on and directly modeled after B-Movie "Queen" Julie Strain (the main character's even NAMED "Julie"!) The sole reason being that the magazine's new owner, one of the creators of the Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles--is MARRIED to her. WAY TO GO, Fanboy! So ya got rich off your comic, made an animated series and scored yerself a HOT lady, Great! GOOD FOR YOU...BUT KEEP HER OUT OF THE DAMN MOVIE!! She's way too over-exposed anyways! (literally!) The story was weak, and the villain was hardly threatening at all. The soundtrack was ok....but didnt fit the movie at all. Its one thing to have kick-ass artists, but at least TRY to fit the music to the mood and feel of the movie...

I LOVED the soundtrack for Rock & Rule!! Blondie's album version of "Send Love Through" has TOTALLY different lyrics, tho'! R&R DID succeed in that the music fit the movie! I'm just disappointed that I havent been able to find a copy of the soundtrack on CD.

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That's because no such soundtrack ever existed. I looked for YEARS and gave up looking about 5 years ago. So I found the official versions of the songs and made my own. Official, with the exception of the "Send Love Through" finale. I can't eliminate the extra voices with the equipment I have.

Never saw HM2000, and thanks to this, I don't wanna see it either. I liked both movies, but thought R&R was just so much better in terms of story and... ahem... continuity. :)



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Cretin, Julie Strain was a GODDESS. You can’t overexpose a goddess.

Six-feet-one, and worth the climb.

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I prefer Rock and Rule. I'd like it much more without stretch!

Both films piss all over heavy metal 2. From a great hight.

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I have yet to see Rock n Rule but I know it's from the studio who did Animalympics, A Cosmic Christmas, the animated part of The Star Wars Holiday Special. The only segment that I like from Heavy Metal were the stoner aliens because the concept was really good and the drawings were good. I like only the concept of Taarna and the flying bird beast.

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Both films have their merits and to be sure, their flaws, as do any animated films out there. I happen to prefer Rock & Rule over HM, because it HAS A COHESIVE PLOT THAT CAN BE FOLLOWED WITHOUT THE HELP OF A LITTLE GLOWING BALL OF EVIL'S NARRATION!!!

I also happen to think that this film was definitely BEFORE its time, and even though we may see other adult-oriented animation on the big screen in future, we will never see the likes of R&R or HM ever again. These films are to animation what Arena Rock was to the history of Rock: Something good, taken from us, never to be returned.

So I believe this is why we keep films like Rock & Rule (or even Heavy Metal) alive: As more than just a sentimental memory, but as landmark achievements in animation history.

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I agree that both films are bad. I wanted to like ROCK AND RULE but almost ALL of the side characters are unwatchably stupid Don Bluff ripoffs. I'm sorry, did I say "Almost".

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I always thought that R&R was an attempt at western anime. No, I don't think that the genre is totally dead, but it's not a western thing at all. If you like stuff like this, you should see some of the stuff that's been coming out of Japan for the last 20 years.

I didn't think that Heavy Metal was an anime inspired work, though. I agree that it was totally based on the magazine of the same name. As it was intended, it stands up well. I'm not a huge fan of HM, though.

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What, specifically, would you recommend? I've seen a fair bit of anime, but not much that resembles Rock and Rule, apart from Akira, and Bubblegum Crisis, and maaaybe Dirty Pair.
I have to admit that the first time I watched Akira, one of the first things I noticed was the animation, which reminded me of Rock and Rule.

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No, Phantom_Rider2112, R&R is NOT an attempt at western anime, not at all. It's kind of funny that you are deriving that. Very odd.

"You know, my name..."

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I've read comments to the effect that both films were lacking/dissapointing, etc.,
I think that misses the point. When you watch movies like these, you have to check your brain at the door and go for pure music fueled fantasy. I LOVE both of these films so much it is hard to pick one. Go by music merit? Rock and Rule has the edge because of Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, and Deborhah Harry. Heavy Metal has some REALLY bad music, however... The mesh of animation and music on "Radar Rider" and "Take a Ride" (is that's what its called? You know, the bombers...) is PERFECTION.
Being a huge Robert E. Howard fan, I like the concept of loosely related short stories (tied together by the Loc Nar)but as a complete story, Rock'n'Rule holds up very well.
If I had to pick one, I'd pick Heavy Metal, BUT if I had to pick one to watch with friends, I'd pick Rock'n'rule because fewer people have seen it and it deserves a bigger audience.

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Heavy Metal; It is slightly better than this, but they both have their dissapointing bits.

"No man is just a number"

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Well i happen To think that Heavy metal is a far better movie then Rock and Rule
Thought that R&R has some really nice art work, but for me the story line went nowhere, and with unlikable characters. Heavy Metal's story line although short and abrupt, was far more interesting.

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I, for one, love both movies. They're both awesome, both have great songs, and both I still enjoy to this day. Yeah, maybe there's some technical issues here and there. Remember, this was the early 80's, computer animation didn't really exist yet, and both films show the respective creators pushing the then existing technology to it's limits. They're both two of the best animated feature films ever made, as far as I'm concerned.

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I have to say that Rock & Rule better.

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I've never seen or heard of Heavy Metal, so thanks for putting this post up. I'll definitely be giving it a watch. Are there any decent DVD/Hidef versions of the movie out there?

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Rock & Rule and Heavy Metal, are imo, fairly close. HM has some really weak parts but also has several better parts than RR, so it kinda balance out.

RR actually kept my attention the whole way through which kinda surprised me on the youtube copy, and I'm not sure if that's the original cut or not. One problem I have with both movies is I really can't stand the animation style. A lot of the characters in RR look like Fritz the Cat rejects, and something about the way the backgrounds in HM, RR, and Bakshi's stuff really is repulsive to my eyes. I think it's something to do with the shading being so uneven and the heavy ink lines.

Again, I can't tell if it's the cut or originally this way, but some scenes drag on with little payoff in RR and then other important parts are raced by. The cop scenes for 'humor' don't work at all and neither do a lot of the other jokes. Sometimes it's just weird for the sake of weird. And for a musical, there's some pretty long stretches of minimal songs and a lot of characters kinda just standing around. Dizzy was the best looking and most likable character, then Angel. Mok is properly evil. The ending with the demon is a bit anti-climatic and rushed. The rest of the characters are unlikable (Omar) or stupid/annoying.

I give both HM and RR a 7 out of 10.

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