Wizards

This cult/comic/anime movie ranks right up at the top of the list along with all the good ones - Heavy Metal, American Pop,etc. To the people who say the animation is no good and the story line is horrible I have two points to make: 1. Look at the year it was made. C'mon, trees were entertaining if you drank the right "Kool-Aid". and #2 - you don't like the animation and the story line, yet you can't wait for the new season of South Park to come on. This movie has all the necessary elements for any classic that stays in your heart long after you saw it. Unforgettable characters, one scene that reached out to you and you still can't get it out of your head, and that one catchy line that makes you smile every time you hear it. (For me it will always be "They killed Fritz!") This is a movie to enjoy over and over.

This cartoon was one of those in the seventies when animation was almost dead. A few folks revived it with movies like Fritz the Cat, Lord of the Rings, Fire and Ice and Wizards. Although Wizards didn't do well during the prime time, it rocked as a midnight movie.

But, even with the simple plot, engaging characters and sporadic humor, one gets the impression that this movie was not well-planned. There is conventional animation, rotoscoping and overexposed film sometimes being used on the same screen. It also seems that they ran out of money and had to resort to stills with a narrator (nice voice)...

You'd think that this would make the movie worse; however, it gives the movie a charm that a slicker production wouldn't have...

I found this movie as a teen and used to show it to friends the morning after parties. It's sort of a Saturday morning cartoon gone horribly awry. I've never seen animation like it before, though I understand Bakshi has other stuff out there. I like it better than Heavy Metal and American Pop. I found it while looking for Rock and Rule, which I didn't find very memorable. This, however, I saw once and had to see again! Everyone I've shown it to has liked it- it's a sci-fi fantasy cartoon with a moral message and enough plot and humor to keep things interesting. Again, great morning after type stuff, though perhaps a bit intense and/or slow at times.

This is one of the most brilliant movies ever made. Though the film alters in tone quite often from dark and moody to light and whimsical, it's one of my all time favorite movies. It's Ralph Bakshi's first film aimed at children, but it's actually very intense, violent battle sequences, some mild adult language, suggestive material, and some dark themes that are more suited for older audiences. It's a story of Avatar and Blackwolf, two wizard brothers. Avatar rules the peaceful kingdom of Montagar with wisdom and magic, while the evil Blackwolf rules the dark land of Scortch with technology and war.

It's a great combination of science fiction and fantasy set years into a strange post apocalyptic future where broken tanks, guns, and Nazi propaganda are regarded as ancient artifacts. Wonderful supporting characters include Weehawk, a courageous and cynical elf, Elinore, a young fairy princess whom Avatar is in love with, and Necron 99, a robotic assassin who is turned into a good robot named Peace. This movie has a great deal of symbolism and is very thought provoking, it deals with the power of propaganda and the dangers of the over reliance on technology.

I was impressed by the surreal and creative animation, and I was mesmerized by the mystical and otherworldly music score. The film's climax is brilliant and fits the overall tone of the film. Treat yourself to a symbolic retro-future style film loaded with psychedelic animation, memorable characters, and a truly wonderful adventure that will transport you to a whole new world set ten million years into the distant future.

When one imagines wizards, usually knights, mounts, damsels, and dragons come to mind almost exclusively. But would one think of the haunting memories of the holocaust, or any actions Hitler's Nazi Regime took whenever magic-wielding wizards are mentioned? Not likely.

Bakshi's able to pit the essence of fantasy against the monstrosity of an ever-growing being we call "technology." The animation is simple (albeit complex and interesting at times) yet unique, the characters are conflicted and well-developed, and the twisted, somewhat random humor adds a twist of reality in a seemingly hopeless world. Definitely a movie to watch and a movie to criticize in its own rite.