| Heavy Metal 2000 | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by |
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| Screenplay by |
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| Based on | |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Bruno Philip |
| Edited by | Brigitte Brault |
| Music by | Frederic Talgorn |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Columbia Tristar Home Video |
Release date |
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Running time | 88 minutes |
| Countries | Canada Germany[1] |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15 million[2] |
Heavy Metal 2000, also known asHeavy Metal: F.A.K.K.² outside North America is a 2000 Canadiandirect-to-videoadult animatedscience fantasy film produced by Jacques Pettigrew and Michel Lemire, and directed by Michael Coldewey and Lemire. Starring the voices ofMichael Ironside,Julie Strain, andBilly Idol, the film is the follow-up to the 1981 animatedcult filmHeavy Metal, which is based on thefantasy magazine of the same name. The story is based on the graphic novel,The Melting Pot, written byKevin Eastman,Simon Bisley andEric Talbot. The film was made byCinéGroupe, a studio based inMontreal, Quebec. It received generally negative reviews from critics.
In ages past, the Arakacians, a malevolent race, discovered a place where space-time leaked a type of fluid. This fluid granted immortality to anyone who consumed it. The Arakacians built an empire and enslaved the known universe for centuries. They were finally vanquished after the fountain chamber, where they gathered the water of life, was sealed by freedom fighters. The key to the chamber, a glowing green crystal (resembling the "Loc-Nar" from "Heavy Metal") that can lead the bearer back to the fountain and drives anyone who possesses it insane, was cast into space and lost among the stars.
In a present-dayasteroid excavation, space crewman Tyler and his colleague find the key by accident. Tyler touches the key and instantly goes insane, growing long hair and looking fierce. He kills his mining partner and takes over the ship, killing everyone but Dr. Schechter, and the pilots Lambert and Germain.[3] His search for the planet with the fountain leads to Eden. This planet is designated F.A.K.K.² (Federation-Assigned Ketogenic Killzone to the second level), but has inhabitants whose bodies carry traces of the immortality fluid. Tyler invades Eden and kills many of the Edenites, capturing some so he can extract the immortality fluids from their bodies. He also keeps the attractive schoolteacher Kerrie for his sexual purposes. When Germain resists the idea, he is left on Eden.
Kerrie's warrior sister Julie survives the attack and teams up with Germain to follow Tyler, though brutally fending off Germain's flirtations. At a renegadespace station, where a sex robot distracts Germain, Julie finds Tyler in a nightclub and critically injures him. However, he ingests a vial with the immortality serum and heals instantly.[3] In the ensuing gunfight, Tyler blows up the club. Escaping the explosion, Julie and Germain board a shuttlecraft that latches onto Tyler's ship before it jumps intohyperspace. Discovering them mid-travel, Tyler tries to shake them off, but the fight causes the two ships to crash.
Julie wakes up on Uroboris, a desert planet, and meets Odin, a mysterious cloaked sage, and his assistant, Zeek, a rock-like creature who appeared when Tyler found the crystal. The two are guardians of the ancient fountain. With his ship destroyed and most of his crew dead, Tyler orders Dr. Schechter to extract Kerrie's fluids. While exploring the planet, he finds a race of reptilian beings and conquers them by defeating their champion and their leader in a death match. Julie enters the reptilian city disguised as a woman whom the reptiles found for Tyler. That night, she seduces Tyler and tries to kill him, but Zeek stops the attempt and captures her, taking her back to Odin. Julie then infiltrates Tyler's ship and discovers Kerrie is still alive. She takes out Dr. Schechter, frees Kerrie, and escapes as the complex explodes. Tyler, with only three vials of serum left, orders his troops to storm the citadel where the immortality fountain is located.
At the citadel, Julie undergoes a bath ritual where armor of scanty clothing, like Taarna's inHeavy Metal, is bestowed upon her. She, Kerrie, and Germain help the fountain's guardians defend against Tyler's army. In the fighting, Lambert suffers a near-fatal injury and grabs for Tyler's last vial of immortality serum, accidentally breaking it on the ground. Tyler, enraged, kills Lambert for the blunder and walks to the pit of immortality. He is about to put the crystal into the fountain's final lock, but is stopped by Julie, who stabs him in the left eye. A fight ensues in which, with Odin's help, Julie finally kills Tyler. Odin then throws off his cloak, revealing himself to be the last of the Arakacians. He has been in hiding all these centuries, waiting for someone to find the chamber key and be drawn to the fountain. He intends to claim it as his own and reestablish the Arakacian empire. However, Zeek, who befriended Julie, pulls the crystal key from the pedestal, locking Odin inside the fountain chamber forever, and flies into outer space. As Germain and Kerrie help Julie to her feet, Zeek envelops the crystal into himself and becomes a new asteroid to hide the key for all time.
In July 1998, it was announced German distributor Helkon Media would be co-producing a sequel toHeavy Metal withColumbia Pictures tentatively titledHeavy Metal 2.[4] By October of that year, it was announcedCinéGroupe would be co-producing theHeavy Metal follow-up under the new title ofF.A.K.K.2.[2] In March 1999, it was reportedBilly Idol would voice one of the characters for the film now titledHeavy Metal: F.A.K.K. 2 which would be based upon the graphic novelThe Melting Pot byKevin Eastman,Simon Bisley andEric Talbot.[1]
On review aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film has an 8% rating based on reviews from 12 critics.[5] Lisa Nesselson ofVariety called the plot derivative but said self-selecting audiences may enjoy it.[3] Writing forSlant Magazine, Jake Cole said, "Everything here is disconnected and enervating, scuttling the winsome absurdity of the premise."[6]
The movie was released on DVD and video on July 10, 2000. It was later released onBlu-ray on April 19, 2022, whileHeavy Metal was released onUltra HD Blu-ray on the same day.
The film had a video game about the events afterHeavy Metal 2000, titledHeavy Metal: F.A.K.K. 2, in which the player assumes the role of Julie as she fights to save Eden from an evil entity called "GITH". The game is set some time after the film and featurescameo appearances of several characters, for example, Julie's sister Kerrie, the pilot Germaine (now married to Kerrie), and a resurrected Tyler.
After the release of2000, a third film has been in various stages of development since then. During 2008[7][8] and into 2009,[9] reports circulated thatDavid Fincher andJames Cameron would executive produce, and each direct one of the eight to nine segments for a new film based onHeavy Metal. Eastman would also direct a segment, as well as animatorTim Miller, withZack Snyder,Gore Verbinski, andGuillermo del Toro attached to direct segments. However,Paramount Pictures decided to stop funding the film by August 2009[10] and no distributor or production company has shown interest in the second sequel since.[11]
In 2011, filmmakerRobert Rodriguez announced atComic-Con that he had purchased the film rights toHeavy Metal and planned to develop a new animated film at the new Quick Draw Studios.[12] However, on March 11, 2014, with the formation of his very own television network,El Rey, Rodriguez considered switching gears and bringing it to TV.[13]
Fincher and Miller subsequently developed their plans intoLove, Death & Robots, an original animated series forNetflix initially released in 2019.[14]
| Heavy Metal 2000 OST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various artists | ||||
| Released | April 18, 2000 | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal[15] | |||
| Length | 73:47 | |||
| Label | Restless | |||
| Heavy Metal film soundtracks chronology | ||||
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| Heavy Metal 2000 | ||||
TheHeavy Metal 2000 Original Soundtrack is the 2000soundtrack album to the film of the same name. In hisAllMusic review, Greg Prato said that the album was a "truer heavy metal soundtrack" than that of the first film, featuring a combination of established bands such asPantera,Monster Magnet, andMachine Head; then-newer bands such asQueens of the Stone Age,System of a Down,Hate Dept.,Puya, andCoal Chamber; and a few non-metal artists such asBilly Idol,Insane Clown Posse,Twiztid, andBauhaus. The vast majority of the tracks were either specifically recorded for the soundtrack or were previously unreleased up to that point.[16][15] One month after its release in the U.S., the soundtrack peaked at No. 101 on theBillboard 200 chart.[17]
Additional tracks:
(These were used in the film, but were not included in the official soundtrack for unknown reasons.)
