Heavy Metal 2000 (aka Heavy Metal: F.A.A.K.2) (2000)
Heavy Metal 2000 (aka Heavy Metal: F.A.A.K.2) (2000)
When I was a kid, I remember the first time I watched the classic animated film Heavy Metal, and it just blew me away, and to this day it is one of my all-time favourite animated films, and maybe the film that truly made me appreciate animated films, it was everything that Disney wasn't and I loved it. It was lewd, crued, and loud, everything I wanted in a film. When I was 18 I discovered Heavy Metal magazine, and would buy every issues as soon as it came out, and then in 1999 I read that Kevin Eastman (co-creator of the Teenage Ninja Turtles, who grew up in Sanford Maine), Simon Bisley, and Eric Talbot (names I all knew from my love of Heavy Metal magazine) were working on a new Heavy Metal film. I was so excited, and as soon as it was released I found a copy at my local music/media store in the mall, and I bought a copy on VHS, and watched it over and over and over again. The film had great music, some great daring animation, including mixing CGI and 2D animation, and I was absolutely drawn to the sexy lead character Julie (played by B-Movie queen Julie Strain). Julie Strain at the time was married to Kevin Eastman, and she was also a frequent model for some of my favourite artists including Louis Royo, and I was also really excited when I found that she did a Penthouse issue dressed as her character in Heavy Metal 2000, and of course I had to buy that too. 
Heavy Metal 2000 was directed by Michael Coldewey and Michel Lemire, with a screenplay by Robert P. Cabeen and Carl Macek. The film is based the graphic novel The Melting Pot by Kevin Eastman, Simon Bisley, and Eric Talbot. The film was distributed by Columbia Tristar Home Video and released in 2000. The film received mostly negative reviews from the critics, and holds a very low score on online film sites like Rotten Tomatoes.
Heavy Metal 2000 stars Julie Strain as Julie (the character is modeled to look like Julie Strain), Sonja Ball plays her sister Kerrie, Michael Ironside plays Tyler (a madman questing for eternal life), Pierre Kohn plays Germain St. Germain (a pilot that leaves Tyler's crew, and ends up helping Julie track down Tyler), Billy Idol plays Odin, Rick Jones plays Zeek, Brady Moffatt plays Lambert, and Arthur Holden plays Dr. Schechter. The casting is decent, Michael Ironside plays a great villain, and I love Rick Jones as Zeek a rock guardian. Julie Strain, who is the queen of B-movies, and who has had a career doing low buget films and porno, brings that b-level acting to the film, which I could see many people turning their nose up to, but I feel like it gives it that classic 1950's B-sci-fi film quality to the movie, and I really like that. The voice acting is no Studio Ghibli film by any means, but as a low budget b-film it works really well.
The film itself, has some amazing animation, and like its predecessor it takes some bold moves in mixing animation styles. Heavy Metal 2000 mixes CGI animation and 2D animation throughout the film. Some of the CGI looks amazing, with beautiful crisp details, though at other times, it definitely shows the limitations of the technology at the time, it is by no means anywhere near as bad as the Dragonlance animated film, but some of it looks dated. Most of the 2D animation is decent, and reminds me a lot of the artwork that was done in Heavy Metal Magazine, however I feel that sometimes it doesn't translate super well to film as it does in the pages of a graphic novel, or graphic novel magazine. So it is a bit of a mix for me, when it looks good it looks really good, but there are times when it doesn't look so great, so there is a bit of an inconsistency in the art throughout the film.
According to the critics this is a bad film, but is it really that bad? Let me first say, I love this film, I really do, and I have watched it dozens of times, both on VHS and on DVD, and I always enjoy it every time I watch it. So is it bad? It depends on what you are looking for I suppose, it isn't as good as the original 1981 film, it also doesn't tell a sequence of short stories like that film did, it instead is one feature length story. The 1981 film was like watching an issue of Heavy Metal Magazine on screen, so Heavy Metal 2000 breaks from that concept. I think it has an interesting storyline, and I think it is mostly a great looking film. But know in advance it is lewd and crude, definitely an adult animated film. There is sex, graphic violence, a lot of nudity, a lot of swearing, a significant amount of gore...really this film just doesn't hold back, if it was a live action film, it would probably receive an NC-17 or X rating for the graphic content. But if that is what you are looking for, and you want a great b-film science-fiction story then sit back and enjoy. If you want something tasteful and highbrow, then why are you watching a Heavy Metal film? This is a film made for a niche audience, with viewers like myself in mind, this film is made for people who read Heavy Metal.
If you haven't watched Heavy Metal 2000, I do recommend it, I love this film, and it is one I frequently rewatch. It might be a bit of a challenge tracking down a copy of the film these days, you might be able to get it through the Heavy Metal website. If you come across a copy I do recommend picking it up.
Sadly the film's star Julie Strain died this week on Jan 10th 2021, from late stages of dementia, which is believed to be caused by falling from a horse when she was younger, which caused her to lose a lot of her memory of her childhood. She was receiving hospice care in her home when she died, according to her boyfriend. In her career she had acted in over 100 films, mostly low budget films, as well as some adult films, her biggest role, and the one she is best known for is her role as Julie in Heavy Metal 2000. She has posed for art by some of the greatest graphic fantasy artists including Louis Royo (one of her many paintings by him is pictured here), Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell, and Olivia to name a few. She also posed for Penthouse magazine many times, and was named Penthouse Pet of the Month for June 1991, and Penthouse Pet Of The Year for 1993, and she has been drawn into several graphic novels and comic books. She was a beautiful 6'1" woman who was often cast as a badass in her films, and she was never afraid to appear topless or in the nude (as she did in almost all of her films). She also wrote an autobiography in 1997, published by Heavy Metal called Six Foot One And Worth The Climb.
Julie Strain was a true b-movie legend, and will be missed by her fans. She leaves behind a legacy of over 100 films, and from every interview I have seen she has been described as an absolutely wonderful person. The film Heavy Metal 2000 did a great job at capturing her beauty and strength in animation (pictured here is her dressed as her character in Heavy Metal 2000), she also modeled for and voiced her character in the video game of Heavy Metal F.A.A.K.2. She will live on forever in the hearts of her fans and in her massive work as both an actress and as a model.
*I don't own any of the videos or images, please support the artists and the filmmakers whose art I used and discussed, I don't do this for profit, only for my love of film and art.
Heavy Metal 2000 stars Julie Strain as Julie (the character is modeled to look like Julie Strain), Sonja Ball plays her sister Kerrie, Michael Ironside plays Tyler (a madman questing for eternal life), Pierre Kohn plays Germain St. Germain (a pilot that leaves Tyler's crew, and ends up helping Julie track down Tyler), Billy Idol plays Odin, Rick Jones plays Zeek, Brady Moffatt plays Lambert, and Arthur Holden plays Dr. Schechter. The casting is decent, Michael Ironside plays a great villain, and I love Rick Jones as Zeek a rock guardian. Julie Strain, who is the queen of B-movies, and who has had a career doing low buget films and porno, brings that b-level acting to the film, which I could see many people turning their nose up to, but I feel like it gives it that classic 1950's B-sci-fi film quality to the movie, and I really like that. The voice acting is no Studio Ghibli film by any means, but as a low budget b-film it works really well.
The film itself, has some amazing animation, and like its predecessor it takes some bold moves in mixing animation styles. Heavy Metal 2000 mixes CGI animation and 2D animation throughout the film. Some of the CGI looks amazing, with beautiful crisp details, though at other times, it definitely shows the limitations of the technology at the time, it is by no means anywhere near as bad as the Dragonlance animated film, but some of it looks dated. Most of the 2D animation is decent, and reminds me a lot of the artwork that was done in Heavy Metal Magazine, however I feel that sometimes it doesn't translate super well to film as it does in the pages of a graphic novel, or graphic novel magazine. So it is a bit of a mix for me, when it looks good it looks really good, but there are times when it doesn't look so great, so there is a bit of an inconsistency in the art throughout the film.
According to the critics this is a bad film, but is it really that bad? Let me first say, I love this film, I really do, and I have watched it dozens of times, both on VHS and on DVD, and I always enjoy it every time I watch it. So is it bad? It depends on what you are looking for I suppose, it isn't as good as the original 1981 film, it also doesn't tell a sequence of short stories like that film did, it instead is one feature length story. The 1981 film was like watching an issue of Heavy Metal Magazine on screen, so Heavy Metal 2000 breaks from that concept. I think it has an interesting storyline, and I think it is mostly a great looking film. But know in advance it is lewd and crude, definitely an adult animated film. There is sex, graphic violence, a lot of nudity, a lot of swearing, a significant amount of gore...really this film just doesn't hold back, if it was a live action film, it would probably receive an NC-17 or X rating for the graphic content. But if that is what you are looking for, and you want a great b-film science-fiction story then sit back and enjoy. If you want something tasteful and highbrow, then why are you watching a Heavy Metal film? This is a film made for a niche audience, with viewers like myself in mind, this film is made for people who read Heavy Metal.
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| Louis Royo Art based on the film |
Sadly the film's star Julie Strain died this week on Jan 10th 2021, from late stages of dementia, which is believed to be caused by falling from a horse when she was younger, which caused her to lose a lot of her memory of her childhood. She was receiving hospice care in her home when she died, according to her boyfriend. In her career she had acted in over 100 films, mostly low budget films, as well as some adult films, her biggest role, and the one she is best known for is her role as Julie in Heavy Metal 2000. She has posed for art by some of the greatest graphic fantasy artists including Louis Royo (one of her many paintings by him is pictured here), Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell, and Olivia to name a few. She also posed for Penthouse magazine many times, and was named Penthouse Pet of the Month for June 1991, and Penthouse Pet Of The Year for 1993, and she has been drawn into several graphic novels and comic books. She was a beautiful 6'1" woman who was often cast as a badass in her films, and she was never afraid to appear topless or in the nude (as she did in almost all of her films). She also wrote an autobiography in 1997, published by Heavy Metal called Six Foot One And Worth The Climb.
Julie Strain was a true b-movie legend, and will be missed by her fans. She leaves behind a legacy of over 100 films, and from every interview I have seen she has been described as an absolutely wonderful person. The film Heavy Metal 2000 did a great job at capturing her beauty and strength in animation (pictured here is her dressed as her character in Heavy Metal 2000), she also modeled for and voiced her character in the video game of Heavy Metal F.A.A.K.2. She will live on forever in the hearts of her fans and in her massive work as both an actress and as a model.
*I don't own any of the videos or images, please support the artists and the filmmakers whose art I used and discussed, I don't do this for profit, only for my love of film and art.
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