Wizards 1977 Movie - Random Users Review
Wizards
1977
Director:
Writer:
Main Cast
Synopsis
In a post apocalyptic future that appears as a blend of World War II Europe and J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, a pint-size wizard named Avatar must save the world from a band of fascist mutants controlled by his evil twin brother, Blackwolf, who likes to confuse enemy armies by projecting films of Adolf Hitler speeches during attacks. Painted live-action footage of advancing Nazi armies contrasts with Saturday-morning-cartoon-style animation of fairies and elves as Avatar travels through various magical and radioactive realms on his quest. Aiding him are the beautiful Fairy princess Elinore, hot-blooded warrior elf Weehawk, and Peace, a misunderstood robot rebelling against his Blackwolf-controlled programming. A bizarre and psychedelic meditation on magic vs. technology, this ultimate futuristic fantastic epic cult film still finds an audience on college campuses and will prove quite rewarding to viewers in the right frame of mind. —Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}
User Review
Not a total success but commendably bizarre
This is one of the trio of Ralph Bakshi animated features that appeared in cinemas in the 70's. The most high profile was his adaption of The Lord of the Rings, while his most respected was the subversive Fritz the Cat. Wizards falls somewhere between these two. It combines the fantasy world of the former with the adult themes of the latter. As a result it is a bizarre and somewhat uneven feature that is undoubtedly somewhat unique. Like Fantastic Planet and Heavy Metal, it falls into that small group of animated movies that can be considered bona fide cult movies.Its story has a couple of twins, one good (Avatar) and one evil (Blackwolf) fight one and other for domination; the former with magic, the latter with technology. This is our world in the future, a world of elves and wizards. Old war machinery and Nazi propaganda films are rediscovered by evil beings and used as a means to militarily conquer weaker peoples. It's quite clear that the story as such presents a cautionary tale. It suggests that uncontrolled technology is a very bad thing, while it also reiterates the evil of fascism. What, of course, is so strange with all of this is that it is presented within the framework of an all-out fantasy adventure cartoon. Wizards is a good example of one of the earliest examples of animation that was consciously moving away from children's stories. In truth, though, the story here isn't all that great and the characters not especially good. For this reason, the film never fully engages.In terms of visual artistry Wizards is something of a mixed bag. It combines traditional animation alongside detailed still drawings, real footage and rotoscoping. The latter always feels like a bit of a cheap way to do animation but it is done here more successfully than it was in Bakshi's later Lord of the Rings. It's used in a more stylised way here and doesn't seem so out-of-place. The various art styles are put together in what has to be termed a multi-media approach. I think it mainly works and certainly gives the film a different look and feel. Some of the animated characters are a little poor though such as the character of Avatar who looks ridiculously comical. This juxtaposition of children's comic characters with decidedly heavy imagery such as swastikas and Nazi footage is weird to say the least. The scene where cartoon characters watch old Nazi films is certainly very memorable.In the final analysis Wizards is a strange movie. Not an entirely successful one but at least it was daring to be different. For fans of cult 'toons this is a must though.
Review By Red-Barracuda
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