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davsherm
Reviews
Rock & Rule (1983)
Paul LeMat Animated
After seeing both Heavy Metal and Rock Odyssey, not its time to watch and review Rock and Rule!
Eh, i'd put it third on the list.
Generally speaking, I found it a bit underwhelming. At about the 58 minute mark (2/3 run time), I started time skipping ahead. I had about enough, and now I was "Just here for Godzilla." The animation on the Edrich Abomination was worth skipping forward to see.
Observations on Characters
The Villian, Mok, had quite pronounced wrinkles and jowels on his face. He's supposed to be old. But actually his facial structure, movements, and deep voice reminded me very much of villian Jafar in Disney's Aladdin. So I'd say the character art of Mok may have inspired the later disney Jafar.
The voice of Mok, (who I learned was Lou Reed), kept reminding me of villian Scar in Disney's The Lion King. In fact I had to continually remind myself, no this is not Jeremy Irons. But the deep baritone villian voice, is reminiscent. Jeremy Irons was more sarcastic. Lou Reed plays it straight villian.
Which bring me to the hero? Omar, played by Paul LeMat. I swear I could "see" LeMat, in the character design. Not in the animal face obviously, but in the skinny body, and the way the character kinda slumped or walked. Reminded me alot of the LeMat I saw, out of the car, in American Graffiti Part II. So definitely, the animators copied alot from the live action acting.
Observations on the Plot.
This plot seemed lacking. It didnt seem "padded" with extra scenes. I never got that feeling. I'd say, it felt more repetitive.
1) Girl gets captured, good guys try to rescue her, get hypnotized, get thrown out, via Car. (Mok's Castle)
2) Girl gets captures, good guys try to rescue her, get hypnotized, get thrown out, via Train (New York)
3) Girl still captured, good guys try to rescue her, fail a 3rd time, girl rescues herself and good guys (Back at Castle)
The end
Actually, they could have just merged part 2 and 3. When I checked the run time after part 2, it was 53 minutes. And they could have wrapped it in 7min remaining.
So basically, I think the production team got stuck because the plot needs more than 48 minutes (TV) but doesn't really have enough story for feature length.
So they basically stretched it by adding a third rock concert for us viewers to enjoy. Which isnt really a bad thing. Its more music to enjoy.
But definitely, if this needed to be a one hour special, they could really tighten up the story, and edit it down to 48 minutes.
In conclusion, this is definitely a one and done watching experience. Its the first movie I've seen, in a long time, where I said to myself, "Well, I never need to see that again."
Perhaps the long narrative just doen't work in these animated music movies. Honestly Rock Odyssey, or Heavy Metal have greater rewatch satisfaction, exactly because they are anthologies.
Watch yourself. You decide.
Rock Odyssey (1987)
Watch it for once the art. Watch it twice for the plot
For anyone who wants to begin to understand this ambitious animation project, I recommend you first watch the movie "Heavy Metal" (1981). Rock Odyssey follows a similar theme, and is presented similar.
Rock Odyssey is not a straightforward narrative but instead a series of four vignettes, with a rather contrived framing story.
The four vignettes feature the four decades of Rock music since its inception: 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, 1980's.
Each vignette shares the zeitgeist of that decade.
Analysis:
This movie is definitely front loaded, and runs out of steam as it goes on.
Its plain to see that, in production, the Rock music songs were chosen first, and then the vignette narrative storyboarded around, inspired by the lyrics.
This is not the first time such an ambitious idea has been produced in film. Walt Disney's Fantasia endeavored similarly to take existing music and animate a narrative to it. And it also failed at the box office. In comparison "Heavy Metal" (1980) has also 4 vignettes + framing device (similar to this movie Rock Odyssey) but it's obvious in that case the narratives were storyboarded first, and then Rock Music added. Both these do it better than Rock Odyssey.
This movie appears to have been produced in filming order.
The first Vignette, 1950s seems to have the most storyboarding and is the most fleshed out. If you've seen George Lucas' "American Graffiti," and "Grease" you will appreciate the Hot Rods, Car Hops, Girls, and Drive In Movies celebrated here. The final bit features a 1950's prom, which you will appreciate if you've seen "Back to the Future." All the music choices are solid, if you like any of the aforementioned movies or 1950's in general.
The second Vignette, 1960's San Francisco, presents the themes expected. But Forest Gump did this decade better, and with better music choices. The narrative is looser, and here we see the first bit of "throw it in," with the "healthy tooth" bit, which looks like a leftover from an unaired school special. It has nothing to do with anything. Its a "throw it in" The vignette decays into a chase scene that goes on too long due to the length of a buffalo springfield song. The last bit quickly visualized "The Electric Cool Aid Acid Test" complete with bus "Further" but with a bad Jimi Hendrix cover.
At this point (42:00/1:26:00) I was an exhausted viewer. You may feel similar fatigue. This is also the part, where the wheels begin to fall off.
The third vignette, 1970's is dull and tells a timeless tale that really doesnt have anything to do with the 1970s: A sailor and his love. This is couched in a "Greenpeace, save the Whales", framing device, that is dispensed with quickly in this vignette. Indeed, most of the animation is a character sitting in a life raft, not doing too much, as mostly unknown 1970s music plays on. In consideration of the one hit wonders on the recently released "Guardians of the Galaxy" albums, this is was an opportunity lost to the producers. At the very least, they should featured "Brandy" by Elliot Lurie, for its nautical theme.
The fourth vignette, 1980's is a homage to the movie "9 to 5" (1980) with a character similar to Jane Fonda's stumbling around a "modern" office. This vignette is celebrating the women liberation movement and entry into the professional office workforce. But again, "9 to 5" presents this topic better. This vignette is also thematically weakened, as a related bit on the women's liberation movement is featured at the end of the 1970s vignette. Which, of course has nothing to do with its other nautical theme. The narrative would be stronger if they put both women's stories together. They didn't, and the movie suffers as a result. The music choices? I cant even remember. Certainly unremarkable. Another opportunity lost for Rock Odessy.
Finally, the movie has a contrived ending fitting the contrived framing story of love, similar again to "Heavy Metal" (1980). They could have left it off honestly. I give the producers credit for wrapping up the loose ends.
The Rundown:
Pros: The animation is quite good and some of the special effects are quite advanced for the early 80s. The foreground character art is nicely detailed, the secondary characters animated more simply (ala Disney) and the backgrounds in some places are quite detailed. If you watch this movie for its animation and watch it carefully, you will see and appreciate the art.
Cons:
The Music choices get less fun as the movie goes on. All are cover bands, and as expected, the first vignette 1950s has the best music.
The story vignettes get looser and more off topic compared to the songs and lyrics as they progress.
Feel free to turn off the movie when you've enjoyed enough music and art. It does NOT get better as run time progresses. It just declines until it fizzles out.
In Summary:
Watch only for the Art, or as a curiosity. Enjoy the music as an afterthought. "Heavy Metal" (1980) is a superior choice in the genre.
Overall Recommendation; 4/10.