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Special Features
- "Ralph Bakshi: The Wizard of Animation" featurette
- Still gallery
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Product Description
Customer Reviews
The story goes that the Earth gets consumed in apocalyptic fire as man unleashes his most terrible achievement upon himself, and many years after his destruction, various forms of life begin to come forth, including fairies, elves, pixies along with mutants, beings once humans but changed over thousands of years of exposure to radiation. Almost all technology is gone, wiped from the face of the Earth, and, in its' place, magic has prospered. Born of the same mother are two brothers who become powerful wizards, one good, Avatar, and the other evil, Blackwolf. After a tremendous battle, Avatar vanquishes Blackwolf, but not before Blackwolf issues a statement that indicates he will not go quietly into that good night.
Blackwolf, now residing in the poisoned lands with the mutants and nasty things, puts together a massive army, but one lacking proper motivation, and, subsequently, they are easily defeated any time they are sent forth into battle. Tired of his inability to advance proper on his enemies and gain ground, Blackwolf commands that his followers dig up once forgotten technology, hoping to find aid within the scattered remnants of the powerful technology of old. His salvation comes in the form of propaganda films created by the Germans during WWII. Likening himself to the leader of the German forces during this past conflict, Blackwolf uses the films to not only motivate his troops, but to instill fear and dread among his enemies, showing the films in the sky during the battles.
This prompts Avatar, his female fairy charge Elinore, the leader of the Elves named Weehawk, and Blackwolf's captured/converted assassin robot re-named peace, to embark on an adventure to discover the source of Blackwolf's new power, and destroy it. Can this heroic group effectively end Blackwolf's reign of terror and end his powerful war machine before all is lost? There's a nice bit of irony at the end, one that really suited the feature.
So, is the film any good? I have read many opinions that will tell you it's not, and I can understand why this film would put some off, but I really enjoyed the movie. Bakshi's goal, as I understood it, was to create an animated feature with heart, one that didn't talk down to its' audience, as do other animated features released by other companies, i.e. Disney, do at times. His animation style definitely unconventional, is certainly distinctive, and swims with realism, despite the surface superficialities. I really loved how he incorporated live action footage into the film, enveloping it with animation, creating an eerie superimposed background to various scenes within the movie. The film was rated PG at the time of it's release, so I would be wary of showing it to younger viewers, but I think it's a really wonderful alternative full of heart to the shiny, happy, uber-clean, product tie-in animation put out by the larger profit-driven studios. There's nothing wrong with wanting to make a profit, certainly, but sometimes it seems like these films tend to cater to the lowest common denominator, and be more contrived to make money rather than entertain. The animation may seem crude, disturbing, and misogynistic at times, but this is animation with the sugar coating peeled away, mirroring elements within our society. Do people want to see this in an animated feature? Maybe not, but I enjoyed it, but may find myself hard presses to recommend it to all but the more discriminating viewer.
The picture looks really good here in wide screen anamorphic, and there are some wonderful special features including a commentary track by writer/director Ralph Bakshi, theatrical trailers and TV spots for the film, a still gallery with conceptual drawings, and a featurette titled `Ralph Bakshi: The Wizard of Animation'. This provides a wonderful look into the making of Wizards, and Bakshi also provides tons of background on himself, how he got started, his difficulties and successes within the animation business, his motivations for his films, his contempt for animation that talks down to audiences, and his experiences with various individuals during his career. This is the only featuette he's doing for any of his releases, mainly due to his affinity for the project. Some of his comments, especially the ones hinting towards various conspiracies leveled at him, make him sound a little nutty, but make for entertaining viewing. All in all, an excellent release of a great little animated film that went against the conventional grain. Also, keep an ear out for a voice appearance by Mark Hamill as Sean, king of the fairies.
Cookieman108
For three weeks the film was a smash hit, when one of those weird accidents of fate happen and Wizards was pushed of the stage by the arrival of Star Wars. Suddenly Bakshi's fable was relegated to fond memorys, only to reappear in retrospectives and campus theaters. As you will find out when you listen to the excellent Bakshi interview (more of a monologue), Wizards was the film dearest to the artists heart, the one he felt was his best accomplishment.
Despite its rough language, partial nudity, and high level of violence, Bakshi though of this as a children's tale, albeit one that hewed closer to the true than the sugar coated fantasies that were coming out of Disney's studios. Set in far post apocalyptic times, two brothers are born to a queen of the fairies. One at distorted mutant (Blackwolf) and the other normal (Avatar), both potent wizards. The inevitable clash between then happened, and this is the story of the end of a 3,000 year struggle between the two over the fate of the world.
The story shifts between the two wizards. First the machinations and plots of Blackwolf, as he unearths archaic Nazi technology and turns it into an weapon designed to erase the magical from the world. Then the journey of Avatar and two elvish friends, Elinore and the warrior Weehawk, who are seeking the source of Blackwolf's power.
The story is told with a deft hand as both the narrator and the characters use humor more than dramatic horror to bring the lessons of the film home. The horror, especially that of the battlefield and the aftermath of war is never far behind. In fact it is the these grim scenes that Bakshi displays some of his greatest genius in illustration, using stock footage, illustration, and collage to build an unnerving context.
Even years later, jaded by many hours watching anime, this film still works artistically, and works well. In addition, its messages about the risks of over-dependence on technology and the inevitable losses of war ae just as fresh now, if not fresher. Bakshi was right, Wizards is his best work.
