Wizards
by Ralph Bakshi
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DVD details
Actor: Bob Holt, David Proval, Jesse Welles, Jim Connell, Richard RomanusDirector: Ralph Bakshi
Brand: Fox
Writer: Ralph Bakshi
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Anamorphic, Animated, Color, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 80 minutes
Published: 2004-05-01
DVD Release Date: 2004-05-25
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Reviews of Wizards
DVD Review: "Just wake me up when the planet's destroyed."
Summary: 4 Stars
1977's highly-imaginative Wizards is a one-of-a-kind animated fantasy film from controversial filmmaker Ralph Bakshi, who was previously known for his X-rated debut Fritz the Cat. Bakshi is the father of adult animation and presented himself as an alternative to the "fake" cartoons of Walt Disney Studios. He strove to give people reality through fantasy as opposed to the sugar-coated bubblegum of mainstream animation. As a result, he had to struggle for each and every film he made and often completed his films using his own money and low-budget techniques such as roto-scoping. Bakshi's films remain fairly obscure, as America still has yet to embrace animation as a viable form of entertainment for adults as well as children, but the cult following for his work speaks for itself.
Interestingly, Bakshi views Wizards as proof that he can do a family film. I suppose so long as movies filled with Nazi imagery, disturbing violence, horrific images, erect nipples, venomous insults, and pointed satire are considered family films he is right. He makes a pretty good family film. Wizards is an extremely remarkable film in a number of ways. I was at first turned-off by the low-grade look of the animation and childish character designs, but this quickly wore off. In fact, one of the remarkable things about it is the regular shift in visual styles. The film is actually quite the animated tour-de-force and sports some of the most astounding and creative images I've ever seen in an animated work. We are introduced to the post-apocalyptic world via a number of fantastic still images as we learn about how a mere 5 man team of terrorists brought about the end of the world in a nuclear holocaust and eventual rebirth into an age of magic. The tale is one of two brothers: one good and one evil; both wizards. Blackwolf (how can you name a kid that and not expect him to be evil?) has devoted himself to resurrecting the technology and ways of the old world and in doing so uncovers not only tanks and guns, but a secret weapon that will make him as powerful as the man he idolizes and emulates. You know: the German guy with the funny little mustache. One could do better for role models. The scene where Darkwolf unleashes his secret weapon on an overconfident elvish force who is used to scattering evil armies who have nothing to fight for is simply amazing. I don't even want to ruin it by describing it. I'll just say that nothing saps a decent person's will to fight like facing the horrors of war. Meanwhile, Darkwolf's brother Avatar is more interested in smoking stogies and oggling the extremely perky g-stringed fairy princess Elinore the saving the world. But an encounter with an assassin sparks him to action and he and his companions begin the journey to stop his brother and prevent a new holocaust.
First off, I have to say that Avatar is a great character. He has a very classic smart-alecky New York kind of attitude which you don't see in a lot of wizards in fantasy films. The supporting cast is fairly strong as well, if underdeveloped. But the real star of Wizards is the sheer variety. Aspects of horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and pulp are all over the place. Then there is the striking mixture of psychedelic roto-scoped battle scenes (which were traced from stock footage because there was no money to animate them) with hand-drawn characters in the foreground and real-life black -and-white war footage mixed in as well. It comes off as haphazard at times, but when it works it is absolutely stupendous. Seeing a real-life image reflected in an animated character's eyes is not something you expect. The movie delivers the unexpected at nearly every turn, spattering political and social commentary here and there as the story twists and turns. One particularly surprising scene highlights Bakshi's opinion on religion by having some characters stop in at a building full of "religious artifacts" from our world. The things we worshiped. Among them is a Coca-Cola sign. A duo of old men then proceed to "pray" at length by pretty much mocking every major world religion in a hysterical flurry that mish-mashes several recognizable religious gestures and inconographies into a buffoonish display of satire that I could not believe I was seeing. It was awesome. Offensive as hell, but in an endearingly childish manner.
What's that? Family films don't mock people's deeply-held beliefs? Sssssh. Don't tell Ralph Bakshi that. No prostitutes allowed either? Now you're just being a jerk. Do heroes in family films call people "son of a b!+@h" and then gun them down? Do family films unceremoniously kill off cutesy characters and then show you the corpse? No, sir. Wizards hardly qualifies as a family film, no matter what the director says, but it is still an outstanding work of fantasy by any stretch. It's not perfect since some of the excessive roto-scoping looks very shabby and the characters were more poorly developed then I'd have liked. Well, if the production seems thrown-together it's because it was. Bakshi worked on a microbudget that barely cracked six figures while every mainstream filmmaker was going millions of dollars over budget. And he was still on the very cusp of breakout success when Wizards was released to theaters and rocked the box office in spite of Disney's blatant attempt to crush it by releasing Fantasia at the same time. But 'twas not Disney's classical masterpiece that drove Wizards out of theaters after a very successful run of a mere two weeks. Star Wars became a surprise smash and due to the massive demand, the low-grade animated fantasy film was pulled from theaters to accommodate more Star Wars screenings. Bummer.
The DVD features a lengthy interview with Bakshi (where I gleaned a lot of the information for this review) and it's really hard not to like the guy. Especially with what he's been through in the biz. He's made some great films and some not so great ones, but he's a filmmaker that manages to deliver both style and substance in his works and he refuses to compromise his artistic values or talk down to his audience. You've got to respect a guy like that. His Lord of the Rings adaptation may have been a failure, but I've enjoyed all the rest of his works that I've seen so far. It's certainly a unique animation style and fans of the medium should start with Wizards.
4 1/2 stars, rounded down because I can't help but wonder how great it would have been if he hadn't been trying to make a children's film.
Description of Wizards
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