Wizards
by Ralph Bakshi
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DVD details
Actor: Angelo Grisanti, Jim Connell, Ralph Bakshi, Steve Gravers, Victoria BakshiDirector: Ralph Bakshi
Brand: Fox
Primary Contributor: Bob Holt
Primary Contributor: Welles, Jesse
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Anamorphic, Animated, Color, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 80 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-05-25
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Reviews of Wizards
DVD Review: Saw it when it came out in 1977...it was boring then...
Summary: 1 Stars
...and it's still boring now, I am sure, though I won't inflict it on myself again.
Think about it: if a horny 16-year old boy found this tedious, the artwork sloppy and uninspiring, the plot, well, stupidly simple-minded, do you think YOU are going to enjoy it?
Titties on an elf ain't enough.
Skip this one.
DVD Review: Great dvd to watch!
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw this movie at the theater when it came out in the late 70's. Amazing how things never change. Enjoy!DVD Review: GREAT MOVIE
Summary: 4 Stars
I SAW THIS FILM WHEN IT CAME OUT IN THEATERS-ENJOYED IT THEN AND IT'S JUST AS GOOD AS I REMEMBER!DVD Review: Don't be fooled by the hype
Summary: 3 Stars
It may be of more interest to animators than those seeking real entertainment. This is a pretty boring movie. The simplistic plot: Avatar, the good guy wizard with a New York accent and Garfield drawl must put a stop to his evil twin brother, Blackwolf, who has summoned the forces of technology and the Nazi war machine to take control of the world. This movie goes on and on. I appreciated some of the animation, kind of a mixture of Fritz the Cat and The Lord of the Rings, Heavy Metal and the Smurfs. But the characters are very flat and generate very little genuine interest, same goes for the simplistic storyline. A much better movie was Rankin and Bass' 1977 'The Hobbit', or 'The Last Unicorn'. I wasn't a great big fan of Heavy Metal and I've still only seen parts of Fritz, but if you didn't care for either of those you'll get more of the same here. If you did like those, then maybe this will be your cup of tea. It's a period piece, granted, but for a real 5 star animation purchase, I would go with Miyazaki's 'Spirited Away' or 'Princess Mononoke', both of which can be watched multiple times with new satisfaction and appreciation gained from repeat viewings. Granted they are post turn of the millenium whereas Wizards is midnight movies era (1978). But I can't imagine anyone sitting through Wizards more than once, and to be honest it is something of a feat to make it all the way through once. This is no 5-star picture. It's not even a 4-star picture. Don't be fooled by the hype on this site - like I was when I bought this DVD!
About the best thing this DVD has going for it is the Featurette with Bakshi discussing his work, so you get to see the man behind the cartoon and listen to his ideas, some of which are fascinating, some of which seem somewhat deluded. Bakshi calls this his 'children's film'. Come on! How many children's pictures have you seen that feature nipple-protruding buxom maidens in skimpy outfits running around with debauched old wizards? I gotta say, I liked the artistic style of the work in this movie, whether or not it's a 'kid's movie' - my biggest problem was that, in spite of the hip 'street vibe' that comes through from time to time, and the cool dark artistry of the background scenery - the story just plain sucks. I will say, when Bakshi himself explains the story in a nutshell during his interview, it sounds slightly more interesting than sitting through the 80 minute reality that is this movie. Also, regarding the plot, I think what may be clear in Bakshi's mind in terms of what the story is, didn't come off as clearly as what the movie gave us - and even if it had, it wouldn't have been much better. The story is too simplistic. I doubt kids would get into it even if their parents let 'em watch it (although that fairy maiden IS hard to keep your eyes off). Bakshi claims he wanted to give animation viewers a chance to see 'real' characters - so he adds the element of New York street talk to cartoon fantasy. That's real? Actually, that's the Bakshee trademark and is a brand unto itself. I can respect that. If only the story wasn't so boring. This is mid-night movie fodder - perhaps one needs to be loaded and at the movies - big screen - and with a bunch of other freaks to really enjoy this.
The Bakshi featurette is the most interesting thing here. And it's ok even if Bakshi does toot his own horn a bit much. Bakshi's work is all 'heart', Disney is plastic and 'slick', and Wizards would've been a hit if Star Wars hadn't came out at the same time. Fun, but get your grain of salt ready.
DVD Review: Wizards: Some things just get better with age.
Summary: 5 Stars
I've always been a big fan of Ralph Bakshi's work, so when I saw the oppertunity to own this DVD I had to jump on it. Thanks Amazon, it's great to have somewhere to get the classics I love and enjoy.
Description of Wizards
Set on a post-apocalyptic Earth, this fantasy adventure follows the story of Avatar, the kindly, eccentric sorcerer-ruler of Montagar, a rainbow paradise inhabited by elves and fairies. Avatar?s evil brother, Blackwolf, dominates Scortch, a bleak land of goblins and wraiths. When the power-hungry Blackwolf attacks Montagar, Avatar, accompanied only by a spirited young woman and a courageous elf, must enter the darkness of Scortch to save his world. WIZARDS is a thought-provoking, kaleidoscopic feast for the eyes that will enthrall animation fans and film lovers of all ages.Far from the masterful treatment that groundbreaking animator Ralph Bakshi gave the similarly themed The Lord of the Rings just a year later, Wizards feels amateurish. A simplistic distillation of fantasy tropes, the scenario is millions of years after nuclear war wipes out civilization. Middle Earth fairies, elves, and magic emerge from the "good lands," while dimwitted mutants with poor comic timing emerge from the nuclear wastes. In the ultimate confrontation between good and evil, a hippie-ish wizard named Avatar defends his utopia against the technological and neo-Nazi revival of his bad-seed twin, Blackwolf. With volleys of jokes that couldn't hit a barn door, elves with Brooklyn accents, and the dubious climax that sees the kindly old wizard using one of the hated machines of war to triumph over evil, Wizards is one of fantasy animation's least successful examples. --Alan E. Rapp
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