Wizards

A fantasy animated movie released in 1977 by 20 Century Fox. Animator Ralph Bakshi blends swords, Kung Fu and the threat of nuclear catastrophe. The plot runs parallel to the Biblical story of Cain and Abel. Millions of years after a nuclear war on earth, mankind has devolved into a nearly non-existent race, the world is dominated by magical beings. The queen of the fairies has two sons, Avatar is an amusing well intentioned wizard, his brother Black Wolf is evil lives in the land of Scortch and has formed and army of mutants. There are many similarities to the Tolkien trilogy, and epic battle between the dark and the light. Armies of mutants that have found abandoned equipment from human wars past, they set about using this equipment for an attack on the forces of good. Images from World War II are present in the animation in the form of swastikas and weapons and scenery. As an animated movie, Bakshi used is personal form, a blend of simplistic characters of bright colors such as you would see on Saturday morning, blended with darker animation such as was the Frazzetta style found in Heavy Metal magazine and brought together with live action style of film called rotoscoping. In the end Avatar saves the world from a second Holocaust.

This is a movie I must have seen a dozen times at various "Midnight Movies" around Atlanta in the late seventies. Perhaps the beer intake prior had something to do with my enjoyment. Today I score at 19 out of 50, a poor choice.

• Character Development 3 out of 10. It's animation for Christ's sake.
• Acting 3 out of 10. In terms of the voice overs, the characters voices are well fitting.
• Photography, cinematography 7 of 10. A unique style that doesn't carry well today, but never the less artistic.
• Writing , script 3 out of 10. The Cain and Able thing carries though well enough but many of the scenes are more like the sketches from and Austin Powers movie.
• Concept 3 out of 10. It made sense to me 30 years ago, not so much anymore.

If you are a fan of animation films or any of the currently popular anime, give it a whirl. Otherwise, save your money.