Title: Rock and Rule (1983)
Director: Clive A. Smith
Review:
You might not have heard of Rock and Rule, the animated post
apocalyptic Rock and Roll fantasy, but that’s okay, it’s not your fault, the
film got the shaft from MGM during one of those major studio shake ups where a
lot of people get fired and some movies get ignored and lost in the shuffle;
one of those movies was Rock and Rule. Basically, what happened to Rock and
Rule is one of the worst things that can happen to any film: all the work, sweat
and tears that went into making it got ignored because another film screwed it
up for them. Said film was Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate (1980) one of the
most expensive turkeys in the history of cinema. That particular film cost United
Artists 44 million dollars; an astronomical amount of money back in those days.
The film ended up making little more then 3 million in box office returns. Obviously
heads were going to roll over at United Artists. By the time it was all said
and done, MGM bought United Artists (which almost went bankrupt over the whole
Heaven’s Gate fiasco) and MGM ended acquiring all of United Artists films. Problem
was that MGM was not enthusiastic about Rock and Rule, therefore the proper promotional
push needed for a film to take off was not given.
A similar situation happened to Terry Gilliam’s The
Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988); an amazing film, but in the middle of a
studio shuffle (this time it was Columbia Pictures) the film lost the people
that championed it, the ones that cared. The way things work in Hollywood is that when
new studio executives come in, they don’t want to market the films that the
previous studio executives were producing and so, though Gilliam’s Adventures
of Baron Munchausen was an epic fantasy film with some amazing images and
effects….the film ultimately got the shaft from the new guys at the studio. As
a result, the film tanked at the box office. Not because it wasn’t any good,
but because when a studio gives a movie the shaft, it doesn’t get the proper
merchandising, and when a film doesn’t get that needed promotional push to get
into audiences psyches…well, then the movie tanks because the movie doesn’t exist
in the publics’ consciousness. They don’t know about it, because the studio
didn’t make sure the public knew; this is what happened to Rock and Rule.
Now I’m not saying Rock and Rule is the best animated film
in the universe, or that it’s even any good, I’m just saying it never got the
chance to find its audience. What kind of film are we talking about anyways?
Well, Rock and Rule is one of these old school animated films. The kind that
was painstakingly hand made, without the use of digital anything. This thing
was done frame by frame by the efforts and passion of a talented group of
animators. Some reports say that over 300 animators worked on the film. The
animation studio that produced Rock and Rule was a Canadian one known as
Nelvana; they were they guys responsible for doing that animated segment in the
Star Wars Holiday Special (1978), the one were Boba Fett makes his first
appearance. So anyhows, this little animation studio wanted to make it big, so
they decide after producing various half hour animated shows for television,
that they would make their first full length animated feature film. These guys
even turned down Ivan Reitman, who asked them to produce Heavy Metal (1981) for
him; I mean these guys were obviously really driven, they really wanted to make
their own thing, and that they did.
Rock and Rule tells the story of a rock band that’s trying
to make it. Omar, the lead singer, is having a hard time accepting the fact
that Angel, the bass player can sing as well, maybe even better than he can. Together
they play in a rock and roll bar called Mylar. At the same time, the biggest
Rock and Roll god on the planet, a guy by the name of Mok; is looking for a way
to open up a portal to another dimension (presumably hell) so he can bring
forth a demon (presumably the devil himself) so he can take over the world, or
something like that, it’s never really quite clear. Mok’s computers tell him
that the only way to open up the portal is by using something called ‘The
Armageddon Key’; said key can only be used when certain musical cords are sang
by “a very special voice”; that voice is the voice of Angel. So he goes about
trying to convince her to sing for him. Will she accept his offer or will Mok
have to end up using other methods to persuade her?
Rock and Rule started out as a children’s film in the mind
of the guys at Nelvana; they were going to call it ‘Drats!’ But as time went
by, the project evolved. It got darker and darker, until it became adult
oriented and finally ended up being what it is: a post apocalyptic rock and roll
sci-fi. This film is often times compared to Heavy Metal (1980) and for good
reason; same as Heavy Metal, it mixes the worlds of science fiction and Rock
and Roll. They also share the fact that they are animated films made for
adults. Both films include foul language, drug use and nudity, both films have
trippy visuals. This is probably what made it a hard sell for the guys at MGM.
It got what I like to call the ‘assured death formula’ for any film: it was too
kiddy for adults, and too adult for the kiddies. Topple that with the fact that
Americans were having a difficult time accepting that animated films could be
made for adults, and voila! You got yourselves a turkey. The film cost 8
million dollars, yet recuperated little more than 39 thousand at the box
office. Ouch!
But that doesn’t mean this is a bad film. Same as HeavyMetal, it’s not the best animated film ever made, but it certainly wasn’t the
worst either. Rock and Rule has some cool ideas going for it. For example, the
soundtrack for the film was produced by artists such as Debbie Harris (strange,
she’s playing on my I-pod right now as I type this…), Iggy Pop, Cheap Trick,
Earth Wind & Fire and Lou Reed. It also has a cool sci-fi angle to it, we
get flying cars, and Blade Runner like city landscapes. We get a strong female
protagonist in the form of Angel, the girl with the ethereal voice. The best
thing about the film though is MOK, the villain; a mix between Mick Jagger and
David Bowie, but certainly more Bowie
than Jagger. The only problem I had with the film is that it sometimes didn’t
transmit some of its ideas in the best way possible. I guess the animation was
too crude, or didn’t really show us what we needed to see in order to
understand the ideas. For example, the opening scroll tells us that this is
supposed to be a post apocalyptic world, yet we have cities and flying cars? Nothing
terribly post apocalyptic about it. Mok wants to bring a demon from another
dimension, but it’s never really stated why he wants to do so. What’s his
purpose? As a viewer, you have to kind of fill in the blanks, which tells you
that the film needed some work storytelling wise.
Still, there are times when the film dazzles and shines. What
we need to keep in mind is that this film was made in a time when computer
animation was in diapers, in fact, computer animation is used sparingly on this
film; 90% of the film is hand drawn frame by frame. We need to remember what a
painstakingly difficult process this was back in those days! This was a film
that started production in ’79 and was finally released in ’83! That’s about
four years of production! To animate one of the characters they used real brains!
The animation gets really psychedelic and trippy at times, so I guess,
visually, the film does have its strengths. But at the end of the day it’s a mixed
bag. It might have some cool visuals, but storytelling wise, script wise, it
needed work. This is something that the animators themselves acknowledge when
they say that they didn’t really have a script to work with. They had a “pool
of ideas” but not a script; hence, the uneven, underdeveloped nature of the
plot and characters. Across the years, Rock and Rule has garnered cult status,
and in my opinion the film is a curiosity in the world of American animation. It can
proudly stand next to films such as Heavy Metal (1981), American Pop (1981), Wizards
(1977) and other American animated films that were trying to break the mold,
trying to present themselves as something more than just for kids; and as such,
this one succeeds
Rating: 3 out of 5
7 comments:
The thing about Rock and Rule is it's surprising replay value. My wife was pretty hot for this movie, having seen it as a kid, but I didn't love it my first viewing. Upon my second viewing, it started to click and now I love it.
I wouldn't mind seeing it again either, I personally dug that Debbie Harris song that Angel sings and the scenes that take place in the final concert, with the portal opening and all that.
Didn't Ralph Bakshi have something to do with this? Interesting guy and filmmaker. He seems to be one of those cult filmmakers that always exists on the margins and then when he does get his shot at the mainstream - COOL WORLD - his way out there ideas just do mesh with the studios and we all know how that film went. But I've always found his stuff pretty cool and at least he's trying to do something different.
I can't remember the last time I've seen ROCK AND RULE but your review has me really curious to check it out.
I'm surprised that I haven't heard of this film. I love Heavy Metal. I need to add Rock and Rule to my watch pile.
This is a great little movie. Like it more than Heavy Metal. Such a shame that they never released an official soundtrack. Debbie Harry actually reworked 'Angel's Song' and released it as 'Maybe for Sure' a few years later.
I'm surprised they got away with all the subtle drug references and devil worship in this!
Another pleasingly quirky 80s animated movie you should check out is Starchaser: The Legend of Orin. Though it rips most of its plot from Star Wars.
@J.D.: Actually a lot of people mistakingly take this for a Ralph Bakshi film, in fact, it has nothing to do with Bakshi though I am sure that he was a huge influence on these guys, actually I read an interview done to the animators of Rock and Rule and they mentioned Bakshi as being an influence on them.
Bakshi is one of the greatest american animators, I love his stuff, it had that rough, edgy, raw quality to it. I will definetly be reviewing more of his films soon!
@Dom Coccaro: Yeah, I know your a metal head, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed are on this films soundtrack so you might definetly enjoy that. This films premise reminded me of a couple of films! Black Roses, where the heavy metal band all turn to demons, Masters of the Universe where they use a key to open portals to other dimensions, and Queen of the Damned, where the singer of a rock band has wicked plans for his audience.
@Jack Thursby: Agree, it didn't make sense to me that a soundtrack was never released! I guess the movie not making much dough at the box office had something to do with that.
I guess since the film was always meant for an adult audience, thats why they included all the drugs. The devil worship angle is infered, but it is one of the reasons why the film was a "hard sell", immediately parents thought the film was satanic.
I've got Starchaser: The Legend of Orin on my sights, will be watching it soon! Thanks for reminding me Jack!
Black Roses, eh? That's a personal favorite of mine. IT'S ME AGAINST THE WORLD!
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