Wizards (1977) (DVD)
Fantasy Animation
Publisher: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, $14.98
The animated film Wizards, created by Ralph Bakshi shortly before his version of Lord of the Rings, is a unique and interesting battle of good versus evil in a post-apocalyptic world.
The plot revolves around the battle between the good sorcerer, Avatar, and his evil brother Blackwolf. Avatar rules over Montagar, the good part of the world, inhabited by elves, fairies, and other such creatures. Blackwolf dominates Scortch, the decimated lands filled with goblins, wraiths and other nasty creatures inhabiting this polluted wasteland.
The world is set 2 million years after the last major war on Earth, a war that nearly destroyed everything. Mythical creatures rise from the ruins, and we have the setting for the movie, in which an age old battle between two brothers, Avatar and Blackwolf, eventually reaches its final climax. Along the way, we meet the likes of Peace (a.k.a. Necron 99), the warrior elf Weehawk, the fairy princess Elenor, and a host of other creatures from fairies to strange mutants. The mixture of traditional fantasy and Nazi-style, gun-wielding mutants is a nice twist on similar fantasy films and stories.
During the movie, Blackwolf and his forces use technology to try to win over the planet, while Avatar and his allies use more conventional D&D-style fighting to attempt to destroy the evil creatures that threaten their world. The story as a whole is interesting and unique, but in typical Ralph Bakshi style, has many different forms of animation used throughout the movie. Many of these animation techniques were used in Lord of the Rings, so if you didn’t care for that animation, you will probably not care for Wizards. If you have an open mind though, and enjoy something that doesn’t fit the typical stereotype of your Disney-style cartoon, you should at least give this movie a try.
Extras on this DVD include commentary by Ralph Bakshi, which is somewhat interesting but not spectacular. There is the somewhat usual and boring still gallery, something I wish they would stop putting on these cult film DVD’s. There are a few theatrical and TV promo shots, which are rather silly. The best of the extras is an actual 30-minute interview with Ralph Bakshi himself, something I found a treat to watch. Bakshi talks about the styles of animation he used, the animators who helped him with this and other films, how he started out in animation, and much more. This is a definite must see for any Bakshi fan. This is the only DVD that had an interview with Bakshi, and by his own statement, will be the only one, as he considers Wizards to be his best film (his opinion, not mine).
If you saw this movie years ago and would like to see it again after so long, or if you're willing to take a chance and watch something different, you really can’t go wrong with Wizards. It shows its age a bit, but it’s still a good flick. Even the price is decent, with many places selling it even lower than the retail cost. As mentioned above though, if you really did not like the animation styles in the animated Lord of the Rings, you probably should skip this release. I, however, like the mixture of styles, from regular animation to heavy rotoscoping, which gives the film its own style that stands out from the "normal" cartoon. Almost the only bad thing about this film is that some of the battle scenes tend to be a bit boring. For a 1970’s film, it was definitely ahead of its time though!
(review (c) August 2004/David Flemming)