In ages past, the Arakacians, a malevolent race, discovered a place where space-time leaked a type of fluid. This fluid granted immortality to anyone who consumed it. The Arakacians built an empire and enslaved the known universe for centuries. They were finally vanquished after the fountain chamber (where they gathered the water of life) was sealed by freedom fighters. The key to the chamber, a glowing crystal that can lead the bearer back to the fountain and drives anyone who possessed it insane, was cast into space and lost among the stars.
In a present-day asteroid excavation, space crewman Tyler and his colleague find the key by accident. Tyler touches the key and instantly goes insane. He kills his mining partner and takes over the ship, killing everyone but Dr. Schechter, and the pilots Lambert and Germain.[1] His search for the planet with the fountain leads to Eden, a planet that is designated F.A.K.K.² (Federation-Assigned Ketogenic Killzone to the second level), but has inhabitants whose bodies carry the immortality fluid. Tyler invades Eden, and kills many of the Edenites, capturing some so he can extract the immortality fluids from their bodies. He also keeps the attractive Kerrie for his own sexual purposes. When Germain resists the idea, he is left on Eden.
Kerrie's sister Julie survives the attack and teams up with Germain to follow Tyler. At a renegade space station, Julie finds Tyler and critically injures him. However, he ingests a vial with the immortality serum and heals instantly.[1] In the ensuing gunfight, Tyler blows up the club. Escaping the explosion, Julie and Germain board a shuttlecraft that latches onto Tyler's ship before it jumps into hyperspace. Discovering them mid-travel, Tyler tries to shake them off, but the fight causes the two ships to crash.
Julie wakes up on Uroboris, a desert planet, and meets Odin, a mysterious cloaked sage, and his assistant, Zeek, a rock-like creature. The two are guardians of the ancient fountain. With his ship destroyed and most of his crew dead, Tyler orders Dr. Schechter to extract Kerrie's fluids. While exploring the planet, he finds a race of reptilian beings and conquers them by defeating their champion and their leader in a death match. Julie enters the reptilian city in disguise as a woman that the reptiles found for Tyler. That night, she seduces Tyler and tries to kill him, but Zeek stops the attempt and captures her, taking her back to Odin. Julie then infiltrates Tyler's ship and discovers Kerrie is still alive. She takes out Dr. Schechter, frees Kerrie, and escapes as the complex explodes. Tyler, with only three vials of serum left, orders his troops to storm the citadel where the immortality fountain is located.
At the citadel, Julie undergoes a ritual where armor is bestowed upon her. She, Kerrie, and Germain help the fountain's guardians defend against Tyler's army. In the fighting, Lambert suffers a near-fatal injury and knocks Tyler's last vial of immortality serum loose, breaking it on the ground. Tyler, enraged, kills Lambert for the blunder and walks to the pit of immortality. He is about to put the crystal into the fountain's final lock but is stopped by Julie, who stabs him in the left eye. A fight ensues in which, with Odin's help, Julie finally kills Tyler. Odin then throws off his cloak, revealing himself to be the last of the Arakacians. He has been in hiding all these centuries, waiting for someone to find the chamber key and be drawn to the fountain. He intends to claim it as his own and reestablish the Arakacian empire. However, Zeek pulls the crystal key from the pedestal, locking Odin inside the fountain chamber forever, and flies into outer space. As Germain and Kerrie help Julie to her feet, Zeek envelops the crystal into himself and becomes a new asteroid to hide the key for all time.
Cast
Julie Strain as Julie; the on-screen character was also based on Strain's likeness
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 17% rating based on reviews from 12 critics.[2] Lisa Nesselson of Variety called the plot derivative but said self-selecting audiences may enjoy it.[1] Writing for Slant Magazine, Jake Cole said, "Everything here is disconnected and enervating, scuttling the winsome absurdity of the premise."[3]
The film had a video game about the events after Heavy Metal 2000, titled Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K. 2, in which the player assumes the role of Julie as she fights to save Eden from an evil entity called "GITH". The game is set some time after the film and features cameo appearances of several characters, for example, Julie's sister Kerrie, the pilot Germaine (now married to Kerrie), and a resurrected Tyler.
Possible sequel
After the release of 2000, a third film has been in various stages of development since then. During 2008[4][5] and into 2009,[6] reports circulated that David Fincher and James Cameron would executive produce, and each direct one of the eight to nine segments for a new film based on Heavy Metal. Eastman would also direct a segment, as well as animator Tim Miller, with Zack Snyder, Gore Verbinski, and Guillermo del Toro attached to direct segments. However, Paramount Pictures decided to stop funding the film by August 2009[7] and no distributor or production company has shown interest in the second sequel since.[8] Fincher and Miller subsequently developed their plans into Love, Death & Robots, an original animated series for Netflix initially released in 2019.[9]
In 2011, filmmaker Robert Rodriguez announced at Comic-Con that he had purchased the film rights to Heavy Metal and planned to develop a new animated film at the new Quick Draw Studios.[10] However, on March 11, 2014, with the formation of his very own television network, El Rey, Rodriguez considered switching gears and bringing it to TV.[11]
The Heavy Metal 2000 Original Soundtrack is the 2000 soundtrack album to the film of the same name. In his AllMusic review, Greg Prato said that the album was a "truer heavy metal soundtrack" than that of the first film, featuring a combination of established bands such as Pantera, Monster Magnet, and Machine Head; then-newer bands such as Queens of the Stone Age, System of a Down, Hate Dept., Puya, and Coal Chamber; and a few non-metal artists such as Billy Idol, Insane Clown Posse, Twiztid, and Bauhaus. The vast majority of the tracks were either specifically recorded for the soundtrack or were previously unreleased up to that point.[13][12] One month after its release in the U.S., the soundtrack peaked at No. 101 on the Billboard 200 chart.[14]
