Review Tuesday: Wizards (1977)

  

 

WIZARDS

1977

In a post-apocalyptic Earth Two WIZARDS and their armies battle for the future of the planet.

I don't know who, but someone put the idea in my head that I should watch the 1977 animated film WIZARDS.

 

Here's a skinny. The Wizards were born twins, but they are complete opposites, but simply one is good and teh other is evil. The evil one, Blackwolf (he's easy to spot, he has bones for arms and they are upside down, you'll know what I mean when you see it) has finally figured out a plan to conquer the planet. He discovers some WW2 German propaganda films and hardware. Somehow this causes the opposition to crumble. The good one, Avatar turns one of Blackwolf's own assassins against him, and goes on a journey making allies to try to defeat his brother. 

 

Okay, this movie is just weird. It perfectly reflects the anti-war '70s as well the ever-present fear of a Nazi Fourth Reich rising. It also is loaded with the 70s drug haze. I have a feeling you need to be heavy-glazed in order to truly enjoy this movie. It seemed to go on and on at point unnecessarily. It might've been better with some editing, but it's already an hour and twenty minutes, how short could it be trimmed down to? And the animation is all over the place. The cut scenes are made with incredible artwork, but they don't even line up with the artwork in the rest of the cartoon. Avatar looks completely different from one to the next! 

 

Possibly the biggest let down is the ending. The movie came out in 1977, so I don't care. The movie is called WIZARDS. The WIZARDS finally face off and what happens? Avatar pulls out a pistol and shoots her brother twice through the chest. No magic. Nothing mystical. BLAM! BLAM! YOU'RE DEAD! 

 

You can find it to watch for free on the Internet Archive, but I don't really feel it's worth the time or effort to do so.