Wizards – 35th
Anniversary Edition (1977/Fox Blu-ray)
Picture: B Sound: B Extras: C Film: B
The 1977 post-apocalyptic animated film, Wizards, was not an instant hit but has grown in status over the
years garnering an above average ‘cult status.’
The film centers on the battle of two wizards, one who fights with the
forces of industrial technology and the other with the powers and mysteries of
magic. Ralph Bakshi is the innovative
mind behind Wizards and as writer, director, producer he is the real deal. The PG film was the first animated venture
for studio 20th Century Fox and made an acceptable (considering its limited
release) $9 million in its original theatrical premiere. Though Bakshi created the film based on old
concept art he had drawn in high school, it was illustrator Ian Miller and
comic book artist Mike Ploog who were hired to animate the film.
The film takes place in a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by nuclear
war. It has taken 2million years for the
nuclear cloud to dissipate enough for the sun to shine down on earth
again. The world is not the same place
it was now inhabited mostly by mutants and few remaining humans. Fairies, elves, and dwarfs also rule the
lands and are currently celebrating 3,000 years of peace. A fairy queen named Delia has just given
birth to two wizards one inherently good and the other quite evil. Avatar is the good (human) wizard who helps
his mother and uses his powers for good, Blackwolf (the dark wizard) however
has evil ways and lets the days pass torturing animals and causing
torment. Eventually Delia dies leaving
Avatar and Blackwolf to battle for their mother’s kingdom (Montagar). Avatar is the victor, banishing Blackwolf who
swears to return to reclaim the kingdom.
Blackwolf spends his time amassing an army and working with and restoring
ancient technology. Blackwolf has become
the Fuhrer of the land
of Scortch and sets out
to reclaim Montagar as his own, but fails twice. Blackwolf dreams of a world ruled only by
mutants, using technology as his form of magic and after happening upon an
ancient projector he makes it is weapon to strike fear into the world’s
armies. The projector showcases footage
of Hitler’s Nazi Germany and the atrocities they caused; using this footage in
battle simultaneously inspires his mutant army and makes the elfin army
crumble. We then a ‘Lord of the Rings’
type fellowship form among the good/magical beings as they set out (right into
dangers way) to stop Blackwolf. It is an
epic tale that works in many ways, but fails in others.
Bakshi’s original intention was to inspire children and to prove that
he could produce PG animated films that held as much depth, knowledge, and
detail as a live action film. On some
fronts The Wizards works in this way and in others it feels convoluted and
pretentious. Bakshi seems to have been
very much inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord
of the Rings series as there are many parallels; at its simplest levels
Bakshi almost blatantly says magic/mysticism good…technology bad (or at least
has inherent evils). So on that level
the message rings through loud and clear, but the use of Nazi footage and his
take on Fascism (especially with the film being made in the 1970s) is a bit
odd, convoluted, and hard to place, but a motif of counterculture cinema of the
time. I would venture to say Wizards is
a great animated film that, when not taken as literal as even Bakshi would have
intended, goes the distance. It is
nicely animated (though not up to Disney standards) and creates an inventive, magical
world that I think would do even better if redone or re-explored today. Bakshi always said Wizards was meant to be a trilogy and though no studio ever gave
him the chance perhaps that time has come.
The technical features of this 35th anniversary Blu-ray set are nicely
done and quite the upgrade from the DVD release. Though no new extras are included here, the
picture/sound upgrades are well worth a look.
The film has always been rougher and grittier than a Disney film (just
based on how the animation was illustrated) so it is a bit harder to
critique. The picture is a 1.85 X 1
image that will probably never look better than it is here, even though that
DVD still looked really good a few years ago when Fox issued it. Wizards
was a low budget film and in many ways it shows, though in others it is
admirable that Bakshi got as much accomplished as he had. Blacks aren’t very deep and the contrast
could be better. The colors are mostly
vivid and vibrant though Bakshi seems to focus heavily on softer, browny hues
(much like his Lord of the Rings
animated film we covered from Warner elsewhere on this site). This cult classic has a unique animation
style to it and the end result here on Blu-ray has clean, crisp lines
displaying the art wonderfully. The
sound is a front heavy presentation even with its new DTS-HD Master Audio
track, most likely due to the film originally being produced in a simplistic
mono track. The sound will not knock
fans socks off, but gets the job done in a crisp, clean, clear concise
manner. The track overall is tame only
springing to life for the musical scores, which were very nicely produced.
Extras for this set were again ported over from the older DVD release
and are all in standard definition. What
is included in this Blu-ray set is a nice 20 some page book that has rare
concept art from Bakshi that is stunning; almost wish I had the originals
framed on my wall. The other extras are
as follows:
Audio Commentary
A track that ONLY features Bakshi, but boy does he let his passion
shine as he describes the film in gruesome detail, including but not limited to
his hardships and inspirations along the way.
Ralph Bakshi: Wizard of Animation
Still Galleries
Trailers
For more on the film, see our previous DVD coverage…
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1034/Wizards+(Ralph+Bakshi+Animated+Feature)
…plus our interview with its director, Ralph Bakshi, on the film and
much more at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/interview/1032/RALPH+BAKSHI+INTERVIEW
- Michael P. Dougherty II
