Heavy Metal is a 1981 Canadian animated film from executive producer Leonard Mogel, who was also the publisher of Heavy Metal magazine. With Ivan Reitman producing and Gerald Potterton directing, the work flow was expedited by having several animation houses working simultaneously on different segments.

The film is an anthology of various science fiction and fantasy stories adapted from Heavy Metal magazine and original stories in the same spirit. Like the magazine, the film has an unusual amount of bloody violence, nudity and sexuality for an animated film.

Mogel planned another film to be promoted under his "Heavy Metal Presents" banner, and Scott Roberts did extensive work scripting an adaptation of William Gibson's short story "Burning Chrome", writing a total of six screenplay revisions. However, this project, planned as a live-action film, was eventually sold by Mogel to Carolco, and the film was never made. Mogel had a meeting with director Luc Besson, since he wanted Besson to direct Burning Chrome.

In 2000 a sequel entitled Heavy Metal 2000 (aka Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.²) was released.

The end of the 80s, a village in the middle of Finland. 15-year-old Hevari, the only long-haired boy in town, is the coolest guy in the world - at least according to Kake from next door. No-one else seems to agree. Short-tempered Hevari is used to being the laughing stock among the gang and the girls. But when the Friday night comes and there's a disco at the community hall, it's time to go again. Maybe tonight everything will be different. Written by Zaida Bergroth and Jan Forsström

A sweeping story of the battle of good against evil is told through an anthology of short animated films about a glowing green orb (the Loc-Nar) that is the personification of ultimate evil in the universe. Based loosely on the French magazine "Heavy Metal." Written by Christopher E. Meadows

This movie is based on an American Comic Book of the same name. This movie is an anthology based around a green orb (Loc-Nar) which is the sum of all evil. The segments in order are: "Soft Landing"; "Grimandi"; "Harry Canyan"; "Den"; "Capain Sternn"; "B-17"; "So Beautiful, So Dangerous"; "Taarna". "Den" is based on Richard Corben's Hero that appeared in Heavy Metal magazine during 1977 (the magazine's first year). It is also available in paperback from Fantagor Press. "So Beautiful, So Dangerous" is based on a serial in Heavy Metal magazine (later a book). "Soft Landing" originally appeared in the September 1979 issue of the comic book "Captain Sternn" was written Berni Wrightson and appeared in the June 1890 edition on the comic. "Grimandi" is the wrap-around story that evolves from "Soft Landing". Written by Mike

An astronaut brings home a glowing green orb for his daughter. However, the orb kills him and corners the girl for its purposes. Claiming to the embodiment of all evil, the malevolent sphere, known as the Loc-Nar, terrorizes the little girl by showing a series of bizarre and fantastic tales it has influenced. The first is "Harry Canyon," a cynical taxi driver in a squalid futuristic New York who finds himself involved with a damsel in distress who is relentlessly pursued by murderous thugs who desire the Loc-Nar her archaeologist father found. The second is "Den" which chronicles the adventures of a nerdish boy who is thrown into the fantasy world of Neverwhere, where he is transformed into a studly naked muscle-man, desired by beautiful women, who must get involved in a conflict revolving around possession of the Loc-Nar. The third is "Captain Sternn" where the title character is a handsome but irredeemable scoundrel who stands accused in a trial that Loc-Nar throws into chaos. The fourth is "B-17", where a World War II bomber plane limps home after a bombing run, only to have the Loc-Nar ram into it and revive the dead crew members as murderous zombies. The next is "So Beautiful, So Dangerous" where a buxom secretary at the Pentagon is abducted by stoned alien wastrels and a oversexed robot. The final story is "Taarna", where the Loc-Nar has to come to a future Earth and changes a peaceful people into a horde of murderous barbarians who rampage with genocidal zeal. Only the last Tarackian, a silent swords-woman known as Taarna, can avenge the victims and stop the Loc-Nar. Written by Kenneth Chisholm