Based on the sci-fi, fantasy magazine Heavy Metal, as it is known in the United States, Metal Hurlant tells self contained stories. These stories take place on different planets, have entirely new characters, the only link being the asteroid known as Metal Hurlant, which travels throughout space, and to each planet in which the story takes place.
I went into this knowing absolutely nothing about it. Although I am a big fan of science fiction, I have never read Heavy Metal Magazine. I was pleasantly surprised upon viewing this to discover it is more like a modern day Twilight Zone than anything. Almost all the stories told here have some sort of twist ending, that usually ends up being rather depressing and morose.
These stories are tailored to sci-fi fans, giving them everything they could hope for and more. The best thing about this is how different each story is from one another. One episode could take place on a feudal planet with swords and armor, the next in the distant future filled with technology beyond imagination. Creating such interesting stories that span only a little over twenty minutes is a challenge in itself. Despite this time constraint, we are introduced to a myriad of characters in this set, most of whom are as memorable as those who have hours of character development of traditional series.
Each season will contain six episodes:
Season 1:
King’s Crown
Shelter Me
Red Light/Cold Hard Facts
Master of Destiny
Pledge of Anya
Season 2:
Whiskey in the Jar
The Endomorph
Loyal Khondor
Second Chance
Second Son
Back to Reality
Although overlaps in story and characters are rare in this series, there are some great actors that have repeat appearances throughout each season. James Marsters and Michael Jai White show up several times, and you see other great sci-fi actors such as John Rhys-Davies, Michael Beihn, and Rutger Hauer just to name a few.
Just like any show, especially Twilight Zone, there are episodes that are exceptionally good, and ones that are exceptionally bad. This holds true for this set as well. I was not impressed whatsoever by the first episode, and it nearly gave me a terrible first impression. If you keep with it there are a few episodes where I literally screamed out in excitement because I was seeing something I felt was written just for me. Fans of the genre will get that feeling more than once, which makes this collection worth picking up.
Video
The video is presented in 1.78:1 1080p. It looks quite good, though each episode has a different style, sometimes making things a bit too dark. Overall, no problems of note.
Audio
The audio is presented in DTS HD Master Audio 5.1. Perhaps one of the worst parts of this set, it suffers from a terrible mix. Often the dialogue is drowned out by the music from the surrounds, enough to the point I had to turn on the subtitles just to understand.
Special Features
This set is packed with extras, many of the featurettes for specific episodes on the same disc. It also includes a bonus disc for additional special features. These include:
Alternate French Episodes
Featurettes
Interviews
San Diego International Comic-Con Panel
Motion Comics