That film is Heavy Metal, a sci-fi anthology animated film which hit theaters on August 7, 1981. Michael Ochs Archives/Moviepix/Getty ImagesFor those not born in the 1980s or 1970s, the existence of Heavy Metal may seem baffling. The short answer is that Heavy Metal was an attempt to turn the magazine of the same name into a film experience. And yet, it’s probably better that we live in a universe where Heavy Metal exists, rather than one that it doesn’t. For better or worse, Heavy Metal represents a brazen attempt at a kind of genre storytelling that hadn’t yet hit the mainstream.