''Metal Messiah'' is a Canadian
rock opera musical science fiction film, directed by
Tibor Takács and released in 1977. An adaptation of
Stephen Zoller's theatrical stage musical, the film centres on a space alien (David Jensen) who comes to earth to save humanity from destroying itself with the decadence of rock music, but must battle an evil concert promoter (John Paul Young) who wants to continue to profit from society's hedonism, and coopts the Messiah to perform as a rock star before attempting to destroy him.
Most of the film's cast were real
Toronto-area rock musicians; Young was the lead singer of
The Cardboard Brains
The Cardboard Brains was a Toronto punk rock band from the first wave of punk rock and New Wave in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It helped define Toronto's 'Queen Street Circuit', playing clubs like The Edge and The Horseshoe Tavern.
Formed in ...
, while Jensen was the lead singer of Kickback.
[ Steven Leckie of The Viletones had been cast as the Messiah, but the role was recast to star Jensen.
The film was screened in 1977, before opening commercially in 1978 at the Montreal International Festival of 16mm Cinema.
The film faced some criticism for being out of step with the youth culture of its time; the original play was based on the glam rock scene of the mid-1970s, although by the time of the film's release the leading edge of the live music scene had shifted toward punk rock.][
Zoller received a Canadian Film Award nomination for ]Best Adapted Screenplay
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
at the 28th Canadian Film Awards
The 28th Canadian Film Awards were held on November 20, 1977 to honour achievements in Canadian film."Ceremony dominated by two feature films: NFB Triumphs at Film Awards". ''The Globe and Mail'', November 21, 1977. The ceremony was hosted by Gordo ...
in 1977.[Frank Daley]
"Omens good for film awards show"
''Ottawa Journal
The ''Ottawa Journal'' was a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, from 1885 to 1980.
It was founded in 1885 by A. Woodburn as the ''Ottawa Evening Journal''. Its first editor was John Wesley Dafoe who came from the ...
'', November 19, 1977.
References
External links
*
1977 films
Canadian musical films
Canadian science fiction films
English-language Canadian films
Films based on Canadian plays
1977 directorial debut films
Films directed by Tibor Takács
1970s English-language films
1970s Canadian films
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