''Metal Messiah'' is a Canadian

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

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 Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

-area rock musicians; Young was the lead singer of The Cardboard Brains, while Jensen was the lead singer of Kickback. Steven Leckie of

The Viletones The Viletones were a Canadian punk band from Toronto led by Steven Leckie on vocals. Other members from the original line-up were Freddie Pompeii, (some sources list him as 'Frederick DiPasquale') on guitar; Chris Hate (Chris Paputts), on bass g ...

had been cast as the Messiah, but the role was recast to star Jensen. The film was screened in 1977, before screening 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 Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...

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 Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

. Zoller received a

Canadian Film Award The Canadian Film Awards were the leading Canadian cinema awards from 1949 until 1978. These honours were conducted annually, except in 1974 when a number of Quebec directors withdrew their participation and prompted a cancellation. In the 1970s ...

nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay 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 acto ...

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 rock music films Canadian science fiction films English-language Canadian films Canadian films based on plays 1977 directorial debut films Films directed by Tibor Takács 1970s English-language films 1970s Canadian films Rock music films {{1970s-Canada-film-stub