User reviews

A delightful, original an odd French-Czechoslovakian animation movie by Rene Laloux that wan Cannes Jury's award in 1974.

The 2-D animation is something that you can expect from the seventies, but it is very original and innovative for the time. It has the detail and charm of all good illustration books, and, despite the limits in movement, the characters are very expressive and beautifully drawn, as well as the landscapes. The world and atmospheres created by Laloux are superb, both familiar and strange. The Recipe? Mix Dali surreal landscapes, Bosch architecture and fauna/flora creatures, add a hint of 19th century botanical drawings, slowly pour some Pink Floyd-ish music, and whisk all energetically with a fat-free faux-mythological metaphorical story, and you have The Savage Planet, which is the original title of the movie in French.

The story is very interesting and has many possible interpretations and readings: the role of humans in Nature, cohabitation and coexistence of different species and political systems, what makes different species superior and savage, among others. I found funny that the people in the story are called Oms (French word for people is Hommes and it sounds the same as Oms), and the main character is called Terr (the name of earth in French is Terre and sounds the same as Terr).

The main problem with the story and the characters is that they are not always engaging as they don't transmit enough emotion or feeling to the viewer. The viewer doesn't feel empathy towards the poor suffering human pets or towards the aliens, the first because they really act like a pest, and the second because they are too spiritual and developed to tolerate others than themselves. This is all intended, but still frigidly expressed. The lack of thrill is what kills the movie.

Nevertheless, this is one of those animation movies that everybody should see, full of imagination, talent, and landmarks in Animation. A cult movie that deserves the cult. Unique.

Having just completed watching this film, I can say it was worth the wait. It will please fans of hard-core science fiction (not fantasy), and will seduce fans of animation (not just 3D animation, animation in general terms) with its mix of Czech style animation and illustration.

It is a good movie, but not a masterpiece. The narrative treads the science fiction tropes too strictly and ends up painting characters and events predictably when the setup seems to suggest something more interesting. In fact, I was very disappointed that the most developed and interesting relationship in the whole film is traded off for a kind of boring resistance story that does its best to not let the audience make connections with the characters. It is not picked up or revisited later... and none of the subsequent character interplay is as interesting or meaningful.

Where this film excels is in its weirdness and imagination. Strange and horrible creations are brought to life and move/eat/gestate/exist in ways that will make you go 'ew' and 'wow' at the same time. This is helped by the strong European styling of the animation (mostly limited in movement) and illustration, which reminded me of studio Zagreb..

There is something so mysterious about the atmosphere of this film - it may just grab you. Definitely watch it for the disturbing and somehow touching relationship between Tiva and Terr - you'll only wish there was more of it.

In the world of the animation business there is a recent trends towards super- realism where computer graphics are being increasingly used. Although I appreciate animations like Finding Nemo or the Incredibles for they represent a renewal of the genre (in the same way the Disney movie did in the 50's), the artistic style of La Planete Sauvage is unmistakable and accords perfectly with the dark atmosphere of the movie. This animation is based on the book Oms (a deformation of the french word homme, man) from the French SciFi writer Stephan Wul who should also be credited for being the writer of The Time Masters (another SciFi animation worth your time). Wul's real name is still a mystery. The rare things we know about his life are that he wrote his 10 (or so) only books when he was studying dentistry at the University. He apparently graduated and became too busy to continue his writing activity. What a pity. I've read most of Wul's book and they are all unique and beautiful. The animation sticks true to Wul's vision. The art by the Czech master Topor is dark and oppressing, despite the bright color of the 60-70's-influenced graphism, adding to the uncomfort of seeing human beings treated as pets or pests by giant extraterrestrials. However, the roles are interchangeable and humans do behave too often in the way the extraterrestrials do in the movie with other living creatures on Earth. Hard to find but worth the search.

What a great movie! I had completely forgotten about this film -in fact, I hadn't seen it in over 20 years. Well, I rented 'The Cell' and while I was watching the scene where Jennifer Lopez is in her house with the television on, I noticed those blue aliens and the memories came rushing back! Of course, I came to IMDB to figure out what the title of the film was (it was in the trivia section of 'The Cell' review), and I was pleasantly surprised to find the title. I went and bought the DVD, which is truly outstanding! The basic premise of the movie is that a race of aliens keeps domesticated humans as pets, while eliminating their feral brethren in the wild. The story centers around Terr, who is rescued from a pack of cruel alien children by the daughter of a high-ranking official. Eventually he runs away and ends up meeting the humans living in the wild. They become tired of the treatment they suffer at the hands of the alien race, and seek to exact revenge on their captors.

This movie was made nearly 30 years ago, so the animation is not really comparable to modern-day animation, but the story and the plot transcend time. The premise of the film is as valid today as it was in the 70s.

The DVD edition of the movie comes with three additional animated shorts by Rene Laloux, and they are just as entertaining. This is a real gem of a movie...truly beautiful. My kids love it as well. A true masterpiece.

9/10.

It's like something out of a Salvador Dali painting, but on screen in a science fiction movie. A film where humans are merely pets and insects to a more advanced, giant race of alien beings. The film is pretty awe inspiring and makes one quite philosophical after watching it. It's definitely a masterpiece of its own accord, creatures of strange designs never before seen in any other film that I know of. I would definitely recommend the film to any science fiction enthusiast.

I believe this is a metaphoric view of classification of humans in political borders based on power and technology. One thing that I have noticed boldly is that the story successfully intends to explain the analytical capabilities among both advanced societies and undeveloped ones are almost the same. I won't go further in order to avoid spoiling the movie. However, I strongly recommend to consider political aspects while watching it. This was defiantly a unique experience for me, more like a conversation with people who care about history of civilizations and future of humans in different societies. I am very pleased and thankful to those who have made it possible for me to watch this unique animation. Considering the time it has been made, almost everything was great.

I saw this movie a few years ago on the Sci-Fi channel during a movie marathon they were having. Loved it so much I bought the DVD.

Based on a brilliant piece of science fiction ("Oms En Serie" by Stefan Wul). The artwork is stunning, and the story line an original masterpiece.

The plotline of this story is simple.

You enslave a race of beings and take them for granted, one of them eventually learns your language, and unites all his fellow slaves in an organized attack.

Suddenly you've been conquered.

This story line was later ripped off by L. Ron Hubbard and his group of wackos. You might have read the book, or seen the atrocity of a film "Battlefield Earth".

Imagine what you'd do, superior race controlling you, that takes a few to raise as pets, the rest to wild in their own sets, on occasion they descend, exterminate, to bring an end, you're just vermin in their eyes, as you grow and communise.

So you organise and plan, to escape and start again, but they're really cracking down, they just don't want you around, machines delivering the dead, the souls of people being fed, sounds familiar don't you think, a race that's living on the brink.

A psychedelic, multi-coloured, out of this world film that leaves you thinking, why have we failed to evolve and learn any lessons of the past and, was it really necessary to present women semi-clothed wearing Barabarella bras or none at all.

Fantastic Planet has about a hundredth of the technical proficiency- or just money- that any given Pixar film might have in just its first couple of reels. But there's probably just as much invention and eye-popping mind-blowing madness, if not exponentially more-so, than any recent CGI film. It's, well, art. Yes, to throw a word as big and all-encompassing like that is tricky, Fantastic Planet qualifies as some kind of weird artistic feat of surrealism and pure science fiction. And by sci-fi I mean the cream of the crop in storytelling and ideas: it's about the impact of images in a strange land being somehow completely relatable, if only in social construct or satirical forms, as though we were witnessing Gullivers Travels mixed around with Dune and then filtered through some renegade animator that got through the gates at a studio and churned something out fast. It's like a strange revelation that won't leave your mind.

And yes, leave no mistake, it also works very well as a "stoner movie", one of those ridiculously warped visions that goes into the world of the imagination so heavily, with tangential moments in scenes (the 'blending' of the Draags in one scene, the constant flow of various monsters, the 'mating' ritual, the de-Oming), with a soundtrack that's like a outstanding, unlikely collaboration between Isaac Hayes and Pink Floyd (you don't know whether it'll split into Dark Side or Shaft). Premise is simple: a little oprhaned Om named Terr is taken in as a 'pet' of Tiwa, and is half tortured half loved by her. But, as case happens, she outgrows him, and he runs away after being filled with knowledge by some machine. Then he gets sucked into the underground world of the Oms, where there's lots of mating and other activities, such as fights (wacko scene with those teeth-filled monsters strapped on like Gonzo gladiators). But their civilization is in peril, and it's time to fight back!

Lots of classic myths pumped in, but at times you almost forget there's story, which might be half the point. The director Rene Laloux, along with collaborators like Roland Topor, creates a world unequivocally unto itself, where there are real strokes with pencils and colors and inks, where it seems very much like a collection of pictures from some obscure European fable book for kids, only loaded with some kind of life-force that moves like no other animated film (maybe it's slightest, closest-distant relative is Yellow Submarine, which is still a stretch). Characters move in and out occasionally like a Terry Gilliam short- giant hand and other objects placed in almost jokingly, which makes it a lot of fun at times- and there's something eerie in Laloux's dedication to pushing the expectation-level, mainly because, as noted, we haven't seen this style before. It's a quiet form of sensationalism, where it sneaks up on the viewer, and then takes over a scene, growing little by little, like some weird plant.

In short, he does his job as a genre director, probably on par with the great visionaries, while using some primitive methods of animation. But through imperfections there's more expressive tendencies, moments of chance and random visions like a monster springing organically about to eat another, or to go through bizarre mating rituals as Venus de Milo statues with blue heads. Or, in other words, as my long-winded adulation goes to say, a superb "stoner movie". Not that being sober will make you absorbed any less; it's a compliment, in a sense, that in its glory of its time it reaches a true cult impulse, where children can enjoy its wonderful glimpses of the "fantastic", and adults can have another more mature, thought-provoking input in its implications on power and human nature.

The animation has been compared a lot of Terry Gilliam's animations from Monty Python. But I found the visuals here more interesting and original rather than disturbing with what I mostly remember were bad and distasteful visual puns.

Not saying this film is on par with Gilliam's work as a film director. It's better than Tideland though...

The animations were made with a low budget and rather static but do what they're supposed to do with only one part that is too repetitive (with the cannons). Imaginative design makes up for sometimes crudely drawn characters. The drawing style has a certain old-fashioned quality to it at times, as if you're watching an illustrated children's bible (but with some boob hanging out here and there and some violence that could give some kids nightmares). Beware, it's an adult film.

You won't find another movie like this anywhere and I can recommend this trippy, laid back psychedelic experience. It's mind-expanding without the need for substance abuse!

After hearing wonderful things about this film and seeing that is won an award at the Cannes film festival I had to check it out. The film has an interesting concept and some strong political statements...too bad that it doesn't amount to anything. Quite hypnotic at first and full of creative drawings, but horribly animated with many sequences consisting of little more than mouths moving. Stiff dialogue, poor characterizations, and an all around feeling of aloofness bury the film from the get-go. I understand that the film has something to say and that it's not supposed to be aimed at children in any way..but it's not entertaining in the least! That makes for a very long 72 minutes.

** out of ****

This is the masterpiece of René Laloux. Was an almost big success in France, was shown only 2 or 3 times in the past 20 years and is now a kind of "Cult" movie for sci fi addicts. This sci-fi movie is far much better than the two other from the same director: "Gandahar" and "Les maitres du temps" (Time Masters). René Laloux always works with great and original comics artists. He worked with "Moebius" Aka Jean Giraud on "Les maitres du temps". This artist is also credited on "Alien" , he created the space suits. He worked with "Caza" an other great comics artist for "Gandahar"

He worked wit "Topor" on "La planète sauvage". Roland Topor is a french artist with a great sense of fantasy. He designed most of all you can see on the screen. The animation was produced in Czechoslovakia because there always have been excellent animation studios in this country, and also because producing in France was far too expensive. This story takes place in the past. It is a metaphor of the man's history. The small characters are called "Oms". This word is pronounced like the french word "Hommes" that means "man". It tell us when man had to leave the original heaven. Man had to fight against his old masters to be independent and free, then he had to find his place in the universe. This is the universal story ... and that's why this movie is timeless (despite the 70s Wha Wha guitars ... ;o)

This film is an absolute marvel. I saw this film as a child, and was instantly mesmerized with the entire concept. Fans of dark animation will hopefully love it as did I. Eerie settings, strange creatures, and an equally hypnotic score all lend themselves to the masterpiece that is La Planete Sauvage.

A huge ball of cultural references. Greay music. And so familiar themes than it becomes less comfortable scene by scene. Because the story is just about us, like a large parable about racism, dictatorship, technology, survive, hate and contempt. I do not know than it is a beautiful film but it is a very useful one. A film about present, in precise details . Fascinating for craft and for message.

On a strange planet, tiny humans live as pets and wild animals amidst an incomprehensible civilization of gigantic blue people.

If you told Edward Gorey "Design the visuals in the style of Doctor Seuss using pastel crayons", you'd get something that looked like this movie. It was clearly inspired by Metal Hurlant. The difference in animation techniques was jarring; animation is sometimes full, sometimes quarter animated, and sometimes pan-animated. The story makes its symbolic content as obvious as it can.

Given that this feature came out in 1973, it was a magnificent achievement. It was a time when not only was movie animation just about dead, but TV animation was pretty dire too. However, I found its hectoring moral tone and obvious story-telling techniques to be rather uninspiring. I expect that audiences on the era, high on various drugs, might have disagreed

A very interesting political parable, apparently intended as an allegory on Czechislovakia's struggle against the Russians. But like any good allegory, it works as a statement on any struggle to topple a giant.

The art and animation are superb, filled with more detail and imagination than any ten standard animated films (the works of Miyazaki excluded).

It isn't perfect, of course. For all it's visual and allegorical depth, the characters are about as deep as a glass of water, existing only to deliver lines which further the plot. In fact, the main character practically disappears during the final act. Additionally, while the sights of alien plant and animal life show a great deal of creativity, we are treated to far too many of them. Such sequences are great for establishing a sense of place, but should have been cut closer to the end of the film.

As an interesting final note, the theme of knowledge overcoming power, and particularly the use of a "knowledge machine" suspiciously appeared later in L. Ron Hubbard's "Battlefield Earth", giving us one less reason to retain any respect for the man.

This movie is a pioneer. One of the first feature-length animated movies dedicated to adults and science fiction. The fantasy world in this movie could've only been made possible in animation without spending a ton of money.

The story's about a planet where humans aren't the dominant species, being captured and domesticated. The human capacity to think and learn eventually turn the pets into pests, leading to the eternal human struggle for freedom.

The animation itself is nothing to get crazy about, but the psychedelic images reminds you of the futuristic LP covers of such bands like Journey, Boston and Yes.

I would like to see more work like this being produced in countries other than Japan. Is a refreshing new view of the yet untapped potential of animation.

I'm not much of a fan of fantasy. A friend, however, brought this film to my attention because he said he couldn't get the story out of his head, and made further comments that piqued my curiosity.

Well, it didn't kill me to see the film and I'm happy to say that it was worth my time – for a number of reasons. First, the mise-en-scene is quite imaginative with absolutely surreal environments that I think owe a lot to the imagery of Monty Python; nothing wrong in copying – everybody does it, anyway.

Second, it's a fairly simple story about the oppression and exploitation of the masses in a fantastic society somewhere in the cosmos. To that extent, it's an allegory for any situation that results in a clash between opposing cultures, different societies and so on. It's given a new slant here, though, by portraying humanity – called the Oms – as the oppressed who are exploited by blue giants, known as the Traag. The plot follows the exploits of one male Om who, after learning all about the Traag, escapes from them to rouse the other Oms to mount a rebellion.

Finally, however, the most intriguing aspect about this film is the clear connection between it and other sci-fi and fantasy films. For example, the discordant sounds in this film are, I think, a direct copy of those I heard in The Forbidden Planet (1957). As noted already, the whole scenario owes much to the Monty Python TV series. And for sure, I think, James Cameron copied the idea of a giant tree sanctuary from this film for inclusion in his epic Avatar (2009). Cameron, of course, reversed the oppressed-oppressor roles of humanity and the blue giants for his story.

Moreover, here's a way-out thought: being a French production and seeing as how the French just love Hollywood westerns, I was amused to see the 'outlaw' Oms run for cover to a tiny hole in a wall – a long, blank, gigantic solid wall – much like how the real Butch Cassidy and his outlaws retreated to what was known as The Hole-in-the-Wall Gang hideout in the late nineteenth century. Too much of a stretch for you? Then think about why the writers here also included a Hollow Bush Gang of Oms who acted as enemies of the rebellious Oms in the Tree of Life sanctuary who wanted to escape from the Traag.

Actually, I also think that The Hollow Bush Gang is a metaphor for the Gang with No Brains, as you will see – in contrast to the rebellious Oms who figured out how to escape from Traag domination. Knowledge, after all, is power and so forth...

And, for something even more off the wall: long ago, Edgar Rice Burroughs (famous for Tarzan and others) wrote sci-fi stories about Mars. In one of those stories, there were headless humanoids that could function only when a head slithered into position between the shoulders. So watch for a brazen copy of that idea in this film.

I guess kids today would find the graphics and imagery quite rudimentary when compared to the current technology of mind-blowing CGI action. Too bad – their loss.

If you ever come across it on TV or on DVD, you could do lot worse with a couple of your hours, I guess. As a piece of cinema history, it is worth seeing; and I'm glad I did.

Give it seven stars for the imagery and overall effort.

January 26, 2012

I vaguely remember seeing this animated sci-fi tale on Cable TV many years ago. As I was young at the time I was perpetually bored and disappointed in its inability to develop any suspense adequate enough to hold my attention. Lo and behold, I come across this while browsing Youtube. Since I love mystical animation my intrigue led me to watch this full length feature.

Cool animation cannot save this story due to an incoherent plot with inexplicable characters, creepy-cool creatures and surreal imagery. Apparently, this is a parable designed to serve as a morality tale against societal supremacy practiced by groups. But this heavy-handed interpretation is too simplistic and moronic to be able to tackle such a complex subject of bigotry and conflict between people, let alone fictitious creatures. As a child, I was left with that empty feeling one gets when they may be too naive or young to comprehend the hidden messages of an intellectual fable. But perhaps I was more wise than I gave myself credit for as a youth.

Fantastic Planet attempts to use parallels of oppression reminiscent of Nazi Germany and White colonialism, but we are left with platitudes that can only be pitched to the lowest common mindset for biased and uninformed minds. There is also some unnecessary usage of nudity that hasn't any purpose but to titillate older viewers, thus alienating and humiliating a child audience. This 72 minute excursion into a lower surreal world of horror drags along at a pretty deliberate pace that proves the lack of content cannot uphold a feature length film. This film also has an overall sinister feeling that only puts off an engaged viewer.