Fantastic Planet
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Movie Reviews of Fantastic Planet
Movie Review: Amazing movie!
Summary: 5 Stars
I Love this movie.Its so imaginative and phycadelic.Anyone with an open mind will love it.Movie Review: rare find indeed!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was challenged by my 28 year old son to find this. He saw it as a child. Amazon!Movie Review: Still fantastic
Summary: 4 Stars
This 1973 production still evokes many different impressions. First, there's the retro appeal of the animation style: hand-drawn in a subdued palette (colored pencil?) and clearly hand animated, there's a charming ineptitude in the characters' motion. Next, the psychedelic visuals, with mind-melting meditations and bizarre wildlife being only a part of this classic's unique look. The plot and action truly carry this one, though. The opening scene features the infant Terr in his mother's arms. Just as human children might play with a beetle until it break, giant Traag children kill his mother in innocent if brutal play. Later scenes of pet humans might bring dog-fighting to mind, or some of those guilty moments with a child, a magnifying glass, and an ant nest. If you're so minded, this could easily represent the politics of subjugation - a reading I find somewhat strained.
In time, the giant Traags decide on a course of pest eradication, intended to keep their parks safe from vermin infestations, something that invites political readings of its own. When Terr escapes his pet cage and joins the feral humans, he brings with him a Promethean gift of knowledge. Of course, the lore-keepers in the wild tribes declare advanced knowledge "evil" (sound familiar?). In the end, though, that knowledge gives the human population the technological power to escape, and military power to coerce the Traags into peace negotiations. The end up with a planetoid of their own, possibly a cop-out if you hoped for a solution of peaceful coexistence.
This disk includes additional features, including a forgettable piece by Sean Lennon, said to be inspired by Fantastic Planet. Another short animated extra, "Escargots," takes surrealism yet another step forward, even if it takes animation a step backward. They support the main feature nicely, even though it stands well on its own. I hadn't seen this in decades, so I'm glad I rediscovered it. For one thing, I had not picked up on the "knowledge is power" theme, something that seems especially important in today's anti-scientific atmosphere.
-- wiredweird
Movie Review: Awesome movie, lackluster re-release
Summary: 4 Stars
I was introduced to Fantastic Planet by a friend of mine who had an English-dubbed version imported onto her computer, most likely from the now out-of-print 1999 DVD. Fantastic Planet is a French science fiction film from 1973 about an alien civilization which has captured the human race and brought them into their society as pets. The movie is absolutely incredible, simply put, and well worth a 5 star review. The alien world is astoundingly elaborate, with an extensive cast of bizarre wildlife, each creature with its own mannerisms. Complementing this is a beautiful art style aside an excellent animation style. Really, seeing Fantastic Planet for the first time is an experience; I worked in a video store for 10 months and this is the only movie I can safely say I will never forget.
So, why the four star review? Well, unfortunately, I'm a little unhappy with this "35th Anniversary Edition". For a re-release it is extremely bare-boned, featuring only one short film by Rene Laloux (the '99 release had three), an interview, and a music video. There are no inserts whatsoever; the DVD case consists of nothing more than the cover and the disc itself. Also, it pains me to say that the subtitles for the movie contain typos ("ia" instead of "is") and multiple grammatical issues ("it's" instead of "its", "to" instead of "too"). There is a dubbed track, just like in the 1999 release, but the fact that the subtitle script was obviously not looked over hints at either laziness or indifference, both of which rub me the wrong way.
In spite of its shortcomings, this is the edition I must reluctantly recommend to those who have not seen Fantastic Planet. The '99 edition, now out of print, is selling for twice the price as this release. So, as a re-release, this edition falls flat, but if you just want to see the movie, it's probably your best choice. Whichever version you end up with, you're in for a remarkable experience.
Movie Review: Trippy Movie With An Ambiguous Message
Summary: 4 Stars
Even though this film was released when I was a teenager and was regularly going to the cinema, I never heard of it until several years ago and then only in the context of the avant-garde soundtrack which I was trying to obtain based on its reputation for giving the listener an otherworldly experience. Well, I kind of gave up on the soundtrack but decided to get a copy of the movie so I could enjoy both.
Looking at the star ranking of Fantastic Planet, one who hadn't seen it before might get the impression that people find it mediocre. But if you read most of the comments of those who rank it low, their reasons mostly had nothing to do with the movie itself but with other issues outside of the seller's control. Those who focused on content mostly ranked it higher. Personally, I find it to be one of the most original and engrossing animated films I've ever seen. This is a very trippy movie with a purposefully ambiguous message probably due to the fact that much of it was created in a country (Czechoslovakia) where freedom of expression was at that time very limited. Who the Oms represent and who the Draags represent probably depends very much on the vantage point of the viewer. When you are watching, be sure to keep in mind that this was made when the MAD doctrine ruled relations between the West and the Iron Curtain and think about how this film addresses that.
I enjoyed the story, the animation, AND the soundtrack, though it was hardly the earth-shaking musical tour de force it was reputed to be. I also enjoyed the very humorous short animated Rene Laloux film Les Escargots and the interview with Laloux. One aspect of the film I found annoying was that the sub-titles did not always show where they could be read, but that is a minor complaint that may not affect you. Unless you have a DVD player that is a dinosaur, ignore all the caterwauling and add Fantastic Planet to your video library.