Las 7 bolas de cristal y los prisioneros del sol

I have been a fan of Herge's comic strip albums concerning TinTin (Kuifje in the Netherlands). So I was pleased to view this feature length animated movie based on one of his better stories (not the best, I might add). Although an animated series has been created for Tv based on the works of TinTin, this was surely a treat to watch.

The animation might not be top-notch as just might find with Disney or Bluth, but it surely was watchable. The story contains typical TinTin detective work, which includes obviously trying to catch the bad-guys and solving some mystery somewhere in the world, this time it is South-America concerning an Old Inca sect.

The humour can only be appreciated if you are a fan of the comic albums, because it can be quite lame at times, but who cares, this is TinTin. Thompson and Thompson are as ludicrous as ever and Captain Haddock is as hilarious as ever as TinTin's permanent sidekick. Snowy (Bobbie in NL) is as loyal as ever.

A must-see for fans of TinTin.

7/10

A quite successful adaptation of one Tintin's adventure. The animation is nice and some of the elements that made the success of the famous reporter are here to keep the fans happy: exotic sceneries, a mysterious curse and a touch of humor ( of course a bit conventional) brought by the eccentric detectives: the Thompsons. This touch of humor was brought perhaps to lighten the story and to avoid that it's too seriously told. But the result works. You aren't bored at all and Tintin's fans should find something in it.

It begins with an archaeologist who is submitted to an astonishing curse, being put in sleep by a weird flying ball . Formerly, various archaelogists encountered an old Inca temple, and all of them became the unfortunate victims of a nasty Inca God. Back to Europe one by one and little by little are fallen into fearing nightmares and deep sleeps. Later on, professor Calculus or Tornasol is kidnapped by throwing the magic ball into the car, carried out by a duo of Peruvian Indians and undercoverly being embarked at a merchant boat called Pacharama. Then, Tintin and his faithful, inseparable friend Captain Haddock, Milu and Inspector Dupont ot Thompson brothers go to Peru to rescue the absent-minded professor Calculus or Tornasol and free 7 archeologist from an old, strange curse. These archeologists from time to time wake up and suffer frequent allucinations for some minutes and a bit later on return to sleep. In Peru they arrive in Santa Clara, Callao, as our friends meet a Peruvian little boy called Zorrino who leads them throughout the lush and dangerous jungles, mountains, cliffs, snows and confronting perilous citizens and wildlife as crocs, serpents and a starving condor. After that, the risked tracks lead to an amazing discovery, The Temple of the Sun, adoring God Pachacamac, run by an ominous Inca chief, The Gran Inca, and our friends are surprised in action and captured, being condemned to a horrible deastination.

Amusing and funny Tintin aventure contains outrageous feats, full of humor, amusement, entertainment, taking here and there some elements from original comic books but some changes too. As usual, Captain Haddock steals the show, this time he takes off the annoying Peruvian LLamas spitting saliva to him. Long time ago, Captain Haddock and Tintin met the first time in "The crab of the gold tweezers", and following other fun adventures as "The secret of the Unicorn" and "Treasure of Rackam the Red" . Based in two comic books (Seven balls of crystal and its second part : The Temple of the Sun, though mainly the latter) drawn by the great Herge or Georges Remi whose work in a clear, clean, simple drawing line was fabulous.

It contains an atmospheric musical score by Francois Rauber who also composed "Tintin and the lagoon of sharks" . However, it packs some anticlimatic and boring songs. These are : Ode a la nuit, words and music by Jacques Brel performed by Lucie Dolene. And Chanson of Zorrino, words and music by Jacques Brel, performed by Lucie Dolene and Lemercier. The picture was professionally directed by Eddie Lateste, who was in charge of animation department of The smurfs and the magic flaute, Asterix the Gaul, Asterix and Cleopatra, Lucky Luke, and Pinoccio . Being well financed by the notorious producer Raymond Leblanc. Raymond produced and directed various cartoon movies, most of them based on Gosciny and Uderzo , Herge and Morris comic books. As he made Iznogud , Lucky Luke, Asterix and Cleopatra, Asterix the Gaul, Gulliver's travels and Tintin and treasure of the sharks. Rating 6/10. It is a funny and agreeable entertainment for kiddies and adults.

"Tintin and the Temple of the Sun" is a movie I can't review without drowning myself in an ocean of sentimentality. Whatever rating I gave, no matter how objective my words would sound, it will never capture the profound feelings the film inspires me, something hard to express because extremely rooted in the inner depths of my childhood. And it doesn't get easier with age.

I remember I was between 4 and 5 when my father brought me, as he used to do, a VHS from the local store. Probably convinced that I'm more attracted to Disney-like cartoons, he told me it was "Tintin", something I would probably dislike. My father grew up with the same comic-books than I but was never really fond of Tintin, too serious, too long, too literary, and not as fun and exciting as Asterix, Lucky Luke and Marvel Comics. I saw the film, it interested me, it made me laugh, it scared me, it grabbed me, I'm not sure I loved it the first time, but at the age of 7, the VHS was still in my collection and I could recite it by heart.

I think the secret of the film's appeal had probably something to do with its relative seriousness. I was watching an animated film that looked like a real-life film, and was as thrilling as an adult-movie. The opening that presented the curse of the 7 explorers who found the mummy, the hideous but nightmare-inducing sight of Rascar Capac with the whole voice-over narration and the ominous music, my heart was hooked. By the way, I was less scared by the mummy than the costumes during the Carnival sequence, my phobia of clowns made me hide every time it started. Believe me, some of them are very scary, just the slightest thought of them makes me shiver.

Or maybe what I most loved was the film's undeniable escapist value, "Prisoner of the Sun" on which the album was adapted, with a shortcut taken on "The 7 Crystal Balls", is, if not the greatest, the most eclectic adventure of Tintin, multiplying the natural settings, from the mountain that Tintin climbs to save Milou … sorry, Snowy and using the condor as a parachute, to the menacing jungle where they exterminate the crocodiles, and in-between, the impressive avalanche in the cold summits. If there ever is one movie that truly captures the meaning of 'adventure', it's this one. A raid to Peru, an Inca curse, supernatural elements mixing with natural dangers, you'd tell me that Spielberg never had Tintin in mind while conceiving Indiana Jones, I wouldn't believe you.

And what makes the whole adventurous mood even more appealing is that it's all motivated by friendship and the desire to save Professor Calculus. Tintin, as usual, indirectly provides a great lesson of courage, friendship and humanism. And this is how, as a kid, this little-known movie (outside the French-speaking area, I guess…) made me familiar with condors, Incas, eclipses. This is how, as a kid, I was inspired by Tintin's courage, I laughed at the goofy Thomson's clumsiness and Haddock's anger (especially when he's mocked by the clapping monkeys) and was touched by the brave little Zorrino, though smartly wondering why a boy would have a female voice.

Thrills, seriousness, escapism, appealing characters … all contribute to the film's entertaining value. But still, what printed the film with magical letters in my heart was the music. The score of "The Temple of the Sun" was and still is one my favorite ever, and I implore you to listen to it even without watching the film, it is so great that I'm sure if the film was American, it would have earned it an Oscar nomination, not that it matter though, but I wish it was more famous. The score, especially the trumpets and violins part, always pumped my heart with an insatiable thirst for adventure, it has the inspirational quality of a John Williams' music with something borrowed from Maurice Jarre.

And the musical magnitude doesn't end with the score but also with the beautiful songs sung by Zorrino, songs that are fittingly written by the legendary Brel, Belgium's greatest artist wrote songs for Belgium's greatest character. And till now, Zorrino's song sounds like a hymn to my lost childhood. Till now, I have goose bumps whenever I hear it, because it reminds me of these years when my father was my age, when I was still sensitive to the magic of little things. The film is so emotionally loaded for me that it doesn't matter how adult I am, it will forever awaken my inner child.

And my story with the film didn't stop with the VHS, my father accidentally taped a 1990 World Cup football game on it, and I looked for the film for five years. Meanwhile I read the comic-book, I got more interested in the written adventures, and it wasn't until 13 that I could finally see the film again. I was mature enough to find some flaws; the way the characters were drawn that didn't match the background obviously painted to imitate a sort of Disney style. Of course, I understood the animators took some liberties with the story, they added a sort of romantic subplot, the Thompsons as comic reliefs, of course, but nevertheless, the magic was still intact.

I just hope kids today can still be affected by the charming simplicity of Tintin, a hero in the noblest meaning of the word with his bravery and humanism as only superpowers. I know for my part, I will forever cherish this film. I'm sure that in my deathbed, if I was recollecting the magic of my childhood memories, the music will resonate in my mind, while I will sing in myself, "why should I go now", just like Zorrino.

It has been some time since I read the fantastic Tintin books by Herge but I remember enough to know that there are a number of changes in this version from the book so do not expect to see an animated book in front of you. One example, look at the front cover of prisoners of the sun ( image is online at Amazon ), it does not appear in any of the frames - why? Maybe considered too "scarey" for animated visuals yet not for a book read by the very same audience. The music and songs are a pretty dire purile Disney-ish addition, and in the dubbed English version the voices grate. Some of the animation is a mite dodgy but generally good ( using the base artistic talent of Herge how could it not be ), but my fiance who did not know when the "filming" had taken place thought it was computerised it was so good enough and in her view more advanced than other cartoons of its day. As a Tintin fan I would love to see a series of feature length films bringing them to life in a more accurate and sympathetic manner that appealed as much to their adult as the child fanbase rather than the current choices we have - 20 minute or 5 minute truncated serialisations on television or the one or two full film length but compromised variants.