Terra

"Wherefore you do so ill translate yourself Out of the speech of peace, that bears such grace, Into the harsh and boist'rous tongue of war; Turning your books to graves, your ink to blood, Your pens to lances, and your tongue divine To a loud trumpet and a point of war?" Shakespeare's Henry IV, II

Battle for Terra is an animated Star Wars for the 21st century—a successful mix of adventure and heart with a slight overload of moralizing. The peaceful planet Terra is terrorized by the remaining people of Earth, who have traveled over time and space to find a substitute for the planet they destroyed.

The Terrareans are sperm like people with Kean-like eyes suitable for tears. These gentle and intelligent "aliens" are not unsuited to defending themselves, helped by their rebellious, Princess Leia-like Mala (voice of Evan Rachel Wood), who tends to a wounded earthling, the Han Solo-like Lt. James Stanton (Luke Wilson), both of whom must deal with Earth's General Hemmer (Brian Cox), a Dick Cheney-like commander whose answer to survival is armed aggression that begins by wresting power from his president, a black man with soulful mien reminiscent of Barack Obama.

That last description leads into my appreciation of the allegorical implications such as the US invasion of Iraq, torture as tactic, and resistance to alternatives. The need for nations to cooperate or face annihilation is repeated but well taken given the eternal opposition of the Soviet Union and the emergence of Iran and North Korea in the nuclear arms race.

While Battle for Terra lacks humor and preaches a bit too much, it still can be enjoyed by the whole family; its absolute lack of sexual situations (even Princess Leia induced some lustful thoughts) is refreshing and appropriate given the stark difference in the worlds. For the brainier family members, the explanation about the challenges of making oxygen is another rewarding element.

All these moral and aesthetic points are amply relayed throughout, making it a didactic work of art first and entertainment second. I would prefer it the other way around.

i saw this film at a Friday screening at the toronto festival and it was i think sold out. i loved it and it looked like most everyone else did too. the film is animated but more serious like a normal live action film. the director asked the audience at the q&a if its time animated films can also be serious and everyone clapped. this film plays like a real film and not just another dreamworks cartoon. the alien world is soo beautiful and the story flows so well. the ending is amazing and a little shocking but in a good way. the film has something very beautiful and important to say. the action is fantastic. i cried at the very end but wont spoil it for you. i recommend seeing it when it comes out.

I took my son to see "Battle For Terra" on it's opening weekend here in NYC. I have to admit I didn't want to see it as much as I wanted to see "Wolverine" but I always defer to my 7 yr. old when there is animated fare to watch on the big screen.

Much to my surprise "Terra" is probably a much more mature, Involving & Emotional filmgoing experience than anything on the big screen right now. It might even bring a tear to some eyes out there.

The story as it is tells the tale of the inhabitants of the planet Terra (By the way, That's the name given to it by the humans. I don't think the actual name of the planet is mentioned). They are kinda like large upright tadpoles who swim through their atmosphere. The "Swimming" animation is really spot on & something different for a film of this type. The "Terrans" aren't your usual cutesy alien creatures. There are no stereotypical characters here. No "Goofy" alien, No "Evil" aliens, although the main alien protagonist "Mala" is very handy & invents things.

The Terrans are a peaceful race & seem to spend their days learning & studying their heritage. Their world is a wonderful amalgam of large mushroom like trees that they live in & they even have gliders that they travel around in. There are even large Whale like creatures that live in their atmosphere. Much like Blue whales cruise thru our oceans. All of them live in harmony.

That is until Earthlings arrive announcing that since they have devastated the resources on 3 planets & destroyed them in the process they have no choice but to "Terraform" the planet & change the atmosphere to suit what's left of mankind. The fact that this would kill the peaceful Terrans is of little concern to the humans.

I cannot go into the rest of the film without spoiling it but suffice it to say there is little to no humor in this film. That's not to say that kids won't enjoy it. They will. But this is not your typical kiddie flick. It is a sort of allegory about war & peace, Racism, Militarism & most of all love & harmony between those who might look at each other differently.

The animation is mostly superb & there are scenes where you actually feel like you're there on the planet thanks to some good 3-D visualization. By the way, The 3-D is more of the depth perception kind of 3-D not the pop out of the screen type although there are a couple of scenes of snow falling that make you just want to stick your tongue out & catch a snowflake.

All of the voice performances are good to great & the film never lags. As a matter of fact the battle scenes are quite rousing (Insert homage to George Lucas here) & while not graphic...characters do die in battle so you might want to keep an eye on the little ones if you're with one of them.

The saddest part of the experience to me is that when we arrived at the theatre (a 5-600 seater) there were exactly 4 people in there besides my son & myself. "Wolverine" & "Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past" steamrolled over this little gem & it pains me to think that people are missing out on a truly moving experience. It'll be gone from theatres in a week & that'll be it. I hope it finds it's audience on home video. It's a good movie that deserves to be seen.

I'm in the special effects field and jumped at the chance to see this film at the festival. I love SF but have to say I was a little wary going in because I've been burned in the past by high and low budget SF films. Big budget SF is usually so dumbed down it betrays the genre while low budget SF usually consists of cheesy low-rent imitations of great films. But I still get excited hoping that the next one will 'be the one'. I find great SF in books, but great SF films are a rare breed. I was happy to discover that this film is different in a good way. It's a good SF film and a great animated movie. I was surprised to see a film this thought-provoking get made. The animation style is really eye-popping. There were times when I wasn't sure whether I was watching real footage or CG. The performances were generally great, but there was some stiff acting now and then, especially with the humans. The aliens however moved beautifully. The story begins as a fantasy but soon transforms into a mature look at environmentalism and war. It's an odd transition, but overall a nice surprise. In terms of SF, it's a mixed bag of genuinely inspired ideas in the form of a completely original alien world, and some familiar ideas from the humans. The film's tone and style make it special. There are more than a few scenes that are emotionally engaging. I was fearing Sci-Fi channel movie-of-the-week but got Spielberg instead. I'm not sure what the film cost but it seams to have had a decent enough budget behind it. The film is not perfect, but it gets enough right to make me a fan.

I was at the gala premiere of Terra in Toronto and was absolutely blown away by this film- I'm not a big festival goer- but I was in Toronto on vacation and saw something about Terra on the local news. It's hard to believe that 'kickmekenneth' and I were at the same screening. I've never commented on these types of websites but came across this review when I was looking for info about this film. The film was incredible- the world Tsirbas created is gorgeous and totally unique. I felt as though I was watching a painting come to life. It was so refreshing to experience an animated story whose characters had depth and conflict like those in a dramatic live action film. The environmental and anti-war themes were expertly woven into the plot and clearly Danny Glover, Brian Cox and Justin Long felt strongly enough about this film to present the premiere and Danny Glover was gracious enough to talk with us afterward. Terra's only flaw may be that it is ahead of its time in the US – where we are are used to our animated characters being simplistic, forgettable talking animals. TERRA is the future of CGI. I took a group of children who have not stopped talking about this film since the screening- we go to all the animated films, and I've never seen this kind of reaction from them. I also noticed a few adult audience members sniffling tears at the dramatic conclusion. BRAVO Mr. Tsirbas! This is a film worth seeing... Does anyone know who Mr. Tsirbas is or where I can learn more?