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Despite having the English title as Time Masters, there isn't any time component in its core story, though it gets shoved quite haphazardly into the revelation, which seemed to have come from the blind side, and took me by surprise for a bit. Didn't see it coming, but on hindsight, it came woefully too late though, leaving things wrapped up fairly quickly in the last act, that made it a little unsatisfactory, and treading very close to a cop out of sorts.

A 1980s animated movie, it does present a time travel of sorts for the viewer. After having being so used to 3D or computer graphics being the tool of choice to churn out feature length animated movies, this did seem like a blast from the past, but still standing the test of time after 25 years. I guess with the science fiction genre, it does provide it an additional age in terms of longevity (like Tron). Here, the movie opens with a chase sequence over an eclectic synthesized soundtrack, where the boy Piel and his father is on a flight from some hornet creatures. Before his dad met his demise, he gives Piel an egg like communicator, and had radioed his good friend Jaffar for assistance to rescue his son.

Here on the movie takes on two parts. First, PIel and his surviving amongst various encounters and creatures from within a strange forested area within the desert planet of Perdide, while waiting for Jaffar to arrive. And on the other track, Jaffar and his crew of token love interest Belle, technical wizard Silbad, two psychic stowaway gnomes in Jad and Yula, and fugitive Prince Matton. engage in a series of adventures, dealing with internal bickering, as well as external threats such as on the Gamma 10 planet with its faceless winged creatures.

While the animation is rudimentary simple in today's terms, the story does take on an interesting, mature dimension, especially with characterization. I particularly liked the gnomes as they provide clue-ins of sorts as they prepare you for what's possibly coming up, as well as to add some comedic elements into the storyline like a Laurel and Hardy. Piel too as the child shines through with real child-like qualities, which I thought was something different as he doesn't suddenly becomes a hero, which is so common in a typical story in today's setting, and what I thought was quite refreshing - let the kid stay a kid! And the designs by Moebius is just plain wicked, making the movie truly a sight to behold. Is there any more that you can ask for in a science fiction space adventure?

I do not know the first thing about animation, and in fact the only animation I have experience with is a few Disney movies and Saturday morning cartoons. Watching this quirky piece of animated science-fiction, I came to the realization that animation opens up an entirely new universe of possibilities for the genre. I have read many science fiction short stories and novels, wondering how they could possibly be translated into film, but using animation, the portrayal of complicated conceptual ideas from sci-fi novels seems much more possible than in traditional live-action. In fact, I'm tempted to say that science fiction and animation naturally complement one another.

This movie is like a funhouse of outrageous otherworldly ideas, one after the next. For a mere 80 minute running time, the filmmakers have packed an amazing amount of material here. If anything, the movie is actually too short, and it seems to gloss over a great deal of important plot points. It is almost like watching a drawing board conceptualization of a longer, more ambitious film, rather than the film itself. As such, character development is at a minimum here, as in the work of George Lucas. But also like Lucas' films, much of that is made up by the wealth of creativity. What is here is fantastic - a story filled with warmth and humor that can resonate with both children and reasoning adults. The startling elliptical ending is intriguing but abrupt. I recommend this for more adventurous filmgoers who want to try something unique.

Designed by the great graphic novelist Jean Giraud - AKA Moebius – Time Masters is a fascinating piece of animated sci-fi from France, that is well recommended for lovers of the genre and of the artist. Though the animation looks somewhat primitive by today's standards – though not for 1982, it looks quite better than any American cartoon of the time save Disney's, and don't forget that it wasn't a corporate effort like G.I. Joe or Transformers but an independent film with limited budget – but quickly enough you can learn the look past the rather bulky movements and simplistic faces of the characters and find yourself amazed at Moebius' amazing, seemingly endless imagination and creativity. The film is directed mainly at younger viewers – so it's not as liberated and wild as his more independent comics work or his contributions to Heavy Metal magazine – but his incredibly original vision is all there, in the out-of-this-world designs for the landscapes, the structures and the alien characters. Every minute of the film is a complete innovation in terms of design.

Plot-wise, there's not that much to be said for it; it's an intelligent but simplistic sci-fi story with a nice twist ending, which will, I think, appeal mainly to younger viewers. The characters are mostly simplistic and cartoonish, and largely unconvincing. These are the only reasons why I couldn't give Time Masters full marks; but these flaws take very little away from the pleasure of this film. As long as it focuses on the child character Piel, who is largely unaware of what goes on in the larger picture and is therefore touching and interesting, and not on the flat characters of Jaffar (good and brave for the sake of goodness and bravery), Matton (bad and greedy for the sake of badness and greediness) and the other adults; then it manages to be beautiful and gripping. And when any of the alien races are on screen, be they cute and cuddly or bizarre and frightening, you won't be able to look away. Time Masters is essential viewing for any lover of Moebius' work, and is well recommended for fans of science-fiction and of classic animation, and will surely become a treasured favorite for any of these.

I can't speak to a novel I haven't read, but what quickly comes across in watching this film is that at least compared to other contemporary titles, and filmmaker René Laloux's other works, it's rather distinctly primed for a younger audience. By no means is this to say that it's inherently any less worthy, but in centering a preteen child as a major character, and including two non-human creatures who speak and behave with a childlike mentality, there's little mistaking the more family-friendly slant. More substantively, enjoyable and engrossing as the story is, it arguably feels a bit more simplified as one sometimes anticipates of features tailored to a younger audience - or at least, it seems that way as it's better about communicating big ideas in the narrative rather than all details that should theoretically round out that narrative and enrich it. To that end, the result feels marginally incomplete, as though we're seeing a jigsaw puzzle that's been assembled but with a scattered few pieces missing. Even so 'Les maîtres du temps' is much more enjoyable than not, and pretty good if one happens to come across it.

There's no rule that says every picture has to be a perfect, grabbing masterpiece; sometimes it's enough for one to suitably serve its purpose. I think that's rather the case here as I'm glad I took the time to watch, but I just don't feel like I'd ever been inclined to watch again. If a tad deficient the plot is nevertheless modestly compelling, with great ideas providing firm foundation like cairns on a snow-covered hiking trail. Meanwhile, though active animation elements (characters and creatures) may not be as richly detailed as we've seen elsewhere (including even in Laloux's later film 'Gandahar'), the designs thereof are nonetheless splendid. Above all, the painted backgrounds that fill our vision at any given time are a real joy, and surely the chief highlight of the movie overall. Structures and landscapes are a veritable dreamscape of far-out visuals that boast a level of texture and careful complexity that's otherwise not always present in the title, and no small amount of the value here stems just from the illustrators' work. Kudos all around!

I did have a good time watching, and whether one is specifically a fan of someone involved, the genre, animation at large, or just looking for something to fill eighty minutes, I think 'Les maîtres du temps' earns a fair recommendation. It's not necessarily something one needs to go out of their way to see, but despite its weaker points I think the feature is fine just as it is. If you have the opportunity to watch, this is worth checking out.

As much as I did love Fantastic Planet, I think Time Masters is the better film. It is a spectacular sci-fi film and as an animated film too. While the incidental music is great and fits with each scene very well, the songs for me are nothing special and one or two don't do much to enhance the story.

That said, the story is wonderfully creative, imaginative and clever with a promising intense atmosphere and a convincing twist, and the characters are all likable with great personalities. The dialogue is simple without being too simplistic and mature without being too convoluted. The best asset about Time Masters asides from the story is the animation. The character designs are good enough, but considering when it was made the backgrounds and colours are quite stunning.

Overall, a spectacular film. 9/10 Bethany Cox

A Franco-Hungarian sci-fi animation film by director Rene Laloux, based in the Stefan Wul's book The Orphan of Perdide.

Time Masters is the story of a space voyage to rescue child Piel, stranded in Planet Perdide after the death of his parents, led by Jaffar -a friend of Piel's father-, Jaffar's friend Silbad, deposed mean Prince Matton and his sensitive daughter Bella.

The visuals of the movie are great and they have aged well. They mix the oniric-like colorful landscapes typical of Laloux with the visual style of comic master Moebius. In fact, the atmosphere and the desert landscapes, with orange-ish colors, and the design of the spaceships and space landscapes are very Moebius, but the paradise-lost-like colorful creative planets, its vegetation, fauna and creatures, are very Laloux.

The general storyline was good and with many good ideas and elements, but they are not harmonically or coherently put together. The script is too simplistic sometimes, confusing and twisted some others. The story of the stranded kid is simple but beautiful and allows us to explore planet Perdide with him, and also to see the planets that Jaffar pass/stop by during his voyage to Perdide. This part is more ethnographic, so to speak, and beautiful to watch, but the story told is very simple. Some philosophical digressions -a Laloux's film signature- are superimposed to that simple story. Firstly, we have the charming and playful conversations between the two human-like plant-derived "gnomes" Jad and Yula, which focus on the corruption of human thoughts, which, literally, stink to them most of the time, and the prevalence of economical value over beauty, which they don't understand and consider ridiculous - very New Age. Secondly, we have the pompous ceremonious robot-like winged faceless beings of planet Gamma 10, a bunch of mentally abducted people turned into a uniform mass of sameness that hates individuality and destroys any individual landing in the planet by turning him/her into one of them.

None of these elements seem to glue together, as they have different narrative and visual styles, messages and stories, without internal logic to make them believable.

I found the original French dubbing completely dull for most characters, except for the voices of Silbad, and the adorable Yula and Jad. Most importantly, despite the movie being a sci-fi one, and being filmed in the 1980s, when special effects were well developed, the ambient sound and editing are dreadful, so much so that, if we close our eyes, we don't feel that we are watching a sci-fi movie at all. It doesn't help either that some silly childish songs are put in the middle of the movie for no reason.

The end is fantastic, and one wonders why the tempo wasn't built to display it better.

It is an interesting movie to watch, for its individual elements (drawing of the planets, vegetation, fauna and creatures associated to them, and the philosophical bits), but pretentious sometimes, and poorly edited.

By the way, the design of the patrol cruiser of the Interplanetary Reform Federation characters and some of the "pirate" characters reminded me of Star Wars.

I remember I was very young when I saw this movie first. It was famous in Hungary as it was a co-production of French and Hungarian filmmakers (e.g. the animation director was Hungarian). I did enjoy it then, although I could not understand everything. Sometimes I felt it was quite scary. But still, it deserved the best Children's Film award in 1982.

Now I have seen it with friends who remembered how cool we felt then. And it was cool again. Okay, maybe the two songs during the movie were not as incredibly cool as everything else in the movie (okay, so they should have forgotten making people sing in a sci-fi) but well...that's the only tiny problem. Everything else is really cool. Sorry, I don't wanna give away anything from the story but it's truly amazing. Did you go to see Titan A.E.? That was quite good, but very American and quite senseless. This movie is different. Much smarter. Classic sci-fi.

If you don't think only American-type happy ending can be the end of a movie, but something like the ending of 12 monkeys or other almost-perfect movies, go and watch this one. You'll enjoy.

9,5 stars of 10!!!!

A fairly average affair, with some slightly poor dubbing on the English version. The conclusion however is quite a jaw-dropper, beats anything M. Night Whatshisname will ever come up with, and is worth watching just for that...

If you enjoy scifi, animation, and older story telling then you would probably like Time Masters and be willing to set aside its foibles. The animation can be odd at times. Although the character designs are not exactly pleasing, they are an interesting alternative to the often better animated contemporary anime. The royalty remind me of David Bowie while some of the creatures recall Cereberus. The story makes some wild leaps that would ruin the story if this movie were not focused on the fantasy and wonder of the vast unknown. Some of the transition scenes of the ship do not convey just what the devil is happening. The English dub has music that ranges from fun retro to B-side filler and dialogue that is unintelligible at times.

If random events and cockamamie explanations don't get your hackles up, then maybe you too can appreciate a step back in time to a great big fantastic universe.

"Les maîtres du temps" is as good as french animation movies are rare. Designed by Moebius (Fifth Element...), inspired from a novel of Stephan Wul (french science fiction writer) "L'orphelin de Perdide", it remains one of the most powerful animation movie I have ever seen.

Evidently, It is pretty old and the animation cannot be compared to today's movies, but the rest is very impressive. Characters are mature and have interesting personnalities, the design of ETs and plants is original and the scenario is full of surprises. This movie is different from all others and it is a real victory to be better than the book it has been taken of.

Animation is the perfect medium for sci-fi. Unfortunately, few animated sci-fi films have lived up to their potential. French animation master René Laloux is definitely one who let his imagination run amok in his medium. He is best known for his 1973 film Fantastic Planet. He must have had a difficult time getting funded for other projects, because he only ever made two more features. He died just a year ago. Time Masters is his second feature (he made another in 1988, called Light Years). The animation is very primitive, and not in the inventive primitiveness of Fantastic Planet. But, what it lacks in animation, it more than makes up for with its imagination. It's simply wonderful to behold. I especially love those two little telepathic creatures, referred to as "gnomes". The story is good, if not great. The ending is quite clever. I was wishing that it had gone on for at least a half an hour longer, but I won't complain, given the limited amount of material Laloux was able to produce in his lifetime.

It isn't Fantastic Planet, but then again nothing else is Fantastic Planet (despite what oh, say, Felix down at the comic book shop said about that one Anime that one time). The characters are fairly paper thin and the animation for them is not drawn on Zeros or even Ones; think for some comparison the Boba Fett segment from the Star Wars Holiday Special, though of course Laloux and Moebius have a firmer commitment to make 90% of the images look like the covers and backs of all the dimestore paperback books you've ever seen.

This isn't a bad thing exactly, it's simply that the filmmakers are less concerned with what we may be spoiled for by now with faster paced and funnier sci-fi than in telling it's story at a speed that is more for children (not sure super young but, hey, there isn't exactly anything ala Heavy Metal).

The Time Masters I think is something to probably throw on while you are trying to calm down after a bad day or, of course, "chill" when straying from the That 70s Show circle. As one example of what this film is, there's this one minute or so of film where we are just watching a couple of the characters take a swim, and there isn't anything special about it except it is... serene and pleasant to just watch two off-blue Alien-ish beings having a swim. There are times the humor, light and fluffy as it is, picks up like when the little French kid with white hair has to contend with a mean uh space bird sitting on his radio controller and the great bearded pirate on the ship on the other end bellows a war cry to get the bird off.

And when it gets weird in the last twenty/25 minutes, Laloux and Moebius fill the screen with obtuse oblong shapes and geometric designs that your friend in class wouldn't even think to try on his most fevered pitch day. So, not great overall, and (reading up on the film more after the fact) the inexperience (for the latter) and miscommunication (both) between the French and Hungarian animators shows. But it's an equally sweet and sincere attempt to create a serious, if sometimes obscure science fiction adventure, with those little grounding or what have you creatures the closest we get to "comic relief" .... if you're Jean Paul Sartre or something.

Looking through the reviews of this movie I see rave after rave, and the descriptions they have of this, as "mature" and "intelligent," had me wondering if I was watching the same film they'd seen. My best guess is that most of these reviewers first saw this movie as children, because I just find it hard to imagine adults could be so impressed if they didn't have fond early memories of it.

This appears to be Laloux's attempt to make something closer to a kid's movie. It features a child, and it lacks the nudity of his other two features. The episodic story follows some space travelers as they work their way through a series of adventures in an attempt to rescue a young boy.

Laloux's character design was always weak - his humanoids generally look like those of a cheap Saturday Morning cartoon from the 1970s, but he was good at creating stunning alien landscapes full of strange creatures. This movie has some pretty landscapes, but little of the strangeness of his other films (outside of the winged people featured in the film's poster).

There are some interesting ideas here and there, such as the weird telepathic creatures who experience unpleasant thoughts as bad smells, but overall this is disappointingly mediocre.

From the director of Fantastic Planet, Rene Laloux, and legendary French cartoonist Moebius comes the 1982 adaptation of Stefan Wul's sci-fi novel, The Orphan of Perdide: Time Masters. Me and a friend happened to see tonight at the Charles Theater in a fully restored print, and it was quite a fascinating ride to say the least.

The primary story is that a group of space travelers set out to rescue a boy named Piel, who is stranded on the desert planet Perdide. I think the best way to describe Time Masters's story is that it is fairly straightforward yet endlessly mind boggling as the travelers venture from one strange encounter to another. Not entirely sure how much Moebius's concepts intertwined with Wul's, but their blending of sci-fi world building, imaginative creatures, human-focused drama and childlike elements make the episodic journey thoroughly captivating. As Piel is more or less a macguffin, his only form of communication via interstellar transmission allows his small but impressionable conversations with Jaffar and the others to gain the closest form of human connection in the whole film. That said, the most empathetic characters end up being these odd organisms named Yula and Jad, whose cute bickering interactions stand out whenever they feel conflicted in aiding humans. It's not often when you see beauty lie within the eye of those beyond the human species, especially in a sci-fi setting.

Admittedly, most of the characters aren't super interesting on their own, but the stand out old man Silbad shows off his experience with intergalactic planets quite divinely. Beyond their mere grotesque designs, the characters are more less focal points for the articulately crafted worlds and universes surrounding their journey to Perdide. It's hard to say that this film blends in with other sci-fi features due to how immense and diverse the creature designs, interior designs and even machinery look within the feature's grandiose world. Much of this is aided by the futuristic sound design and the accompanying score that mixes 80s experimentation with epic orchestrations fine enough. You'd be hard pressed to find any visual designs and concepts in the film that other sci-fi filmmakers and artists haven't been inspired by in the long run. It's almost as if we as the audience are being transported into a psychedelic trip that's in control of those in charge of science fictional recreation.

Now admittedly, Time Masters has not been very well known beyond the realm of foreign animation enthusiasts, however I'm sure its reputation will improve thanks to people rediscovering it more and more nowadays. It might be hard to break down into mere words upon first viewing, but its unique presentation alone is worth the price of admission. Surreally crafted as it may be, it really must (and should) be seen in order to be believed.

I saw this film when I was about 15 when it was shown on British television. I was already a big fan of Alien and Bladerunner but didn't realise then that Jean Giraud (moebius), the concept artist behind some of the costumes on those films was the artist behind this film. The film made a big impression on me and I spent years trying to find out what it was. Finally I described it to an anime-fan friend of mine and he knew it. Although animation has moved on I still think the look of the film is really good, and the story is quite unsettling especially when you're on the planet with the boy, there is a real sense of menace. There's a body count! okay so it's a little bit dated, there are two pretty cheesy songs in it and a cute moppet kid but that's part of it's charm. Don't forget it was made in the early eighties (in fact it looks more seventies). I'll give it an 9/10, i'm afraid it loses one because of the songs.

I accidentally found this film, on YouTube to top it all, and was amazed how nice it was. The animation is in the French style of animation from the early 80's, so not fantastic, but the imagination and weirdness of it all more than compensate.

I think what I loved most about the film was the European feel of the plot. Characters are weird, each with their own quirks, not just bad or good, while the events are really imaginative. The planets, the creatures, the kind of interactions, all wonderful.

Bottom line: a gem that I had no idea existed, it will probably make me watch other Laloux movies, even if originally I just wanted to see the drawings of Moebius. At just 80 minutes, it would be a shame to not have seen it once.

Because of budget and time reasons, this cartoon, is not as good as he could have been. Yet this cartoon amazed me when I was a kid. it is very atmospheric, it's a good short sci-fi cartoon...

René Laloux is well-known as well for "la planète Sauvage" and "Gandahar" aka "lightyears" in the US ; Moebius (alias Jean Giraud) is a well-known comic strip drawer, he made for instance "l'incal" (check it out if you like Sci-Fi comic strips) and he collaborated on several well-known sci-fi movie (recently the 5th element).

you should check it out, despite its flaws it is nice sci-fi moment.

Be prepared for a quite surprising ending ...

What can I say? I am a fan of sci-fi, as well as animation. Any film that tries to do both seriously perks my interest. Sadly, Time Masters is very average. I'm surprised anyone can take anything away from the movie.

The characters are the weakest link. They're not terrible, but they're very forgettable. They lack depth, emotion, and development. Time Masters is just a space adventure, with little sense of fun or grandeur. There's a plot twist, but I didn't really care about it.

There are some interesting concepts. Its not Fantastic Planet or Gandahar bizarre, but I never felt bored. For that, Time Masters does succeed as a spectacle of sorts. Sci-fi/animation fans should be satisfied if they come in with calmed expectations. Its a movie you watch to pass the time between better movies.

This is so much different from the movies or animations today. It is stuffed with symbolysm, creativity, ambience. The story is not that complicated. I watched this film first around 1984 when I was 6 years old. It was frightening to me, because bad things happened to the kid and did not really get the time travel aspect. Now watching it as an adult it was a better experience but also a nostalgic one. At the end I thought how good this would have been as a series or a full movie (it is only aboult 75 mins long). The thing is that it has so many wounderful ideas and incomplete visions, but with presenting these, no time remains to build the characters. So characters are just blueprints or simple scetches, just clichés. The sexy princess, the treacherous prince, the two comedic relief aliens, the james bond pilot, the drunkard old sailor in space, the innocent child etc. With a longer runtime or a series real character traits and backstory could have been added. So at the end it remains a great film, but feels like an unscored penalty which broke the goal post.

I have seen this movie 2 or 3 years ago. I don't really remember the characters or the story. But I vividly remember the mood, the landscapes and the overall feel. And even if the character design was not as artistic as somebody would wished for a movie like this ... the whole thing was just fascinating. A hypnotic mix of sadness, new layers of existence and a mind-blowing conclusion at the end. It reminded me a lot of the french comic "La Survivante" from Paul Gillon, which I also don't recall in detail, but know that some aspects of it, will never leave my memory. Ever. If you like the works of Jodorowsky and the movie Phantastic Planet,make sure to check this one out!

Wouldn't be repeating what have previous reviewers already have said about this cartoon, as I agree with them. Soviet Union has imported this movie in 1982 and it was displayed widely in all cinemas. I was 14-15. We watched it 3 times. These days, that is 20 years later, I bumped across it, and decided to verify whether it was that good. Yes it is. First about minuses. Too schematic animation of Jafar, Belle, Matton, while other characters are much better animated. Why ? Their faces look scary, even to me, an adult. Interesting that I had not that problem as a child.

The twist of the story when a 60 year old Silbad is trying to save a 5 year old boy Piel from the dangers loaded planet who in fact is himself but 60 years before, looks to me a most fascinating use of sci-fi to make the spectator think of eternal. BTW I got this twist that Silbad is a grown up Piel only re-watching this movie now, 20 years later.

The line with Gamma Ten planet inhabited with some angel-like beings forming a terrible sect is a thinking challenge to a young spectator - religious sects nowadays use same methods as these "angels", first they promise you happiness and finally they destroy your personality, making you one of the personality-less slaves. So you know what "angel" inspires all of them.

The line of prince Matton,shows that even a bad and greedy person may hide something good in the depth of the soul. Although Matton first tries to kill Piel, on Gamma Ten he commits an act of sacrifice and saves Jafar. Great message for the children. Jafar - Matton dialog on Gamma Ten is one the best in the movie.

What else ? Noticed only now that the space captain who saves Piel from giant hornets bears Russian name Igor. It is written on his chair. Although they call him Hardy, it is plainly in black and white stands "Igor". It's an old Russian name. That is also probably why Silbad's song is about "Lowry's guzzlers".

Great cartoon, great animation (for soviet scholl kids it was a look into a different world), and some great ideas that provoked kid's thinking, otherwise Soviet Union simply wouldn't import it, as SU never did import any of the rubbish production. Transformers ? No. Spiderman ? No way. Himen ? Don't you even think. Tom and Jerry ? Nooooooo.

Surrealist French animated sci-fi from the hand of Moebius, one of underground comics' most revered figures. Plodding but beautiful, it's generally best appreciated as an idea showcase and not necessarily a coherent story. Like a lot of his works, it's often inaccessible and tangential, more concerned with spotlighting the intrinsic weirdness of alien life than with shuffling the plot along. That slow, nonplussed tempo can be confusing, especially as a rescue party takes their time to splash about in a swimming pool and enjoy drinks while their quarry, a stranded young boy, fights nature alone on an uncharted planet. None of the cast, universally blasé and dull, seems overly concerned or motivated to chase their fates, and that irreparably wounds the big picture. Even the artwork, upon which many earlier Moebius works have hung their hats, seems rushed and incomplete. It does capture the general tone of the old master's trademarked style, but none of his precision or smooth, elegant linework. An interesting experiment either way, but not one I'm in a rush to revisit.