Les Maîtres du temps

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!!!!

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.

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.

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

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?