Il pianeta selvaggio

It's like something out of a Salvador Dali painting, but on screen in a science fiction movie. A film where humans are merely pets and insects to a more advanced, giant race of alien beings. The film is pretty awe inspiring and makes one quite philosophical after watching it. It's definitely a masterpiece of its own accord, creatures of strange designs never before seen in any other film that I know of. I would definitely recommend the film to any science fiction enthusiast.

This is the masterpiece of René Laloux. Was an almost big success in France, was shown only 2 or 3 times in the past 20 years and is now a kind of "Cult" movie for sci fi addicts. This sci-fi movie is far much better than the two other from the same director: "Gandahar" and "Les maitres du temps" (Time Masters). René Laloux always works with great and original comics artists. He worked with "Moebius" Aka Jean Giraud on "Les maitres du temps". This artist is also credited on "Alien" , he created the space suits. He worked with "Caza" an other great comics artist for "Gandahar"

He worked wit "Topor" on "La planète sauvage". Roland Topor is a french artist with a great sense of fantasy. He designed most of all you can see on the screen. The animation was produced in Czechoslovakia because there always have been excellent animation studios in this country, and also because producing in France was far too expensive. This story takes place in the past. It is a metaphor of the man's history. The small characters are called "Oms". This word is pronounced like the french word "Hommes" that means "man". It tell us when man had to leave the original heaven. Man had to fight against his old masters to be independent and free, then he had to find his place in the universe. This is the universal story ... and that's why this movie is timeless (despite the 70s Wha Wha guitars ... ;o)

In the world of the animation business there is a recent trends towards super- realism where computer graphics are being increasingly used. Although I appreciate animations like Finding Nemo or the Incredibles for they represent a renewal of the genre (in the same way the Disney movie did in the 50's), the artistic style of La Planete Sauvage is unmistakable and accords perfectly with the dark atmosphere of the movie. This animation is based on the book Oms (a deformation of the french word homme, man) from the French SciFi writer Stephan Wul who should also be credited for being the writer of The Time Masters (another SciFi animation worth your time). Wul's real name is still a mystery. The rare things we know about his life are that he wrote his 10 (or so) only books when he was studying dentistry at the University. He apparently graduated and became too busy to continue his writing activity. What a pity. I've read most of Wul's book and they are all unique and beautiful. The animation sticks true to Wul's vision. The art by the Czech master Topor is dark and oppressing, despite the bright color of the 60-70's-influenced graphism, adding to the uncomfort of seeing human beings treated as pets or pests by giant extraterrestrials. However, the roles are interchangeable and humans do behave too often in the way the extraterrestrials do in the movie with other living creatures on Earth. Hard to find but worth the search.

What a great movie! I had completely forgotten about this film -in fact, I hadn't seen it in over 20 years. Well, I rented 'The Cell' and while I was watching the scene where Jennifer Lopez is in her house with the television on, I noticed those blue aliens and the memories came rushing back! Of course, I came to IMDB to figure out what the title of the film was (it was in the trivia section of 'The Cell' review), and I was pleasantly surprised to find the title. I went and bought the DVD, which is truly outstanding! The basic premise of the movie is that a race of aliens keeps domesticated humans as pets, while eliminating their feral brethren in the wild. The story centers around Terr, who is rescued from a pack of cruel alien children by the daughter of a high-ranking official. Eventually he runs away and ends up meeting the humans living in the wild. They become tired of the treatment they suffer at the hands of the alien race, and seek to exact revenge on their captors.

This movie was made nearly 30 years ago, so the animation is not really comparable to modern-day animation, but the story and the plot transcend time. The premise of the film is as valid today as it was in the 70s.

The DVD edition of the movie comes with three additional animated shorts by Rene Laloux, and they are just as entertaining. This is a real gem of a movie...truly beautiful. My kids love it as well. A true masterpiece.

9/10.

I believe this is a metaphoric view of classification of humans in political borders based on power and technology. One thing that I have noticed boldly is that the story successfully intends to explain the analytical capabilities among both advanced societies and undeveloped ones are almost the same. I won't go further in order to avoid spoiling the movie. However, I strongly recommend to consider political aspects while watching it. This was defiantly a unique experience for me, more like a conversation with people who care about history of civilizations and future of humans in different societies. I am very pleased and thankful to those who have made it possible for me to watch this unique animation. Considering the time it has been made, almost everything was great.