DocPeters

This film was definitely different -- different than what I expected, and different from other animated films I've seen. I'm a fan of foreign films, and a fan of animation such as Miyazaki. The animation style in this film was fascinating and compelling; watching this quasi-silent movie for 80 minutes seemed a bit of a stretch. Honestly, this would have been wonderful as a 14-minute short.

While there were some delightful moments and sparks of brilliance, I found the characters overall to be, well, two-dimensional. Mme. Souza and Champion were emotionally opaque, and un-engaging. Perhaps the best character was actually Bruno: capturing the mannerisms of a dog so faithfully.

In summary: interesting, worth a watch, but I definitely wouldn't rent this one again.

I never felt caught up in the simplistic storyline of this film, nor did I find myself caring about any of the characters. The special effects, while of course laughable today, don't even seem to measure up to 1987 standards -- they are more reminiscent of 1960s Japanese monster movies than what was available to George Lucas in the late 1980s.

Val Kilmer was one bright spot in the film, with a wonderfully mocking, roguish performance.

...that was my wife's comment about this movie. I loved this quirky film, filled with intellectual diatribes. The animation style was unique and added to the underlying question: is this waking life, or a dream world? It was visually fascinating -- using primary colors, almost comic book style in portions, yet based entirely on a live-acted original, so the movements, voices, and sounds were completely realistic. That just added to the surrealism when some elements in the frame became more and more dream-like. 9/10