I have started watching all of the Rene Laloux animation films. They are imaginative, intriguing, original. For me, Fantastic Planet was a perfect film, for example. Gandahar starts with a similar story: sometime in the future, a colony of Earth where people have achieved nirvana by using biotechnology is attacked by metal men. They are in essence the Cybermen of Doctor Who. Spoiled by their perfect world, Gandaharians don't know how to defend themselves anymore. They send "their best, but inexperienced, agent", whatever that means, to investigate. Thus we get to see the strange alien planet, meet their nemesis and understand the story.
So strange alien planet it is. Nice absurd ecosystem: check. Unabashedly naked women, European style? Galore. Weird and spooky soundtrack, too. But the story was weak, the cautionary moral not really well detailed and, worst of all, the arrogant cerebral intonation of all dialogue did not work in this film. While in Fantastic Planet it lent authority to the race of Traggs, here it just sounds like lazy voice acting. Perhaps the American voice-over, with huge stars like Glenn Close and Christopher Plummer would have been better, but I make a point of sampling the original version of a movie.
My conclusion: after 15 years since La Planete Sauvage (Fantastic Planet) a movie with a similar alien theme, but a much weaker story and no real increase in animation quality, cannot impress me. It is still a nice film to watch, but my expectations were very high to begin with. Also, for 1988, the year of Grave of the Fireflies and even Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the animation feels really outdated.
So strange alien planet it is. Nice absurd ecosystem: check. Unabashedly naked women, European style? Galore. Weird and spooky soundtrack, too. But the story was weak, the cautionary moral not really well detailed and, worst of all, the arrogant cerebral intonation of all dialogue did not work in this film. While in Fantastic Planet it lent authority to the race of Traggs, here it just sounds like lazy voice acting. Perhaps the American voice-over, with huge stars like Glenn Close and Christopher Plummer would have been better, but I make a point of sampling the original version of a movie.
My conclusion: after 15 years since La Planete Sauvage (Fantastic Planet) a movie with a similar alien theme, but a much weaker story and no real increase in animation quality, cannot impress me. It is still a nice film to watch, but my expectations were very high to begin with. Also, for 1988, the year of Grave of the Fireflies and even Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the animation feels really outdated.