El planeta salvaje

I saw this movie a few years ago on the Sci-Fi channel during a movie marathon they were having. Loved it so much I bought the DVD.

Based on a brilliant piece of science fiction ("Oms En Serie" by Stefan Wul). The artwork is stunning, and the story line an original masterpiece.

The plotline of this story is simple.

You enslave a race of beings and take them for granted, one of them eventually learns your language, and unites all his fellow slaves in an organized attack.

Suddenly you've been conquered.

This story line was later ripped off by L. Ron Hubbard and his group of wackos. You might have read the book, or seen the atrocity of a film "Battlefield Earth".

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.

Having just completed watching this film, I can say it was worth the wait. It will please fans of hard-core science fiction (not fantasy), and will seduce fans of animation (not just 3D animation, animation in general terms) with its mix of Czech style animation and illustration.

It is a good movie, but not a masterpiece. The narrative treads the science fiction tropes too strictly and ends up painting characters and events predictably when the setup seems to suggest something more interesting. In fact, I was very disappointed that the most developed and interesting relationship in the whole film is traded off for a kind of boring resistance story that does its best to not let the audience make connections with the characters. It is not picked up or revisited later... and none of the subsequent character interplay is as interesting or meaningful.

Where this film excels is in its weirdness and imagination. Strange and horrible creations are brought to life and move/eat/gestate/exist in ways that will make you go 'ew' and 'wow' at the same time. This is helped by the strong European styling of the animation (mostly limited in movement) and illustration, which reminded me of studio Zagreb..

There is something so mysterious about the atmosphere of this film - it may just grab you. Definitely watch it for the disturbing and somehow touching relationship between Tiva and Terr - you'll only wish there was more of it.

A huge ball of cultural references. Greay music. And so familiar themes than it becomes less comfortable scene by scene. Because the story is just about us, like a large parable about racism, dictatorship, technology, survive, hate and contempt. I do not know than it is a beautiful film but it is a very useful one. A film about present, in precise details . Fascinating for craft and for message.

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.