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Les Maîtres du Temps
Time Masters
Herrscher der Zeit
France/Switzerland/West Germany/UK/Hungary 1982
produced by Michel Gillet (executive), Miklós Salusinszky (executive) for Télécio, TF1, WDR, SWF, SSR, BBC, Pannónia Filmstúdió, Hungarofilm
directed by René Laloux
screenplay by René Laloux, Moebius, based on the novel L'Orphelin de Perdide by Stefan Wul, dialogue by Jean Patrick Manchette, music by Jean-Pierre Bourtayre, Pierre Tardy, Christian Zanesi, designs by Moebius
animation
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
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Somewhere in space: After a crash that killed his father, young Piel
finds himself stranded on a weird planet he cannot even begin to
understand, and his only way of communication is a radio called Mike who
he thnks is a mechanical friend. Mike is connected to the spaceship of
Jaffar, and he and old, eccentric spacefox Silbad and Princess Belle do
everything to keep the boy alive and help him master the dangers of the
planet he's on, until they can come to save him. But the spaceship also
carries Prince Matton, who has defected from his own country with half the
state's treasure, and who will stop at nothing to go through with his
plans of going to a rogue planet and hire himself an army of mercenaries.
And now that the rescue mission has come in the way, he tries to use Mike
to actually kill the boy. He is found out and locked up though, but
manages to escape with the ship's shuttle, which Jaffar is hell-bent on
getting back - but on the planet Matton has fled to they are both overcome
by brainwashing aliens, and ultimately, matton is allowed to die a hero's
death saving Jaffar and all of those already brainwashed by the aliens. Finally,
Jaffar and company make it to Piel's planet, and not a moment too soon it
seems because the boy has in the meantime lost Mike and almost given up
hope, when suddenly ... a ripple goes through time that hurls Piel's
planet 60 years into the past, and it seems Jaffar's ship becomes a
collateral - but then she is saved by the Masters of Time, and the
crew is nused back to health. Only old Silbad dies, but not without
revealing that he is actually Piel's older self, the man that Piel, who
has after all been hurled back in time, has grown up to be ... In
parts, this is a very nice animated science fiction movie, full of
original and eccentric ideas and great designs by Moebius that range from
the nostalgic to the surreal. In all, the film is a feast for the eyes.
That said though, the film is at the same time by no means perfect, mainly
because it's at times incredibly cheesy, and not in a good way but a
sugary-coated, tearjerker sort of way - and this often distracts from the
great visuals. Still, it's something very nice to look at, one only wishes
the story could have been as great.
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