Fantastic Planet

Starring:Janet Waldo, Barry Bostwick, Nora Heflin, Jean Valmont, Sylvie Lenoir, Jennifer Drake (III), Hal Smith, Hubert de Lapparent, Monika Ramirez, Cynthia Adler, Olan Soule, Mark Gruner, Jean Topart, Marvin Miller
Director: René Laloux
Studio: Anchor Bay
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Based on French science fiction novelist Stefan Wul's Oms en Serie ("Oms by the Dozen"), René Laloux's La Planète Sauvage (its title changed to Fantastic Planet for the U.S. release) paints an animated tale of humans kept as domesticated pets by an alien race of blue humanoid giants called Traags. The story takes place on the Traags' planet Ygam, where we follow our narrator, an Om called Terr, from infancy to adulthood, when he escapes his subjugation with a Traag learning device with which to educate the savage Oms and incite them to revolt. As a French-Czech coproduction, this story had much resonance for its makers as an allegory of Czechoslovakia's invasion by Soviet troops in the late '60s, and had to be completed in Paris due to political pressure. While the story does not distinguish itself in the annals of science fiction, the imagination invested in the surreal backdrops, with its eerie creatures and landscapes, does. The animation technique--moving paper cutouts across backgrounds--contributes to the overall feeling of other-worldliness. Fantastic Planet won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival in 1973. Included on the DVD are three early short subjects by Laloux showing his evolution toward Fantastic Planet. You have your choice of audio: French with English subtitles, or English with English subtitles. But choose the latter so you can see how much the subtitles are cheating you. --Jim Gay

Customer Reviews:

Don't Panic!.......2006-09-15

If you are dismayed by the revelation that the U.S. Anchor Bay DVD edition of this animated sci-fi classic is now out of print and only available via typically price-gouging independent sellers, I have good news. There is a lovely new UK-issued edition out in summer of 2006 that I was able to pick up at one of my more discriminating local video stores (I see you can also order through Amazon UK). This latest reissue (from the Eureka studio) features an anamorphic transfer of the film. Unfortunately, the film has still not been restored, so there are artifacts and "dirt" here and there; but after an "A/B" comparison with my old Anchor Bay copy, I discerned a definite improvement. Another plus: the Eureka edition gives you the option of deleting the subtitles if you wish. Also included: The complete soundtrack (audio only) and two short films by director Laloux-"L'Escargot" (from 1965) and a beautiful 1987 piece based on a Chinese parable, "Comment Wang-Fo Fut Sauve" ("L'Escargot" was also included on the Anchor Bay release; "Wang-Fo" was not). There are two other Laloux shorts on the Anchor Bay release which are not on the new UK package, so I suppose that still gives the Anchor Bay version some degree of collectibility. For overall quality, however I would recommend the Eureka edition. The only caveat: it does require a multi-region player.

Jennifer Drake?.......2006-07-24

Thirty years ago I fell in love with a "Voice"...the Hypnotic (but meaningless!).."The Uvas of Gome are dominated by an inland fibulous sea.."etc., and wonderfully, the subtitles generally say something different again! If this was intended as allegory, I suppose that we ARE "hypnotised" by repetition in our youth, so that we are reluctant to QUESTION...It is an ironic joke therefore, that for 30 yrs. I have actually longed to be once again hypnotised by this Beautiful Voice: a veritable Siren-Song.BUT..who IS Jennifer Drake?.Does anyone know?There MIGHT have been a record version of this soundtrack at one time, because all the music is SO "familiar"..but then, so is the imagery...it's as if it has been secretly playing in my deeper mind all these years. Incidentally I got the VHS tape. Does the DVD mention THE VOICE?

AMAZING Film, TERRIBLE version of it.......2006-06-10

This film is completely spellbinding and amazing. The Terry Gilliam/Monty Python-esque animation is totally stunning. The only PROBLEM is that this is a HORRIBLE, I repeat HORRIBLE, version of it. I own a VHS copy and was thrilled when it first came out onto DVD, but little did I know my VHS VERSION IS ACTUALLY SUPERIOR. The color on the VHS version is better and on the DVD release YOU CANNOT TURN OFF THE SUBTITLES!! The subtitles even overlay the picture and do not stay in the black letterbox bars and at times DO NOT EVEN MATCH THE DIALOGUE OF THE CHARACTERS. I cannot BELIEVE this is going for $99 now when it's such a horrible version of the film. Save your money and buy the VHS version! The DVD is only in stereo anyway, so you won't lose any sound quality. I really hope another distributor gains the rights to this film and releases a version worthy of its caliber as the masterpiece it actually is, because this version is so substandard it makes me sick.

"Can I keep him, father?".......2006-03-10

This is only film I can think of that is actually better dubbed in English. When the blue girl says in that creepy little voice, "Can I keep him, father?" it gives me chills, every time. And the computer's silky hypnotic repetition, "...while our mallian globes regulate the pressure..." Hilarious. This movie is so beautiful -- the music, the colors, the designs. It's audio/visual candy. I love the scene where the blue girl sits in front of her mirror and draws lash lines under one eye. Was that an homage to "A Clockwork Orange" or the other way around? This film is a must for anyone that's into trippy/arty/70's kind of stuff.

public domain.......2006-01-28

Great film - and in public domain! I have several duplicate copies for sale (DVD quality) way below the used prices on here. No one should have to pay so much for this masterpiece!! I am also interested in trading.

First Spaceship on Venus / Voyage to the Fantastic Planet

Average customer rating:

GREAT DVD FROM IMAGE!!!
Worth watching
It's Uncut!!!!!
Cheesy fun-not quite
A true classic

First Spaceship on Venus / Voyage to the Fantastic Planet
Starring: Yoko Tani , Oldrich Lukes , Ignacy Machowski , Julius Ongewe , and Michail N. Postnikow
Director: Kurt Maetzig , Curtis Harrington , and Pavel Klushantsev
Manufacturer: Diamond Ent. Corp.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00004WGA2
Release Date: 2000-05-16

Amazon.com

In a utopian future of universal peace and brotherhood--1985 to be specific--a mysterious artifact found in Siberia is discovered to be a message from Venus. While the recording is studied, an international team of scientists is rocketed off to make contact with the mysterious planet. It takes the film some time to get going (worldwide harmony makes for a beautiful future but pallid drama when everyone gets along so nicely), but things begin to cook once they land on the misty wasteland of Venus. Swarms of metal bugs hop from glassy mutant trees and bubbling black mud oozes after our astronaut heroes, but no Venusians can be found amidst the geodesic architecture and buzzing power plants. What they discover instead is a terrifying conspiracy wrapped in an anti-war parable. Based on a novel by Polish science fiction legend Stanislaw Lem (whose work also inspired Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris), this German science fiction adventure is a visual treat, from the sleek, grand, silver spaceship and a funky purple Venus landscape of alien ruins and crystalline bubbles. Decently (if prosaically) dubbed and trimmed down to a brisk 78 minutes, it's an entertaining triumph of psychedelic art direction and desolate alien weirdness presented in all its brightly colored, widescreen glory. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

GREAT DVD FROM IMAGE!!!.......2007-06-17

I have so many copies of this film on vhs & dvd... but I've always liked this sci-fi mini-classic so much that I kept looking for the perfect print...Look no further, this is IT!!!
IMAGE has given us a pristine, color-adjusted gem!
Yoko Tani heads a multi-national/racial cast that blasts off in search of life on Venus and encounters many dangers and several deaths. Intelligent script, fine acting & astounding set pieces make for great sci-fi viewing.
And it's all so beautiful to look at!
Great print. Great price!
Recommended viewing.

Worth watching.......2007-03-10

Surprisingly good for an old sci fi movie. The budget for the sets wasn't real big, but the whole premise of the movie was entertaining. Worth having for the collection.

It's Uncut!!!!!.......2007-01-23

When I first saw The First Spaceship on Venus I had heard it was oringally A East German film. I heard many lies about the film. It ran 2 hours and 10 minutes, It had rearanged scenes. Then in July 2006 I heard that The First Spaceship on Venus was released uncut as The Slient Star. I got the DVD In Dec 2006 and found differences between the American version and the uncut version. This version ran 95 minutes instead of 130 minutes. It also had much better image quality with not as many signs of print damage and contrast not tooooo high. It was also slighty faded. Buy this DVD...

As for The First Spaceship on Venus. Buy it after this DVD for a comprassion.

Cheesy fun-not quite.......2006-08-04

This movie is below par 60's sci-fi . Though Stanislaw Lem stories have been brought to the big screen successfully, ie Solaris, this movie falls short of mark. Poor dubbing and bad special effects are hindered by even worse story development. However, if you are looking to relive the days of quarter matinees, make up some popcorn and grab your JuJuBees.

A true classic.......2006-07-16

This movie dates from the height of the Sputnik era. Despite that, or maybe because it wasn't made by one of the then-superpowers, it avoids the panicky, militant tone of so many movies back then. It starts with an artifact found in Tunga (would that be Tunguska, in English?), determined to be of alien origin. An international research team forms to analyze the recording in the object, then to visit its source on Venus. In flight, it is decoded as an invasion plan - but saying much more than that would lead to spoilers. The plot as a whole tends toward the predictable, but has enough novelty in it, even now, to hold the viewer's attention.

The international crew looks strikingly like that on Roddenberry's initial "Star Trek" series a few years later: no two from any one country, one black, one woman (two different people this time), etc. The woman, Sumiko, is the medical officer - nurse - and is somewhat stuck in the female stereotype. Her makeup is always impeccable, if heavy, and she's the one allowed to have visible emotions. One of the other characters gives her the "you should be having babies" talk at one point, with the clear implication that he's offering the biologically necessary help. And yes, she has to be saved at least once. Outside of that, she has a postive role, and represents an interesting mid-way point between Flash Gordon's ineffectual Dale Arden and the wholly capable Ripley character from the Alien movies.

The movie does have a few cheesy moments, like visible strings bouncing the alien bugs around, wobbly ground carts, obligatory meteor storms, and 50s/60s optical effects. For its day and budget, though it's surprisingly good. This, like the Solaris movies, is said to be a film version of one of Stanislaw Lem's books, but I don't recognize which one. I'll be interested to find out which book it's from and to see what the adaptation did to it. That's just an aside, though. The movie stands by itself, and well above many others of the time.

//wiredweird

Planete Sauvage (Original French Version - No Subtitles)

Average customer rating:

I remember it.

Planete Sauvage (Original French Version - No Subtitles)

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Fantastic Planet

ASIN: B000GAUL1W

Product Description

La Planète sauvage AKA Fantastic Planet is a surrealist story based on the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia. Set in a far distant world human beings or "Oms"have been domesticated by the gigantic Draags. Wild Oms however are a problem and are exterminated by the dozen. One domesticated om Terr is able to escape his masters with a headset that puts information directly into the brain. Armed now with the Draags technology he leads the Oms in an attempt to make life better for them...But will the deomizing destroy them?

Customer Reviews:

I remember it. .......2007-02-05

I saw this when it was released. There was a special debut for it because of it being the sequel to Fantastic Planet. It was very good but not quite as good as Fantastic Planet. I would like to have them both but Savage Planet is not available. I don't remember to much about it other than a war was fought. The animation and creativity behind these movies is remarkable and rivals the Japonese. Its unfortunate that it has not been released considering it was made in the 90ties.

Fantastic Planet [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - Australia ]

Average customer rating:

Fantastic Planet [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - Australia ]
Director: René Laloux
Manufacturer: Force Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000EIUC7E

Product Description

Australia released, PAL/Region 4 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. LANGUAGES: English (Dolby Digital 2.0), SYNOPSIS: A French/Czech co-production, the dream-like La Planete Sauvage concerns the degradation of the Oms, human-like creatures on the futuristic planet Yagam. The Oms are kept as pets and beasts of burden by the Draggs, 39-foot beings who comprise Yagam's ruling class. The status quo is upset when Terr, one of the Oms, accidentally receives an education, whereupon he organizes the other Oms to demand equality with the Draggs. Based on Stefen Wul's novel Ems En Serie, Fantastic Planet was the winner of a 1973 Cannes Film Festival grand prize.

Average customer rating:

Fantastic Planet

Manufacturer: Bci Eclipse
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0007VY4NQ
Release Date: 2005-02-22

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