Customer Reviews

Fantastic Planet ( La Plančte sauvage ) ( Planet of Incredible Creatures ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Australia ]

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

This is the best transfer I've seen to DVD for this amazing film, but there surely is room for improvement. I'm not going to go into details about how awesome this film is, if you are reading this you most likely already know all about it.

What I do want to address is the bit rate of this DVD. It dips really low and some players do not like lower bit rate DVDs. This is why a few reviewers couldn't get it to play on their systems. In my home theater my main DVD player can balk at low bit rate media. It typically only likes DVD-R for home burned movies as DVD+R gives a lower bit rate. This issue typically only rears its head with consumer burned discs as 99% of studios use top end media with good bit rates. That ISN'T the case with Accent Cinema and Facets Video and this movie.

My Onkyo player plays the movie, but during motion scenes you can literally see the picture break up into major digital macro-blocks, a true sign that the player is getting a low bitrate read. Again, some players just shut down and refuse to play movies with such a bad data rate signal.

To remedy this you can make a 100% uncompressed back-up copy if you have the right software and put it on media like a DVD-R that will give a better bit rate to your player. Use media you know is compatible with your player. Also, most PC DVD drives are more forgiving and you can easily watch this on them using something like VLC player (or your DVD software of choice).

I gave the DVD 3 stars. It would have been 4 if the media wasn't so lame, but this company should know better. I get the feeling they tested it on PCs, ran a bunch of copies off and never took the time to check the bit rate to see if it dips too low for the common stand alone players out there. It is a shame because I had high hopes for this version with its decent extras and wide screen aspect. Why is it so hard to give this movie the transfer and treatment it deserves?

Once there was a sophisticated race of humans who despite their intelligence...destroyed their homeworld of Terra.

Landing on an alien world of Ygam these humanoids called Oms find themselves in a harsh cruel enviroment. They become the lower order suppressed by the planet's inhabbitants...the Traags.
The Traags are blueskinned giants who rule over all creatures. Where the Oms become savage and wild...the Traags are cerebral and aloof and preoccupied with meditation.
The Traags domesticate some of the Oms for pets while exterminate wild "nests" of Oms in order to control their population...

This brings you now to the begining of this tale of one domesticated Om named Ter who steels knowledge from the Traags and delivers it to the savage Oms. Although Ter is an Om...he is at first isolated in a race he has never known. But, it is he who helps to bring about change in this strange world. And the mystery of Ygam's only moom Fantastic Planet holds the key to the Traag's ruin.

WHY SHOULD YOU WATCH IT?
Along with a superb soundtrack of jazz fusion rock mixed with sound fx, this annimated classic is art frame by frame. It is an allegory of the Russian invasion of Czecholslovakia directed beautifully by Rene Laloux.

WHY SHOULD YOU OWN IT?
Watch Fantastic Planet...and you will discover the reasons.

You know those bits of memory from your childhood that pop into your head from time to time and you wish you could relive them?
Bits of this movie were permanently etched into mind since childhood, waiting to be triggered. I vividly recall the opening sequence, the children's first meditation and the giant headless mannequins. I can't even remember where or when I first saw it but I recognized the images instantly.
This film resonates with me on a subconscious level. It's entirely my style. It is the very definition of what I consider to be good entertainment, and may have even predetermined my interest in sci-fi.
Remember those old UNICEF animated shorts? This style of animation always caused an emotional response with me and I didn't know why until I saw this film again so many years later.

I don't recall the frontal nudity the first time I saw it, so I guess it was no big deal.
This movie is like being "the one" no one can tell if you will like it, you either like it or you don't.
Its difficult to free a mind after a certain age.

OK, let's get this straight right up front: I love Fantastic Planet. It's a fantastic film (yes, I meant to do that). I was elated to see the DVD arrive at my door. And oh, hurray! Widescreen! Finally I can watch it in widescreen!

So I go to watch it in Laloux's preferred version (English, yes - and the flat emotionless voices in the English version are indeed intentional and not "bad acting" for the inhuman Trogs), and oops, the subtitles are still on. And, annoyingly, they are not on the bottom black bar but right over the artwork. I go to turn them off, and - lo and behold - they are already off! The only film print transferred for this DVD has the subtitles on RIGHT OVER THE PICTURE. I've seen videotapes of FP that did better than that (English, no subtitles).

The inexcusable laziness of those overlooking the transfer covers up some of the richest art in French animation. It's appalling. I can't even tell you how mad I was when I saw it. All they had to do was do a transfer without subtitles, and have them re-entered as an optional subtitle display (like every other DVD I've seen or owned!).

Am I too picky? Perhaps. My other options? Just one right now: Just live with this less-than-completist edition of one of my favorite movies.

Guess I'll have to wait and pay $$$ for the Criterion edition...

Not that that'll ever hit the shelves.

Matt

"Fantastic Planet" is more like a film, than an animation or cartoon, yet it is so unique, beautiful and alien, that it does not really fit in any category. The landscape designs are stunning, and the story, albeit never really dominant, is intriguing. The hunting music score, reminiscent of early Pink Floyd instrumental pieces ("Atom Heart Mother", for example) here and there, smoothly contributes to the film's dreamlike atmosphere. This film should be watched mainly for its truly unearthly sets, the weird, yet hauntingly beautiful and fascinating landscapes and plants.

"Fantastic Planet" was made on a unique way, as both the characters AND the backgrounds were drawn by the same technique (using colour pencils), thus, unlike in the usual animation, the images of the characters are not being separated from the background. As a result, each frame looks a nice, coherent picture (just like in a real film). Do not look, however, for other sci-fi animation with equal value, as you will never find one - not even from Rene Laloux (the person responsible for the stunning designs in "Fantastic Planet" was Roland Topor, anyway)... If you like "Fantastic Planet", yet you also like other sci-fi animation, you probably do not like "Fantastic Planet" enough...

Unfortunately, the DVD presentation suffers badly - and it is not just those stubborn subtitles, but the picture quality. Although the 'technical details' above claims that in the picture "[colours are fully saturated [...]", it does not seem to be correct at all. I have the fortune to own the French edition, and the picture, even though a bit soft, is FAR superior to the Anchor Bay edition's. After watching the Zone2 DVD, I realized that the "[...] lots of browns [...]" (see 'technical details' again) in the Zone1 DVD just simply replaced the originally vivid blue, green, orange, etc. colours, that are so evident in the French edition. In other words, the dominant brownish-reddish hue in the Anchor Bay DVD is simply a result of the utilized, badly aged filmprint (and the lack of any serious restoration attempt). My advice is to get an inexpensive American VHS edition for solely its English language - and go for the remastered French version ("La Planete Sauvage") from Amazon.fr for fully enjoying the film's colorful and imaginative pictures. This DVD alone would justify buying a multizone DVD player. This gem does deserve it ...

I am very relieved to say that this new DVD edition allows you to TURN OFF the English subtitles, something that you could not do in the previous DVD. This is one of the very few foreign films I prefer to watch with the dubbed English track (probably because I grew up seeing that way on cable in the 80s). The previous DVD forced you to watch the English subtitles, even with the English language track. The titles and the dubbing did not match, so it was distracting to the point that I could not stand to watch the movie.

The transfer is in anamorphic widescreen (not full screen as in the Amazon description) and looks good, though the print used was not cleaned of nicks and dirt. The sound is monophonic, but clean and about what you would expect for the early 70s. My only complaint is that I had some trouble with the programming on my disc. I had trouble accessing the menu at some times.

I have not yet watched the special features but they include an interview with Rene Laloux, a trailer, a short film (Les Escargots), a music video and a photo gallery. I would like to have seen something more comprehensive, but I am just glad to have a watchable version of the film.

As for the film itself, there is nothing else quite like it.

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.

A warning to all potential buyers of this edition of "Fantastic Planet". I received two copies of this edition, and neither would play properly on my DVD player, nor two players I tried at my friends' houses. The movie would play, but would freeze and jump every few seconds. The extras would not play at all. And again, this happened with two separate discs and on multiple players.

Unless you're content to play this on a computer, do NOT buy this disc, as you will most likely have problems. Shame on Amazon will selling what is, in effect, a defective DVD. BUYER BEWARE!

This is a very good, animated film that I saw in 1973 with NO subtitles and in English... A few years ago it was very disappointing to buy the VHS tape in the English language AND English subtitles (that doesn't match the dialog). The subtitles may be a literal translation of the French language and while interesting to see the difference, once, it's rather tiresome to have the subtitles there, not to mention distracting. It's difficult to rate this DVD because it's a great movie, but the subtitles only version sucks. And I haven't actually bought the DVD because in reading earlier Amazon.com customer reviews it seems the producers are pushing that same cheesed-out VHS tape version, with extra features of course. Why would I buy the same old VHS rendition? I will not buy this DVD version. If an uncensored version is released with the ability to switched off the subtitles, and in the original English language that I'd seen before, then I'll buy it!...

OK, let's get this straight right up front: I love Fantastic Planet. It's a fantastic film (yes, I meant to do that). I was elated to see the DVD arrive at my door. And oh, hurray! Widescreen! Finally I can watch it in widescreen!

So I go to watch it in Laloux's preferred version (English, yes - and the flat emotionless voices in the English version are indeed intentional and not "bad acting" for the inhuman Trogs), and oops, the subtitles are still on. And, annoyingly, they are not on the bottom black bar but right over the artwork. I go to turn them off, and - lo and behold - they are already off! The only film print transferred for this DVD has the subtitles on RIGHT OVER THE PICTURE. I've seen videotapes of FP that did better than that (English, no subtitles).

The inexcusable laziness of those overlooking the transfer covers up some of the richest art in French animation. It's appalling. I can't even tell you how mad I was when I saw it. All they had to do was do a transfer without subtitles, and have them re-entered as an optional subtitle display (like every other DVD I've seen or owned!).

Am I too picky? Perhaps. My other options? Just one right now: Just live with this less-than-completist edition of one of my favorite movies.

Guess I'll have to wait and pay...for the Criterion edition...

Not that that'll ever hit the shelves.

Matt