Rating: 
Summary: Great film, so so DVD
Review: Fantastic Planet is arguably the best animated sci-fi film ever made. The weird soundtrack and unusual animation style give it a wonderful otherworldly feel. I'd love to see it at a midnight showing in a local theater. I have it on tape and the picture quality of the DVD is vastly superior. The only problem I have with the DVD is the fact that I can't turn off the English subtitles even when the audio is in English. Also, the added shorts are only available in French.
Rating:
Summary: Eerie, thought-provoking, stimulating, but less than perfect
Review: I agree with almost everything said in the more laudatory reviews of this film, but would add my own spin. Quite aside from being an allegory of the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia, this brilliant film, to me, is also an allegory for the cruelness of modern society, wherein those on the "top of the food chain" (the Traags) automatically assume their intellectual and spiritual superiority to the Oms simply because they have never bothered to examine their society properly. Indeed, the Traags likewise seem to pay little attention to their savage, almost violent wildlife and environment, where dangerous ice crystals form in place of dew around plants, strange caged animals kill little birdlike creatures for sheer cruelty rather than sustenance, and where their lofty ideals are completely suspended when they "clear the park" with poison gas pellets and other strange weapons that murder the humanoid Oms like so much vermin. Likewise, the savage macho habits of the wild Oms are also praised as brave and valiant, like the roaming bands of thieves, battles to the death with fearsome snapping animals, and the drinking of blood of a giant flying creature that sucks up Oms like an anteater. If all this sounds a bit violent, be assured that it is offset by some of the most creative and imaginative animation I have ever seen in a film; and, for once, the soft rock soundtrack is perfectly suited to this astonishing film. My only complaint is that, when the producers had to flee to France to finish it, they tended to rush the last 2 minutes, hurriedly wrapping up a story that had previously taken a quite leisurely pace. Otherwise, this is very much a masterpiece of its kind, though the original trailer shows very little of the editorial content that makes it so brilliant.
Rating: 
Summary: One of a kind
Review: I first saw this movie a few years ago on a worn out video tape. Just the other night I received this DVD as a gift and its great to be able to finally see this movie in a higher quality.Without giving anything away this is a movie you will watch a few times since you'll get the feeling that you missed something if you only watch it once. My biggest complaint is the *sometimes* poor american voice acting, but thankfully sub-titles are available. Oddly, the text on the sub-titles is bit different that the spoken text, different enough too merit watching this one with just subtitles and once with the dubbed in english. Overall, an excellent movie filled with interesting ideas and wonderful visuals. A must have, especially if your a cult movie fan.
Rating:
Summary: Intelligent animation
Review: Ideas and concepts are animated for the intelligent viewer. This movie is fun and thoughtful, and it's delivery is unique and yet extremely entertaining. It is a cult classic similar to Rocky Horror, A Boy and His Dog, and Forbidden Planet. Like the Wizard of OZ, a yearly viewing is a tradition.
Rating:
Summary: Space Oddity
Review: FANTASTIC PLANET, a French animated production, gained cult status almost from the time of its release in the early 1970's, and it is easy to see why. The movie combines the aloof, melancholy tone of Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY with much of the static, cut and paste animation design of the Beatles' YELLOW SUBMARINE (although the present movie ultimately pales in comparison with those two masterpieces). Traags, a race of enormous blue androids, use human beings, called Ooms, as playthings. The Traag children, for instance, use the Ooms to stage mini-gladiator contests, much like cockfights. One Oom, however, inadvertently gains superior knowledge from his owner and proceeds to use it to stage a rebellion of other Ooms against the Traags in order to end their subservient status. That's it as far as plot goes. Of course the movie is a parable about political and social tyranny. The Communists had invaded Czechoslovakia some five years before the movie's release, and no doubt the event resonated in the minds of the film's creators. Really, though, FANTASTIC PLANET is much more successful as a mood piece than as commentary. The animation is interesting and unusual, if not remarkable, the music score, typical of the time, is excellent, and some of the monsters the Ooms encounter in their fight for freedom are wildly imaginative and fun to watch. There is some "nudity" here and "sexual situations", so the movie has been designated an "adult cartoon", but it really is pretty tame by today's permissive standards. My only qualm with this tape would be Anchor Bay's inexplicable failure to remove subtitles from a film already dubbed into English. The subtitles are not always parallel with the dub, so it makes for distracting viewing. This, however, shouldn't stop you from renting or owning the picture if you haven't seen it. You'll want to go back again and again and relive the peculiar visions of these filmmakers.
Rating: 
Summary: French=Bad
Review: Once again, this movie proves the points that: a. nothing good has ever come out of France
b. the '70s was the decade that God stopped caring In closing, I'd like to part with the following question: what the f**k? i mean, seriously, someone please tell me. what the f**king f**k?!?!?
Rating:
Summary: Great movie, highly recommend it!
Review: I saw Fantastic Planet back in 1973 at the movie theater and I really enjoyed it. Anyone out there who enjoys a psychedelic experience must see this movie. There are also the social/political undertones that make this movie a must-see. I have only one complaint. I am greatly disappointed that Anchor Bay did not remove the English subtitles on the dubbed English version in the DVD. It is so annoying not to be able to shut off the subtitles when listening to the movie in English. The subtitles are totally distracting and take away from the movie. How could such a huge mistake be overlooked??
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Summary: Beautiful...Cruel...Surreal...Nightmarish...Fantastic Planet
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A Five-Star Masterpiece on a Two-Star DVD
Review: "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 ...
Rating:
Summary: TRULY ALIEN
Review: The narrative and story telling in this movie are very conventional. And even though it's underlying allegory is about genocide, it remains static and aloof. Yet, it will stay with you forever, because it is consistently compelling on a purely visual level. And not in the way movies like Brazil or Blade runner are striking because of their cinematography or a commitment to a vision in their set design. But in a way that good ART is compelling. What we are looking at is something akin to a Hieronymous Bosch painting, like the "Garden of Earthly Delights." The movie is perpetually bizarre, bursting with strange ideas and an incredible array of surreal flora and fauna. The landscapes are foreign and desolate, every creature encountered is malevolent, and the mood is cold and clinical, mixed with a sense of technological dread. The sight of the floating Tragg meditation spheres, or such things as the large vacuum that sucks up the tiny humans are not easily forgotten. The music is good, too. Odd and slightly jazzy, it might sound dated to some people's ears, but trippy nontheless. Of all the sci-fi movies I have ever seen, this is the only one I feel is TRULY ALIEN. I really feel transported when I watch it, completely submerged in its environment. I am transfixed by its imagery. The nasty things that people say about the dvd are true. How annoying to not be able to shut off the subtitles. It's terrible to think that a movie which is so well DESIGNED could have such a terrible flaw in its packaging! The movie is still worth having, though.
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