LES MAÎTRES DU TEMPS DVD Review

René Laloux' first feature-length film was "La Planète Sauvage" which became pretty famous, and Eureka released that last year as part of their "Masters of Cinema" DVD collection (read my review here).
Recently they released his other two movies, the first of which is "Les Maîtres du Temps" (The Time Masters).

Of all the films and shorts René Laloux made "Les Maîtres du Temps", released in 1982, might be the least "adult": it looks and feels like the sci-fi comics I used to devour during my early teens. This is partly caused by the collaborators he used this time, which ended up being both a blessing and a curse. The end result is a rather shallow but enjoyable adventure romp which charms, but while "La Planète Sauvage" is undoubtedly a work of art, "Les Maîtres du Temps" doesn't quite reach that lofty hight.

It's reception in the cinema was mixed: while it was a domestic (French) success the movie never achieved much fame in English-speaking territories. As such I had never even heard of it until Eureka announced this release!

So, having found this, was I happy with the DVD?
Find out after the break...

Short History Lesson:

After the success of "La Planète Sauvage" (Fantastic Planet) René Laloux was able to found his own animation studio in France.
In the late seventies he was approached to help create an animated series for television, with all episodes based (just like "La Planète Sauvage") on stories by Stefan Wul. Work on the first episode got underway, with Laloux working with famed comic book artist Jean Giraud (aka Moebius). This "pilot" would be based on the story "L'Orphelin de Perdide" (The Orphan of Perdide).
Bolstered by the healthy budget, Laloux and Giraud managed to convince the producers that they would be able to rework this episode into a cinema feature film.

The television-series never materialized, but the movie did get made under the more commercial name "Les Maîtres du Temps".
While the budget had been ample for a television episode it turned out to be woefully insufficient to create a whole movie in France. The solution to this was to offshore most of the work to cheap animation studios in Hungary, a decision which turned out to make no-one really happy. Lack of experience in the Hungarian teams and lack of money to redo things hurt the quality of the animation, and "Les Maîtres du Temps" finally made it to French cinema's in 1982 as a 76 minute feature. While it wasn't totally unsuccessful, this film never got the acclaim or international fame its forbear "La Planète Sauvage" did.


The Story:

Piel, a little boy, is left marooned on the planet Perdide after both his parents have been killed by giant hornet-like aliens. Thankfully an emergency transmitter provides him with instantaneous communication with Jaffar, an adventurer who was a friend of his father. This Jaffar convinces the current passengers on his ship, an exiled prince and princess, that a rescue mission must be undertaken.

It's a long way to Perdide though, so Jaffar first picks up an old technician who knows that planet. Together with two telepathic aliens they start their mission to save Piel, all the time talking to the boy and trying to avoid him walking into danger. But on the way to Perdide, Jaffar and his friends encounter a lot of trouble themselves, including a hive of malignant angels and what seems to be a traitor in their midst...


The Movie:

"Les Maîtres du Temps" can best be compared to a specific brand of French sci-fi comic books which have been popular in Europe since the early seventies, as it shares a lot of their traits, including a rather nonsensical title. Given its pedigree (especially with Jean Giraud on board) this shouldn't be too surprising but despite being based on a novel "Les Maîtres du Temps" seems very episodic. Like those comic books which were originally published in weekly magazines it seems more occupied with providing the audience with a number of cliffhangers than with a coherent story. You get introduced to certain characters, they have some adventures, The End.

With no character arcs to speak of, all of the heroes and villains here are as flat as the drawings which portray them. This is specifically true of Jaffar, who is as stereotypical a hero as you're ever likely to encounter in a story: at the end of the movie he's exactly the same person as before, with both him and the audience none the wiser. No deeper motives are being explored here.

What saves the movie might be one of René Laloux' most attractive trademarks: extensive attention to detail concerning the technology, wildlife and environment of each planet. Each ecology just seems "right" in some unidentifiable way, and is always a pleasure to watch. These parts also get the best animation, to the point where the background animators were scolded during the production for making their work too high-quality, making the foreground characters look bad in comparison!

And "look bad" they do: each character had its own team of animators, and as the quality of each team differed so did the quality of the animation.
The boy Piel and the telepathic Yule and Jad get the best treatment: especially the two aliens look like they stepped straight from a Moebius comic and are both flawlessly animated complete with shadows. Worst off is Jaffar, who looks like "Blueberry in Space" one minute and "Schwarzenegger in Space" the next! Never mind that he changes skin color every few minutes. And be ready to cringe whenever the princess tries a facial expression that was obviously beyond the capability of the animators involved.
All this gives the movie a very rushed and inconsistent look that reminded me of the first "Heavy Metal" movie, which suffered from the same issues.

These issues do not cripple the movie though: there is plenty of entertainment to be found within its short running time. There is certainly nothing wrong with some straight adventure, and when the ending comes it is surprisingly shocking and touching.
However, it is not the work of art "La Planète Sauvage" (Fantastic Planet) was.

On a different note: unlike the other two movies by René Laloux this one has no nudity whatsoever and little violence. It makes "Les Maîtres du Temps" the most kiddie-friendly of all his films, which again makes it comparable with those comics I read...


Conclusion:

Even though some parts are shoddily animated and it never becomes a coherent whole, I had a blast watching "Les Maîtres du Temps". Star Trekking across the universe, meeting the damnedest extraterrestrials, making daring escapes and outsmarting enemies many times stronger than you....

That might just be me though, getting a hippie flashback to my Sunday afternoons spent as a twelve-year-old!

Therefore I cannot recommend it to just anyone, as they might be baffled by the incongruent mix of adult sci-fi and kiddie matinée action.


On to the DVD:

Eureka has released "Les Maîtres du Temps" in its original aspect ratio, and it looks very crisp indeed. Colors and contrast are very strong, and (glory!) there is no combing in sight!
The print used for the transfer has some dirt on it but never to the point where it really bothers you. Also I get the impression that sometimes it was the cells themselves that were dirty as specks will return for repeating frames of animation!

Audio is good and the (removable) English subs are excellent. However, here is a strange omission: Rene Laloux has stated (jokingly?) that for this movie he always preferred the American dub to the original French one, and this is mentioned in the accompanying booklet so it's a shame the American dub isn't here. Normally I wouldn't be bothered with it but now it would have been a nice extra.

As for extras, discwise you just get the trailer and that's it, making this release more or less barebones. The French have a two-disc version out so this puzzles me a bit.
There is a booklet though, and it is of the usual high standard we associate with the Eureka Masters of Cinema series.
First there is another lofty essay by Craig Keller, who writes in a very academic style but still managed to make me laugh a couple of times (loved the "Binks" joke, you'll notice it when you read it).
Second is a 1996 interview with Jean Giraud aka Moebius, and it is a very candid view at the disappointments and flaws in this production. Monsieur Giraud hits all nails straight on the head in his talks and doesn't seem to shy away from any subject concerning this film.

Disc and booklet together make a nice package, and while not flawless I have no regrets buying this. In fact, while writing this review I watched it again and I seem to grow fonder of it...
Next: "Gandahar"!