The Time Masters

Animation is the perfect medium for sci-fi. Unfortunately, few animated sci-fi films have lived up to their potential. French animation master René Laloux is definitely one who let his imagination run amok in his medium. He is best known for his 1973 film Fantastic Planet. He must have had a difficult time getting funded for other projects, because he only ever made two more features. He died just a year ago. Time Masters is his second feature (he made another in 1988, called Light Years). The animation is very primitive, and not in the inventive primitiveness of Fantastic Planet. But, what it lacks in animation, it more than makes up for with its imagination. It's simply wonderful to behold. I especially love those two little telepathic creatures, referred to as "gnomes". The story is good, if not great. The ending is quite clever. I was wishing that it had gone on for at least a half an hour longer, but I won't complain, given the limited amount of material Laloux was able to produce in his lifetime.

I remember I was very young when I saw this movie first. It was famous in Hungary as it was a co-production of French and Hungarian filmmakers (e.g. the animation director was Hungarian). I did enjoy it then, although I could not understand everything. Sometimes I felt it was quite scary. But still, it deserved the best Children's Film award in 1982.

Now I have seen it with friends who remembered how cool we felt then. And it was cool again. Okay, maybe the two songs during the movie were not as incredibly cool as everything else in the movie (okay, so they should have forgotten making people sing in a sci-fi) but well...that's the only tiny problem. Everything else is really cool. Sorry, I don't wanna give away anything from the story but it's truly amazing. Did you go to see Titan A.E.? That was quite good, but very American and quite senseless. This movie is different. Much smarter. Classic sci-fi.

If you don't think only American-type happy ending can be the end of a movie, but something like the ending of 12 monkeys or other almost-perfect movies, go and watch this one. You'll enjoy.

9,5 stars of 10!!!!

"Les maîtres du temps" is as good as french animation movies are rare. Designed by Moebius (Fifth Element...), inspired from a novel of Stephan Wul (french science fiction writer) "L'orphelin de Perdide", it remains one of the most powerful animation movie I have ever seen.

Evidently, It is pretty old and the animation cannot be compared to today's movies, but the rest is very impressive. Characters are mature and have interesting personnalities, the design of ETs and plants is original and the scenario is full of surprises. This movie is different from all others and it is a real victory to be better than the book it has been taken of.

I can't speak to a novel I haven't read, but what quickly comes across in watching this film is that at least compared to other contemporary titles, and filmmaker René Laloux's other works, it's rather distinctly primed for a younger audience. By no means is this to say that it's inherently any less worthy, but in centering a preteen child as a major character, and including two non-human creatures who speak and behave with a childlike mentality, there's little mistaking the more family-friendly slant. More substantively, enjoyable and engrossing as the story is, it arguably feels a bit more simplified as one sometimes anticipates of features tailored to a younger audience - or at least, it seems that way as it's better about communicating big ideas in the narrative rather than all details that should theoretically round out that narrative and enrich it. To that end, the result feels marginally incomplete, as though we're seeing a jigsaw puzzle that's been assembled but with a scattered few pieces missing. Even so 'Les maîtres du temps' is much more enjoyable than not, and pretty good if one happens to come across it.

There's no rule that says every picture has to be a perfect, grabbing masterpiece; sometimes it's enough for one to suitably serve its purpose. I think that's rather the case here as I'm glad I took the time to watch, but I just don't feel like I'd ever been inclined to watch again. If a tad deficient the plot is nevertheless modestly compelling, with great ideas providing firm foundation like cairns on a snow-covered hiking trail. Meanwhile, though active animation elements (characters and creatures) may not be as richly detailed as we've seen elsewhere (including even in Laloux's later film 'Gandahar'), the designs thereof are nonetheless splendid. Above all, the painted backgrounds that fill our vision at any given time are a real joy, and surely the chief highlight of the movie overall. Structures and landscapes are a veritable dreamscape of far-out visuals that boast a level of texture and careful complexity that's otherwise not always present in the title, and no small amount of the value here stems just from the illustrators' work. Kudos all around!

I did have a good time watching, and whether one is specifically a fan of someone involved, the genre, animation at large, or just looking for something to fill eighty minutes, I think 'Les maîtres du temps' earns a fair recommendation. It's not necessarily something one needs to go out of their way to see, but despite its weaker points I think the feature is fine just as it is. If you have the opportunity to watch, this is worth checking out.

I do not know the first thing about animation, and in fact the only animation I have experience with is a few Disney movies and Saturday morning cartoons. Watching this quirky piece of animated science-fiction, I came to the realization that animation opens up an entirely new universe of possibilities for the genre. I have read many science fiction short stories and novels, wondering how they could possibly be translated into film, but using animation, the portrayal of complicated conceptual ideas from sci-fi novels seems much more possible than in traditional live-action. In fact, I'm tempted to say that science fiction and animation naturally complement one another.

This movie is like a funhouse of outrageous otherworldly ideas, one after the next. For a mere 80 minute running time, the filmmakers have packed an amazing amount of material here. If anything, the movie is actually too short, and it seems to gloss over a great deal of important plot points. It is almost like watching a drawing board conceptualization of a longer, more ambitious film, rather than the film itself. As such, character development is at a minimum here, as in the work of George Lucas. But also like Lucas' films, much of that is made up by the wealth of creativity. What is here is fantastic - a story filled with warmth and humor that can resonate with both children and reasoning adults. The startling elliptical ending is intriguing but abrupt. I recommend this for more adventurous filmgoers who want to try something unique.