7.6 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
On planet Ygam, the Draags (an alien race of blue giants) keep the human-like Oms as domesticated pets. An Om called Terr manages to escape enslavement with a Draag learning device, which he uses to educate the savage Oms — and begins to organize an Om revolt.
Starring: Jean Valmont, Eric Baugin, Jennifer Drake (III), Jean Topart, Mark GrunerForeign | 100% |
Drama | 68% |
Sci-Fi | Insignificant |
Fantasy | Insignificant |
Animation | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.67:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
French: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital Mono (192 kbps)
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Rene Laloux's "La planete sauvage" a.k.a. "Fantastic Planet" (1973) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; excerpt from an archival episode of the French television show Pop deux; Florence Dauman's documentary "Laloux sauvage" (2009); archival episode of the French television show Italiques; and Rene Laloux's short films "Les temps morts" (1965) and "Les escargots" (1966). The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by critic Michael Brooke. In French or English, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
The gathering
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, René Laloux's La planete sauvage arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:
"This new 2K digital restoration was undertaken from the 35mm original camera negative at Eclair/Groupe Ymagis by Argos Films, with the support of the CNC, under the supervision of Florence Dauman and Fabrice Blin. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered from 35mm magnetic tracks and restored at Eclair/Groupe Ymagis."
There are very obvious improvements in terms of depth and density. There are plenty of examples where close-ups and larger vistas also look significantly sharper. Viewers with large screens and projectors should immediately notice that fluidity is much better as well. Contrast levels remain stable, but they do not appear significantly different from the ones that are present on the old release from Eureka Entertainment. Brightness levels are better managed. Grain is better exposed and resolved, but this should not be surprising considering the fact that a new 2K master was produced. There are no traces of problematic sharpening adjustments. Colors are lusher, but on this release there are some different primaries with expanded nuances. Some are colder nuances, but there are areas where warmer nuances are also expanded. Color stability is much better (the light color pulsations from the previous release are eliminated). With the improved saturation many sequences have much better balanced appearance (compare screencapture #27 with screencapture #14 from our review of the previous release). On the old release some sequences have warmer grading -- with obvious traces of generic pink nuances that frequently appear on older masters -- that has been reversed here. My feeling is that a few nuances could have been balanced better, but I do find the overall balance more convincing (compare screencapture #24 and screencapture #5 from our review of the previous release). General image stability is excellent. Finally, there are no distracting debris, cuts, scratches, stains, or warped frames to report in our review.
The entire restoration project was supervised by Florence Dauman (Argos Films), who produced the excellent documentary Laloux sauvage (2009) about the life and legacy of dierctor René Laloux, and director/writer Fabrice Blin, whose book Les mondes fantastiques de René Laloux: Avec des témoignages de Topor, Moebius, Caza/The Fantastic Worlds of René Laloux: With Notes from Topor, Moebius, Caza (2004) also explores in great detail the work of the French director and offers more than 300 original illustrations.
(Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: French LPCM 1.0 and English Dolby Digital 1.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.
Alain Goraguer's wonderful psychedelic tracks clearly benefit the most from the lossless treatment. Now fidelity and clarity are probably as good as one can expect them to be and easily alter the atmosphere of the film. The sound effects are also crisp and always easy to identify. The dialog is stable and clean. There are no pops, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report in our review.
René Laloux's Fantastic Planet is rightfully regarded as one of the greatest animated films ever made. There is a political message in it that should feel dated now, but with recent developments in Ukraine and elsewhere across Europe it seems just as relevant as it was during the 1960s. Criterion's upcoming Blu-ray release is sourced from a very good new 2K restoration of the film which was completed by Argos Films in France. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Сталкер
1979
夢 / Yume / Akira Kurosawa's Dreams
1990
Трудно быть Богом
2013
The Complete Metropolis
1927
Pájaros de verano
2018
20th Anniversary Edition | La Cité des enfants perdus
1995
Limited Collector's Edition
1976
Otto e mezzo / Federico Fellini's 8½
1963
Hombre mirando al sudeste
1986
Frau im Mond
1929
Солярис / Solyaris
1972
2018
Cristo si è fermato a Eboli
1979
괴물 / Gwoemul
2006
L'avenir
2016
ワンダフルライフ / Wandafuru raifu
1998
1969
2016
The Creatures
1966
郊游 / Jiao you
2013