Review of Time Masters

Time Masters (1982)
5/10
Lacks the visual imagination of Laloux's other films
1 February 2014
Looking through the reviews of this movie I see rave after rave, and the descriptions they have of this, as "mature" and "intelligent," had me wondering if I was watching the same film they'd seen. My best guess is that most of these reviewers first saw this movie as children, because I just find it hard to imagine adults could be so impressed if they didn't have fond early memories of it.

This appears to be Laloux's attempt to make something closer to a kid's movie. It features a child, and it lacks the nudity of his other two features. The episodic story follows some space travelers as they work their way through a series of adventures in an attempt to rescue a young boy.

Laloux's character design was always weak - his humanoids generally look like those of a cheap Saturday Morning cartoon from the 1970s, but he was good at creating stunning alien landscapes full of strange creatures. This movie has some pretty landscapes, but little of the strangeness of his other films (outside of the winged people featured in the film's poster).

There are some interesting ideas here and there, such as the weird telepathic creatures who experience unpleasant thoughts as bad smells, but overall this is disappointingly mediocre.
13 out of 23 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed