Gandahar (Light Years) poster & wallpaper
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Glenn Close, Bridget Fonda, Jennifer Grey, Terrence Mann, Alex Marshall ... see more see more... , Sheila McCarthy , Christopher Plummer , John Shea , Penn Jillette , David Johansen , Paul Shaffer , Charles Busch , Earl Hammond , Earl Hyman

Isaac Asimov wrote the English translation for this animated sci-fi tale about the prince of the planet Gandahar, who is sent to the future in order to avenge an attack on his home world. The film is ... read more read more...re-edited from the original French version (Ghandahar (1987), created and directed by Rene Laloux). ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

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76% liked it

938 ratings

PG, 1 hr. 25 min.

Directed by: René Laloux

Release Date: January 28, 1988

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Flixster Reviews (77)

  • missbethany
    May 23, 2011
    missbethany
    Rene Laloux is like James T with the crazy colored ladies. The animation leaves a little to be desired, but overall a good scifoon.
  • MorpheusOne
    February 20, 2011
    MorpheusOne
    A vastly underrated & virtually unknown movie. I found it interesting that there were two version's of the movie, each with their own screenplay, which seems to be quite similar to a regular version and a directors cut. Isaac Asimov wrote the screenplay for the American version &... read more that was probably the version that I saw and I would love to see the original version. If anybody has it & can share it on winmx or limewire, or anywhere, leave me a message on my profile.

    I also take pride in the fact that when I first searched for this movie on Flixter they didn't have it! I had to find it on imdb to confirm the actors that were in the film & with a picture I submitted it to them they added this movie to their site bc I requested it! I'm so proud of myself...
  • jes25924
    July 8, 2008
    jes25924
    French animater Rene Laloux of "Fantastic Planet" renown, attempted to make another surreal sci-fi adventure with the 80's "Ghandar" or as Isac Asimov and Harvey Wienstien decided to call it for those of us in the states "Light Years", which since no...(read more) space travel ta... read morekes place, and since the movie is about a fictional country called "Gandahar" is probably a bad title. "Light Years" I guess sounds more sci-fi-ish, and if this film was to succed in the states(it didnt) it was gonna need every bit of conventionality it could muster.

    The story is a complex one involving the standard sci-fi tropes of eugenics, time travel, death, and utopia, and though it's certainly more involved than most animated sci-fi (a good deal of the time were watching the characters talk), it's really the visualization of the world and it's inhabitants which makes this movie worth seeing.

    Like "Fantastic Planet" before it, Laloux's enviornments are some of the most alien that have ever been imagined. The landscape is often undulating Daliesuqe deserts, which strange trees which resemble simultaneously bodily organs and guysers, a young girl offering her breast to a new born who looks like a tapir, born out of a grown embryonic plant, a city of underground mutants who resemble Blemmyes, ancient african monsters with heads beneath their shoulders, an army hollow soldiers who turn people into statues, video camera like birds who can lift entire buildings in swarms, and of course a collossul mile wide sentient brain in the middle of the ocean.

    Laloux uses sci-fi story structures to create, very evokative images that do not look like anyone elses, ever, something few filmakers in any medium or genre, can claim with straight face.

    That being said the English voice acting is just decent, not great but decent, it keeps the story moving, but doesn't draw you into any of the characters. "Light Years" like "Fantastic Planet" or the animated films of Svankmajer are more concerned with form than content, but not oblivious of the latter.

    So if you like heady sci-fi, visually stunning design, and unique animation, this is not to be passed up. If not it's probably not bad to see once anyway, just for the visual treat of it all, and the more I mull over the story, not the plot, I'm more impressed with how well and vividly it told me a story Ive heard a hundred times before.
  • amechanicaldisaster
    March 29, 2008
    amechanicaldisaster
    Not quite the mindfucking headtrip that Fantastic Planet was, but it's still got it's fair share of surreal madness and hey, the main villain is a giant brain with a robot army! Can't go wrong there, can you?
  • ChrisApocalypse
    May 29, 2007
    ChrisApocalypse
    The artwork sucks, but it has a great science fiction story! I watched it numerous times when I was a young teenager, I can't find it anywhere now, but I remember it being good.
  • jeffman52001
    March 30, 2007
    jeffman52001
    I give this film 2 thumbs up, one of the most original animated films that has a beautiful animation. In a utopian society of Gandahar, a danger is arriving and it is up to Sylvain to stop it. A classic and underrated 1988 film.
  • himenovixen
    March 13, 2007
    himenovixen
    still can't find a copy of this amazing film. but if you can find it get it! you wont be sorry. Not for kids.

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