Gandahar (1987)

Gandahar is a 1988 French animated science fiction and fantasy film. The original version was directed by René Laloux, and was based on Jean-Pierre Andrevon's novel Les Hommes-machines contre Gandahar (The Machine-Men versus Gandahar).

An English version was directed by Harvey Weinstein and produced by Bob Weinstein, while noted science-fiction author Isaac Asimov made the revision of the translation. The English title is a translation, not of the original title, but of the original tag line "Les Années lumière" (The Light Years) as seen on the French poster.

Voice actors for the original French version included Pierre-Marie Escourrou, Catherine Chevallier, Georges Wilson, Anny Duperey, Jean-Pierre Ducos, and Jean-Pierre Jorris.

Among the actors providing the voices for the English-language version were Glenn Close, Jennifer Grey, Terrence Mann, Penn and Teller, John Shea, Bridget Fonda, David Johansen, Earle Hyman, Earl Hammond and Christopher Plummer.

The animation was in colour and ran for 83 minutes. Production work was done by SEK Animation Studio of North Korea. The film is notable for its strange scenery and exotic flora, fauna, and bizarre inhabitants.

Synopsis

The peaceful people of Gandahar are suddenly attacked by an army of automatons known as the Men of Metal, who march through the villages and kidnap their victims by turning them to stone. The resulting statues are collected and then transferred to their base. At the capital city of Jasper, the Council of Women orders Sylvain to investigate. On his journey, he encounters the Deformed, a race of mutant beings who were accidentally created via genetic experimentation by Gandahar’s scientists. Despite their resentment, they are also threatened by the Men of Metal and offer to help Sylvain.

Actors