Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

"A universe without boundaries needs heroes without limits."

2017 2h 17m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 8,254

AdventureScience FictionAction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In the 28th century, Valerian and Laureline are special operatives charged with keeping order throughout the human territories. On assignment from the Minister of Defense, the two undertake a mission to Alpha, an ever-expanding metropolis where species from across the universe have converged over centuries to share knowledge, intelligence, and cultures. At the center of Alpha is a mysterious dark force which threatens the peaceful existence of the City of a Thousand Planets, and Valerian and Laureline must race to identify the menace and safeguard not just Alpha, but the future of the universe.

“A universe without boundaries needs heroes without limits.”

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Cast

Dane DeHaan
Valerian
Cara Delevingne
Laureline
Clive Owen
Commander Arün Filitt
Rihanna
Bubble
Ethan Hawke
Jolly the Pimp
Herbie Hancock
Defence Minister
Kris Wu
Sergeant Neza
Rutger Hauer
President of the World State Federation

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Luc Besson
Writers: Luc Besson, Daniel Auber, Eric Gandois
Languages: French, English
Countries: France, Germany, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Belgium, China

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

$177M budget — tentpole studio territory.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 9 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 6 countries: France, Germany, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Belgium, China.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

480+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Luc Besson, shot by Thierry Arbogast. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alexandre Desplat. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Julien Rey shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Luc Besson directs. Thierry Arbogast behind the camera. Alexandre Desplat scores. Julien Rey cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in France, Germany, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Belgium, China. Dialogue in French, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1$177M budget — tentpole studio territory.
2Released 9 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.
4International production across 6 countries: France, Germany, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Belgium, China.
5480+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
6Directed by Luc Besson, shot by Thierry Arbogast. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Alexandre Desplat. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Julien Rey shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne and Clive Owen carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "A universe without boundaries needs heroes without limits.".
11IMDB entry: tt2239822 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 21 themes, including "future", "shapeshifting", "space travel", "utopia".

The technical file

Cinematography: Thierry Arbogast
Original score: Alexandre Desplat
Editing: Julien Rey
Production design: Hugues Tissandier
Costume design: Olivier Bériot
Makeup / hair: Frédérique Ney
VFX supervisor: Gerardo Aguilera
Sound: Juan Peralta
Stunt coordinator: Laurent Demianoff
Runtime: 137 min · 2h 17m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $177,200,000
Box office: $225,973,340
Return: 128% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)

Also by

Luc Besson

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Community reviews

What people are saying

tmdb152146182017-07-21
★ 7/10
A spectacular spectacle of a movie that faithfully adapts a French 1970s sci-fi comic book. If you think you might see it some day, you owe it to yourself to catch it in 3D on a big screen now. In a world of paint-by-numbers blockbusters, this is an invigorating slap to the eyeballs. The flick would benefit from more focus and deliberation; often, story beats are glancing blows instead of precision hits. The biggest flaws, however, are found in the dialogue, which is at best serviceable and at times painful, probably owing to its transition through times, languages, and mediums. Valerian isn't perfect, it's a bit clunky, but the sheer unusualness, whimsy, and wonder overpowers the movie's faults, making it well worth watching.
Movie Queen412017-07-22
★ 6/10
It's a fun movie, but it's not what I would call a sci fi classic. It's all spectacle, with eye popping visuals. It creates some really interesting side characters and alien worlds. The drawback is the two leads. They seem rather bland and one dimensional. Their romantic bantering is quite boring. The supporting characters are more colorful and interesting. If you are a fan of Luc Besson's The Fifth Element, you will probably enjoy this. Just don't expect anything too deep from this movie.
Gimly2017-11-28
★ 5/10
Well, the scenes start comin' and they don't stop comin'. Aaaand that's basically the whole movie. No, honestly by the end of it I was actually pretty on board. It took me a lot to get to that point though. The ham-fisted romance subplot they kept awkwardly grinding the movie to a standstill for was chief amongst the swill I felt I had to wade through to get to that point of enjoyment. The primary alien race being the most poorly animated was another. But somewhere between the Rhianna actually being bearable in this, and the Ethan Hawke character I want to see 500 more times, I did actually somewhat enjoy Valerian... Somewhat. Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole.