Planetary Traveler

"I am Sumoc, last of the Phleig, the Planetary Travelers," begins this computer-animated music video, and if you think that the opening signals a welcome stab at narrative in this generally narrative-less genre, it doesn't. The whole "Planetary Traveler" schtick is a brief New Age kind of fuzzy warm prologue to--what is essentially--a series of computer-generated fly-overs of imaginary planets, referred to here as a "visual flight log." Two years in the making, Planetary Traveler is the brainchild of Jan C. Nickman, the pioneering nature music video director of such early classics as Desert Vision and Natural States (both reviewed in VL-4/89). Some of the planetary landscapes (ranging from frigid ice-covered mountains to boiling lava plains) are fairly interesting to look at and the music by Grammy nominee Paul Haslinger is serviceable. Anyone interested in computer animation will certainly want to see this, but I confess that I prefer the "natural" wonders of Nickman's earlier efforts, which also featured better music by Paul Speer and David Lanz. Sure to be popular (and a genuine workout for anyone's home entertainment system), this is--on the whole--recommended. Aud: I, J, H, C, P. (R. Pitman)