Wednesday 22 December 2010

Planeta Bur (1962)

Planeta Bur is the name of the original Russian film from 1962 that was then edited and dubbed in 1965 to become; Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet for the American market  ... and then again in 1968 to become; Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Woman.
Up until a couple of weeks ago I was unaware of any of this until I stumbled across some clips on the Internet and was blown away by what I saw.   I’ve since seen the third version of this film and storywise it really is a terrible piece of old tosh but the original Russian visuals remain captivating.
The space suits are a stunningly stylish design, realising an aesthetic normally reserved for illustrations. In company with a hefty metal robot, a floaty space-car and some flesh-hungry Venusian wildlife, it looks like a fare amount of love and money went into making the original feature.
It makes you wonder what else was going on behind the Iron Curtain.


Steve

2 comments:

  1. The production values in this (original Russian) movie were very good. Even as a kid I loved the suits (you could eat from a tube in the helmet) the air car complete with a plug in the floor so it could go underwater, and of course John the robot who unfortunately met his demise in a river of lava.

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    1. I guess but for the politics of the time this would have been a sci-fi classic as well known as The Forbidden Planet or the Day the Earth Stood Still.

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