Mars (1968)

Whats this then...

That's right, our very first space dog as featured in another one of those gems of Russian film making.  From 1968 and the man that made Planeta Bur and Luna, its either an amusing little short about a space man living on mars with his space dog or another speculative documentary from Pavel Klushantsev.  Either way its glorious.

Steve

Luna (1965)

Regular followers of this blog may well be aware of the Russian sci-fi film Planeta Bur as it's had three posts so far.

What I've failed to mention is that it was directed and produced by Pavel Klushantsev who also made this speculative documentary about the moon a few years later.

I don't talky the Russian tongue so I can't tell you what they're saying about the subject matter but there's some very nice shots of asteroid strikes and lava bubbling up through the broken rock crust and there are also these lovely space suits. 

Experiments are conducted by these red spacemen that illustrate the divergent temperatures and the lower gravity.  It goes on to suggest that safe habitats could be made below the ground and ends with a full city and a happy family of moon-folk living and working there.  Its all so much more fun than what actually happened and so much more colourful than the truth.

The rumour has it that this was pulled from the public viewing once the Americans actually landed  on the moon but  whatever its factual accuracy it remains a visual feast for the eyes and another glimpse into the mind of a fantastic film maker.

Now enjoy the full gallery.

Steve

Planeta Bur (1962) Gallery 2

It's time to post some more pictures from this Soviet cinematic feast for the eyes.  I don't do multiple posts for many spacesuits but every time I see these I just want to share them again.  Beautiful are they not.  Enjoy again.

Steve

Planeta Bur (1962) Gallery

I was thinking about Planeta Bur again today and I reminded myself of just how wonderful the visuals were generally and the space suits in particular....and now I'm going to remind you to, with a little gallery of images not seen over here before.  Enjoy.

Steve

Road to the Stars (1958)

Road to the Stars or Doroga K Zvezdam as it was known in its native Russia is a documentary of sorts

It visualises the Soviets exploration of space, projecting forward from existing 1950’s technology to predict first the building of and then everyday life aboard a space station and culminates with a landing on the moon.

It’s propaganda for sure but the effects and model work are an absolute marvel for their time and not bettered by anyone for a good decade after.  It is also most probably one of Kubrick’s visual inspirations for 2001.

Its director was one Pavel Klushantsev who would go on to make the equally stunning Planeta Bur a few years later.  The man had an eye for film design and it’s a real shame he never did more or indeed received the recognition he so richly deserved.

Steve

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