First Spaceship on Venus / Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1962)

In a utopian future of universal peace and brotherhood--1985 to be specific--a mysterious artifact found in Siberia is discovered to be a message from Venus. While the recording is studied, an international team of scientists is rocketed off to make contact with the mysterious planet. It takes the film some time to get going (worldwide harmony makes for a beautiful future but pallid drama when everyone gets along so nicely), but things begin to cook once they land on the misty wasteland of Venus. Swarms of metal bugs hop from glassy mutant trees and bubbling black mud oozes after our astronaut heroes, but no Venusians can be found amidst the geodesic architecture and buzzing power plants. What they discover instead is a terrifying conspiracy wrapped in an anti-war parable. Based on a novel by Polish science fiction legend Stanislaw Lem (whose work also inspired Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris), this German science fiction adventure is a visual treat, from the sleek, grand, silver spaceship and a funky purple Venus landscape of alien ruins and crystalline bubbles. Decently (if prosaically) dubbed and trimmed down to a brisk 78 minutes, it's an entertaining triumph of psychedelic art direction and desolate alien weirdness presented in all its brightly colored, widescreen glory. --Sean Axmaker Amazon.com

Venus God of War?

First Spaceship on Venus There's something enjoyably unique about Japanese Sci Fi that's hard to identify. It shows in the early Godzilla and Mothra films, then there's Gamera that hot blooded turtle. Then there's the brilliant Mysterions and Battle in Outer Space. More recently it shows in their best Anime films like the quite intelligent android naval gazing in the Ghost in the Shell series (Star Trek's Data with soul).

The Brits? Well they make intelligent, clever if talky Sci Fis ( the wonderfully fun Dr Who an exception). The Americans like their Sci Fi brimming with special effects with little significant interaction between characters, unless they are the focus of the film and then they're superheroes (though their earlier Sci Fis like Forbidden Planet, War of the Worlds (orig), Them and Day the Earth Stood Still were amongst the best ever made).

But the Japanese Sci Fis seem very much into imaginative action, hokey and at times cluttered, but there's a feeling something is always happening. There's little time for deep and meaningful contemplation like the Brits films and the special effects would be comfortable in the early Dr Who series ( though recent efforts are vastly improved).

But the Japanese like to experiment with ideas, some weird, some down right absurd but always fun. And they use what they have in effects to the best advantage. And they also almost always play the old Western formula of good guys and bad guys, and the bad guys are always the aliens (bad ET with attitude). Its probably got something to do with Japan leaving behind its militaristic past and seeking to become the recognised committed pacifists opposed to the expansionism of predatory thinking. Then again it may be that they only had a selection of white and black hats and what good guy wants to wear the black hat.

First Spaceship on Venus follows their usual formula. The humans are working together in international harmony and they have a nasty alien enemy on another planet (or do they?). There's lots of strange and clever happenings when they reach Venus. The general atmosphere is threatening (its always dark whenits threatening), there are the usual plethora of mysteries to investigate often with that sense of boreboding that something nasty is creeping up on you - and creep or should I say ooze, it does. The characters, the usual gaggle of scientists there to explain to us the tricky bits, are mere pawns for the many bizarre happenings and if you're old enough, it almost reminds you of the serial matinees before the main show at 50's film theatres, with continuous episodic cliffhangers and a 'what will happen to our intrepid heroes next week' feel. But you know the good guys will win out in the end 'cause they're on the side of right and virtue. The love elements in Japanese Sci Fis are always corny, so much so that it makes for comedic relief (perhaps we miss something in the translation or certain specific cultural ideosyncracies). But I always feel that I've had a good time watching a Japanese Sci Fi and this one is no different.

To be sure this is mental chewing gum entertainment, but its fun, its entertaining and you'll feel amused and good at the end. Then again I was an addict for Rocky Jones and Commando Cody from the 50's, and I tend to love these older rather simple fares. July 13, 2008

Vhs Quality Dvd disc.

The movie was a good entertaining movie when I was a kid. This dvd product looks like a 1985 vhs quality tape. It is of extremely poor quality. The movie is a decent and intelligent movie. I am sending the dvd? Back. April 26, 2008

first spaceship on venus

i hope i got this movie right i liked it alot at first it seems to be made by foreign type and has some asian person, black person and whites in it, it like star trek thing which i like. it has touch of what venus must of or could of been like and it could be what another palnet is like somewere in our galaxy. if like older stuff this is another winner, the polish guy smart to who did this movie. i think there a robot whois real short. if your IQ is above 150 you will understand some of it better and if not its still got some great scenes. it may seem funny for venus butt not for if it was another planet thousand of light years away from earth. April 16, 2008

two versions of this film available

There are two different versions of this film available from Amazon: FIRST SPACESHIP ON VENUS from Image Entertainment/The Wade Williams Collection (letterboxed 2.35:1, 78 minutes) and SILENT STAR from First Run Features (non-letterboxed full-screen 1.33:1, 95 minutes.) Too bad there isn't a 95-minute letterboxed version!

I own only the Image Entertainment disc. The image transfer is pretty good, though it's not a restored print. The package mentions that it was shot in Technicolor, which I imagine was the old, beautiful 3-strip process, as European filmmakers continued to use the format after Hollywood switched to single-negative film. The color on the DVD is faithful and well-saturated for the most part.

The production values are first-rate; this was no low-budget quickie. The very realistic scenes of the actors with the futuristic rocket on the launch pad are some of the best examples of large-scale miniatures and forced-perspective sets that I've ever seen in a film. A great deal of attention was paid to scientific detail as well. There's even a Rover-like robotic explorer that aids the astronauts--quite prescient for 1962. It even plays chess (an interesting prelude to HAL-9000 in Kubrick's 2001.)

Once the heroes land on Venus, we're treated to a totally surrealistic, downright bizarre world, with images that almost defy an ability to even understand what they represent. What makes it all the more creepy is that the film doesn't try to explain this odd world; the imagery just sort of washes over you--and the characters in the film!--like a bad dream. Very reminiscent of abstract sci-fi book cover illustrations of the time. That's one of the definite high-notes of this film...an alien planet that actually LOOKS and FEELS alien.

As mentioned by others, the acting is rather wooden, not helped by the very matter-of-fact script; the film almost comes across as a sort of propaganda-like documentary. But strangely, that doesn't detract from the film as a whole. Yes, the pace is rather plodding; but there's no "filler" here, no unnecessary scenes. The slow pace actually helps make the film the "serious" piece it was meant to be.

Buy it not for the acting, or even the script, but for the amazing imagery. This is one of those films that I saw as a youngster that burned some indelible images into my brain. Glad to have a letterboxed version, even if it IS trimmed down in length. March 30, 2008

This is the cut version

There have been a few comments on whether or not this is the cut version. I'm not sure how Amazon associates reviews with titles but comments on the DEFA version shouldn't apply to this DVD which is a St Clair Vision release. The St Clair Vision release is the 80 minute version, not a 130 minute version, despite what the DVD box says and despite what Amazon says. Amazon should correct their information and give some grief to the distributor. I'm returning the DVD as I already have the shorter version in other collections. I'd give the film itself a higher rating - I appreciate it for where it was coming from at the time and, frankly, as camp fun - so this rating is based soley on the false advertising. January 29, 2008

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