Folks on the IMDb love this one. It's Kubrick-esque, they say. For it's time, the special effects are amazing, they say. I say I watched it over the course over two nights and even though I was sure it was nearly finished at the end of night one, I was dismayed to find out tonight that I had almost the entire film to sit through! For those asking, I have to split up films due to my demanding job of murdering blue bottles trapped in people's sheds in my local allotment. They pay me in runner beans.Folks on a multi-cultural, united Earth discover an object that seems to have some sort of recording from the planet Venus that ends up in the Gobi Desert via the Tunguska Explosion. Curious, they gather together a crew of many nations (something they got right, says I, from the racially tolerant world of 2017) and head off for Venus. This takes an awfully long time, even with all the exciting bits where a human plays a robot at chess, but eventually they do make it to Venus.Not much there makes sense, but at least our actors stand around for ages talking about every strange occurrence that happens, like when this guy's buggy explodes and he falls into a hall full of bouncing metal insects, or when someone else kicks a rock into some black mud which not only causes the black mud to chase them, but also happens to turn a huge golf ball shaped object red. You heard me.Yeah, the effects are good and the sets are good and the robot looks like something that would probably last about ten seconds on Robot Wars, but there's a huge amount of nothing happening in this film. I know it kind of ends up being the point of the film, but I was seriously on the verge of nap time during most of this film's duration. Next!

Der schweigende Stern (First Spaceship on Venus) is a superb science fiction film produced behind the Iron Curtain at the height of the Cold War. Fortunately, communist ideology does not feature prominently in the film though, no doubt, the producers were keen to create something that would rival - and exceed - the Hollywood films of the era. In this, they succeeded.With a screenplay written by no less a science fiction luminary than the great Polish author, Stanislaw Lem, the film is relatively realistic in its depiction of space flight, giving it a grittiness that the frequently camp offerings from the United States all too often lack.The set of the rocket ship's interior feels far more realistic than the garishly-painted plywood sets that would feature in Star Trek in just a few years' time.Likewise, the rocket's exterior model is strikingly stylised, giving it a unique appearance.The early realism gives way to a kind of surrealist feel when the ship lands on Venus. Special effects are used to good effect to create an atmospheric, thoroughly alien world of mists and sink-holes.In contrast to Lem's later Solyaris, the alien culture encountered here is comprehensible to humans. A paradox is presented in that the alien artifacts indicate that they were significantly more advanced on a scientific level, yet still retain the aggressive, warlike tendencies that the humans in this utopian tale have left behind.Indeed, the film follows the well-worn but still valid path of warning that our moral development has not kept pace with our scientific achievements. Here, the Venusians, intent on invading Earth, have unwittingly inflicted a nuclear apocalypse upon themselves.The cry for peace and nuclear disarmament gives this film its timeless appeal. Also of interest is the fact that the rocket from earth consists of an international crew working in harmony. Again, this predates the ideas in Star Trek by several years and there seems to be a greater emphasis on true egalitarianism in this film: there is no American captain lording it over his crew, which did so much to undermine Trek's message. Unfortunately, despite these good intentions, much more character development is needed as one feels little sympathy for the crew. They are all largely interchangeable characters.Unfortunately, the film does have weaknesses, both technical and in terms of plotting. The film stock is of poor quality, the camera work quite static and some of the acting is wooden. There are no bravura moments from the director: it is all very workmanlike.Furthermore, some cringe-worthy moments do creep in, despite the overall feel of gritty realism. For instance, the ship's scientist gives the robot a "heart" within moments by simply plugging a few wires into the machine. The fact that the archive recordings are stored in robotic insects is never explained, nor is the gravity repulsor that pushes the rocket away from the planet at the end.Depending on one's view, the revelation that the alien mud is in fact energy that has been converted back into matter is either very clever or ludicrous.Pacing is a little problematic at times with the momentous nature of the discovery that the Tunguskan artifact is, in fact, Venusian in origin being very rushed.In summary, despite its problems, this film is far superior to virtually all Hollywood science fiction, chiefly due to its realistic portrayal of space flight, grittiness and atmosphere.Its attempt to portray a utopian future in which all nationalities can work in harmony is a heartfelt one at the height of the Cold War.Its message of peace is also timeless and means this film is as relevant today as ever.Without doubt then, this is one of the greatest science fiction films and one that is sadly overlooked in favour of lesser offerings from the West.

I saw this film originally on the cult show, Mystery Science Theater 3000. I actually have it without the riffs in a package of two science fiction films, both foreign in origin. As far as films done by the gang on the satellite of love, this is one of the better ones they have done. That being said, it is still riff worthy, but that is more due to the fact it is very dated now and of course, the cut of the film they saw was a chopped up and repackaged version of the film. The special effects in areas look very good, but at the same time some of the effects look dated and kind of silly. Granted, this was in 1960 so one can be a bit more forgiving when one sees a string used to simulate weightlessness. Of course, the fact it was made in 1960 also makes the Venus set piece all the more impressive along with the strange ooze pit found on the silent planet. At the same time, the movie suffers from the fact that not enough time is spent on Venus and too much time is spent prepping for the trip and flying there. There is supposedly a cut of the film that runs 120 minutes, but if this is indeed a U.S. cut of the film, I'd imagine that there are not a lot of action sequences on the cutting room floor, but rather even more dialog scenes.The story has a mysterious object found that seems to suggest that there is life on Venus. A team of scientist launch into space to try and make contact with the planet. During their flight, one of the scientist is able to translate the object as it is apparently some sort of communication device and learns that Venus plans to attack Earth. Unable to relay the message to Earth, the continue onward to Venus in the hopes of making contact with its people and somehow convincing them not to attack the Earth. They finally land on the planet, but there seems to be no aliens there. They begin to explore the remnants of the seemingly lost civilization and begin to uncover the truth. Unfortunately, they also set into motion something that may doom them all to become permanent residents of the planet themselves! As an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, this one was an okay episode. It was a bit talky in areas and some of the jokes were repeated a few times. Still, it had some good moments, not just the riffs, but the actual movie as the scene where the scientist try to escape the ooze is particularly good. The robot of the film is kind of lame and it does make me chuckle when he just rolls over the one guy, talk about something that was completely avoidable! The bumps in the show were okay, the best being that robot that Tom and Crow created that talked in foam! So the film is a bit better than a lot of the films the show MST3K has riffed, but not the best. It was a bit too talky and could have used more action as they actual did make some impressive sets for the film and created some tension when they had to get off the planet. They also had a bit too much death at the end too. Everyone survives the trip and are doing fine, then the tail end they start dropping off! Still, a movie that I would say you may wan to view without the gang from the satellite of love. Not completely without merit and had an interesting concept. Just a bit more time on Venus would have been nice and less time watching doctor trying to feed her crew.

I first saw this on TV in the mid 60s in black and white. It was spooky and scary at that young age. Recently I have seen it in colour but only the cut down version. I will try to find the longer version as the editing of the 79 minute version seems quite harsh and very rushed. When they reach the planet, things happen in rapid succession. Some build up and more interaction among the characters would definitely help. Maybe some of that is there in the full version.The visuals are definitely there with the imaginative sets (with the 50s modern art flavour that could have come from the Jetson's) and there is a basis for a good enough story. The very multinational crew is a good idea and refreshing. Yoko Tani always looks great to me.But even with the editing problems fixed, there are clearly some unnecessary, cheap diversions such as the inevitable threatening meteor shower and the goofy robot (where is Robby when you need him?). Those were common in American B grade science fiction. If taken out of this, this film could rise well above those. It certainly has the potential for that. Other Warsaw Pact science fiction films of that era, though flawed, come across better. Then again, this seems to be the first one.