Voyage sur la planète préhistorique

I'm of the opinion that film is powerful, powerful enough that large segments of our imagination is guided by cinematic relationships. That even the nature of reasoning is affected, even as deeply as how we reinvent practical logic. There are lots of examples to show and arguments to be made -- they are in a collection I am incubating.

Science fiction is a special case, at once more obvious. Not all as subtle as what I study. But surely it had as profound an effect on daily lives.

To understand this film, you need to know some history. Alas, many readers will not appreciate the cold war that was the overriding impetus for the two largest political entities from the 50s through the 80s.

Some dates for you. In 56, the US saw "Forbidden Planet," with a superintelligent robot, space travel and mind augmentation. It was based on Shakespeare's most interesting play and is still among the best scifi films.

In 57, Russia launched a satellite and declared that they "owned" space (and would put nuclear bombs over the US ready to "drop"). Also, that soon, they would have men in space.

In 58 one of the most successful Russian filmmakers (Klushantsev) made a film about "cosmonauts" and space travel that was enormously successful with the Russian public (and their captive peoples). That film was the beginning of a deeper than usual partnership between Klushantsev and the propaganda arm of the Kremlin.

In 1960, an unknown in East Germany made a film (Road to the Stars) about cosmonauts on Venus. It was a runaway hit. In the following year, Kennedy made his famous pledge to put an American on the moon by the end of the decade.

The Soviet moon program had some catastrophic disasters, in large part resulting from lies told to the old Stalin regime by Soviet scientists working on ballistic missiles supposedly (but not really) capable of destroying the US. Khrushchev had these scientists destroyed or imprisoned. That meant no moon program.

But the people already were convinced that Venus was the prize, so the space propagandists seized on this and retooled their manned program as a race to Venus, forget the moon. As a consequence, Klushantsev was given a (for the times and conditions) vast budget and told to make a film of the heroic Soviet nation exploring Venus. This he did in the 62 "Planet of Tempests," known in the US as "Planet of Storms."

The effects developed by this team would be used in strange circumstances for the next 8 years. This crew filmed fake footage of real spaceflights. The Kremlin was never so bold as to fake a success when everyone knew the missions ended in fiery death. But they did decorate their successes with these true-fake movies. The most famous was the 65 spacewalk of Leonov, wonderfully believable until you wonder who is holding the camera. Oddly, the propagandists assumed that the camera eye was such a magical omnipresence that no one would ask.

Anyway, that 62 film was somehow procured by the infamous Roger Corman. He shortened it and dubbed in English. He substituted the blank female (who says in an orbital craft) with an even more blank female. One wonders why; Faith Domergue had been hot 15 years earlier but here is wallpaper. And he adds an earthside leader who radios a few times, played by the already embarrassing Basil Rathbone. Something interesting could be said about his Sherlock Holmes here.

Kubrick's 1968 2001, used many conventions from this shop, even when they went against the science of the thing. And ever since, on through "Star Wars," we have that single vision of what space SHOULD look like.

Anyway, when you see this, you are seeing all these layers. Straight fiction, political fabricated truth, the unreal as more real than the real, the persistence of cinematic imagination, and the crass, stupid exploitations of the whole thing by Hollywood.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

The first of two modified versions of a well-done Russian movie, filmed in 1962 under the title "Planeta Burg" ("Planet of Storms") by the Leningrad Studio of Popular Science Films. No kidding.

The original story involves a manned landing on Venus, during which a group of cosmonauts and their seven-foot robot get separated from their comrades while exploring. The designs of both the robot and the astronauts' spacesuits are very impressive. Ditto for the land cruiser the cosmonauts use; it's a floating car that resembles those wonderful "cars of the future" which Detroit produced during the 1950s. In one scene the robot carries the cosmonauts on its shoulders across a lava flow.

Venusian life forms include a few non-animated dinosaurs, but they aren't very threatening other than an attack on the floating car by an ungainly flying reptile. The plot is pretty sedate and actionless, but the dialogue is intelligent. After finding evidence of a low-level civilization, the astronauts speculate on the possibility that Martians tried to colonize Venus but somehow slipped back into more primitive state! Cool idea . . .

In 1965 Roger Corman bought the rights to the film, added some scenes with Faith Domergue ("This Island Earth") and Basil Rathbone, and then released it in America as "Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet".

In 1968 he took out the former additions, added more footage, and released it again as "Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women". In this third version, Mamie Van Doren and several other well-endowed beauties lay around on rocks by the ocean and make thoughtful faces while they have a telepathic debate concerning the "alien invaders" from Earth. The girls worship a dead pterodactyl until the end of the film, then they pull the wrecked robot from the ocean and start worshipping it instead (proof positive that a blond is a blond, regardless of what planet she's from).

The cosmonauts and the girls never come face to face -- which is no surprise, of course, since their scenes were filmed six years apart on two separate continents. Mamie's scenes were directed by Peter Bogdanovich under the pseudonym Derek Thomas!

This is a Roger Corman re-working of the Russian film PLANETA BURG (PLANET OF STORMS) which I saw at a science fiction convention around 1970 - in Russian, with no subtitles! This version has neatly edited in scenes featuring American stars to replace two of the Russians and dubbed the voices of the remaining Russian actors - this is a mixed blessing, since the dialogue is often contorted so as to match their lip movements, making for some banal conversations on the way to Venus. Once you get used to that, there are some interesting bits, including a great robot, a nifty flying car and an ending that retains some of the poetry of the original space epic. It's of interest mostly as a curiosity - and one day I'd like to see a subtitled version of the Russian original!

There is rip-roaring action, spirit of adventure , derring-do , thrills , and results to be quite amusing , concerning an expedition to Venus forced to deal with dinosaurs and other perils . In the making of this picture producers and filmmaker Curtis Harrington edited in special effects and additional footage from recently Russian movie ¨Planeta Burg¨ and his own ¨Queen of blood¨. This nifty sci-fi/horror has a thrilling plot , if simple and ordinary , similar to subsequent Sci-Fi- movies . In the year 2020 , cosmonaut Marcia (Faith Domergue) orbits the planet Venus and communicating through radio transmission with five astronauts who have landed on Venus surface to discover extraterrestrial life , and they are accompanied by a robot (Robbie the Robot lookalike) . Professor Hartman (Basil Rathbone) is also on hand to control the space journey to explore Venus . When the aircraft lands on Venus the are attacked by prehistoric beasts , and then lose their robot and nearly their lives in a volcanic eruption , while preparing a rescue team . At the end the explorers discover signs of a lost civilization and a sculpture indicating that the Venusians had looked human.

It's a formula outer space film with tension , thrills , including some elaborate FX , and results to be entertaining enough . It's a brief fun with average special effects , passable set decoration , functional art direction and none use of computer generator. This fantasy picture packs thrills , action , weird monsters, a flying car , lively pace and fantastic scenarios . The monsters and a Robot are the real stars of this production and its chief attribute . The tale is silly and laughable but the effects and action are passable . Among the most spectacular of its visuals there are a Pterodactilus roaring menacingly towards the camera , a huge octopus-alike with several tentacles , a little tableau comprising attacks of various monsters and the colorful backgrounds of the lost land . Some monsters are clumsily made , but the movie is so-so . Highlights of the adventure includes a roller-coaster trip towards unknown land in Venus , and appearance of prehistoric reptile and othr beasts , such as Pterodactilis and a giant dinosaur . In addition the final scenes where appears breathtaking volcanic eruptions and thunderous explosions . Some illogical parts in the argument are more than compensated for the excitement provided by the astonishing monsters , though sometimes are a little bit cheesy . If you've ever seen the soviet film ¨Planeta Bur¨(1962) by Pavel Klushantsev don't be surprised if some scenes look familiar , the script was written around segments cut from that film and subsequently adding scenes shot by Curtis Harrington in Chicago , Illinois, USA . In fact In 1965 Roger Corman bought the Russian rights to the film, added some scenes with Faith Domergue and Basil Rathbone , and then released it in America with the title "Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet" . This was an ultra low budget production with acceptable special effects taken from a big budget Soviet production , though Harrington estimated that most of the film was his . A bit later on , Roger Corman took out the former additions , added more footage , and released it again as "Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women" and even a third more erotic and exciting version with plenty of gorgeous and exuberant girls . Producer Roger Corman and his brother Gene Corman made a similar operation to ¨Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet¨, as economic as rip-off from a Russian film , with ¨Queen of Blood¨also starred by Basil Rathbone . And being released on a double-bill by AIP along with other B-Science Fiction pictures . Acceptable main cast , such as : the great Sherlock's Basil Rathbone as a scientific who observes the exploration from a distance and Faith Domergue ; however , remaining cast being formed by unknown Russian actors.

The picture was regularly directed by Curtis Harrington , and it was shot in seven to eight dayd . Curtis Harrington was a good craftsman in B-territory . In 1961 he made a strong and impressive feature-film debut with the nicely moody and quirky Night tide (1961) with Dennis Hooper. His follow-up features were a pleasingly diverse , idiosyncratic and often entertaining bunch , and included the delightfully campy Shelley Winters vehicles as Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1972) , What's the Matter with Helen? (1971) ,the perverse The Killing Kind (1973) and the immensely fun Ruby (1977). Moreover , Harrington directed a handful of solid and satisfying made-for-TV offerings: The cat (1973), Killer bees (1974), The Dead Don't Die (1975) and the terror animal Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (1978) , as well as TV episodes from The Twilight Zone, The Colby , Dynasty , Wonder woman , Hotel , among others .

Before you view this film, you should read some of the comments on it here on IMDb. Most of the film is lifted from Planeta Burg, a Soviet sci-fi film made around 1960 by none other than legendary American workhorse B film-maker Roger Corman. Corman added Faith Domergue and Basil Rathbone and some poorly dubbed English, but, thankfully, left the plot, soundtrack, visuals and most of the dialog intact. What's enjoyable about this film is the original film included within it.

The story line is pretty simple. A manned space flight to Venus encounters many unforeseen challenges, including a great diversity of life forms, including, possibly, intelligent beings. Braving the elements of this tectonically unstable planet, an unbreathable atmosphere and dangerous creatures are several cosmonauts and a powerful and intelligent robotic android (somewhat derivative of Robbie the Robot).

This is a nice piece of mid-twentieth century pulp sci-fi. While it doesn't carry the weight of many of its contemporaries - such as The Day the Earth Stood Still, or Forbidden Planet, etc - it's enjoyable for its clever low budget visual effects, eerie atmospherics, and inventive technological ideas. Great film for sci-fi buffs and film history fans.