L'Étoile du silence

I don't know if it was Technicolor, but this movie was in bright colors, literally very colorful. Interesting rocket design, rudimentary science, and multi-national, multi-ethnic, multi-gender characters and crew. Otherwise typical of late 50's early 60's sci-fi. The acting wasn't bad bad, just kind of bad. There was even the hint of romance or at least a relationship connection. The special effects were what you would expect from the time - - - definitely not big budget but adequate enough to convey a true sense of curiosity and sci-fi, provided and given that there was the proper suspension of belief. All in all, lovably cheesy.

Since this movie was covered fairly early on by the MST3000 crew (along with "Rocketship XM" and "King Dinosaur"), my initial perception of this movie was something on the lines of 'Ehhhh, pretty cheesy', although it was clearly one of the better films they covered. Undoubtedly I saw the chopped up 93 minute version, instead of the longer, more coherent original version mentioned by other reviewers.

However, I saw a standalone DVD edition on sale at a clearance store and picked it up for a couple of bucks on some obscure impulse, and one fine evening I gave it a spin.

You know...in spite of the dated message and foreign cultural references and the problematic dubbing and "Engrish" translations, "1st Spaceship To Venus" does have a certain quality about it that I've come to respect. There's a certain gravity and solemnity to the proceedings. There's a certain wildness and inventiveness to the art direction and the sound design. And while none of the actors here are going to win any awards (or even by remembered by American audiences), if you pay attention you will see humane, approachable performances (undercut by poor dubbing) that make the film much more watchable than glib junk like "Rocketship XM" or space flight oriented stuff out of the Roger Corman sausage factory.

When I first saw "1st Spaceship", I had the impression that it definitely had an East European vibe to it, and the only Slavic speculative fiction author I was familiar with was Stanislaw Lem (whose best known work is probably "Solaris", although my favorite piece is "Non Serviam"). Sure enough, this movie turns out to be based on a Lem piece from decades back. Lem's dispassionate, Kabbalistic voice and speech rhythms, and his gift for oddly moving plots and characters somehow survived the adaptation to film and the tiny budget and the "Engrish" translation, leaving a dignity and substance to the proceedings that many contemporary American sci fi flicks can't match.

No, this will never be anyone's first choice for a space opera shoot-em-up, but under the crappy dubbing and hacked-up editing, the sympathetic eye can see that there is some good work being done here. A good item to add to the collection of the sci fi completist and archivist.

Rarely a rating was so unfair.At my time of writing,the film only gets a poor 4,1.Something has to be done,it's all the more revolting as the users generally wrote favorable reviews.

"Der schweigende Stern" is an adult responsible movie closer to "forbidden planet" or "planet of the apes" than to "close encounters of the third kind".Its special effects might seem laughable to some ;if the first part has not worn well,as far as these effects are concerned,the second one and Venus landscapes retain a strange charm.

But the main thing is somewhere else.The movie was made in 1960,when WW2 was not far behind.Culpability hangs over the whole work.After all,it's a German movie ,and hints at Hiroshima and the building of the bomb abound.Like Charton Heston and his mate riding along the sea,the astronauts will meet their fate on "der schweigende Stern",Venus.

Recently shown at the Viennale Filmfestival, this movie (one of only five East German sci-fi films) was spoken of rather than of a trashy museal antique stuffed with communist ideology. I had thought it would be about the quality of Plan 9 from Outer Space, so I was surprised to discover that First Spaceship on Venus is not at all trashy! A lot of money seems to have been invested in the design of the mysterious landscape on venus and the spacecraft. The technical effects look highly professional!

As regards ideology, one can't make out more than a slightly pathetic call for peace in the world (which is perfectly agreeable, really) and a casual remark on how well Soviet astronomy is developed. The crew of the spaceship, though, includes an American and a Japanese as well, so it is openly international.

The moment the spacecraft starts, however, the science-fiction story stands in the foreground. It was written by Stanislaw Lem and is therefore quite interesting, shocking and full of suspense - another aspect I wouldn't have expected to get in a film like that. Of course, the acting is stiff, dialogues are reduced to a necessary minimum and the romantic element in the plot is too weak to be convincing. Probably, the screenwriters have removed most of the depth of Lem's original novel. Nevertheless, the whole film manages to evoke Kubrickesque feelings at times (note that it was made before 2001: A Space Odyssey!) and serves as an interesting historical document but also as good sci-fi fun on a Sunday afternoon.

What's wrong with this picture? This movie is neither highly regarded by critics nor IMDB voters. Yet, it contains some striking visuals; thoughtful comments on the "human" condition; an attractive, multiracial, coed international cast (daring for the time); and a pretty good storyline, to boot.

Excavators at the site of the 1906 mystery explosion in Tunguska, Siberia, discover evidence that the explosion was the destruction of an alien spaceship. Evidence includes a "memory spool." Scientist determine the alien spaceship came from the planet Venus, and cryptographers and linguists begin to translate the memory spool.

Before translation can be completed, an international crew is assembled and an enormous nuclear powered spaceship constructed (a stunningly beautiful piece of matte work) for a flight to Venus. The ship begins its voyage before the on-board linguist makes a startling announcement. The memory spool contains plans for a Venusian invasion of earth!

The ship lands on a eerie, vapor-cloaked Venus (Striking art direction; just how did they do those strange, microbe-like vapors?). The crew discovers, a burned out, uninhabitable planet. The Venusians, apparently attempting an invasion to escape either overcrowding or an impending nuclear war, have destroyed themselves, leaving only the shadows of their disintegrated bodies. Further exploration discovers a strange, living amoeba-like organism and a damaged, super-gravity beam weapon aimed toward earth. Many members of the crew are lost, and the ship is eventually deflected back to earth by the accidental discharge of the gravity beam.

The movie IS choppy, without a doubt because the American distributor, Crown International, cut the film by over one half hour. I'd certainly LOVE to see the excised footage; however, since the film is East German, I doubt if a complete print still exists. Besides, we Americans are having enough trouble finding obscure fifties and sixties from ENGLISH-speaking countries, including our own.