Ikarie XB1 was ahead of its time in so many ways. It's one of my favorite Soviet bloc films from that period, and I'm convinced it was a major influence on the Star Trek series.
The space car from Planeta Bur was borrowed for the land speeder in Star Wars - the Ralph McQuarrie pre-production painting shows exactly the same 'Supercar' canopy
Excellent show, Terry. Thank you. I enjoy the contrast between the American and Soviet science fiction movies and what it says about the two societies. The hero oriented, action focused US flicks are more fun. The group oriented, exploration focused Russian movies are more engaging
Wow !!!! I am old enough to know these 2 movies VERY well! , I must have watched both movies SEVERAL times and loved them both, thanks for bringing these GEMS up to the surface and turn people on too them , great work thanks agin…peace
Growing up, I only saw the two Americanized versions of Planeta Bur. I always got them mixed up, not realizing that they were two different movies, so sometimes I was confused why there were no women in the movie. I loved the robot though. I also loved that in the scene where it has to give them the pills, the used the actual robot hands for as much of the action as possible, rather than just doing it off-screen. I believe that Planeta Bur is now in the public domain. Several years ago, I downloaded a copy that was pretty clear and had good color. I forget now what aspect ratio it was. I have archived on a disc somewhere. I wish there were better copies of the two American version available. Not that I prefer them, it just seems a shame that only grainy copies seem to exist. At last that's all I've seen.
I included Planeta Bur in a project I did in college on Iron Curtain Science Fiction movies from the early 20th century. Queen of Blood was mostly scenes from A Dream Come True ( Mechte Navstrechu). I use stills from both of these movies as Teams Meetings Backgrounds.
Much of the science fiction literature from the post war era was very tech-optimistic. I used to love these space operas when I was a kid when most little boys preferred western/cowboy movies.
That's why New Wave science fiction pissed off the old boys. It questioned the zealous optimism of previous decades and the existing regime just couldn't handle it.
One of the highlights for me in Phantom Planet when I was a kid was Dolores Faith. Most of the films she was in she did not have much to do as an actress but she was very pretty. I'm a big fan of the original versions of Soviet era Sci Fi films. Pavel Klushantsev was a ground breaking film maker with special effects that Stanley Kubrick and George Lucas saw and used in their films. There is a Documentary about him from Dutch film makers on Dailymotion The Star Dreamer that is worth watching.
I had that 'kid fascinated by SF movie' experience with The Land That Time Forgot 1974. Recall somehow getting to see it at a movie theater without adults. (Maybe mom dropped me off or something like that)
Love "Planeta Bur"! Robot John is one of my favorite movie robots. Gotta look for a DVD of "The Phantom Planet". All I have is an old "Midnite Movies" VHS.
Saw The Phantom Planet as a kid as well, on my local Creature Feature and then later it was of course done by MST3K. I've noticed that of Soviet or also Polish films of the 60s is that faded color. Always made me wonder if that was just poor stock or not taken care of. I've seen at least some of Planet of Storms, don't remember it so well. I'm going to see a screening of Stalker today at Alamo Drafthouse.
Yeah, both these films tickle my Space Age Nostalgia nerd lobe. I remember seeing "Phantom Planet" on the TV as a kid and being pretty impressed. As you said, it's an interesting mashup of concepts and genres that still holds up quite well, considering its age, no-name cast and relatively low budget. I can't prove it, of course, but I'd be willing to bet the concept of the hero encountering a civilization of 6-inch-tall humans and being shrunk down to their size sure seems to have been inspired by the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel "Tarzan and the Ant Men". Having been previously familiar only with the Roger Corman cut-and-pastes of the original films, I'm grateful to RU-vid for enabling me to finally see the originals of stuff like Planet of Storms and The Heavens Call. (Btw, Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet does only a fairly light edit of Planeta Bur, mostly to insert some totally unnecessary footage of Basil Rathbone and a rather fatigued-looking Faith Domergue, but leaves the story pretty much intact.)
Thank you for the extra insights on these two flicks. I've seen both -"The Phantom Planet" in its theatrical release and as you guessed it, was the bottom half of a Saturday matinee double bill. I bought a copy of Dell's Movie tie-in comic book before the movie played in my hometown so I knew the story, but didn't care 'cos the film was a fun watch. I discovered "Planeta Bur" through a friend who recommended it to me (and directed me to a public domain archive site where he found it) after we watched his DVD of Kurt Maetzig's "First Spaceship On Venus" (from East Germany, Poland -1962). First experienced it as part of a dusk-to-dawn drive in bill. Loved the sleek design of the Willy Ley book cover meets Chestley Bonestell painting spaceship in that one.
Phantom Planet is a fun on definitely of its time. Blends in with so many US made flicks from that era. I've seen the Corman version of Planet Bur and if I re call he used clips from it in a few movies. Periodically I'll check to see if a full or as full as possible version is available. It's nice to see there is one and I have ordered it. Mystery Science Theater 3000 covered 3 Russo-Finnish productions and I also am keeping my eye out for a full version of those to be made available. They really made some interesting movies back in the day.
Terry, you started discussing 'The Phantom Planet' and I thought I'd never seen it, but the still of the gladiator scene reminded me that yeah I think I have seen it. Clearly I didn't find it 'memorable'. Yeah, most asteroids are peanut-shaped cos they have insufficient mass to become 'round'. As an aside, I once 'might' have 'almost met' Richard Kiel. In 1996 me and my brother were holidaying in California. Standing on a platform in LA airport, waiting for some kind of rail transit to get us into Los Angeles city. This guy appeared on the platform. About 7 foot tall, about 5 foot wide, looked like he could pick Roger Moore up with one hand. And even better ... he had a facial resemblance to Richard Kiel. Both me and my brother thought it might be Kiel, but back then we didn't have the balls to say Hi and ask if he was a movie star. I would do now though. Whether it WAS indeed Richard Kiel we shall never know.
I've seen both of these movies-THE PHANTOM PLANET twice, one in its original form and the second time riffed on MST3K! (Season 9, Episode 2, so deep in the Mike Era.) For some reason I thought the hero stayed on the planet, which shows you how much of that movie stuck with me, I guess.... PLANETA BUR I caught late one night on television-I must have either been in college or first living in NYC, because I remember being both drunk and stoned and wasn't sure if I dreamed it or not! When I saw VOYAGE TO THE PLANET OF THE PREHISTORIC WOMEN decades later, I realized I'd seen much of this movie before, only I'd thought it was in black&white.
I HAVE seen The Phantom Planet! It is (or was a few month ago) available on RU-vid. Not brilliant, but fun in its own way. I haven't seen this particular version of 'Planet of Storms' but one of the Corman versions, again that was a RU-vid upload. Again, a fun film of its time.
At the risk of being pedantic, I think you meant the Corman film "Queen of Blood" with Basil Rathbone, John Saxon and Dennis Hopper. Russian sci-fi is really its own genre worth watching. Have you seen the film Sputnik (2020)?
The "monster" in The Phantom Planet looks like a mutant "Goofy", Disney's Mickey Mouse's friend. That is, if Goofy had been mutated by radiation from an Atomic Bomb. Look again, you won't be able to unsee it.
Thanks for the review. Any idea if in the Soviet Union the science fiction movies were driven primarily by the government or the populace? Communist doctrine is that women are as capable as men. Which explains the criticism about the woman appearing less capable. The USSR was way out in front to put the first woman in space, then stopped the woman in space program cold. The USSR didn't send the second woman into space until 1982, months before anybody else sent a woman into space.
The lines between management of businesses like Mosfilm and government were blurred. As with modern China, self-censorship was the mode of feedback that worked best.
Terry, talking about movies that steal broad swaths of footage from foreign flicks, have you seen Horror Of The Blood Monsters (also call Vampire Men of the Lost Planet, among other titles)? Al Adamson concocted a shoddy vampire flick about a future earth that's being ravaged by blood-thirsty vampires. An intrepid group of astronauts led by an elderly and confused John Carradine blast off for the planet that these vampires originated on. They land on a prehistoric planet that's inhabited by Filipino humans and bat men and lobster men and snake men and, of course, the vampires. The bulk of the story concerns what's going on upon the prehistoric planet and that is the footage copped from a Filipino science fiction film. That stuff is wildly original and miles above the crap that Al comes up with. I enjoy this thing a lot and I've watched it several times. Just a heads up if you're unfamiliar.
That limited use of Tech is very ERB Mars stories. they had weapons that shoot radioactive bullets and atmosphere plants but use draft animals and swords since they have limited resources.
Picture of the asteroid has triggered my recognition software. It looks like the asteroid The millennium falcon skirts past in the asteroid belt in return of the Jedi lol
