Nebo Zovyot

Nebo Zovyot (1959)

Runtime: 74 minutes

Directed by: Mikhail Karzhukov/Aleksandr Kozyr

Starring: Ivan Pereverzev, Aleksandr Shvorin, Konstantin Bartashevich, Mikhail Belousov, Larisa Borisenko

From: Mosfilm

In a few hours I'll post another review; that'll be the American edit of this movie, made by someone who would later become quite famous. For now, this sort of dry yet still interesting sci-fi flick, copied and pasted from Letterboxd... and oddly enough this version of the movie is not labeled correctly: 

NOTE: As of the time I post this review the film is ID'ed on Letterboxd under the title of its modified American version, Battle Beyond the Sun. This is the original film, known in Russian as Nebo Zovyot.

I continued my old Soviet sci-fi film spree by checking this out; in a few hours I'll post my review for Battle Beyond the Sun, which is the American dubbed version released by... you guessed it, Roger Corman. The person who put that version all together: noteworthy as believe it or not, it was Francis Ford Coppola. What interesting elements he added, but I'll address that in the appropriate review.

Here, things are rather clinical-yet that does not mean it was not interesting. Some Russkies go up to their space station; two Americans in their own rocket drop by, and as the USSR is friendly and all, they're always happy to have people visit. Turns out, both the Soviets and Americans are looking at getting their asses to Mars. The two from the United States aren't bad people, but as this is propaganda, their boss is an A-hole who wishes for them to land on Mars first despite not being ready to do so; they are shown as not being as good at their job. After all, it takes them a rather long time to realize that they are headed towards the sun instead of Mars! They blame it on “their computers” but c'mon now.

The Russians are seen as noble for helping out their rivals (the Americans are now too low on fuel); now, at least in the future it was the Soviets who were too impatient when it came to competing with the West; that's why they lost the Space Race and among other things, their version of the Concorde (the Tupolev Tu-144) was a piece of garbage in comparison. I don't mean to insult Russians here; I just found it ironic, that's all.

At times they took artistic liberties when it came to science; even then, this was a fine-enough film. The story kept my interest and even if it's for kitsch reasons, seeing 50's and 60's sci-fi on film can be soothing as I enjoy the charm of what people back then thought outer space travel would be all about. At least I could be bemused at how for some reason, one character was always referred to by his full name; not just his first or last name, but both. Not a must-see and yet this was a pleasant diversion.