First Spaceship on Venus
Encyclopedia
First Spaceship on Venus, German: Der schweigende Stern (en: The Silent Star), Polish: Milcząca Gwiazda, is a 1960 East German/Polish
film directed by Kurt Maetzig
and based on the novel The Astronauts
by Stanisław Lem. The film is also known as Planet of the Dead, Silent Star and Spaceship Venus Does Not Reply
A much shortened 1962 Crown International Pictures
English dubbed release in the USA used the name First Spaceship on Venus where it was double billed
with Varan the Unbelievable
. Lem disowned the movie.
First Spaceship on Venus was featured in episodes of both Mystery Science Theater 3000
and Cinema Insomnia
.
accidentally unearth a mysterious and apparently artificial "spool." When found to be made of a material unknown on Earth, the spool is circumstantially linked to the Tunguska
explosion of 1908. The "spool" is seized on as evidence that the explosion, originally blamed on a meteor, was actually caused by a spaceship. Professor Harringway deduces the alien craft must have come from Venus
. The spool itself is determined to be a flight recorder, and partially decoded by an international team of scientists led by Professor Sikarna and Dr. Tchen Yu. When radio greetings sent to Venus go unanswered, Harringway announces that a journey to Venus is Earth's only alternative. The recently-completed Cosmostrator I spaceship, intended to voyage to Mars
, is redirected to Venus, a 21 day trip. During the voyage, Sikarna works furiously to translate the alien message on the disc using the ship's computer.
When the ship nears Venus, radio interference from that planet cuts the crew off from Earth. By then, Sikarna's efforts lead to a stunning discovery - the spool describes a Venusian plan to irradiate the Earth's surface, with the extermination of mankind being the prelude to an invasion. Rather than a "cosmic document" as had been expected, the spool bears a cold-blooded message of destruction. Harringway convinces the crew to press on towards Venus rather than return to Earth with news that would cause panic.
With the ship's robot Omega, American astronaut
Brinkman pilots a one-man landing craft. On the ground, he encounters an industrial complex and finds small recording devices that look like insects. The rest of the crew follow when Cosmostrator lands, but find no Venusian life forms. Journeying across the planet, they find the remains of a deserted and blasted city centered around a huge crater - signs of a catastrophic explosion so intense, shadowy forms of humanoid Venusians are permanently burned into the walls of surviving buildings.
While the Venusians are gone, their machines remain functioning, including the radiation-bombardment machine intended for Earth. One of the scientists accidentally triggers the radiation weapon leading to a frantic effort by the Earthmen to disarm it. Tchen Yu lowers Talua - the ship's communication officer - into the Venusian command center. When Tchen Yu's suit is punctured, Brinkman goes out to save him. Before he can reach Yu, Talua succeeds in reversing the radiation weapon. Unfortunately, this reverses the planet's gravitational field, flinging Cosmostrator into space. Brinkman is also repelled off the planet, beyond reach by Cosmostrator, while Talua and Tchen Yu remain marooned on Venus. The surviving crew members return home, where they warn the people of Earth about the danger of atomic weapons.
.
In 1990, First Spaceship on Venus was featured in the 2nd season of Mystery Science Theater 3000
. That episode was released on DVD in 2009 by Shout Factory as part of the "MST3K 20th Anniversary Edition" collection.
In 2007, First Spaceship on Venus was shown on the horror host
ed television series Cinema Insomnia
. Apprehensive Films
later released the Cinema Insomnia episode onto DVD.
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
film directed by Kurt Maetzig
Kurt Maetzig
Kurt Maetzig is an East German film director who had a significant effect on the film industry in the GDR. He is one of the most respected filmmakers of East Germany. He currently lives in Wildkuhl, Mecklenburg, and has three children....
and based on the novel The Astronauts
The Astronauts
The Astronauts is the first science fiction novel by Polish writer Stanisław Lem published as a book, in 1951....
by Stanisław Lem. The film is also known as Planet of the Dead, Silent Star and Spaceship Venus Does Not Reply
A much shortened 1962 Crown International Pictures
Crown International Pictures
Crown International Pictures is an independent film studio formed in 1959 by Newton P. Jacobs Jacobs was a former branch head of RKO Pictures until 1947 when he formed his own company "Favorite Films"; a film releasing organisation. Jacobs became one of the first franchises for showing American...
English dubbed release in the USA used the name First Spaceship on Venus where it was double billed
Double feature
The double feature, also known as a double bill, was a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatre managers would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown.The double feature, also known as...
with Varan the Unbelievable
Varan the Unbelievable
Varan the Unbelievable, released in Japan as , is a 1958 Kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda and Eiji Tsuburaya , and their last black-and-white monster film. The title character Varan is one of Toho Studios' least-famed creations. Although shown in Japanese-language theaters in the USA, the film...
. Lem disowned the movie.
First Spaceship on Venus was featured in episodes of both Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
and Cinema Insomnia
Cinema Insomnia
Cinema Insomnia is a nationally syndicated American television series presented by horror host Mr. Lobo.- Format :Typically, Mr. Lobo opens each episode by promising to screen a well-known horror or science fiction classic ; however budgetary limitations, acts of God or other circumstances...
.
Plot summary
The film begins in 1985, when engineers involved in an industrial project to irrigate the Gobi DesertGobi Desert
The Gobi is a large desert region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the...
accidentally unearth a mysterious and apparently artificial "spool." When found to be made of a material unknown on Earth, the spool is circumstantially linked to the Tunguska
Tunguska event
The Tunguska event, or Tunguska blast or Tunguska explosion, was an enormously powerful explosion that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in what is now Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, at about 7:14 a.m...
explosion of 1908. The "spool" is seized on as evidence that the explosion, originally blamed on a meteor, was actually caused by a spaceship. Professor Harringway deduces the alien craft must have come from Venus
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
. The spool itself is determined to be a flight recorder, and partially decoded by an international team of scientists led by Professor Sikarna and Dr. Tchen Yu. When radio greetings sent to Venus go unanswered, Harringway announces that a journey to Venus is Earth's only alternative. The recently-completed Cosmostrator I spaceship, intended to voyage to Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
, is redirected to Venus, a 21 day trip. During the voyage, Sikarna works furiously to translate the alien message on the disc using the ship's computer.
When the ship nears Venus, radio interference from that planet cuts the crew off from Earth. By then, Sikarna's efforts lead to a stunning discovery - the spool describes a Venusian plan to irradiate the Earth's surface, with the extermination of mankind being the prelude to an invasion. Rather than a "cosmic document" as had been expected, the spool bears a cold-blooded message of destruction. Harringway convinces the crew to press on towards Venus rather than return to Earth with news that would cause panic.
With the ship's robot Omega, American astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
Brinkman pilots a one-man landing craft. On the ground, he encounters an industrial complex and finds small recording devices that look like insects. The rest of the crew follow when Cosmostrator lands, but find no Venusian life forms. Journeying across the planet, they find the remains of a deserted and blasted city centered around a huge crater - signs of a catastrophic explosion so intense, shadowy forms of humanoid Venusians are permanently burned into the walls of surviving buildings.
While the Venusians are gone, their machines remain functioning, including the radiation-bombardment machine intended for Earth. One of the scientists accidentally triggers the radiation weapon leading to a frantic effort by the Earthmen to disarm it. Tchen Yu lowers Talua - the ship's communication officer - into the Venusian command center. When Tchen Yu's suit is punctured, Brinkman goes out to save him. Before he can reach Yu, Talua succeeds in reversing the radiation weapon. Unfortunately, this reverses the planet's gravitational field, flinging Cosmostrator into space. Brinkman is also repelled off the planet, beyond reach by Cosmostrator, while Talua and Tchen Yu remain marooned on Venus. The surviving crew members return home, where they warn the people of Earth about the danger of atomic weapons.
Cast
- Yoko TaniYoko Taniwas a French-born Japanese actress and nightclub entertainer.-Early life:Her birth name was Itani Yōko . She has occasionally been described as 'Eurasian', 'half-French', 'half-Japanese', and even 'Italian-Japanese', all of which are incorrect....
as Japanese female doctor / Sumiko Ogimura MD - Oldrich Lukes as American nuclear physicist / Prof. Harringway Hawling
- Ignacy Machowski as Polish chief engineer / Prof. Saltyk / Prof. Durand
- Julius Ongewe as African TV technician / Talua
- Michail N. Postnikow as Soviet Astronaut / Prof. Arsenew / Orloff
- Kurt Rackelmann as Indian mathematician / Prof. Sikarna
- Günther SimonGünther Simon-Early life:A bank clerk's son, Simon attended an acting school already in Gymnasium. At the age of sixteen, he was sent to a pre-military training camp of the Hitler Youth and then drafted to the Reich Labour Service. He volunteered to join the paratroopers in August 1943...
as German pilot / Robert / Raimund Brinkmann - Tang Hua-Ta as Chinese linguist / Dr. Tchen Yu / Lao Tsu
- Lucyna WinnickaLucyna WinnickaLucyna Winnicka is a Polish actress. She appeared in 21 films between 1954 and 1978. She played the lead role in the film Mother Joan of the Angels, which won the Special Jury Prize at the 1961 Cannes Film Festival....
as TV reporter / Joan Moran (as Lucina Winnicka)
Editions
The original, uncut version of the film was rereleased under the title The Silent Star by the DEFA Film Library at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2004.In other media
In 1980, a short sequence of First Spaceship on Venus was used as film-in-film in the movie GalaxinaGalaxina
Galaxina is a low-budget 1980 American comedy/science fiction film, best remembered for its lead actress, Playboy Playmate of the Year for 1980 Dorothy Stratten, who was murdered shortly after the movie's release....
.
In 1990, First Spaceship on Venus was featured in the 2nd season of Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
. That episode was released on DVD in 2009 by Shout Factory as part of the "MST3K 20th Anniversary Edition" collection.
In 2007, First Spaceship on Venus was shown on the horror host
Horror host
Horror hosts are a particular type of television presenter, often tasked with presenting low-grade films to television audiences. This tradition is primarily American, though there have been a few international hosts over the years.-Film Packages:...
ed television series Cinema Insomnia
Cinema Insomnia
Cinema Insomnia is a nationally syndicated American television series presented by horror host Mr. Lobo.- Format :Typically, Mr. Lobo opens each episode by promising to screen a well-known horror or science fiction classic ; however budgetary limitations, acts of God or other circumstances...
. Apprehensive Films
Apprehensive Films
Apprehensive Films is an independent American film production and distribution company. Established in 1997 as a production company, Apprehensive Films' main focus was low-budget Grindhouse-inspired films shot in Super 8 mm film and 16 mm film. In 2006, Apprehensive Films became a DVD distributor...
later released the Cinema Insomnia episode onto DVD.