Planet of Storms (1962)

People in the United States most likely know that in the '50s and '60s, Hollywood made a number of movies about people traveling to other planets. It turns out that the Soviet Union also made one. Pavel Klushantsev's "Planeta bur" ("Planet of the Storms" in English). It's a typical corny, enjoyable sci-fi flick. The destination in this case is Venus, and the cosmonauts get more than they bargained for. The robot was funny.I understand that Curtis Harrington and Peter Bogdanovich each individually took the movie, added new scenes, and released it under different titles. Well, I doubt that I'll ever be interested in the adulterated versions. I prefer this original. Had the Soviet Union celebrated Halloween, I bet that millions of children would have dressed as that robot.Fun movie.

This film was one of many I recalled seeing as a kid, but couldn't track it down for many years. I first saw the "Americanized" versions (at least two; one with/without added footage of mermaids worshiping the rubber pterodactyl!). The only clear elements I remembered were "Robot John" (the Russian Robbie!)and the exotic beach/rocky precipice locales. And it has one of the first 'landspeeders' I'd seen depicted in a pre-Star Wars film. Of course, the dubbed English dialog always seemed odd; as if they were trying more to match the lip movements than tell a coherent story. For example, the commander says things like,"get popping now," and other odd phrases. A few years ago I finally saw the Russian version. The dialog is a little more adult and in certain scenes, some unexpected humor(the robot babbling about the cost of building a bridge to affect a rescue). There was a little Soviet-era chest-thumping, but really not as much as you'd think (given the time it was made). Also,there are moments in the film that border on the poetic; the woman's face in the marble-like rock, the oceanic sunset and the wonderfully ambiguous ending! Of course, the movie is dated now. At least the (Russian) producers had the sense to put a disclaimer before the credits, admitting the film is very speculative at best. However, in our current era of "re-imaginings,"(most reek; some, like Battlestar Galactica, Dawn of the Dead, are exceptional) I could easily 're-imagine' a James Cameronesque remake. Change Venus to an unknown extra-solar planet, make the crew a little less homogeneous, etc. but most importantly, go easy on CGI for the planetary vistas. One of the strengths of the film is the eerie, ruggedly exotic, yet vaguely familiar feel of the natural locations used in it(not too dissimilar from surface photos of Mars, Venus and most recently, Saturn's moon, Titan). Films like this one and "Robinson Crusoe on Mars" really opened the doors of space travel to me as a kid. As much, if not more so,than even "Star Wars" or "Star Trek." Perhaps it's just the simplicity of the story; humans (and their machines) testing themselves against an alien world. Maybe a new generation (tired of earth orbital flights on the news) could benefit from a new take on the old "man versus the cosmos" idea. Just don't sell it a super-slick, 100-explosions-a-minute cartoon like a lot of bad sci-fi out there. In the meantime, enjoy the original. Preferably the original Russian version (SinisterCinema.com). Neat little movie.

Pavel Klushantsev, who directed more Russian SF films than he's credited with here, found himself propelled from obscurity into sudden demand by the Soviet authorities when the production of his 1958 SF debut, 'Road to the Stars' coincided with the launch of Sputnik. Although he languished in almost total obscurity in the West, his films were enormously popular in the USSR, and, as a recent documentary noted, many of his cinematic innovations were 'borrowed' 10 years later by Kubrick in '2001'.Planet of Storms is not a great movie, but compared with most of the SF which the USA was churning up to this time, it's positively stellar. It's weakest points are its sketchy characterisations, and rather poor pacing, but hard SF luminaries like Gernsback and John Campbell would probably have admired its attention to detail, and relative lack of sensationalism. The film actually begins with the disclaimer "Venus may well be entirely different to this" (or somesuch), and what follows is a serious attempt to depict a Venusian expedition - marred perhaps by the odd dinosaur, but surprisingly free of Soviet chest-thumping.Planet of Storms won't blow your mind, but you'll find yourself being charmed by the ingenious photography, sets, creatures, etc. There's also a straight out hilarious scene where the Robot gets rained on, and goes off his head. While his two human companions are lying on the ground, dangerously ill from fever, he's babbling on about building a concrete highway to reach the other half of the expedition, who are are about 20 miles away. Contacting him via radio, they are somewhat alarmed to hear him tell them "According to quotes from the Smith corporation, the cost of building a highway to the Sirius is 37 million dollars". I don't know if this was a dig at capitalism, but it cracked me up anyway. Now - some bloke wanted a translation of the lyrics to the song. These are courtesy of SBS TV Australia (translated by Elena Mikrailik and Brendan Doyle)(first version)Planet of Storms, we thank you for your lessons / We enjoyed our stay, but now we must be gone / Our ship awaits; our way is clear and straight / Our hearts are calling, "home, home home" / Yes, home, dear Comrades // It's time to calculate the points of bearing / It's time to place our courage at the helm / She waits for us, the planet of our birth / Our dear home; our one and only Earth / Yes, Earth / Earth, dear Comrades //(end of movie version)Planet of Storms, we'll see you soon, don't worry / And in your harbour, our ships will gladly berth / For not in vain are we the sons of Earth / For not in vain are we the sons of Earth / Earth, dear Comrades

I saw this in my childhood and took years to track it down again since I saw it under one of its two confusing Roger Corman english-language re-edits [Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet with Basil Rathbone added, and Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women, with mermaids scenes directed by Peter Bogdonavich.] Finally able to track down the original Russian version recently, I was able to fully appreciate the ambitious scope and production values. The forest is truly primeval in its detailed beauty, Robot John both heroic and sad in his dedication, and the ending poetic and lyrical. Non-U.S. science fiction films are doubly exotic, and this one is classic fare.