Friday, July 9, 2010

First Spaceship on Venus (1960)

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 disc is found at Tunguska. It is ascertained that it originated on Venus, so radio telescopes are aimed at the planet and greetings are sent. There is no reply. The recently-completed Cosmokrator I spaceship, intended to voyage to Mars, is redirected to Venus, a 21 day trip. During the voyage, a moody scientist from India works furiously to try to translate the alien message on the disc using the ship's computer.
When the ship is too close to override radio interference from Venus, the American scientist calls in the crew and relates his translation: Venusians intend to irradiate the Earth's surface to eliminate human life, then settle there with their own people. The captain decides they will land and try to deal with the Venusians.
A one-man ship lands and encounters an industrial complex. The entire ship lands and they proceed to investigate, but there are no native life forms to greet them. They eventually realize that the complex, alien technology must have destroyed the native population, leaving only shadows on walls that are vaguely humanoid. However, the machines are still trying to carry out the Venusians' ultimate goal, so Earth is in danger from automated programs. They must somehow stop the machines. The Cosmokrator is repelled off the surface by the machines, leaving two crewmen behind, while another is hurled into space.
Early in the movie, the international television network Intervision is mentioned. Intervision was the television operation that shared programs among the Warsaw Pact bloc of nations.
WATCH THIS FILM:


FIRST SPACESHIP ON VENUS
KURT MAETZIG (1960)
78 MIN
POLAND
click play to watch or DOWNLOAD to save. MPEG2 1.8 GB

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