Czechoslovakia, 1963
81m
35mm film, black and white, 2.35:1
mono, Czech
A Czech science fiction film directed by Jindrich Polák.
Plot Summary
In the year 2163, the crew of the spaceship Ikarie XB-1 are en route to Alpha Centauri around which orbits a mysterious “White Planet.” Though their immense speed (they’re travelling almost the speed of light) means that the mission will only take 28 months from the crew’s perspective, time dilation means that 15 years will have passed by the time they return home. This is just one of the many things the crew have to deal with on their journey – they investigate an abandoned spaceship armed with nuclear weapons, are caught in the gravity well of a “dark star” and one of the crew cracks under the pressures of the mission and threatens to destroy the ship.
Credits
* = uncredited
Crew
Director: Jindrich Polák
© 1963 Filmové Studio Barrandov Filmové
Studio Barrandov presents
Filmové Studio Barrandov Production: Jirí Sebor, Vladimír Bor
Story and Screenplay: Pavel Jurácek, Jindrich Polák
Based on the Novel Oblok Magellana by: Stanislaw Lem *
English Language Version Script: Eve Michaels
Director of Photography: January Kalis
Editor: Josef Dobrichovský
Music: Zdenek Liska
Sound: Ing. Jaromír Svoboda
Costume Designers: Ester Krumbachová, January Skalicky, Vladimír Synek
Make-up: Rudolf Hammer
Special Effects: January Kalis, Arch. Milan Nejedly, Jirí Hlupy, Pavel Necesal, Karel Císarovsky, Frantisek Zemlicka
Art Director: Arch. January Zázvorka
Cast
Zdenék Stépánek (Captain Vladimir Abajev)
Frantisek Smolík (Anthony Hopkins, mathematician)
Dana Medrická (Nina Kirova, sociologist)
Irena Kacírková (Brigitta)
Radovan Lukavsky (Commander MacDonald)
Otto Lackovic (Michal, co-ordinator)
Miroslav Machácek (Marcel Bernard)
Rudolf Deyl (Ervin Herold, pilot)
Martin Tapák (Petr Kubes, biologist)
Jirí Vrstala (Erik Svenson, pilot)
Jaroslav Mares (Milek Wertbowsky)
Marcela Martínková (Steffa, Wertbowsky’s wife)
Jozef Adamovic (Zdenek Lorenc, co-ordinator)
Jaroslav Rozsíval (ship’s doctor)
Ruzena Urbanová (Eva, historian)
Svatava Hubenáková (Rena, MacDonald’s wife)
Jan Cmíral (crew member)
Vjaceslav Irmanov (co-ordinator)
Alternative Titles
Voyage to the End of the Universe – USA
Links
See also
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Alien (1979)
Spaceflight IC-1: An Adventure in Space (1965)
Star Trek (1966-1969)
References
Periodicals
- The Daily Cinema no.9096 (28 July 1965) p.6
- Interzone no.249 (November/December 2013) p.92 – review (by Tony Lee)
- Kine Weekly no.3017 (29 July 1965) p.10
- Sight & Sound vol.32 no.4 (Autumn 1963) p.179
- Variety 24 July 1963
Books
- American International Pictures: A Comprehensive Filmography by Rob Craig pp.394-395
- American International Pictures: A Filmography by Robert L. Ottoson p.116
- Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction by Phil Hardy (ed) p.221-222
- Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures by Mark Thomas McGee p.327
- Feature Films, 1960-1969: A Filmography of English-language and Major Foreign-language United States Releases by Harris M. Lentz III p.509-510
- Nuclear Movies: A Filmography by Mick Broderick p.65
- Reference Guide to Fantastic Films by Walt Lee p.527 – credits
- Rock ‘n’ Roll Monsters: The American International Story by Bruce G. Hallenbeck pp.184-185
