1963 Directed by Jindřich Polák
The year is 2163. Starship Ikaria XB 1 embarks on a mission deep into space in search of alien life. During their perilous journey the crew confront the effects of a malignant dark star, the destructive legacy of the 20th century and, ultimately, the limits of their own sanity.
František Smolík Dana Medřická Irena Kačírková Radovan Lukavský Otto Lackovič Miroslav Macháček Jiří Vršťala Rudolf Deyl Jaroslav Mareš Martin Ťapák Marcela Martínková Jozef Adamovič Jaroslav Rozsíval Růžena Vyskočilová Svatava Hubeňáková Jan Cmíral Václav Irmanov Eva Cedlová Zdena Borovičková Vladimír Navrátil V. Maláková J. Vicherková Ladislav Mrkvička Hana Pražanová Jiří Cejnek Věra Křesadlová Karel Duba Gustav Vobornik Olga Navrátilová Show All…
Icarie XB1, Ikaria XB1, イカリエ-XB1, Voyage to the End of the Universe, Viagem ao Fim do Universo, Ίκαρος XB-1, Viaje al fin del universo, Икар-1, Icarus XB 1, Ikaria XB-1, Stříbrná kometa, Za 200 let koncem června
Monsters, aliens, sci-fi and the apocalypse War and historical adventure earth, sci-fi, space, spaceship or mankind sci-fi, aliens, space, spaceship or earth destruction, disaster, earth, scientific or mankind future, sci-fi, technology, action or technological monster, creature, dinosaurs, scientist or beast Show All…
There's something unnerving about watching a film that appears to know its place in cinema history; it's as if some omnipotent movie god reached out to the producers and said "Right, we're going to do some shiny, optimistic sci-fi in the '50s and some paranoid existential sci-fi in the '70s; any way you could bridge that gap for us?" And that's exactly what this cult Czech space opera provides, from its lapel-grabbing flash-forward opening onwards. You know the movie is going to be one step ahead of its audience's perceptions of early '60s SF when it introduces a quaint old Forbidden Planet-style robot early on - then immediately has the crew comment on how it's an 80-year-old antique in their…
This Czech(oslovak) science-fiction movie is loosely based on The Magellanic Cloud by Polish novelist Stanisław Lem (who also wrote Solaris.) Like the Soviet sci-fi movie I watched yesterday, this is very dialogue driven, which does make it a bit dry at times. I was very impressed with the space scenes, especially when you consider this was made in the early 60's.
This was in many ways years ahead of its time.
(Opening lines) "Earth is gone! Earth never existed!"
Ikarie XB-1 (retitled Voyage to the End of the Universe in the US) is a Czech sci-fi film which is notable both for its place in cinematic history in general and for its relationship to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey specifically. The story follows an intergalactic expedition sent to investigate a planet near Alpha Centauri. As the inhabitants adjust to life in space however, the ship encounters a drifting spacecraft with a dead crew and a mysterious "dark star" emitting dangerous radiation.
As Graham Williamson has noted, The 60's was a transitionary period for science fiction film, coming between the optimistic, adventurous sci-fi of the 50's and going to the cynical…
Hard not to read some of this as kitsch today (dance party scene, I'm looking at you) but seems to have had quite a budget, with lovely miniatures, big sets, and some atmospheric shadowy black and white scope photography. Occasionally reveals some possible influence on 2001 or INTERSTELLAR, with its dips into the banality of space colonization and elements of weird time-dilation, abandoned families, and mental breakdown. Despite the ending, the initially utopic appearance of single-minded, scientifically planned collectivism here is eventually revealed to be a spiritually stifling trap that can only lead to infighting and deceit given the intrinsic selfishness of humanity. Communism is just a red space-herring.
Wait, this isn’t the Czech New Wave I know and love. Where’s the self-deprecation? Where’s the lascivious behavior? Where’s the copious imbibing? Where’s the dry as dust humor? … oh, wait, there was that modern space dance scene. And a robot that must have inspired The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’s Marvin. And a master control computer who I swear said ‘Danger Will Robinson’.
I was expecting a bunch of lazy shirkers who figured out they could get 15 years of pay in 28 months due to time dilation. ‘Scientists’ performing carnal social experiments on each other, and beer drinking atomotons. They would introduce the best of humanity to a newly contacted alien race.
I got none of that. So…
1st Jindřich Polák
To my Western eyes, this is best understood as a big-budget episode of Star Trek. Shot in lustrous black and white widescreen, Ikarie's plot shares that same interest in exploring the great unknown and visualising a completely realised version of the future, complete with dance trends and space food. There's two plot points that are almost exactly Star Trek premises; the exploration of the hundred year old spacecraft recalls both the opening of "The Tholian Web" and more obviously "Space Seed" in the reckoning with the past it forces the crew members to acknowledge, while the finale (which is seen at the beginning) recalls "The Naked Time", though in a more oblique manner.
Ikarie, then, is an…
As I watched Ikarie XB-1, more and more movies kept coming to mind that owe a debt to this Czech odyssey of existential sci-fi and extrasolar dread. Star Trek’s tackling of cerebral space challenges from the bridge. 2001’s contemplative cosmic unease and HAL-robo assistance. Alien’s genuine crew bonding. The ghost ships of Event Horizon and Sunshine, Pandorum’s space delirium, Interstellar’s musings on time dilation: it’s all here, familiar due to time and legacy yet executed with a bleak classical seriousness that still resonates nearly six decades later.
True to its roots as a Stanisław Lem adaptation, Ikarie XB-1 is on an entirely different tonal wavelength than Jindřich Polák’s zany time-travel romp Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea.…
Apparently, the hacked up, poorly dubbed AIP cut of this (retitled Voyage to the End of the Universe) replaces the original final shot with a Statue of Liberty “OH MY GOD IT’S EARTH” twist that presupposes Planet of the Apes by a good five years. While I’d agree that an ending like that would likely undermine the sophisticated tone established here, I’d be lying if I said it wouldn’t have bumped my rating up another half star. What can I say, I’m a sucker for a good campy twist.
I started in earnest exploring the riches of Czechoslovakian cinema last year and it’s fair to say I’m hooked. The period post-war to the country’s dissolution in the early 1990s, incorporating the extraordinary burst of creativity known as the Czech New Wave which peaked between 1963 and 1968, amounts to one of the greatest national bodies of cinema I’ve come across. I’ve seen more than 50 films at this stage but I feel I’m just scratching the surface.
A case in point is Ikarie XB 1, directed by Jindrich Polak. I’ve only seen one other of his films, Tomorrow I’ll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea, and like that one Ikarie XB 1 is a science fiction film, but…
The more Czech cinema I watch, the more I love it. It has a matter of fact-ness to it that I enjoy.
Anyways this was a really cool damn film. The influence radiating from this film seems so palpable. 2001, Solaris, the Alien franchise, Sunshine, Pandorum, Interstellar, High Life, Ad Astra, etc etc, you name it. I got vibes from all of those kinds of films here. The restoration looks BEAUTIFUL, and the visual effects are nice but kinda dated in parts (flying saucers galore!) but I didn’t mind them. Some scenes here are really tense too, the “first contact” scene especially had me on the edge of my seat.
What I really liked about this was the characters. There are…
Man’s imagination has been turned upwards for centuries. Dreaming of boldly going where no man has gone before. The thought of travelling beyond the stars has driven the creative juices of generations of writers and film-makers. Intergalactic adventures aren’t just about space racoons and exterminating dustbins. The thought of exploring the heavens often prompts questions about what it is to be human. Jindrich Polák’s 1963 film Ikarie XB-1 is a meditation on existence and a superior intellectual science-fiction
The film quickly establishes the dynamic between the crew, who act more like passengers on a luxury cruise than a team of scientists heading out to potentially discover alien life. They laugh, bicker, make calls home on the ship’s video wall. While…
