Cosmic Journey (Kosmicheskiy Reys: Fantasticheskaya Novella) [DVD] [1936]

Rather than be redundant with other reviews, I will simply say, Cosmic Journey (Kosmicheskii Reys: Fantasticheskaya - literally, Space Flights: A Fantastic Story) is an ntertaining, fascinating piece of cinematic & cultural history. As with many Soviet science fiction movies of later decades, such as Nebo Zovyot, aka The Sky Calls (1959), andMechte Navstrechu, aka A Dream Come True (1963), Cosmic Journey is an optimistic vision of space exploration, both with regard to the endeavor itself, and with respect to camaraderie among Soviet citizens and scientists, even if there are initially disputes with respect to motives and methods.I ordered a copy of this movie from Amazon from a distribution company called Video Dimensions. It's a 2011 DVD. The picture has the kind of artifacts one would expect from an older, unrestored film, but it is nonetheless very passible. It is a silent movie even though it was released in 1936. The orchestral accompaniment doesn't seem to have been written for the movie, and seems to be instead needle drops of classical pieces. They are matched pretty well with the action though, so it works. Intertitles are in Russian with English subtitles. The extras include A Trip To The Moon, one chapter of a Flash Gordon serial, and a "condensed version" of the British minor classic Cosmic Monsters. None of these are worthwhile. Moon is an unrestored, untinted, grainy, artifact-laden copy, a single chapter of any serial is pointless, as is a condensed version of any movie. But one would not purchase this disc for the extras anyway. I'm just happy to have gotten a copy of this classic Soviet movie, which, while little known to Western audiences, is a landmark piece of science-fiction cinema, and beautifully made, fascinating cultural artifact.

A classic in many respects, with excellent special effects for the time (vastly superior to the American "Flash Gordon" and "Buck Rogers" space operas of the same era), and well grounded in science, this film actually proved to be somewhat prophetic.There must have been some inspiration from Fritz Lang's "Woman In the Moon" (1929), with several similar plot elements, including an attractive woman as part of the crew (K. Moskalenko even resembles Gerda Maurus, but this could be coincidental), there is a young boy who stows away on both ships, and there is a crisis involving loss of breathable oxygen, which threatens the return trip.There are also some differences...the earlier German movie has the possibility of gold on the moon as the reason for the voyage, while the Russian film views space simply as something which should be explored. The German film posits the existence of a breathable atmosphere on the Moon, while the Russians find a frosty remnant of the Moon's atmosphere in the form of snow in some locations, eerily prescient of the water ices actually detected near the Moon's poles by orbiting lunar satellites since the 1990's.The Russians land on "the dark side of the Moon", however, this should not be interpreted as "the side of the Moon not facing the Earth", since Earth is clearly visible from their landing site. Since the Moon orbits the Earth roughly every 29 days, at one time or another, all sides of the Moon receive sunlight, and also all sides are at some times in darkness. The Russians land when the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun, on the side which is facing Earth, hence "the dark side" not facing the Sun.One interesting feature of the rocket was individual chambers for each crew member, in which they were immersed in a fluid to protect themselves from the strong g-forces during launch. Although no one has ever used this method, it does demonstrate that the Russians were aware of the problem, and proposed a solution.The model buildings of the hanger, and the spaceship itself, are impressively detailed. Some of the footage of the cosmonauts leaping about under low gravity on the lunar surface is actually stop-motion animation, and pretty well done, at least as comparable to the footage in the original "King Kong" (1933) or for that matter, the "Gumby" TV show of the 1950's.When the ship eventually returns to Earth, they parachute down for a landing on the ground, just as later Russian spacecraft actually did, and not splashing down into the ocean like the Americans did.The film is, oddly, silent, surprising for 1936, although Charlie Chaplin made "Modern Times" as a silent film that same year. There is a stirring musical soundtrack, but dialogue between the characters is by means of the usual title cards.Taken as a whole, the film is entertaining, and scientifically accurate based on what was known at the time. The run time is only 65 minutes, so viewers also receive as a bonus the 1902 Georges Melies short film "A Trip To The Moon", in which French astronauts are shot out of a huge cannon and have a fanciful adventure on the Moon. This film also features what may be the first "flight attendant", a pretty girl in shorts who holds the ladder for the boarding party prior to their departure.Additionally, the disc includes episode 8 of the Flash Gordon serial, with laughably poor special effects, and costumes resembling Robin Hood's band.I enjoyed "Cosmic Journey", and would recommend it to those who are fans of early science fiction.

This nice little film calls out for a rainy Saturday and a bucket of popcorn. It hails from the same era as the Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon serials in the US, but is its own creature entirely. For one thing, it's silent - with the original subtitles in Russian and modern ones in English. For another, the effects are much better, including some great stop-animation of scenes on the moon and "weightless" scene of the live actors. And there's that prescient part where the voyage back to Earth ends with the capsule parachuting down.But it still has the earnest cheesiness that makes other space movies from that time so much fun. The space ship's crew includes the bearded scientist, young boy, and a woman - a useful one, by the way, not just a helpless princess to be saved. The rocket's interior is roomy and comfortable, down to the linen table cloths. This offers suitable drama (including an oxygen leak that brings Apollo 13 to mind), but never comes across as dark or truly threatening. I can't call it a must-have for every collection, but it's an easy one to like.And it's a bit short, so the DVD offers an episode of Flash Gordon and a brief giant-mutant-bug feature form the UK. If you like Flash, see him in his own DVD collections - the other I found utterly forgettable. Neither detracts from an enjoyable and popcorn-worthy Russian classic.-- wiredweird

I've seen 'Cosmic Journey' a couple of times before. This was the Best Print of it That I've seen yet. I really appreciate getting the ability to see this Russian Sci-Fi Gem looking so good.