Road to the Stars – 1957 Soviet Space Vision with Stunning Special Effects

January 19, 2011January 19, 2011 by Cimaxion | 4 Comments

Excerpt 1 – First Men in Space:

The film is in Russian but you absolutely do not need to know Russian to enjoy it! Unfortunately, I can’t find the entire film, only these three excerpts.

Pavel Klushantsev’s 1957 film, Road to the Stars, features astoundingly realistic special effects that were an inspiration and obvious blueprint for Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey ten years later. The film is an extended form of science education, building upon existing 1950s technology to predict space exploration of the future. The sequences with astronauts in zero gravity are incredibly realistic. The second excerpt from the film features the construction of and life aboard a space station in earth orbit that is not only convincing but also beautiful. There are several scenes with space station dwellers using videophones that anticipate the famous Kubrick videophone scene.

Excerpt 2 – Space Station:

Excerpt 3 – Moon Landing:

Encounter – 16mm Stop-Motion Film

January 18, 2011 by Cimaxion

Professional feature film animator Joel Fletcher made this 16mm stop-motion film in 1982. Since then he’s worked on a ton of films including The Nightmare Before Christmas and King Kong.

Futurama 1964!

January 13, 2011 by Cimaxion

Now that’s a future I can get into! Let’s do another ride like this today.

Modern Times – A Digital Homage to 2001

January 12, 2011 by Cimaxion | 1 Comment

Here’s a science fiction film, nearly every frame of which is an homage to Stanley Kubrick’s unsurpassed masterpiece, 2001: A Space Odyssey. The homage extends into the set design, the windows, the doors, walkways and more. It was made by a UK art design group called BC2010.

The Penultimate Truth About Philip K. Dick

January 11, 2011 by Cimaxion

This is a 2007 documentary produced by Martín Florio on science fiction author Philip K. Dick. The great author behind the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the basis for the ultimately disappointing Blade Runner film, is portrayed by his many former wives and friends as having been obsessed with images that he perceived as having a divine origin. I detect a fair amount of condescension on display here from these former close relations, especially from fellow science fiction author K.W. Jeter. I think the general sort of hand-waving dismissal of Dick’s ideas and visions is foolish and indicates to me that Philip K. Dick made the relatively common mistake of surrounding himself with dimwits. Decide for yourself as you watch this interesting film.

Watch parts 2 – 9 after the jump.

Interplanetary Revolution – 1924 Soviet Animation

January 10, 2011January 10, 2011 by Cimaxion

Paul Gallagher at Dangerous Minds posted this 1924 Russian propaganda masterpiece. It’s a wild, science fiction, abstract work of art that just keeps pumping out wondrous images, one after the other. I love the ragged edges and mix of photographs, hand-drawn animation and cutouts.

Candlelight Stories

FILMS, GAMES, AUDIO, STORIES, TAROT

Category Archives: Science Fiction