It would seem that the sci-fi titles produced behind the Iron Curtain during the early 1960s were all heavy on space travel, light on monsters, so Americans such as Roger Corman often purchased the rights to add new footage to rectify the situation ("Battle Beyond the Sun," "Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet," "Planet of Blood," "Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women). American International often picked up foreign titles to use in their TV packages, so most often viewers would only catch these films on the small screen. This 1963 Czech film is quite interesting, several well drawn characterizations, a virtual prototype for the forthcoming STAR TREK, only with a 15 year mission, destined for the 'Green Planet.' The tacked on US ending, lambasted as it's been over the years, proved to be influential at the time, as shown by 1968's "Planet of the Apes." Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater aired this film on two occasions, Nov 25 1967 (followed by second feature "The Tingler") and Aug 1 1970 (followed by second feature "Voodoo Man"). Other Eastern European titles broadcast include "The Fabulous World of Jules Verne," "First Spaceship on Venus," and "The Amphibian Man."

This czech scifi made in 1963 is surprisingly fresh compared to most films within the scifi genre.The story of a multinational crew heading to unknown planet and along its path has to deal with many dangerous situations, has to be one of the most used story lines in scifi.Even though we've seen so many times this film uses a very lowkey, socialrealistic approach. More reminiscent of latter efforts like Alien (1979), Silent Running (1972), Outland (1981).This film portrays the crew and its members, struggling with everyday problems. Like childbirth, parties, relationships in space etc.There is also the fact that this film was made during communist rule in Czechoslovakia which might explain the lack of glamorous, action filled scenes. In fact the films hints that decadent, capitalistic society is doomed to fail.But there is also hints that the communistic state might contain flaws as well.Todays audience might be disapproving against the sometimes slow, socialrealistic tone/style of the film but I for one found it quite refreshing.Well-made scifi films without action, ridiculous high tempo, is hard to come by, and I hope more people will see this film.

Most Americans know this film (if they know it at all) as VOYAGE TO THE END OF THE UNIVERSE. According to most sources, the film was chopped & re-dubbed from its original 81 minute length (the original Variety review pegs it at 90 minutes) to approximately 64 minutes for its limited theatrical run by American International Pictures. Curiously, I have an old VHS tape off of TV that runs about 78 minutes. The odd thing is that the cuts that were made (apparently there were both Theatrical and TV Versions prepared), are actually LESS important to the ADDITIONAL footage that was added. And, that Additional Footage runs about 5 seconds! How could 5 seconds be more important that the 5 to 20 minutes that were cut out?? More on that below (with SPOILER ALERT to come). IKARIE XB 1 (the Czech cut) is on display as part of a traveling series of Czech films and hopefully will show up on DVD soon in a definitive version. Unquestionably, IKARIE is one of the best SF films to come from outside the USA. Well mounted production values, solid acting and an intelligent storyline. The film has many parallels to such Productions as 2001, SOLARIS, the German TV series SPACE PATROL, PLANET OF THE APES and many others. What's particularly intriguing is that the film doesn't condescend to its audience. Some of the most fascinating aspects of the script are more implied than detailed (this may cause some to be confused or distracted - Why, for instance, does the crew not know of the previous mission they come up close to the target 'White Planet'(NOT the 'Green Planet' as it's US version calls it)?). A true find. Hopefully, a restoration would allow the film to take its rightful place in the SF Film canon. +++++++++++++SPOILERS BELOW++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Most of the cuts made in the TV version of IKARIE are fairly minor (most just made to speed things up). But, it's that 5 seconds of new footage that makes for an entirely different viewing experience. For, the US version changes THE ENTIRE MEANING OF THE MOVIE! When the Space Travelers finally reach the "Green Planet" it appears that they have either never left, gone thru a time warp (a la PLANET OF THE APES) or gone around in circles - NONE of these endings was inferred by the original film at all! Shockingly, when I've talked to people who've seen the US Version or read about it in Film Reference books, their view of the whole film is not only tainted by these 5 seconds, but actually results in their dismissal of the film's quality. Most huff that "it's got this lame and OBVIOUS ending" - And, sadly, they are referring to an ending that is neither lame nor was "obvious" -- for it was never meant to be by the filmmakers! Tragic, shocking and sad. People read the film from the ending backwards and dismiss all that came from before due to its "trick ending". Again, I hope the film, and its purposefully ambiguous ending will out.

This is for sf-film completists. It seems to fill a gap between the late-50's style of sf movie and the forever-after effects of Star Trek and Kubrick's "2001." The only version you're likely to see is the American International release. The Encyclopedia of SF says the original film is in color, but AI's print is B&W, probably to save costs on the number of prints they may have made from a film I suspect they got for little money in the first place.The story is about a big "community" sized spaceship making a long journey to "the green planet." Another reviewer said the ship was faster than light, but a couple of references to time-dilation effects in the dialog make it more likely that the ship was a near-lightspeed model. This has an influence on the spooky atmosphere that pervades the whole film, making the crew/community highly insular, as they realize they are cut off completely from the lives they have left behind.The sfx are slightly better than Dr. Who episodes of similar vintage, with a couple of really good spacesuits and an unusual design for the ship itself. There's also a very, very neat shot of the ship in orbit around its destination that is a dead ringer for a similar moment in "Alien," and quite effective (in both films), in a way that most movies about spaceships seem to forego.Still, the story rambles and seems kind of shallow. The sets and sfx aren't bad, but don't make up for the weak script. I recommend this for true lovers of the form (as I am), because you just wouldn't want to be left wondering what might have been going on in sf films, even east European ones, in the early '60s. Here's your answer.