Not to be confused with any contributions to the silent film roundtable:
THE SILENT STAR
Who’d have thought, back in the 1960s, that our nation’s youngsters were being fed communist propaganda by one of the most mercenary elements within the American film industry? Well, a lot of people, probably. It was a pretty paranoid time. Still, had they known, those people could have at least taken comfort in the fact that it was being done out of only the most purely capitalistic motives. After all, Eastern Bloc science fiction movies presented an irresistible lure to B movie producers like Roger Corman and his ilk. Being that they served as representations of the bright, technologically-advanced future achievable through socialism, these films were often the beneficiaries of relatively lavish government funding, and, as a result, boasted special effects and production design that were well beyond what makers of American sci-fi cheapies could afford.
#1 by Blake Matthews on August 18, 2008 - 7:31 pm
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So is the butchered American version actually worth watching?
#2 by Todd on August 18, 2008 - 9:34 pm
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Well, I’d say yes and no. Unlike Battle Beyond the Sun and Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women, First Spaceship on Venus doesn’t do anything to alter the storyline of the original. Nothing is added, and some of the cuts actually serve to tighten the narrative somewhat. However, without the original scope presentation and musical score, you definitely lose a sense of the grandiose scope of the original. At the same time, the whole “long journey to Venus” section in the middle is equally tedious in both. I guess, in the end, First Spaceship on Venus is worth watching (and definitely worth buying for a dollar), but, if you like it, you’re going to want to watch The Silent Star anyway.
#3 by MatthewF on August 19, 2008 - 1:11 am
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I quite fancy this but Amazon seems to have the two films confused, as comments for both versions appear beneath ‘The Silent Star’ and I don’t know which one I would be getting. I guess if it’s more than a dollar then it’s probably the original. There is the worry of course that my kids will see it and instantly become converted to communism.
#4 by Todd on August 19, 2008 - 8:13 am
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It does make a pretty convincing case. Just look at the cool DEVO suits that the workers at the launch site get to wear!
This listing at Amazon is the right one.
If you really want to hurt your wallet, there’s also this boxed set of DEFA sci-fi movies that includes The Silent Star.