Sci-Fi Film Fiesta, The Swingin' 60s - Volume 6: Spaced Out Magic Carpet Rides by Chris Christopoulos - HTML preview

Capitalist admonishments.

➢ Typical space drama trials and tribulations involving mad scientists, killer

robots, lashings of techno-babble and hardware.

➢ The Ikarie’s encounter with the perfectly preserved space relic from the 20th

century forces us to imagine how our descendants might view us and the era that encompassed world wars, regional conflicts, sectarian violence, climate catasrophes, genocides, atomic weaponry and more.

I’m not going to waste anyone’s time by mentioning in any detail the American butchering of the film with the Voyage To The End Of The Universe AIP dubbed version, or references to how the film supposedly influenced Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek and Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odessy. Perhaps it did, perhaps it didn’t. Who knows? Really, who cares?

The original Czech version won the main prize at the 1963 Trieste International Science Fiction Film Festival. The restored original Czech version was screened as a "Cannes Classic" at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

The exterior sets and shots probably reflect the technology available at the time but were adequate enough. It is however the interior set designs that stand out. In many ways parts of the ship’s interior remind me of the sets on the Doctor Who TV series with the geometric shapes and circles. Shots of individual crew members are framed in such a way that they appear dwarfed by the open spaces and towering technology of the ship. This serves to highlight the apparent insignificance of human beings in the face of their own technology and the sheer immensity of the universe and what is being undertaken.

We keep being told how human beings have the technology to begin establishing its presence on other planets such as Mars. However, I still think that at present our level of optimism far exceeds what we are in fact capable of realistically achieving. The film shows how even mundane problems can arise to thwart and jeopardise our endeavours in space. First, there is the sense of boredom and despondency experienced by the crew. Then there are the frayed nerves resulting from being confined with the same faces and annoying individuals and their annoying habits for extended periods of time. Just think about how often work colleagues can give you the shits but at least you can go home at the end of the day. Now imagine being stuck with them in a habitat on Mars or on 28 month voyage in a ship travelling to Alpha Centauri! Not long before there’d be the first space homicide or at a poor soul curled up in a fetal position, sucking his thumb and cooing softly to himself…...

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Fantastic Voyage (1966)

Despite some stolid acting performances and rather dull script, “Fantastic Voyage”

is a lavish production with brilliant special effects for the time. Overall, the film

presents the viewer with an entertaining and imaginative journey into the human