Planeta Bur (1962)

Director:

Pavel Klushantsev

Writers:

Aleksandr Kazantsev
Pavel Klushantsev

Release Date:

28 September 1962 (East Germany)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Plot:

Cosmonauts land on the planet Venus. However, they find themselves in danger from the voracious monsters they find on it. |

Plot Keywords:

Venus | Cosmonaut | Astronaut | Prehistoric | Soviet

Cast

Vladimir Yemelyanov	...	Ilya Vershinin
Georgi Zhzhyonov	...	Bobrov
Gennadi Vernov	...	Alyosha
Yuriy Sarantsev	...	Scherba
Georgiy Teykh	...	Kern
Kyunna Ignatova	...	Masha

Directed by
Pavel Klushantsev

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Aleksandr Kazantsev
Pavel Klushantsev

Produced by
L. Presnyakova	....	producer
Vladimir Yemelyanov	....	producer

Original Music by
Iogann Admoni
Aleksandr Chernov

Cinematography by
Arkadi Klimov

Film Editing by
Volt Suslov		(as V. Suslov)

Production Design by
V. Aleksandrov
M. Tsybasov

Art Direction by
V. Makarov
V. Malaxieva
A. Nadejin
I. Yegorov

Production Management
Z. Anderson	....	production director

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
A. Belyavskaya	....	assistant director
I. Yasiopolskaya	....	assistant director

Sound Department
R. Levitin	....	sound

Special Effects by
V. Shelkov	....	special effects art director

Visual Effects by
A. Lavrentyev	....	special effects cinematographer

Other crew
B.T. Denison	....	scientific advisor
K.K. Flerov	....	scientific advisor
A.M. Kasetkin	....	scientific advisor
A.V. Markov	....	scientific advisor

Production Companies

• Leningrad Popular Science Film Studio

Also Known As:

"Planet of Storms" - International (English title) (literal English title)
"Planet of Tempests" - International (English title) (literal English title)
"Planeta Burg" - USA (bootleg title)
"Storm Planet" - International (English title) (informal English alternative title)

Runtime:

Germany:72 min | Soviet Union:78 min

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Color:

Color

Company:

Leningrad Popular Science Film Studio

Trivia:

This movie is later edited and dubbed as "Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet", released in the US in 1965. This movie (and the Russian inserts) were in turn used to create "Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women" (1968)

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Star Dreamer (2002)

Important Soviet SF by director who influenced 2001

Pavel Klushantsev, who directed more Russian SF films than he's credited with here, found himself propelled from obscurity into sudden demand by the Soviet authorities when the production of his 1958 SF debut, 'Road to the Stars' coincided with the launch of Sputnik. Although he languished in almost total obscurity in the West, his films were enormously popular in the USSR, and, as a recent documentary noted, many of his cinematic innovations were 'borrowed' 10 years later by Kubrick in '2001'.

Planet of Storms is not a great movie, but compared with most of the SF which the USA was churning up to this time, it's positively stellar. It's weakest points are its sketchy characterisations, and rather poor pacing, but hard SF luminaries like Gernsback and John Campbell would probably have admired its attention to detail, and relative lack of sensationalism. The film actually begins with the disclaimer "Venus may well be entirely different to this" (or somesuch), and what follows is a serious attempt to depict a Venusian expedition - marred perhaps by the odd dinosaur, but surprisingly free of Soviet chest-thumping.

Planet of Storms won't blow your mind, but you'll find yourself being charmed by the ingenious photography, sets, creatures, etc. There's also a straight out hilarious scene where the Robot gets rained on, and goes off his head. While his two human companions are lying on the ground, dangerously ill from fever, he's babbling on about building a concrete highway to reach the other half of the expedition, who are are about 20 miles away. Contacting him via radio, they are somewhat alarmed to hear him tell them "According to quotes from the Smith corporation, the cost of building a highway to the Sirius is 37 million dollars". I don't know if this was a dig at capitalism, but it cracked me up anyway.

Now - some bloke wanted a translation of the lyrics to the song. These are courtesy of SBS TV Australia (translated by Elena Mikrailik and Brendan Doyle)

(first version)

Planet of Storms, we thank you for your lessons / We enjoyed our stay, but now we must be gone / Our ship awaits; our way is clear and straight / Our hearts are calling, "home, home home" / Yes, home, dear Comrades //

It's time to calculate the points of bearing / It's time to place our courage at the helm / She waits for us, the planet of our birth / Our dear home; our one and only Earth / Yes, Earth / Earth, dear Comrades //



(end of movie version)

Planet of Storms, we'll see you soon, don't worry / And in your harbour, our ships will gladly berth / For not in vain are we the sons of Earth / For not in vain are we the sons of Earth / Earth, dear Comrades