Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965)

In 2020, after the colonization of the moon, the spaceships Vega, Sirius and Capella are launched from Lunar Station 7. They are to explore Venus under the command of Professor Hartman, but... See full summary »

Directors:

Curtis Harrington (as John Sebastian), Pavel Klushantsev (uncredited)

Writer:

Curtis Harrington (as John Sebastian)

Stars:

Basil Rathbone, Faith Domergue, Marc Shannon

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Basil Rathbone	...	Prof. Hartman, Lunar 7
Faith Domergue	...	Dr. Marsha Evans, Vega
Marc Shannon
Christopher Brand
John Bix	...	John the Robot
Lewis Keane
Gennadi Vernov	...	Andre Ferneau, Sirius (archive footage) (as Robert Chantal)
Georgi Zhzhyonov	...	Hans Walters, Sirius (archive footage) (as Kurt Boden)

Storyline

In 2020, after the colonization of the moon, the spaceships Vega, Sirius and Capella are launched from Lunar Station 7. They are to explore Venus under the command of Professor Hartman, but an asteroid collides and explodes Capella. The leader ship Vega stays orbiting and sends the astronauts Kern and Sherman with the robot John to the surface of Venus, but they have problems with communication with Dr. Marsha Evans in Vega. The Sirius lands in Venus and Commander Brendan Lockhart, Andre Ferneau and Hans Walter explore the planet and are attacked by prehistoric animals. They use a vehicle to seek Kern and Sherman while collecting samples from the planet. Meanwhile John helps the two cosmonauts to survive in the hostile land.

---

Plot Keywords:

volcanic eruption | carnivorous plant | space station | nuclear war | alien civilization | 

---

Genres:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

---

Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Soviet Union USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 August 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

Prehistoric Planet

Company Credits

Production Co:

Roger Corman Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min 74 min (Retromedia DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Pathécolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally made in the Soviet Union as Planeta bur (1962)

---

Goofs

Although the ship was still in orbit, landscape and mountains can be seen in the view port.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: The year: 2020. The Moon has been explored and colonized and the next space goal is about to be reached - the first landing by on the planet Venus. Scientists profoundly hope that life, similar to that on Earth, may be found on this planet where so many physical conditions are like our own. Three rocket ships of an international expedition - the Sirius, Vega and Capella, after having successfully traveled 200 million miles are in the final stages of their journey...

---

Alternate Versions

For this version, all footage featuring Kyunna Ignatova has been removed and replaced by footage of American actress Faith Domergue playing the character whose name has been changed from "Masha" to the more American sounding "Marsha."

---

Connections

Featured in The Star Dreamer (2002)

User Reviews

Interesting old sci fi movie

I saw this movie expecting a complete joke of a science fiction movie and I was surprised at how entertaining it really was. Don't get me wrong, its really hokey, but there are qualities to the film that are kind of impressive. The movie delivers where other movies of the same genre would be too cheap to even try. This movie is filled with prehistoric type monsters, some of which are well animated. The ferocious, tentacled plant that attacks the astronaught at the beginning of the film is very well done.

And the space travel effects at the beginning of the film are suprizingly clean. The enviornment of the planet itself is done convincingly with dressed up terrain and excessive fog. But the real topper to this movie is its GREAT robot! I was really impressed. For the time this movie was made, that robot was very well done. Very cleverly designed, that is for sure. To me, the robot made the movie worth seeing. The flying car was pretty neat, too. And they have lots of scenes with the car that must have been fairly complicated to get. In watching the movie it is apparant that the makers of the film must have put in a lot of effort. I especially liked the design of the space suites. If you want a classic sci fi flick, with the cosmonaughts exploring a hostile alien world and battling plenty of monsters, then this is the movie for you. If you watch it, I hope you are as surprised as I was.