Watch Ikarie XB 1 For Free

Good movie but grossly overrated

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

In 20th century were not filmed too much pure space-based science fiction movies in Eastern political block. I would rate this movie as very nice example of sense for this genre even through there was not filmed much of them. Everyone who is judging this movie by quality of special effects should use for their comparison with same aged pieces. Just imagine having the interior scenes and having the poorly animated exteriors replaced by appropriate expensive CGI in up to date movie quality (really imaginary, in reality it would be perversion to break existing piece of art). The movie technology developed as well as science knowledge (which was widely used in the movie to create realistic picture), but the messages in this story are still relevant. Micro-society during real long-term flight may experience very similar issues. There are some parts with significant influence of the fact that the movie was made in the Soviet block (critical mentioning of some attributes of western culture attributes), but overall i would say this does not spoil the movie or the story at all.

I'm one of those rare individuals who viewed Ikarie XB 1 ( Voyage to The End of The Universe) during it's original theatrical release in the U.S. I found the interpretation of dance in the future quite interesting. ( I wonder if the use of ribbons was foreshadowing of events to come in the Olympics?) I also recall the continued reference to the colonists reaching "...the Green Planet". In the version of the film I screened way back in the swinging 60's, the green planet was Earth! Early science fiction film efforts from other countries offer a window into the similarities and differences of varied ideologies in the world. They also show that everyone wants a bit of adventure on the "Big Screen". This film is recommended viewing for the nostalgic among us.

*some spoilers* One of those early sci-fi flicks full of nice touches and effects that still influence the genre today, from Star Trek to Minority Report. While the plot is about a lengthy trip to another solar system, a main complication is about a health problem that deranges one of the crew(later borrowed for classic Star Trek's "Naked Time" and more blatantly used in Trek's Next Gen "Naked Now" episode). Their view screen projects images larger-than-life (still used in movies today to look "cool"). While the ship models aren't too convincing, there's one scene when a mini-ship is docking and suddenly an astronaut waves hello from inside! It's a slightly off-kilter matte effect but a nice effort. The highlight of the film starts in the ballroom, with futuristic music and dancing, which is interrupted by an alarm (an encounter with a derelict ship). Then we watch as the astronauts investigate, their boots that light up with each slow-motion step, unknowingly performing a dance of death. It's a sequence worth watching a few times. No doubt the climax of the scene was a contemporary message about the dangers of nuclear weapons. The derelict ship also foreshadows what will happen to the crew of the ship. There's alot of good-natured humor in the film, similar to the other Russian classic "Planet of Storms." The final scene isn't too surprising, but it's better than no surprise at all (and was apparently borrowed 2 years later for the same final scene in the Italian "Planet of Vampires"). A nice little flick, which is in public domain so it's often sold by "independent distributors" on Ebay.

Ikarie XB1 is the first Czech SF movie. It was released in black and white only. The story relies to some extent on one of Stanislav Lem's books. The movie is still appreciated not only among science fiction fans in Czechia, but mainly because of its high ambitions. The movie not only shows a trip to proxima centauri, but it also tried to predict future music and dance.Due to the time it was created (early 60ies) there are some ideological compromises to the communism and cold war.