Really Surprised!

one of my absolute favorites!

Better Late Then Never

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

An artefact from Venus carrying a cryptic message prompts an eminent linguistics professor to travel with a team of experts to the nearby planet where they make a shocking discovery, making sacrifices to save the Earth from imminent catastrophe. It's reminiscent of any number of modern sci-fi tales that involve a group of astronauts defending the Earth, emerging as heroes ("Mission to Mars" or "Sunshine" being more recent exponents of this trend) and probably not as bad as it initially sounds.While the epic idea doesn't quite receive the epic treatment, this German-language sci-fi starring Eurasian leading lady Yoko Tani does manage a watchable level of sophistication in its production values, coupled with some attempts at character development. Tani is attractive if nothing else while Gunther Simon essentially occupies the leading man role, as a friend of her late husband and now neglected romantic interlude. The rest of the cast look professional, though not aided by the clumsy English dubbing.Intricate sets add colour and texture, while there's moments of genuine tension, action, melodrama and humour, even earnest attempts at pathos in the heroic conclusion. The 79 minute version I saw seemed to rush through the climax (though it still conveyed the essentials), although viewing the 93 minute version might possibly be a bit beyond the pale.

When this movie was being made - 1960 - there was an attempt to make a fairly decent film. Discerning individuals will pick this up right away. There wasn't a astronomical amount of money being spent to create this slightly tarnished gem, but that which was available appears to have used quite efficiently. The costuming and the sets are essentially not bad. The casting was a bit of a surprise. Star Trek likes to tout their use of multiple ethnicities in their cast commanding significant roles. This movie predates them by over half a decade. I wonder whether Roddenberry didn't use this movie as a partial inspiration? On the other hand this movie isn't a U.S. product so that may account for much of the laxity. Meanwhile, the story, while not on a razor's edge by today's standards, must have been top-notch sci-fi (a nod to Forry Ackerman here) in 1960. The story is a good and still credible idea that would hold together well today if remakes are in order. There are the obvious science blunders in the script ('meteorites' being used when 'meteors' is more accurate - 'asteroids' would probably be even more accurate) but these flaws don't damage the final presentation. The premise is simple enough. We find an artifact on Earth and somehow determine it came from Venus. It is discovered to contain a message of destruction for our planet and we decide to go to Venus and see if we can prevent the promised Venusian attack. What awaits on the Venus is the point of this movie. The Venus sets though inexpensive are handled nicely through lighting, forced perspective, some matte work, superb direction and editing, etc. It seems to work and the effect is frequently nightmarish. There is a message buried in the story which is obvious and, as noted, not unknown in today's sci-fi goulash, but it doesn't hit you over the head. It has its say and comes to an end as they return to Earth (whether they like it or not). I believe this movie deserves better than the dismal rating given by those who have already voted. The story alone is worthwhile and the fact that an attempt was made to create a good movie despite finances is worth a 6. I was reminded of 'Forbidden Planet' when watching this. Another movie which also had a decent script as well as a better budget. One thing I will opine is that the sound effects were better in this movie than 'FP'.

I stumbled onto this film via a Youtube video which used this for the Major Tom song, as covered by Shiny Toy Guns http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDfp2kXO_ScIn the vid, this sort of looked like it was made with CGI, the graphics are so retro! The colors are so well done, it really looks like a 21st century imitation of itself.So, visually this is really very good. The decors are somewhat lavish, especially the scenes on Venus. Some here think the decors and scenery is lacking, but when you put it against the ridiculous crude special effects of 80s movies, this one looks much better. I am one who doesn't like all the CGI that is going on this days, I feel it's fake-ish. And in this film especially, one can see the superiority of real decors versus CGI ones, it just looks better and doesn't suffer from the perspective distortions that CGI has.About the casting: At the start of the film I was pleasantly surprised that it was so non-WASPy, a Chinese scientist, an Indian scientist, a Japanese woman, some Africans. This is refreshing, and it also reflected a hopeful and positive attitude about the world, and the worlds population, that the present day right wing cynicism has killed off: The crew is a better reflection of todays world population than in most Hollywood fare, where there's always seems to be room for yet anóther Southern boy and a Mid-western girl...Still, it's not all good news about this film. For one thing, it has a very disappointing, classical Hollywood ending: The only none-white males are killed off in the end! The black man and the Chinese man die, sacrificing themselves, albeit somewhat unintentionally for the others. And what's also very bad in the color version at least, is that the face of the African is hardly visible because the lighting is set on "make whites look not so bleak"-mode, si that most of the time we only see the whites of the black actors eyes and his teeth! How stereotypical!Finally, a word to those who detract this film on its disregard for the laws of nature, such as weightlessness and deceleration effects etc.: In this, it's not worse than most Hollywood films, not at the time and not with Hollywood fare now. Ever saw floating actors on Star Trek? We still have explosions with sound in space, still gravity, mostly without an explanation about artificial gravity. At least this film has a clear scene and explanation about THAT. AFAIK, the only film which was realistic about those things was _2001 A Space Odyssey_Besides, complaining about these things is silly. It's impossible to make a film where the actors are floating around ALL the time. Even in the one where they do that, their hair never floats up, have you ever noticed that?And also, all Hollywood SF-films have swoosh sounds when spaceships fly by the camera ... In space! No air, no sound! Talk about unrealistic!This was a great film, the special effects were great for its own time, as well as our times.The Melancholic Alcoholic.

I don't have much to say here. I just finished watching First Spaceship on Venus from 1960. It's exactly what is says, a movie about the first spaceship on Venus.Words can't really describe how incredibly bad this movie is. Perhaps it is because it is dubbed over from it's original German dialogue, but even without dialogue it is pretty clear what is going on. A team of scientists intercept a message from deep space, fly to the source, discover alien life, learn a lot about the universe and each other along the way. Very basic for a science fiction movie from the 50s and 60s.Still, this is a special one. I don't think I've come across one so poorly put together in just about every possible aspect of production. It's a wonder that the producers didn't have these people arrested for attempting to release this. There are so many things wrong within the first few minutes that you start to tune out what is happening and just start enjoying the garbage being thrown at you.I think I have said too much. I recommend you watch the movie to see how a movie should NEVER be made.