''The Age of Pioneers'' (russian: Время первых, Vremya Pervykh, lit. "Time of the first ones"), also known as ''Spacewalk'' or ''The Spacewalker'', is a Russian

historical drama film A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swas ...

about cosmonaut

Alexei Leonov Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov. (30 May 1934 – 11 October 2019) was a Soviet and Russian cosmonaut, Air Force major general, writer, and artist. On 18 March 1965, he became the first person to conduct a spacewalk, exiting the capsule during th ...

, the first human to perform a

spacewalk Extravehicular activity (EVA) is any activity done by an astronaut in outer space outside a spacecraft. In the absence of a breathable atmosphere of Earth, Earthlike atmosphere, the astronaut is completely reliant on a space suit for environmen ...

. Leonov himself served as a

consultant A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

for the film. ''The Age of Pioneers'' was directed by

Dmitry Kiselyov Dmitry Konstantinovich Kiselyov ( rus, Дмитрий Константинович Киселёв; born April 26, 1954), is a Russian propagandist. In 2013, Kiselyov was appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin to head ''Rossiya Segodnya' ...

and co-produced by

Timur Bekmambetov Timur Nuruakhitovich Bekmambetov (, ; ; born June 25, 1961) is a Russian-Kazakhstan, Kazakh film Film director, director, Film producer, producer, screenwriter, and tech entrepreneur. He is best known for the fantasy epic ''Night Watch (2004 fi ...

and Yevgeny Mironov, the latter also starred in the leading role. ''The Age of Pioneers'' was released on April 6, 2017, to widespread critical praise in Russia. The movie grossed RUB 561 million in Russia against a 400 million budget, and is considered a

box-office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

Plot

The film is set in the 1960s, during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

and the

Space Race The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between two Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the tw ...

between

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The Soviets plan to send a man into space. During the construction of the craft, a technician is killed and the engineers question the safety of the craft. The

Kosmos 57 Kosmos 57 (russian: Космос 57 meaning ''Cosmos 57'') was an unmanned Soviet spacecraft launched on 22 February 1965. The craft was essentially an unmanned version of Voskhod 2. Its primary mission was to test the Volga airlock. The test wa ...

test vehicle, representing the

Voskhod 2 Voskhod 2 (russian: Восход-2, , ''Sunrise-2'') was a Soviet crewed space mission in March 1965. The Vostok-based Voskhod 3KD spacecraft with two crew members on board, Pavel Belyayev and Alexei Leonov, was equipped with an inflatable air ...

spacecraft, breaks up in flight two weeks before the planned launch and Soviet engineers cannot identify the causes of the explosion and sudden loss of communication. Ex-WW2 pilot

Pavel Belyayev Pavel Ivanovich Belyayev (russian: Павел Иванович Беляев; 26 June 1925 – 10 January 1970) was a Soviet fighter pilot with extensive experience in piloting different types of aircraft. He was the first commander of the cosmona ...

and military test pilot

are called to man the craft, but during a skydive Pavel injures his leg landing and is considered unfit. He is replaced by a new, young, and inexperienced cosmonaut (

Yevgeny Khrunov Yevgeny Vasilyevich Khrunov (; 10 September 1933 – 20 May 2000) was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew on the Soyuz 5/Soyuz 4 mission. Early life Yevgeny Khrunov was born on 10 September 1933 to Vasily Yegorevich and Agrafena Nikolayevna. Nickname ...

), much to the Alexei's dismay. Fueled by anger and determination, Pavel recovers through training and eventually is re-admitted, delighting Alexei. The Voskhod 2 launches, and Alexei makes a spacewalk. It is initially successful and the country celebrates, but Alexei's suit over-inflates, rendering him clumsy and unable to enter the airlock. The ship loses communication with ground control when it enters a dead zone. Alexei defies standing procedure and enters the airlock head first but the outer hatch fails to fully close automatically. He semi deflates his suit and turns within the airlock in order to close the hatch but, as a result, his oxygen runs out and he passes out. Pavel drags him into the pod and succeeds in reviving him. The two are instructed to orbit for 22 hours until Cycle 4 when an automatic system will land them. Pavel detaches the craft from the airlock, causing the Voskhod 2 to spin. Before Cycle 4, Pavel and Alexei feel queasy and find that the oxygen pressure is rising dangerously. Ground control states that the system detected a minor leak and began pumping pure oxygen in response. They are told to find and disconnect a yellow wire in the ceiling to disable it. Pavel passes out from

oxygen toxicity Oxygen toxicity is a condition resulting from the harmful effects of breathing molecular oxygen () at increased partial pressures. Severe cases can result in cell damage and death, with effects most often seen in the central nervous system, lu ...

, and Alexei takes control, reaching for the wire. The oxygen causes Alexei to hallucinate about his times as a young boy, running in a field, searching for a bird nest. He manages to twist the wire but passes out before it is disconnected. During his hallucination, he remembers reaching out to the bird who injured him, which causes him to flinch and disconnect the wire. The cosmonauts awake to find that Cycle 4 failed to run on schedule and ground control conclude that the spin of the craft may be to blame. The cosmonauts are permitted to use manual mode to re-direct the ship in order to ensure that it lands within the Soviet Union. After Pavel stabilizes the craft, it re-enters the atmosphere and lands in the Ural mountains, far from the expected landing site. Planes are despatched to find them, but their radio signals are not picked up. A radio fan on Sakhalin picks up their signals and eventually notifies the Space Agency of their approximate position. A nearby rescue helicopter is ordered to search for them but cannot find them. The helicopter, running out of fuel, is recalled but, with the cosmonauts close to death, the crew spot Alexei's flare. The cosmonauts arrive by plane at the Agency to meet with their wives and children. Later they parade through Moscow where huge crowds cheer them.

Cast

* Yevgeny Mironov as

(the cosmonaut) *

Konstantin Khabensky Konstantin Yurievich Khabensky, PAR (russian: link=no, Константин Юрьевич Хабенский; born 11 January 1972) is a Russian actor of stage and film, director and philanthropist. From 1997 he was part of the Saint Petersbu ...

(the commander of the ship) * Vladimir Ilyin as

Sergei Korolev Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (russian: Сергей Павлович Королёв, Sergey Pavlovich Korolyov, sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪtɕ kərɐˈlʲɵf, Ru-Sergei Pavlovich Korolev.ogg; ukr, Сергій Павлович Корольов, ...

(general designer) * Anatoliy Kotenyov as

Nikolai Kamanin Nikolai Petrovich Kamanin (russian: Никола́й Петро́вич Кама́нин; 18 October 1908 – 11 March 1982) was a Soviet aviator, awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union in 1934 for the rescue of SS ''Chelyuskin'' crew fro ...

(lieutenant-general) *Aleksandra Ursulyak as Svetlana Leonova * Yelena Panova as Tatiana Belyayeva *

Aleksey Morozov Alexei Alekseyevich Morozov (russian: Алексей Алексе́евич Морозов; born 16 February 1977) is the president of the Kontinental Hockey League and a Russian former professional ice hockey player. He played professional ho ...

Gherman Titov Gherman Stepanovich Titov (russian: Герман Степанович Титов; 11 September 1935 – 20 September 2000) was a Soviet cosmonaut who, on 6 August 1961, became the second human to orbit the Earth, aboard Vostok 2, preceded by Yu ...

(the cosmonaut) *Yuri Itskov as

Boris Chertok Boris Yevseyevich Chertok (russian: link=no, Бори́с Евсе́евич Черто́к; – 14 December 2011) was a Russian electrical engineer and the control systems designer in the Soviet Union's space program, and later found employm ...

(designer) *Vladimir Malyugin as

Valery Bykovsky Valery Fyodorovich Bykovsky (russian: Вале́рий Фёдорович Быко́вский; 2 August 1934 – 27 March 2019) was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew on three space flights: Vostok 5, Soyuz 22, and Soyuz 31. He was also backup for Vo ...

(cosmonaut) *Aleksandr Novin as

(cosmonaut) *Yuri Nifontov as Boris Rauschenbach (mechanical physicist) * Aleksandr Ilyin as Vladimir Markelov (helicopter pilot) *Gennady Smirnov as

Konstantin Feoktistov Konstantin Petrovich Feoktistov (russian: Константин Петрович Феоктистов; 7 February 1926 – 21 November 2009) was a Soviet cosmonaut and an eminent space engineer. As a cosmonaut Feoktistov flew on Voskhod 1, the f ...

(cosmonaut) * Avangard Leontiev as

Yuri Levitan Yuri Borisovich Levitan (russian: Юрий Борисович Левитан, 2 October 1914 – 4 August 1983) was the primary Soviet radio announcer during and after World War II. He announced on Radio Moscow all major international events i ...

(radio announcer) *

Kirill Polukhin Kirill Alekseevich Polukhin (russian: Кирилл Алексеевич Полухин; born 3 May 1969) is a Soviet and Russian film, stage, and television actor. Early life Polukhin was born in Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Saint P ...

as unit commander *Valery Grishko as

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet Union, Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Gener ...

(Soviet Union leader)

Filming

Initially it was planned that the director of the film would be

Sergei Bodrov Sergei Vladimirovich Bodrov ( rus, Серге́й Влади́мирович Бодро́в, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej bɐˈdrof; born June 28, 1948) is a Russian film director, screenwriter, and producer. In 2003 he was the President of the Jury at the 2 ...

and that the film will be released in the spring of 2016. In 2015, the project received financial assistance from the

Cinema Foundation of Russia Russian Cinema Fund Analytics, known as Cinema Fund (Фонд Кино; Officially Federal Fund for Economic and social support of the Russian Cinematography, Федеральный фонд социальной и экономической по ...

on a non-returnable and refundable basis,

Alfa-Bank ALFA-BANK JSC (Alfa-Bank), is the largest of the private banks in Russia. It was founded in 1990 by Russian businessman Mikhail Fridman, who is still the controlling owner today. Headquartered in Moscow, it operates in seven countries, providin ...

also provided financial assistance. Filming took place in two stages: from July 1, they filmed in pavilions and the summer outdoor scenery, in November – shooting of space and landing of cosmonauts in the taiga. Two-thirds of the film were directed by Yuri Bykov, but he was fired from the project by producers Timur Bekmambetov and Yevgeny Mironov. After this, Dmitry Kiselev continued work on the film. Alexei Leonov himself became consultant of the picture. Visual effects were made by CGF, Russia's largest visual effects studio. CGF worked on more than 1,200 computer graphics shots of varying complexity. Principal photography finished at the end of 2016.

Reception

Box office

''The Age of Pioneers'' grossed RUB 145 million in its first weekend, below early expectations. It was attributed to unsuccessful marketing campaign. However, movie's second weekend drop was very small – less than 15%, as it grossed additional RUB 124 million due to good

word of mouth Word of mouth, or ''viva voce'', is the passing of information from person to person using oral communication, which could be as simple as telling someone the time of day. Storytelling is a common form of word-of-mouth communication where one pe ...

. By the end of its theatrical run, ''The Age of Pioneers'' grossed in Russia RUB 561 million against a 400 million budget, which is below the two-budget watershed required for a movie to

break-even Break-even (or break even), often abbreviated as B/E in finance, (sometimes called point of equilibrium) is the point of balance making neither a profit nor a loss. Any number below the break-even point constitutes a loss while any number above i ...

or generate profit.

Critical reception

The movie received critical acclaim in Russian media. According to review aggregators Megacritic and Kritikanstvo, it received no negative reviews and has an average rating of 7.5/10. Most Russian media, such as Argumenty i Fakty,

Film.ru Film.ru, sometimes known in Russian as Фильм.ру, is a Russian web portal dedicated to cinema. The website publishes news, analytical articles, Russian film showtimes, box office performances, film reviews and maintains a film and tv show d ...

,Время первых. Шаг в бездну
/ref> ''

Rossiyskaya Gazeta ' (russian: Российская газета, lit. Russian Gazette) is a Russian newspaper published by the Government of Russia. The daily newspaper serves as the official government gazette of the Government of the Russian Federation, publishi ...

'',Мы вернемся к тебе, Земля, чтоб сказать тебе тихо: «Здравствуй»
/ref>

InterMedia Intermedia is an art theory term coined in the mid-1960s by Fluxus artist Dick Higgins to describe various interdisciplinarity art activities that occur between genres, beginning in the 1960s. It was also used by John Brockman to refer to works ...

Kommersant ''Kommersant'' (russian: Коммерсантъ, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia ...

, ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', and

Nezavisimaya Gazeta ''Nezavisimaya Gazeta'' ( rus, Независимая газета, p=nʲɪzɐˈvʲisʲɪməjə ɡɐˈzʲetə, t=Independent Newspaper) is a Russian daily newspaper. History and profile ''Nezavisimaya Gazeta'' was first published on 21 December ...

, among others, praised the movie's acting, directing, special effects and patriotism, while '' Time Out'' and

Novaya Gazeta ''Novaya Gazeta'' ( rus, Новая газета, t=New Gazette, p=ˈnovəjə ɡɐˈzʲetə) is an independent Russian newspaper known for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs. It is published in Mo ...

,Полет в кандалах. Российская эпическая драма «Время первых» — на экранах страны
/ref> among some others, only gave it mediocre ratings. Many reviews compared the movie to ''

Apollo 13 Apollo 13 (April 1117, 1970) was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, but the lunar landing was aborted aft ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Age of Pioneers 2017 films 2017 3D films 2010s historical drama films 2010s Russian-language films Russian 3D films Russian historical drama films Alexei Leonov Cultural depictions of Leonid Brezhnev Drama films based on actual events Films about astronauts Films directed by Dmitriy Kiselev Films set in the 1960s Films set in Russia Films set in Ural Films set in the Soviet Union Films shot in Moscow Films shot in Perm Krai 2017 drama films Bazelevs Company films