''Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet'' is a 1965 American

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...

, one of two versions adapted for

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

from the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

science fiction film ''

Planeta Bur ''Planeta Bur'' (russian: Планета бурь) is a 1962 Sovcolor Soviet science fiction film scripted by Alexander Kazantsev from his novel, and co-scripted and directed by Pavel Klushantsev. In English, the film is often informally refe ...

'' (''Planet of Storms''), scripted by Aleksandr Kazantsev (from his novel) and directed by

Pavel Klushantsev Pavel Vladimirovich Klushantsev (russian: Па́вел Влади́мирович Клуша́нцев; 25 February 1910 – 27 April 1999) was a Russian cameraman of higher category (1939), film director, producer, screenwriter and author who w ...

Curtis Harrington Gene Curtis Harrington (September 17, 1926 – May 6, 2007) was an American film and television director whose work included experimental films, horror films and episodic television. He is considered one of the forerunners of New Queer Cinema. ...

oversaw the editing and dubbing of principal portions of the source film, and directed new principal scenes featuring

Basil Rathbone Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967) was a South African-born English actor. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume ...

and

Faith Domergue Faith Marie Domergue (; June 16, 1924 or 1925 – April 4, 1999) was an American film and television actress. Discovered at age sixteen by media and aircraft mogul Howard Hughes, she was signed to a contract with Hughes' RKO Radio Pictur ...

. The resulting new film was syndicated directly to

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

by American-International Television Inc.

Plot

The film essentially follows the storyline of the Soviet original, with Rathbone and Domergue replacing two Soviet actors in roles as space-station monitors of the primary action. The rest stars the remaining Soviet actors dubbed into English. In this retelling, it is 2020 and the Moon has been colonized. After traveling 200,000,000 miles, the first group of men land on Venus, where they find a mist-shrouded prehistoric world in which the crew are attacked by various monsters and giant plants.

Cast

as Professor Hartman *

as Dr. Marsha Evans *

Vladimir Yemelyanov Vladimir Nikolayevich Yemelyanov (russian: Владимир Николаевич Емелья́нов; 20 June 1911 – 2 July 1975) was a Soviet actor and producer who appeared in 42 films between 1953 and 1975. He is most known for '' Ro ...

(miscredited) as Cmdr. Brendan Lockhart *

Georgiy Zhzhonov Georgiy Stepanovich Zhzhonov (russian: Гео́ргий Степа́нович Жжёнов, ; 22 March 1915 – 8 December 2005), was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor and writer. He is known for playing the spy Mikhail Tulyev in the "R ...

(miscredited as "Kurt Boden") as Hans Walters * Gennadi Vernov (miscredited as "Robert Chantal") as Andre Ferneau * Georgiy Teich (miscredited) as Kern *

Yuri Sarantsev Yuri Dmitriyevich Sarantsev (russian: Ю́рий Дми́триевич Сара́нцев; 7 October 1928 – 24 August 2005) was a Soviet and Russian actor who appeared in numerous films between 1950 and 1999. He is most known for the 1962 s ...

(miscredited) as Sherman * Boris Prudkovsky1964 USSR free wrestling champion. (uncredited) as Robot John

Production

Roger Corman purchased the rights to ''Planet of Storms'' (the Soviet film ''Planeta Bur'') and used footage from ''Mechte Navstrechu'' (''A Dream Come True''), as well as footage from the Soviet science fiction film '' Nebo Zovyot'' (''

Battle Beyond the Sun ''Battle Beyond the Sun'' is the English-dubbed and re-edited U.S. version of '' Nebo Zovyot'', a 1959 Soviet science fiction film. Roger Corman acquired the Soviet film for US distribution and hired a young film-school student named Francis F ...

''). to create both ''Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet'' and ''

Queen of Blood ''Queen of Blood'' (a.k.a. ''Planet of Blood'') is a 1966 science fiction horror film produced by George Edwards and Samuel Z. Arkoff, directed by Curtis Harrington, that stars John Saxon, Basil Rathbone, Dennis Hopper, and Judi Meredith. ...

''. The American-made scenes were shot at the same time as ''Queen of Blood'', another science fiction film directed by Harrington that was developed around the story of, and footage used from, Soviet science fiction films. Basil Rathbone and Faith Domergue shot their scenes in half a day wearing the same costumes and shot on the same set used for ''

''. Harrington later recalled: "It had to do with a couple of people orbiting the planet Venus. So, I had, instead of the Soviet actors, Faith Domergue orbiting the planet Venus. Then all the scenes with the Russians were dubbed in English. She was in touch with Basil Rathbone, who was supposedly on a Moon station. That’s all I shot. I shot about a day or two with her as she was in that ship orbiting around planet Venus. All the rest of it was just dubbed stuff". While Harrington considered ''Queen of Blood'' good enough to keep his name on it, he is screen-credited on ''Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet'' as "John Sebastian", derived from

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

Reception

In a retrospective on Soviet science fiction film, British director

Alex Cox Alexander B. H. Cox (born 15 December 1954) is an English film director, screenwriter, actor, non-fiction author and broadcaster. Cox experienced success early in his career with ''Repo Man (film), Repo Man'' and ''Sid and Nancy'', but since th ...

called ''Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet'' "an act of cinematic cannibalism". ''Creature Feature'' gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, saying that it looked like it was spliced together with

Elmer's Glue Elmer's Products, or simply Elmer's is an American-based company that has a line of adhesive, craft, home repair, and office supply products. It is best known as the manufacturer of Elmer's Glue-All, a popular PVA-based synthetic glue, in ...

. Writing for

AllMovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...

, critic Paul Gaita described the film as a "simplistic science fiction-adventure" that was "imaginative and highly visual" with "some impressive special effects".

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Curtis Harrington 1965 films 1960s science fiction films American International Pictures films American independent films American space adventure films 1960s English-language films Moon in film Venus in film Films about astronauts Films about extraterrestrial life Films directed by Curtis Harrington Films produced by Roger Corman Films set in 2020 Films about dinosaurs Films scored by Ronald Stein 1960s American films nl:Planeta Boer#Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet