Ive just recently seen Kin-Dza-Dza and think its frikkin excellent.
Can anyone recommend any other great Russian Sci-Fi movies? Im thinking there must be loads more as Russians seem to love their sci-fi.
(I recently saw Stalker too which I thought was ok, not great. Roadside Picnic the book its based on is much better)
Anyone?
You can try "Podzemelye vedm" - it's an underground Soviet sci-fi. I don't like it but quite possibly you would. Also there is "Gostya iz budushchego". A very descent sci-fi, almost free from violence and very suitable for children. Again I don't like it, but I can confirm that it's superiour to "ET" in all ways.
I will be back if remember something more.
Regards from Russia.
Andrei
Thanks Andrei. I'll try and get hold of those
shareDear Mr "mark-ky",
it also depends greatly on whether you know Russian or not. If you don't, but still like "Kin-Dza-Dza", then you are a very broad-minded person.
Hope you are well aware of our "Solyaris" as well. I don't even want to give a chance to the American remake. I believe it is just stupid trying to remake a masterpiece. Again, I cannot say for sure that you'll certainly enjoy our "Solyaris". The movie is very philosophical and slow-paced. It's an antipode to "Star Wars".
I also remember the movie "Psi" from my childhood (in English the title will be "Dogs"). It was a kind of drama/horror/sci-fi. Very dark, surreal, and almost free from special effects.
Hope this info will help you.
I am sure that quite a bunch of our movies will stand the test of time perfectly. I can name Russian masterpieces nearly in every genre. I try to make comments to our Russian gems here on IMDb, so check out, if interested.
Regards from Russia, Archangel
Andrei
Does this movie lend itself to subtitles, cause i wanna watch it, and understand it ... any ideas where i could get it from...
shareIf you happen to be in Russia, you will probably find any classic Russian movie with English subtitles. But as to the international market via internet and local shops - doubt that it can be obtained.
By the way, if you haven't watched "Viy" - try it. It's one of the best horror movies out there (very artistically done), in my humble opinion. Too bad we stopped making such gems. Besides, I heard it was released on an international level with tons of extras.
Try http://www.ruscico.com/main.php?lang=en as well for information.
Regards from Russia.
Andrei
Hope you are well aware of our "Solyaris" as well. I don't even want to give a chance to the American remake. I believe it is just stupid trying to remake a masterpiece.
Good Day, Mr "rooprect".
Thanks for the reasonable post. Maybe the American "Solaris" is not bad but I will not give it a chance anyway. The movie is 100% ours like "Kin-Dza-Dza" and "Viy". And I'm seriously against our modern remakes (I mean the ones that are done here, in Russia) as well. To me it's an example of bad taste. Once I noticed on IMDb that "Viy" was going to be remade. How dare they?
Where did you watch "Kin-Dza-Dza" while I suppose that you are definitely not from a near-by village? Was it subtitled? Was it a full version (with a beautiful winter scene)? Did you watch "Podzemelie vedm" and "Gostia iz budushchego"? These two experiences could be also quite nice (and extremely different).
Modern Russian sci-fi is not in the way you mentioned. Unfortunately it is flashy and done in a Hollywood manner, which makes it inferior right from the very start. I'm not gonna watch "Nochnoy dozor" or "Dnevnoy dozor" because of that. In my humble opinion, the golden age of our sci-fi cinema passed quite a time ago. There are still many jewels to be discovered among the films made during our Soviet era. So, will let you know if come across something peculiar in sc-fi genre. All right?
Regards from Archangel, Russia
Andrei
I'm seriously against our modern remakes (I mean the ones that are done here, in Russia) as well. To me it's an example of bad taste.
Where did you watch "Kin-Dza-Dza" while I suppose that you are definitely not from a near-by village? Was it subtitled? Was it a full version (with a beautiful winter scene)?
Did you watch "Podzemelie vedm" and "Gostia iz budushchego"? These two experiences could be also quite nice (and extremely different).
Modern Russian sci-fi is not in the way you mentioned. Unfortunately it is flashy and done in a Hollywood manner, which makes it inferior right from the very start.
the golden age of our sci-fi cinema passed quite a time ago.
Let me add some comment to your email, Mr "rooprect".
Plagiarism happens in other arts as well. I've just been told that Mr Bushkov (a modern Russian author) re-wrote "The Three Musketeers" making the originally good characters not so good and vice versa. I also heard that some "great" writer of Russian origin wrote "War and Peace 2" and had some success with his novel. And music – that’s setting my teeth on edge. From time to time I hear immortal “Queen” songs sung by somebody with some voice. There are also tons of re-sung classic English songs, which are being presented here in Russian all the way. I will not be surprised if I ever hear over the Radio Mozart’s compositions remade in a techno-rave manner with some childish lyrics.
It's sad that you have to watch Russian movies with poor quality. There's some Internet www-address where our films are presented from a legal distributor (as far as I remember, nearly all of them are with English subtitles) - if you need this info, I will recall and let you know.
Our winter is beautiful indeed. On some winter days the trees trapped in furry snow and the snow itself look enchanting. It is also marvellous when it's about minus 40C - the sky is apocalyptic then (I have a photo done right out of my flat’s window - sorry, can't attach here).
By the way, are you interested mostly in sci-fi? We have quite a number of gems in other genres. We did even westerns! You don't believe, may be? Then have a look at "Chelovek s bulvara kaputsinov". It's a Russian western/action/comedy/musical filled with ridiculous dialogue, vivid characters, nice gals, pleasant songs, crazy fighting, shooting, drinking, and all manner of slapstick humour. It was done in Good Old days (1980s), when they knew how to make frantic and real funny movies. If interested - read my review. Buy the DVD if you ever have a chance - the movie is superb, a classic actually. Well, in my humble opinion, of course.
New York, the place twice (at least) visited by British on-screen heroes Sir Jeeves and Sir Wooster. And there’s also “Escape from New York”, “Planet of the Apes”, “TMNT” series, etc.
All the best.
Regards from Archangel, Russia
Andrei
Since you mentioned you live in New York, here's a tip on getting a hold of Russian movies: go to Brighton Beach Avenue in Brooklyn and look for the biggest book store - it's a couple of blocks from the corner of Brighton Beach Ave & Ocean Parkway.
They have a decent selection of Russian movies on DVD (and possibly VHS) there.
If you've never been in the area, it's a great chance for you to immerse yourself in Russian-American culture - most of the stores on that street sell home-made Russian food (at least as close to home-made as possible for a store) and other things Russians like.
Enjoy!
I'm new to Russian cinema. The only Russian films I've ever seen are Kin-Dza-Dza, Solyaris, Zerkalo, and Russian Ark. Russian films are very hard to find here in the USA (New York), but perhaps I haven't been looking hard enough because I haven't had many good suggestions until now.
"Yep, I saw the full version with subtitles, but the subtitles were quite awful--I'm sure I'm missing a lot of the witty dialogue."
Try to see it with our subtitles: http://kin-dza-dza.org.ru/topic280.html
Maybe you'll find something interesting in our forum http://kin-dza-dza.org.ru
English subforum here: http://kin-dza-dza.org.ru/forum35.html
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Soderbergh's "Solaris" is not a remake. You should give it a try. I don't like so much Tarkovski's variant in the way Stansilav Lem didn't like it.
shareNo Message
shareSolaris - is a must! You'll, no doubt, enjoy it!!!
sharetry: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0096126/
It's not sci-fi but has some touch of sci-fi in its plot. Great movie anyway.
and that one also: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055844/
It is not strong sci-fi and is more simple (even naive) than "Kin-Dza-Dza" or "Sobachye serdtse" but... read comments first and then make you decision.
"Sobachye serdtse" isn't a sci-fi film at all and probably won't be worth watching if you're interested in sci-fi only. The only reason I assume l b s has mentioned it is because of it's fairy tail quality but it's more of a dark tragicomic Frankenstein’s monster story set during the Russian revolution... It's a very very good film though and is a clever allegory about the stupidity of the Russian revolution and the Bolshevik system. As already mentioned, Stalker & Solaris are the most obvious choices. Both are by the great director Andrei Tarkovski but imho aren't his best works. If you're looking for a more modern action-based blockbuster an obvious choice is Nochnoi Dozor (Night Watch) and it's recently released sequel Day Watch which are definitely worth seeing if you haven't already done so. I haven't seen Day Watch but these two films are kind of the Russian answer to The Matrix. Much smaller budget though...
shareDays of Eclipse
--
I should warn you -- he's a Fourierist.
Famous Russian Sci-Fi movies:
"Solaris" (1973)
"Tumannost Andromedi" (Andromeda Nebula)(1967)
"Cherez ternii k zvyozdam" (Per Aspera Ad Astra) (1981)
"Doznanie pilota Pirksa" (1978)
and others.
Check it out!
NIGHT WATCH
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0403358/
imho, the first night watch was horrible. I do suggest the second one though ;-)
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heres a brief list of ones i've come across
Kosmicheskiy Reis AKA Cosmic Voyage (1936) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0252612/
Meteory AKA Meteors (1947) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0342768/
Giperboloid inzhenera Garina AKA Engineer Garin's Hyperboloid (1965) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314105/
Luna AKA Moon (1965) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0342711/
Yego Zvali Robert AKA We Called Him Robert (1967) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062508/
Tayna tretey planety AKA The Mystery of the Third Planet (1981) Animation http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0211653/
Zaveshchaniye professora Douelya AKA The Testament of Professor Dowell (1984) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088447/
Dni Zatmenija AKA The Days Of Eclipse (1988) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095040/
Serp i molot AKA Hammer and Sickle (1994) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111128/
Gadkie lebedi AKA Ugly Swans (2006) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0439581/
Not Russian but Polish but you've got to try Piotr Szulkin's films and Juliusz Machulski's Sexmission is a scifi gem .
Ohh and p.s. thanks for that french scifi tip Tykho Moon, i'll look out for that
"Censors tend to do what psychotics do,they confuse reality with illusion" David Cronenberg
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Anything by Lopushansky.
sharePisma myortvogo cheloveka (Dead Man's Letters), based on a Stugastky novel and directed by Lopushansky (like Ugly Swans).
Another Strugatsky filmatization is 'Hukkunud Alpinisti' Hotell - It's Estonian, but I don't suppose that will make much of a difference to you. I've heard it's the best Estonian film ever made.