“First Spaceship on Venus” is a 1960 East German-Polish science fiction film directed by Kurt Maetzig. The film is based on the 1951 novel “The Astronauts” by Stanislaw Lem.
The story begins when a mysterious message is discovered on Venus, stating that the planet is in danger from a runaway chain reaction caused by a nuclear war on Earth. An international team of scientists is assembled to travel to Venus and try to stop the chain reaction before it destroys the planet.
The team includes representatives from the United States, Soviet Union, Japan, and other countries. They travel to Venus on the spaceship “Kosmokrator” and encounter many dangers along the way, including meteor showers and the deadly radiation of the Van Allen belt.
When they arrive on Venus, the team discovers a complex underground network of tunnels and structures. They also encounter strange alien creatures and witness the aftermath of the long-dead Venusian civilization.
As they explore the planet, the team learns that the chain reaction threat was actually a false alarm caused by a malfunction in the Venusian monitoring system. However, they also discover that the Venusians had sent a warning message to Earth thousands of years ago, which was ignored by humans.
The film ends with the team returning to Earth, having learned a valuable lesson about the dangers of nuclear war and the importance of communication between different civilizations.
Overall, “First Spaceship on Venus” is an intriguing and thought-provoking science fiction film that explores themes of interstellar communication, nuclear war, and the limits of human knowledge.
Directors:
Kurt Maetzig
Writer:
Stanislaw Lem, Jan Fethke, Wolfgang Kohlhaase
Stars:
Yôko Tani, Oldrich Lukes, Ignacy Machowski
