Movielogr
To The Stars By Hard Ways (1981)
Directed by Richard Viktorov
Twitter Facebook Google+Overview
A starship discovers a dead alien space craft. All the humanoid crew are dead except for one woman. When revived, she remembers nothing of the accident which crippled the spacecraft, and is brought back to earth to be studied.
Length 148 minutes
Actors
Yelena Metyolkina | Vadim Ledogorov | Uldis Lieldidžs | Yelena Fadeyeva | Vatslav Dvorzhetsky | Nadezhda Sementsova | Aleksandr Lazarev | Aleksandr Mikhaylov | Boris Shcherbakov | Igor Ledogorov | Igor Yasulovich | Vladimir Fyodorov | Gleb Strizhenov | Lyudmila Nilskaya | Valeriy Nosik
Viewing History (seen 1 time)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 06/23/2020 | TV | Broadcast | Other | 6 stars |
| (Average) 6 stars |
Viewing Notes
Really has a Alfonso Brescia vibe but a slower burn. Maybe it’s just the period and the harpsichord in the score that gives it the same mood. Also this story is way more heady than anything sci-fi Brescia has done. The main thru line seems easy enough to understand but there’s a lot going on around it that feels a tad overwrought. If this could be expertly edited down to an hour 45 min I bet it would be nice compact story about an alien saving her race.
Still this is a fascinating film that swings big with some wild Cold War allegories from the Soviet POV. Glad DKUTV programmed this as I’m not sure how else I would be able to view it. I hadn’t even heard of it until today.
3 years ago
Damnit, I meant to watch this too and completely forgot about it! Glad you caught it. I’m fascinated by Soviet era sci-fi films but I’ve only seen a few of the East German ones.
3 years ago
Yeah this is right up your alley. A movie like this is ripe for rediscovery. Maybe it will get a decent home video release one of these days, assuming one doesn’t already exist. If it wasn’t so long I would’ve watched it again on the rebroadcast.