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Bikey wrote:

"These are the voyages of the starship Icarus – this fascinating, seminal 1963 Czech sci-fi was plundered wholesale by Star Trek, including the philosophical homilies by a verbose captain."

London Evening Standard by Steve Morrissey

Well that's unfair. I love Ikarie XB-1 something fierce (as I do Star Trek) but in my eyes both were clearly born of the same inspiration- Forbidden Planet.

solaris72 wrote:

Bikey wrote:

"These are the voyages of the starship Icarus – this fascinating, seminal 1963 Czech sci-fi was plundered wholesale by Star Trek, including the philosophical homilies by a verbose captain."

London Evening Standard by Steve Morrissey

Well that's unfair. I love Ikarie XB-1 something fierce (as I do Star Trek) but in my eyes both were clearly born of the same inspiration- Forbidden Planet.

Both were indeed influenced by Forbidden Planet (it's hard to ignore Ikarie's Robby-style robot Patrick!), but Roddenberry also borrowed from Ikarie. I'm guessing he didn't see the East German/Polish production The Silent Star (1959), which is actually even closer to Star Trek in that its spaceship's crew is explicitly multiracial as well as international.

"Disorienting and delirious, the latest addition to Second Run's excellent roster of Czech films might be a milestone of sci-fi cinema, but it's also a work of such sophistication that its production values and allegorical intent took this first-time viewer by cumulative surprise."

Michael Pattison at idFilm

"Second Run’s restored print looks and sounds marvellous... Ikarie grips as an acutely realised study of what life could actually be like on a fifteen-year space voyage... Production values and design are astonishing, and all is handled with deft, sober intelligence"

Graham Rickson at The Arts Desk

I watched the DVD the other night and heartily recommend the film as well. Would Second Run consider releasing more Eastern European science fiction?

Given that the disc seems to be selling rather well (at least by Second Run standards), I wouldn't be at all surprised if they were considering it!

Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea would seem like an obvious (and welcome) follow-up.

swo17 wrote:Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea would seem like an obvious (and welcome) follow-up.

It would need a restoration. The existing Czech DVD is grotty in the extreme - far worse than the Czech Ikarie XB-1 disc.

Electric Sheep discuss Liška's "stunning" musical score:
The High Pitch of Strangeness: Ikarie XB-1

"Ikarie XB-1 is a visual masterpiece that both demands and deserves to be reevaluated within the canon of science fiction classics past and present."

CineVue

http://shotcontext.blogspot.cz/2011/01/ ... ref=fb&m=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Time Out's latest DVD round up.

"Nifty booklet" - I like that!

Although since he writes for the mag, it's a shame that they completely failed to mention Kim Newman's contribution.

Double-page spread review by Kim Newman in the latest Sight & Sound

IKARIE XB 1: The Czech STAR TREK
Jordan Hoffman revisits the little-known sci-fi film that influenced STAR TREK at Badass Digest

Its got an extra screening at the Leeds FF, which means tickets are selling well. Great to see it reaching a wider audience outside London.

Leeds Film Festival dates here -
Sun 10th Nov, 2013, 14:00 @ Leeds Everyman
Sun 17th Nov, 2013, 16:00 @ Leeds Vue

IKARIE is DVD Beaver's DVD of the Month!

The Digital Fix.