The theme of the cosmos in literature and art appeared long before humanity went beyond the limits of the earth's atmosphere. Baron Munchausen, Cyrano de Bergerac, and the heroes of Jules Verne flew into space. Even in ancient times, people inhabited the moon with intelligent selenites. Plutarch wrote about selenites, assuming that:
... their physique is not obese and are able to eat what they have to ...
Cinema about space appeared almost simultaneously with the advent of cinema.
Aelita
In 1902, a fourteen-minute film based on Jules Verne's book Journey to the Moon appeared. And even then, "special effects" in the form of animation were applied.
In 1924, Yakov Protazanov’s film based on the novel by A. N. Tolstoy "Aelita" was released. Earthlings go to Mars in order to free the oppressed slaves. The role of the Martian queen Aelita was played by Julia Solntseva, the famous actress and director, wife of Alexander Dovzhenko, and the role of the Martian energy keeper of Horus was played by Yuri Zavadsky, the future director of the theater named after Moscow City Council. At this time, Soviet Russia was just recovering from the Civil War. However, the struggle for the release of the "frozen slaves" was received with great interest. The film went down in the history of both Russian and world cinema. It was the first full-length science fiction film about aliens and space. The creator of the spacecraft control systems, Soviet scientist and designer Boris Chertok said that it was watching the film "Aelita" that prompted him to engage in radio engineering.
During the Second World War, feature films about space were practically not shot. Hollywood cartoons about Superman were purely propaganda in nature. Superman fought monsters and imperialist Japan.
About space in the movie is told in all cinematic genres: this is science fiction, and adventure, and fantasy, and horror.
"Planet of storms"
In the fifties and sixties, the Soviet Union was inspired by space exploration. Launch of the first satellite, the first man in space! And of course, Russian cinema about space appeared.
In 1961, the Soviet film Planet of Storms was released, based on the novel by science fiction writer Alexander Kazantsev. The film tells about the flight of the Soviet-American expedition to the planet Venus. On Venus, inhabited by huge lizards, the expedition overcomes many difficulties, and Soviet researchers help the Americans out. The film used special effects and combined shooting, which were amazing, given the more than modest technical equipment. Stanley Kubrick and George Lucas said that if there hadn’t been this film, neither the Space Odyssey nor Star Wars would have taken place.
Space Odyssey 2001
The film was released in 1968. It was based on the story of Arthur Clarke "Sentinel". Clark, along with Stanley Kubrick, worked on the script, and subsequently wrote a novel of the same name. The novel appeared after the release of the film. The plot of the film is built around certain artifacts (monoliths) that have fantastic properties and affect human history. On a signal coming from the monolith, Dave Bowman is sent from the moon. The ship’s crew did not know the true purpose of the expedition.
"Space Odyssey" is not just an interesting movie about space. This is an attempt to comprehend what place a person occupies in the Universe, what future awaits a person as an individual, as a bearer of the mind. Can a person remain human when something incomprehensible, frightening, unknowable happens?
The scenery was executed very carefully in the film. Spaceships were created in conjunction with NASA experts. The director used special equipment to create special effects.
Kubrick was even accused that he shot scenes on the moon to fake the American astronauts landing on the moon.
The American Film Institute has named this film the best science fiction film in Hollywood history.
"Star Wars"
The epic Star Wars has become a cult film for several generations. George Lucas created the whole world with his culture, politics, traditions. The first film of the epic "New Hope" (episode IV) was released in 1977.
At the beginning of 2018, already 8 films were shot. The story was filmed in stages. First, episodes IV-VI were filmed, then previous events in episodes I-III. The third stage of creation is now in production.
In the film, the action takes place on almost 40 planets.
This movie (fantasy) about space has brought to life a whole fan culture. Based on the films role reconstructions were created, fan clubs were organized. An entire industry emerged to produce accessories and costumes for the heroes of star wars, and the expression “dark and light sides of the force” has taken root in many languages, along with the word “Jedi”.
Solaris
Andrei Tarkovsky in 1972 made the film "Solaris". This is an amazing drama based on the novel by Stanislav Lem. Many believe that this is the best Russian cinema about space. About the attempts to understand someone else’s mind and cope with their own complexes that are capable of killing, the film tells. The Intelligent Ocean Solaris extracts disturbing feelings from the minds of heroes and creates their material embodiment.
Andrei Tarkovsky said that this is a film about the fact that penetration into the secrets of nature should be in direct connection with moral progress. Stanislav Lem did not accept this interpretation of his work and spoke negatively about Tarkovsky’s film.
The film "Solaris" was awarded the Grand Prix of the Cannes Film Festival in 1972.
"In space no one will hear your scream"
This is a quote from Ridley Scott's “Alien” movie, which was filmed in 1979. This is a real space thriller, telling about an alien monster that destroys the crew of a spaceship. This is the best movie about space, science fiction, horror. A monster (xenomorph) is a real predator, ready to kill other unfamiliar life forms that can pose a threat to its existence. The Alien’s life cycle resembles the stage of an insect parasite, whose larva - a sternum - kills the one into which it is introduced and develops.
Subsequently, Ridley Scott made six more episodes of the Alien, which look at one go. Alien won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. Fans of thrillers believe that this is the best movie (science fiction) about aliens and space.
In 2015, Ridley Scott created the movie The Martian. Matt Damon starred Mark Watney, who was completely alone on Mars due to a sandstorm. This may seem like a paradox, but the film, based on the story of Andy Weyer, is striking in its realism. Every action of Watney has a scientific justification. Everything happens without breaking the laws of nature and the known physical laws. At the same time, the charm of the protagonist makes you worry about his fate.
"Time for the first"
The film was released in 2017. It is dedicated to the first manned EVA. The director of the film is Dmitry Kiselev. Evgeny Mironov plays cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, and Konstantin Khabensky plays cosmonaut Pavel Belyaev. The film’s consultant was Alexei Leonov himself. The events of half a century ago do not cease to amaze. In a hurry, the prepared launch could end in disaster. Leonov’s spacesuit was blown up, and Belyaev was forced to land the ship manually due to a failure in automation. This is a very interesting movie about space, based on real events.
Salyut-7
In 1985, the Soviet space station Salyut-7 stopped communicating, and it was decided to send an urgent crew there so that the station would not go out of orbit, and most importantly, that secret developments would not fall into the hands of the Americans. This is the beginning of the film "Salute-7", directed by Klim Shipenko. The main roles in the film are played by Vladimir Vdovichenkov and Pavel Derevyanko. The film tells that the astronauts Dzhanibekov and Savinyh at that time accomplished the almost impossible. This has not yet been repeated by anyone.
The film "Salyut-7" was shown at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, and was well received by experts.
Optimism and pessimism of space films
The number of films in which the theme of outer space, space travel, contacts with aliens is raised is very large. But in general, they can be divided into two categories: optimistic and pessimistic. In optimistic films, heroes overcome difficulties, meet with the unknown, even die. The plot can be unbelievably unbelievable. But in general, victory remains on the side of humanity, and the future promises to be beautiful. For example, in the movie Armageddon, the hero of Bruce Willis dies, but the Earth will be saved. Or in the movie "Avatar" the predatory destruction of the planet Pandora ceases, and the heroes find contact with biological civilization. In pessimistic films, the heroes are defeated, and a bright future is not expected. These films include "It is difficult to be a god" by Alexei German.
Science fiction films about space naturally reflect all the problems that humanity has. These are environmental, ethical and understanding issues. All the questions that humanity asks itself are reflected in these films. What will the development of technology, artificial intelligence lead to? Contact with aliens, will it be friendly or hostile? Are interstellar flights possible? How will a person change when using new biotechnologies? And since these questions will never end, we are waiting for a constantly interesting movie about traveling in space.