PLANET OF STORMS (1962)

Three Russian spaceships, each with three cosmonauts, are approaching Venus for a landing mission, two to land and one to remain in orbit. But when one is hit by a meteor and destroyed, the others make a new plan. The Vega stays in orbit with Masha on board, while the others, along with a robot named John who comes up with the plan, use a glider ship to land on Venus, to be followed by the remaining ship, Sirius. The glider lands in a swamp and loses contact with the ships; when Sirius lands, they use a hovercraft to look for the glider folks. Luckily, Venus has an Earth-like jungle atmosphere and various adventures are had. Aloysha is grabbed by the tendrils of a huge carnivorous plant but escapes. Dinosaur-like creatures are seen. A sunken but empty city is found under the ocean. A strange singing voice is heard in the atmosphere. A volcano erupts and Robot John saves cosmonauts from the lava. John brings down a huge tree to allow cosmonauts to cross over a chasm, and then plays 40's style big band music to celebrate. Evidence is found that there was humanoid life on Venus (a carving of a woman's face) and still might be, hence the singing voice. All our human cosmonauts survive and head back to earth, the robot having sacrificed himself in the lava. One last surprise awaits us in the final moments. 

Given its era, this Russian film is a decent space adventure. The effects are well done, the acting adequate, and though the Venus we encounter is nothing like we now assume Venus to be, it doesn't seem too outlandishly off course for sci-fi fans. It gets a bit talky with philosophical discussions about space and evolution and the theory that aliens may have seeded human life on Earth. It's quite episodic with each sequence fading to red as another one begins. Except for the female being stuck with staying in orbit, there are few character stereotypes in play, though Robot John (pictured) is a lot like a Russian Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet. The most interesting tidbit about this is that it was bought by Roger Corman, dubbed into English and released here in 1965 as Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet with some added footage featuring Basil Rathbone and Faith Domergue but the same plotline. Then in 1968 much of the Russian footage was pieced together again with new Hollywood footage shot by Peter Bogdanovich and featuring Mamie Van Doren into a TV movie called Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women. Though the 1965 film has some fans, the 1968 version is mostly silly and unnecessary. Stick with the original. The Russian title is Planeta Bur. [YouTube]