Ikarie XB 1 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Ikarie XB 1 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 31, 2019

Jindrich Polák's "Ikarie XB 1" (1963) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Second Run. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the new restoration of the film; filmed appreciation by critic Kim Newman; photo gallery; and more. The release also arrives with with a 20-page illustrated booklet featuring an essay by critic Michael Brooke and technical credits. In Czech, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Somewhere in outer space

In the long and miserable years after WW2 and before the perestroika, the filmmakers from the former Soviet Bloc faced two very particular obstacles. First, they could not start making a film unless it was explicitly approved by a committee of apparatchiks and censors that were handpicked by the Party. This is how the ‘right’ cultural trends in these countries were created, and how cinema was used to deliver the ‘right’ messages to the masses. Second, the main place to get funds from was always the Ministry of Culture, which usually meant that without the crucial political endorsement of the committee members there wouldn’t be any funds either. Also, in the former Soviet Bloc there were no private movie theaters, so the Ministry of Culture directly controlled the number of venues that would screen a new film as well.

So, why is all of the above important, and what is its relationship to Jindrich Polak’s film Ikarie XB 1?

Some of the smartest directors from the former Soviet Bloc became very good at creating chameleons that easily survived the scrutiny of the committee members and at the same time remained attractive to the public. How exactly did they do it? They shot very fluid films that played with multiple identities in ways that essentially encouraged intellectual discussions which the two sides liked. Ikarie XB 1 is that type of an old-fashioned chameleon – one part of it functions as a conventional period sci-fi extravaganza, which is precisely the reason why Roger Corman chose to promote it as such in the U.S., and another part channels a good number of relevant political themes, some of which likely justified its existence. If you keep this in mind when you sit down to view Ikarie XB 1, you will understand why it routinely veers in different directions.

The events in the film take place sometime in the twenty-second century. A group of engineers has built a massive spaceship named Ikarie XB 1 which is now on its way to a distant planet in the Alpha Centauri system. According to preliminary data, the planet has the essentials that are needed to support human life and back on Earth a lot of people can barely wait for the scientists that are on Ikarie XB 1 to land there and confirm that it is so. But the journey would take years, and because Ikarie XB 1 travels at an extraordinary speed its crew members are placed in a completely different time cycle, which means that their families and friends on Earth are rapidly aging. It is why some crew members are already quietly struggling with depression.

Somewhere in deep space the radars of Ikarie XB 1 detect an abandoned cargo station from the twentieth century and a decision is made to examine it. A couple of volunteers then enter the station and discover the perfectly preserved bodies of its staff members as well as an unusually large arsenal of nuclear weapons. After a few bombs accidentally go off, the volunteers return to Ikarie XB 1 and the entire crew is ordered to prepare for another cyclic sleep that would last sixty hours. But various crew members begin speculating that this time they may not be able to wake up and that the encounter with the abandoned cargo station could be a sign of things to come.

Virtually all of the straightforward sci-fi material is in the first half where Polak crafts the strong atmosphere that usually makes these types of genre films attractive. Also, the tension that the film builds all the way until the volunteers enter the cargo station works really well with it. The second half introduces the themes that are required for the type of intellectual discussion that was highlighted earlier. One of them targets the pointlessness of a nuclear conflict. Another brings up the nature of existence in a modern world. There is some rather elusive material that focuses on the division that science and ideologies produce. Here the film essentially enters the same area that Andrei Tarkovsky visits in masterpieces like Solaris and Stalker, though without the knowledge and authority that are required to produce any truly memorable revelations as they do.

It is not surprising that the film’s production values are modest. However, the minimalistic interior and exterior sets actually significantly help the period atmosphere. The less-than-stellar lighting also adds a sense of coldness, even overall sterility that just feels perfect for a project of this caliber that managed to emerge in the former Soviet Bloc.

Ikarie XB 1 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080 transfer, Jindrich Polak's Ikarie XB 1 arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Second Run.

The release is sourced from a new 4K remaster that was completed by Hungarian Filmlab in Budapest and the Czech National Film Archive. Predictably, there are plenty of improvements in the main areas that we scrutinize in our reviews. Fluidity, for instance, is significantly better, plus there is better overall density that makes the visuals far more appealing. The grading is convincing as well. However, there are also some small but noticeable traces of light degraining throughout the entire film that occasionally flatten and in some cases eliminate small nuances. This is the type of work which suggests to me that attempts were made to rebalance the visuals as best as possible, but I am not a fan of it because on a bigger screen it actually makes it obvious that the film's native depth and dynamic range are not optimal (you can see examples in screencaptures #16 and 18). On the other hand, the effects rarely become too distracting, if at all, because the overall darker appearance of the films tends to hide most of them quite well. Image stability is very good. Debris and other small age-related imperfections have been removed. However, quite a few larger damage marks are retained (see examples in screencaptures #20 and 21).

Ikarie XB 1 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Czech LPCM 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless track is excellent. Clarity and depth are outstanding. Also, there are no balance issues to report. I think that there is a very good range of dynamic nuances, though understandably the original soundtrack still has plenty of native limitations. There are no audio dropouts, pops, cracks, or distortions to report.

Ikarie XB 1 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

NOTE: All of the supplemental features on this Blu-ray release are perfectly playable on North American Blu-ray players, including the PS3.

• An Appreciation by Kim Newman - in this filmed video piece, critic Kim Newman explains what makes Ikarie XB 1 a unique film, and discusses some of its key socio-political themes as well as the era in which it was conceived. In English, not subtitled. (12 min, 1080p).

• The Most Ordinary Occupations (1963) - this short film directed by Josef Koran takes a closer look at some of the ways in which science and mathematics have been used to rationalize and guide human existence. In Czech, with optional English subtitles. (13 min, 1080p).

• Opening Credits for Voyage to the End of the Universe - presented here are opening credits for the U.S. version of Ikarie XB 1, which was distributed by American International Pictures distributed. In English, not subtitled. (4 min, 1080p).

• Finale for Voyage to the End of the Universe - presented here is the final scene for the U.S. version of Ikarie XB 1, which was distributed by American International Pictures. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• Restoration Trailer - presented here is an original trailer for the new 4K restoration of Ikarie XB 1. In Czech, with optional English subtitles. (2 min, 1080p).

• Voyage to the End of the Universe Trailer - an original U.S. trailer for Voyage to the End of the Universe, the alternate version of Ikarie XB 1. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• Photo Gallery - a collection of original production stills. German language press book, English language press book, original Czech materials, posters, and more.

• Booklet - 20-page illustrated booklet featuring an essay by critic Michael Brooke and technical credits.

Ikarie XB 1 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I frequently mention how important atmosphere is in all kinds of different films because hardly anything works without it. In sci-fi films, for me the atmosphere is everything. When I sit down to view one, I expect to be transported to a foreign place and feel its presence. If there is a good story and I find myself contemplating issues that have never been on my radar because of it that's great, but I want the journey to place me in an unfamiliar environment where I am a total stranger and my instincts are useless. This is the main reason why I enjoy older sci-fi films from the former Soviet Bloc, like Ikarie XB 1 (or Solaris and Stalker), because even though they were made with modest budgets virtually all of them have a special atmosphere. The big and lavish contemporary sci-fi films have too many special effects, too many gotcha moments that simply spoil the experience for me. Of course, there are exceptions, but in the digital era, I have pretty much lost interest in these films because they are rehashing the same tricks and are now unbearably fast. I don't know if you are going to enjoy Ikarie XB 1 because it is a chameleon that plays with multiple identities, but I can assure you that it's got the crucial atmosphere that I think these genre films need to be effective. Second Run's release is sourced from a recent 4K remaster. I have the label's old R2 DVD release in my library and the Blu-ray release undoubtedly offers a superior technical presentation of the film, but I think that the end result could have been even better. RECOMMENDED.