Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Kin-dza-dza! Blu-ray Movie Review

"Ku ku kuuuu!"

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown December 29, 2024

Kin-dza-dza! first arrived on Blu-ray in May 2024 via this 2,000-copy limited run release and has since sold out. It returns in March 2025 and can be pre-ordered here. The only difference appears to be the former includes a slipcover while the latter will not.

Who loves a good cinema recipe? I do! Blend the absurdist delirium of Terry Gilliam and with Andrei Tarkovski's wastelandia vison-casting (as seen in films like Stalker). Now liberally add in heap upon heap of Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," sprinkle in dashes of Kurt Vonnegut and Salvador Dali, stir to a Jodorowsky smoothness, and bake to a golden karavai brown. Oh, in a humble kitchen in Russia. Mustn't forget the proper ethnic наслаждения. The Frankensteinian monstrosity you'd happily nom nom nom your way through might just go down a bit like Georgiy Daneliya's Soviet-era Kin-dza-dza!, a dystopian black comedy Joel Blackledge calls, "Possibly the most underrated science fiction film of the past 50 years. A collapsed Ferris wheel provides a home for destitute desert dwellers. Graves are marked by balloons containing the deceased's final breath. The colour of your trousers signifies social status, so they are powerful barter items." He adds, "there is no convoluted plot, but instead a convoluted universe, and its incredulous victims ready to point out the farcicality therein."

Two average Muscovites -- a plainspoken construction foreman named Vladimir Nikolayevitch Mashkov aka Uncle Vova (Stanislav Lyubshin, who bears a striking resemblance to Anthony Hopkins at times) and Gedevan Alexandrovitch Alexidze (Leo Gabriadze), a much younger Georgian student carrying a violin case -- encounter an odd homeless man on the street who asks, "Can you tell me the number of your planet in the Tentura?" In a flash, they're teleported across the universe to the planet Pluke in the Kin-Dza-Dza galaxy, a Tatooine-like desert world whose inhabitants are hilariously noncommunicative (their main words are "ku" for good and "kyu" for very bad) and where common wooden matches are tremendously valuable. A deadpan, farcical mixture of Kurt Vonnegut, Terry Gilliam's corner of Monty Python, Samuel Beckett, Jonathan Swift and George Miller where alien cultures are even more bizarre than our own, the film is also a savage satire of bureaucratic idiocy and dysfunction no matter what political system you're living under... or what planet you're living on. Kin-dza-dza was restored by Mosfilm for its 2024 North American debut.

 The otherworldly dry comedy that ensues is, even some forty years later, a hilarious breath of fresh Brazilian absurdism, teeming with not-so-picturesque desert dunes (the sort Jodorowsky would covet) that stretch on ad infinitum and hold poor Uncle Vova and his compatriot prisoner for reasons neither can discern or decipher. The telepathic natives are a curious lot, divided into two populations: the Chatlanians and the Patsaks, a person's race determined only by means of a small device called the visator. More infuriating than helpful, more bumbling than adept, yet generally friendly and rather docile -- a relief considering how quickly the whole misadventure might have gone sideways for the intergalactic wanderers -- the Plukians are thankfully quick to language, and learn their visitors' tongues with ease. Sussing out the meaning of strange customs, stranger vocabulary, and still stranger sights, the duo race to find a way home that leads them into a delightful string of encounters, each one more frantic and fantastical than the last. Among those encounters is with the Ecilopps, a police-like force who are the only humanoids on Pluke permitted to use weapons. Because respect is determined by the color of one's trousers (or in sketchier circles by the amount of matchsticks one possesses), the Ecilopps and the planet's leader, Mr. P-Zh (Nikolai Garo), are frightening figures that turn out to be, well, less than dangerous. If any of that makes complete sense, you're watching Kin-dza-dza! the wrong way.

If the film falters in any way it's only in the knowledge of 1980s Russian subversiveness (or lack thereof) that a North American audience might bring (or lack) when watching the silly slowburn insanity unfurl. Kin-dza-dza is a satire of the highest order, taking on everything from the Soviet political establishment to authoritarianism to life in a police state, cloaked none too subtly in the trappings of a classic Doctor Who episode. And while the specific targets of the satire may be lost on me, or to time perhaps, the message is clear and the underlying subversity clearer. It remains (sadly) relevant and grows more so by the day, utilizing everything from rebellion to disestablishmentarianism to draw bold, fierce lines beneath its points for emphasis. Yet it remains almost lighthearted and whimsical in approach, to the service of Python-like humor marinated in farce. The production design is of particular note too, as Ferris wheels jut out of the desert and reach for the white skies, stone caverns serve as homes, iron-egg vehicles are pushed across the wastelands, wild weapons are turned on oppressors, bizarre inventions allow for marvelous feats, and our brave duo search for a way to return to Earth.

Kin-dza-dza! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kin-dza-dza! boasts an at-times stunning new 4K restoration that was created using the original film elements. Colors, though subdued on the whole, reach vibrant heights when the palette expands and the desert falls away. But even the vast, sandy wastelands are bolstered by warm earthtones, vivid blue skies, and other primary nuances. Black levels are deep and satisfying too, while contrast is about as flawless as they come. Detail is excellent, with crisp, clean edge definition (free of any halos) and fine textures are magnificently resolved, without anything in the way of banding, blocking or other encoding anomalies. Grain is handsome, filmic and oh so natural; a fitting topper to a fantastic transfer.

Kin-dza-dza! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Though Kin-dza-dza! only offers a two-channel LPCM Mono mix, the film has clearly never sounded better. Voices are intelligible and nicely grounded in the soundscape, heavier elements are suitably weighty (despite the lack of LFE channel support), and both effects and music sound bright and strong. There isn't really anything to complain about such a faithful, rejuvenated mix, though some mono thinness does date the production.

Kin-dza-dza! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary - Film Freak Central critic Walter Chaw talks Kin-dza-dza's title and style, its themes and satire, 1980s Russian cinema and just about everything you could hope to hear covered by someone not immediately involved in the production.

• Leo Gabriadze (HD, 51 minutes) - This lengthy interview with lead actor Leo Gabriadze discusses how he came to be cast in the film, his father's screenplay, the story's ties to history, shooting under extreme conditions, and more.

• Stephen R. Bissette (HD, 84 minutes) - An even lengthier interview with artist, author and film historian Stephen R. Bissette, who has an absolute blast dissecting and analyzing Kin-dza-dza!

• Got A Match? On Vodka and Vinegar at the End of History (HD, 17 minutes) - Visual essay by Ryan Verrill and film professor Dr. Will Dodson on the ins and outs of Russian cinema.

• 2023 Restoration Trailer (HD, 2 minutes)

• Booklet - A multi-page booklet featuring the essay "Was This Trip Really Necessary?" by Justin Humphreys.

Kin-dza-dza! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kin-dza-dza! is the latest discovery I'll be adding to my yearly rotation of weird international films to watch and re-watch. Funny, biting and wildly deadpan, even at its silliest, its Adams meets Gilliam sensibilities are infectious. Deaf Crocodile's Blu-ray release is just as good, with a terrific restoration and video presentation, a solid mono mix, and a healthy helping of extras. Recommended.