Spy Vibers who enjoyed dancing in the Raumpatrouille Orion lounge yesterday should also check out Ikarie XB1. Produced in Czechoslovakia in 1963, this cult classic was adapted from The Magellanic Cloud by Stanislav Lem (Solaris) about the space-faring adventures of a colony ship. The film's production design, based on geometric white patterns over deep blacks, was a direct influence on the later Raumpatrouille. The film even included a lounge scene with "futuristic" dance moves. And like Lem's Solaris, the film shares aesthetics and pacing with 2001 A Space Odyssey. Ikarie XB1 was released for the English-speaking market as Voyage to the End of the Universe in a slightly re-cut form. PAL DVD available on Amazon here. You can watch the film (no English subtitles) streaming on Archive.org here. In-depth discussions on DVDTalk here and Teleport City here. Thanks to agent Mark Hodgson at Black Hole Reviews for the heads up!
