IKARIE XB1

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!

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TARKOVSY: SOLARIS SALE

Spy Vibe fans of Andrei Tarkovsky's masterpiece, Solaris (1972), can look forward to new Blu-ray and DVD editions from the Criterion Collection in May. Criterion has updated their print to include blue-tinted sequences, likely following the director's original vision. The current DVD edition is out of print, but Criterion is offering the last remaining copies at 65% off, bringing this classic down to $13.98. From Criterion:


We will be announcing new Blu-ray and DVD editions of Solaris as part of our May lineup. We now know that the black-and-white scenes in the film were meant to be tinted blue, and we have updated the feature accordingly. The supplements from the original DVD will not change.

The old DVD edition is officially out of print. However, we are offering it at a 65% discount from the SRP at Criterion (use the promotion code RHEYA at checkout). We have a limited supply and will fulfill orders as soon as we can.