2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Commies + Corman = Big Mess, July 31, 2008
This review is from: Battle Beyond The Sun (DVD)
This was originally made as a political space adventure movie by the former Soviet Union in 1960 as "Nebo Zovyot". It is essentially the story of two superpowers which battle each other on various technological fronts, particularly the exploration of space. In its original form it is much longer (but more interesting) than the Corman edition, which is just over an hour long. For the post-surgical film I consider the brief running time to be an advantage.
Corman took the original film, and with the help of a young Francis Ford Coppola (who elected to be billed as "Thomas Colchart"...I can't imagine why) sliced in footage of a couple of the most ridiculous looking monsters in film history (one has an anatomically suggestive radula), added atrocious dubbing and produced this mess. While the thing is so sliced and diced as to be essentially worthless even as a sausage, I think the biggest downside to it is the pacing: even at its supremely short running time it's just painfully boring.
While I love movies of this genre, I can't really recommend "Battle Beyond the Sun" to anyone other than stalwart camp lovers or to people interested in the Soviet propaganda angle.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
Another Corman Yawn, May 11, 2011
This review is from: Battle Beyond The Sun (DVD)
Russian film to which R. Corman contributed (via Editing)a 2&1/2 min. "MONSTER SCENE" near the end in order to deprive Saturday Matinee goers(Kids Under 12)in the 60s of QUARTERS. He paid the Artist more for the catchy one sheet(movie poster) than was spent on the rest of the entire production. Sci-Fi at It'S WORST!
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not worth the money, August 25, 2010
This review is from: Battle Beyond The Sun (DVD)
The hype for this film speaks of being "billions of light years" in space. This is of course hooey, since it goes no further than Mars, not even 1 (one) light year from here.
Given the technical limitations at the time this was filmed, it's not all that bad. Try not to laugh too much at the alien creatures. However, AVOID THIS THING LIKE THE PLAGUE.
First of all, the color reproduction is pallid and pinkish. The image, moreover, is fuzzy. There's been no remastering of this one, that's for sure.
Secondly, and most importantly, THIS COPY IS MUTILATED. Originally filmed in widescreen, the film has been chopped and hacked. What's left is the so-called "full screen" version, a media lie trying to make the mutilated version seem desirable. In fact, it doesn't fill my screen. Would a 1.33:1 mutilation fill yours? (If so, please note that we are now in the 21st Century.) This version is missing a major percentage of what had been filmed, and therefore isn't worth the match to light the fire to burn it
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