Dark Planet (2008 film)

Did You Know?

• The film was shot in Crimea, Ukraine, with photography lasting from 14 February to 7 December 2007.
• The budget included $10 million for promotion and $1 million in state donations.
• Bulldog Film Distribution released the film in the UK on video on demand on 9 February 2015 and on DVD on 16 February 2015.

Plot summary

In 2157, space explorer Maxim Kammerer crash-lands on an unknown planet, destroying his ship. Local military police disbelieve his alien origin and send him to a mental hospital in the capital. Government figure Strider sends Funk to retrieve Maxim, but Funk suffers an apparent epileptic seizure, leaving Maxim free. Maxim meets Guy's sister Rada Gaal, falls in love, and stays with the Gaals. Guy persuades Maxim to become a privateer in the Guards, where they participate in brutal raids against people called "degenerates. Maxim survives and joins rebel degenerates, learning the towers across the country emit mind-control radiation ensuring loyalty. Twice daily, most citizens experience patriotic frenzy, while degenerates resist but suffer pain. The Unknown Fathers are themselves degenerates, as Funk's earlier seizure hinted. Maxim realizes rebels hide the truth, hoping to use the towers themselves. After fighting in an attack on a tower, Maxim is recaptured and sentenced to a labor camp, where inmates clean wilderness of automated defenses. Maxim captures a tank, drives it across a minefield, picks up Guy, and heads south.

Reception

Dark Planet received mixed reviews, with an approval rating around 6 out of 10 on Kritikanstvo based on 20 reviews. Critics praised its faithfulness to the novel and its visual effects and action, but criticized the direction and editing. A Mir Fantastiki review described the film as a chaotic mash of visual, dramatic, and musical components, each separately high quality. Total DVD agreed that the film is scattered across beautiful pictures that do not form an integrated world view. Vasiliy Stepanov's performance as Maxim drew criticism, while supporting actors such as Serebryakov and Garmash were praised. The film grossed about $30 million from both parts against a $36 million budget, ranking among Russia's top-grossing modern films but failing to recoup its budget. Home video release shortly after theaters helped the film become profitable eventually, according to Bondarchuk. Boris Strugatsky called the film a director's success, praising its faithfulness and the work of Serebryakov, Bondarchuk, and Garmash, while expressing disappointment over Kutsenko, Mikhalkova, and Merzlikin. He noted Stepanov as one of the biggest successes, saying Maxim Kammerer is exactly as they imagined.