The DEFA Sci-Fi Collection 2005 Horror Movie Review

Newly re-mastered and packed with fascinating bonus materials, THE DEFA SCI-FI COLLECTION features three seminal works from the legendary DEFA film studio:
The Silent Star, Eolomea and In the Dust of the Stars. Always provocative, hugely influential and highly entertaining, these mind-bending stories of space exploration, alien races and utopian dreams (or nightmares) are finally available, unaltered and unedited, in all their space-age glory.

DEFA (Deutsche Filmaktiengesellschaft) was made up of the state-run studios of the former German Democratic Republic or East Germany. DEFA was headquartered in the legendary UFA Studios of the “film city” of Babelsberg near Berlin and was famous for the work of such artists as Fritz Lang, Billy Wilder and Marlene Dietrich. Spanning from 1946 to the 1990s, this body of films represents Europe’s largest cohesive national cinema collection.

THE SILENT STAR
A film by Kurt Maetzig, based on Stanislaw Lem’s novel The Astronauts. In this celebrated sci-fi classic, a mysterious object from outer space is found in the Gobi desert. An international expedition, dispatched to Venus to decipher the message it contains, discovers it is a declaration of war - on Earth!

The first sci-fi film made in East Germany by the legendary DEFA film studio, The Silent Star is a masterpiece in story, art and set design, and technology and was the forerunner of 2001: A Space Odyssey and, later, Contact. Based on the novel by Stanislaw Lem (who also wrote Solaris) and made during the U.S./U.S.S.R. space race set off by the Sputnik launch, The Silent Star is now finally available unedited and unaltered in this digitally remastered version.

IN THE DUST OF THE STARS
A film by Gottfried Kolditz. After a six year voyage from Earth provoked by an urgent message for help, the spaceship Cyrno and her crew arrive on the planet TEM 4 ready for action. But the “Temers” deny having sent the message. Before departing, one of the crewman discovers something mysterious going on under the surface of TEM 4. This groovy 70’s sci-fi classic, replete with space age costumes, liberal social mores, and a socialist utopian undercurrent, is an enjoyable gem from the legendary DEFA East German film studio. Newly remastered, this version presents the original, unedited film in all its glory.

EOLOMEA
A film by Hermann Zschoche. A mysterious message - “Eolomea” - is received on Earth from a sector of space. Within three days, eight cargo ships disappear from the sector, and a space station goes silent. What is Eolomea - and who on Earth knows about it?

With shades of Tarkovsky, Kubrick, and even Jess Franco, this striking sci-fi classic from the legendary DEFA film studio features a spectacular space exploration plot grounded in realism the scientists drink and swear, the bureaucrats get in the way, and the space stations are reminiscent of MIR.