To the Stars by Hard Ways

Director: Richard Viktorov
Cast: Yelena Metyolkina, Vadim Ledogorov, Uldis Lieldidz
Soviet Union, 1981, 118’, color
Russian with Turkish subtitles

Boldly going where no man has gone before, the starship Pushkin finds an abandoned vessel in deep space filled with the decaying bodies of humanoids. There is, however, one surviving member of the crew, a gynoid named Niya who seeks the help of earthlings to restore her now severely polluted home planet of Dessa to its natural splendor. Pitched exclusively to a teenage audience and unashamed of it, this delirious space adventure features bionic women, cosmic mercenaries, and the most embarrassing guy-in-a-suit robot to never utter "Danger, Will Robinson." After the fall of the USSR, it inevitably became a cult hit among the Russian hipster set. In 2001, under the supervision of the director's son, the film enjoyed a full recreation and saved from nearly being lost. - by Robert Skotak