Vintage original 22 x 28 in. US half-sheet poster from the 1960's Czech-produced sci-fi drama, VOYAGE TO THE END OF THE UNIVERSE (Czech title: Ikarie XB-1), released in 1963 and directed by Jind?ich Polák. Based loosely on the novel, "The Magellanic Cloud,: by Stanis?aw Lem, in the year 2163, the starship Ikarie XB-1 (Ikarus XB-1) is sent to the mysterious "White Planet" orbiting the star Alpha Centauri. Travelling at near-light speed, the journey takes around 28 months for the astronauts, although the effects of relativity mean that 15 years will have elapsed on Earth by the time they reach their destination. During the flight, the 40-strong multinational crew must adjust to life in space, as well as dealing with various hazards they encounter, including a derelict 20th century spaceship armed with nuclear weapons, a deadly radioactive "dark star," and the mental breakdown of one of the crew, who threatens to destroy the spacecraft.

The film was released in the United States, edited and dubbed into English, under the title Voyage to the End of the Universe, and this half-sheet poster is from the original US theatrical release. Unrestored and rolled as originally issued, it is in very fine condition without any pinholes, tears, stains, writing, or other flaws. The color tints are fresh and vibrant without any signs of fading. It will be shipped rolled in a sturdy tube to prevent damage while in transit.

 

Ikarie XB-1 is best known internationally through an edited and English-dubbed version which was given a limited theatrical release in the USA in 1964 by American International Pictures. The AIP version (also occasionally screened on television in the USA and other countries) at various times over the ensuing years but, apart from its screening at Trieste, the original Czech version was rarely seen outside Czechoslovakia until its release on DVD in 2005. AIP made numerous alterations for the English-language version of the film, which it retitled Voyage to the End of the Universe. Almost ten minutes of footage was cut, the names of the cast and staff in the opening credits were anglicized, and the ship's destination was renamed "The Green Planet". However, the biggest change was AIP's recut of the closing scene, which created an entirely different ending from the original. In the Czech version, as the Ikarie approaches its destination its viewscreen shows the clouds around the White Planet parting to reveal a densely populated and industrialized planet surface. For the English version, AIP excised the last few seconds and substituted stock aerial footage of view of southern Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. According to one reviewer, Glenn Erickson, AIP's edits and script changes were intended to create a gimmicky "surprise" ending, revealing that the Ikarie and its crew have come from an alien world and that the "Green Planet" is in fact Earth

 

While it shows some influence from earlier American ventures such as Forbidden Planet (1956), the film was also influential in its own right — critics have noted a number of similarities between Ikarie XB-1 and Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), and it is believed to have been one of the many 'space' genre films that Kubrick screened while researching 2001. The 1963 children's film, Clown Ferdinand and the Rocket, from the TV series about the clown, directed by Jind?ich Polák, was produced using the props from Ikarie XB-1.