Russian cinema has an inspired tradition of fantastic filmmaking, drawn equally from modern technology and ancient folkloric traditions, and resulting in a treasure trove of cult classics that remain sadly unknown to American audiences. Beginning with the pioneering animation of Ladislaw Starewicz, through the silent classics Aelita: Queen of Mars and A Spectre Haunts Europe and on through Vasili Zhuravlev’s early talkie Cosmic Voyage, science fiction and fantasy have remained important presences throughout the history of Russian filmmaking.

In the cold-war era and then throughout the age of Sputnik and beyond, sci-fi elements dominated. More than a decade before 2001, visual-effects pioneers Pavel Klushantsev and Mikhail Koryukov created stunning visions of man's voyage to outer space in such films as The Heavens Call and Planet of Storms, drawing upon the latest technical advances to present a highly detailed (and optimistic) view of space exploration. And in 1962, Kazansky and Chebotarev’s charming The Amphibian Man, a cross between Jules Verne and Hans Christian Andersen, became one of the biggest smash hits in Soviet history. Ironically, a great deal of imagery from these astonishing works did end up Western screens — albeit mauled beyond recognition. Enterprising U.S. producers like Roger Corman purchased Japanese and Soviet sci-fi films at bargain prices, and gave them to up-and-coming American directors (Francis Ford Coppola and Peter Bogdanovich) to re-fashion (via newly shot connecting narratives) into drive-in fodder. Thus Klushantsev’s Planet of Storms was the basis for not one but three new movies.