Movie Review: Signale – Ein Weltraumabenteuer (Signals: A Space Adventure)(1970; dir. Gottfried Kolditz)
About Signale – Ein Weltraumabenteuer (1970): In the middle of the 21th century, a spaceship loses its bearings, and the commander of another space crew, seemingly on a routine check flight, decides to investigate. The first and most ambitious of two epic space operas that prolific East German genre director Gottfried Kolditz (1922-1982) made for the state-run DEFA film studios, SIGNALS was DEFA’s cheeky attempt to outdo Kubrick’s 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY behind the Iron Curtain. The film used many of the same tricks: expansive, visually stunning shots of the cosmos … gorgeous Futurist space-design with ergonomic chairs, IBM lookalike computers, Mod mini-dresses and “STAR TREK” space uniforms … even a copycat free-floating in tunnel sequence with a wild electronic Perry-Kingsley type score. Featuring breathtaking 70mm cinematography, recently restored in 6K from the original camera negative by the University of Massachusetts Amherst / DEFA Film Library for its first-ever world Blu-ray release by Deaf Crocodile. The Blu-ray is available via Deaf Crocodile along with Koldtiz’s Im Straub der Sterne (In the Dust of the Stars). Note: The film was adapted from Carlos Radsch’s Asteroidenjäger (1961)!
