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ON THE SILVER GLOBE is a science fiction I wanted to see for a long time. It was only eighty percent finished when the Polish
government shut down production of the movie in 1978 and ordered all negatives to be destroyed. Somehow, the footage was
preserved. Years later, director Andrzej Zulawski was invited back to Poland (after being told for the second time years
previous to leave Poland) to finish the movie. He compromised and put together the version you see now. I don't agree with
many of his choices to fill in the unfilmed gaps because it felt like the passion was gone for the director. What you see
in the 80 percent that was shot, you see an incomplete and interesting masterpiece. It is flawed and some people won't be
into deeply philosophical sci-fi. It is a beautifully shot and densely packed sci-fi movie based on THE LUNAR TRILOGY written
by Jerzy Zulawski. ON THE SILVER GLOBE is also a product of what was happening in the director's life and his view on life.
ON THE SILVER GLOBE is three stories. The first follows a group of astronauts who crash land on a desolate planet. They
have children and their children have children. This new society splits into two view points- those who don't believe in
Earth, and those who do believe in Earth and a messiah will come back to lead them. The second story is an astronaut who
lands on this world and is believed to be the messiah who will lead them in victory against a race of inhuman birdmen (who
have also mated with some of the human women). The third story follows the people back on Earth who discovers the footage
from the first story and sends the astronaut there.
ON THE SILVER GLOBE is deeply philosophical science fiction with a pessimistic view of humanity. Are human cultures
doomed to war and religious fanaticism? Would alien races exploit that and seek to destroy us? It is a centuries old problem
as less advanced cultures sometimes see more advanced cultures as Gods and those more advanced cultures seek to exploit less
advanced cultures. Also will humans be doomed to repeat the mistakes of larger societies if they go out to colonize other
worlds for a chance to begin again?
SPECIAL FEATURES:
ON THE SILVER GLOBE have extras on two discs.
The first disc is the movie with a few extras including
An audio commentary by Daniel Bird
ADAM ZULAWSKI ON JERZY ZULAWSKI which talks about the author of the THE LUNAR TRILOGY
RETURN TO THE SILVER GLOBE where cinematographer Andrzej Jarusewicz revisits the Polish salt mind used for a filming location
THE CINEMATOGRAPHY OF ON THE SILVER GLOBE which goes into detail how the film was shot
The second disc has a feature length documentary ESCAPE TO THE SILVER GLOBE which gives a good overview of Andrzej Zulawski's
early life and film career leading up to ON THE SILVER GLOBE and the production of ON THE SILVER GLOBE. It is an excellent
documentary featuring interviews, behind-the-scene footage, and clips from Zulawski's first three Polish movies (all featured
in the box set from Eureka!).
FINAL ANALYSIS: I am glad that I finally got to watch ON THE SILVER GLOBE after so many years of wondering about it from
viewing the trailer for it. It is a flawed masterpiece which is deeply philosophical with wonderful cinematography and production/
costume design. It is a movie I will give a rewatch one day. Great extras deliver great insight into the director, the movie,
and the source material. It is a movie that could have been even better if the director's own ego didn't get in the way along
with other factors. The source material is ripe for another adaptation. I hope some US label like Kino Lorber gets the rights
to release ON THE SILVER GLOBE in the future.
NOTE: A review for the other two films in this set will be reviewed at a later date.
This blu-ray review is ©9-22-2023 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com
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