This page focuses on general works related to the representation of space travel and exploration. For specific writing on Star Trek and Star Wars among others, please visit the page on Major Universes/Story Worlds.
Aelita (dir. Yakov Protazanov, 1924)
"Exhausted by the post-revolutionary life, engineer Los builds a spaceship to travel to Mars. A tragic accident forces him to urgently make use of his invention. On Mars he falls in love with Queen Aelita, while the Red Army man who came with him raises a proletarian uprising. The revolution destroys the Martian civilization."
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Solaris (dir. Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972)
"Ground control has been receiving mysterious transmissions from the three remaining residents of the Solaris space station. When cosmonaut and psychologist Kris Kelvin is dispatched to investigate, he experiences the same strange phenomena that afflict the Solaris crew, sending him on a voyage into the darkest recesses of his consciousness."
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Dark Star (dir. John Carpenter, 1974)
"Low-budget story of four astronauts in deep space, whose mission is to destroy unstable planets in star systems which are to be colonised. The late Commander Powell is stored in deep freeze, where he is still able to offer advice. As their mission nears completion, they must cope with a runaway alien which resembles a beach-ball, faulty computer systems, and a "smart bomb" who thinks it is God."
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Memories (dir. Katsuhiro Otomo, Kôji Morimoto, and Tensai Okamura
"Three visionary sci-fi short stories by Katsuhiro Otomo, the creator of Akira, are brought to life by the top animation studios in Japan. Featuring a script by Satoshi Kon and direction by Otomo himself."
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Afronauts (dir. Nuotama Bodomo, 2014)
"16th July 1969: America prepares to launch Apollo 11. Thousands of kilometers away, a ragtag group of Zambian exiles is trying to beat America to the Moon."
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High Life (dir. Claire Denis, 2018)
"Monte (Robert Pattinson) and his baby daughter are the last survivors of a damned and dangerous mission to the outer reaches of the solar system. The crew of death-row inmates led by a doctor (Juliette Binoche) with sinister motives has vanished. As the mystery of what happened onboard the ship is unraveled, father and daughter must rely on each other to survive as they hurtle toward the oblivion of a black hole."
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