When you think of heady big-screen sci-fi spectacles inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey from 1968, the most obvious one is Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris made four years later. However, there were quite a few scattered in between from all over the world, and they don’t get much wilder or more visually immersive than 1970’s Signale: Ein Weltraumabenteuer, or Signals: A Space Adventure from East German studio DEFA and one of its regular filmmakers, Gottfried Kolditz, who had helmed some of its standout 1960s fairy tale films including Frau Holle and Snow White. Shot in 70mm with a very impressive six-track sound mix, the co-production with Poland is essentially unknown in the U.S. but has been given an impressive 6K restoration from the camera negative by the DEFA Foundation now available as the banner title in Deaf Crocodile’s two-disc set devoted to some of Kolditz’s sci-fi output. An alternate option for U.K. consumers is also offered (with two more films) from Eureka released a bit later.

Laced with unexpected detours to a futuristic beach party, our adventure charts the efforts of Commander Veiko and his crew of the spaceship Laika to discover the mysterious fate of the Ikaros, which vanished in the outer reaches of space with a crew including the captain’s wife. Passing Mars, they begin receiving communication signals indicating that a very alien consciousness is trying to reach them with a message that may not be hostile. The pop art influence here is fairly subdued but obvious, likely a holdover from the very popular 1966 West German single-season TV series Raumpatrouille (Space Patrol) and the international success of Barbarella. There's even a short and charming animated sequence that couldn't feel more Eastern European if it tried.

Things get a lot campier and sexier with Kolditz’s In the Dust of the Stars (Im Staub der Sterne), which reflects the go-go space opera vibe that was about to explode in the late ‘70s as well as a hint of the successful softcore sexploitation that was a financial lifeline for East and West German cinema alike. The story of this co-production with Romania (where the striking outdoor scenes were shot) takes place on the Dionysian planet Tem 4, whose inhabitants deny ever sending out a distress signal ages ago that has now brought a spaceship commanded by Captain Akala (Brejchová). In the best sci-fi tradition, the newly arrived crew soon suspects that something is amiss with the indulgent locals who don’t seem to do any kind of labor, and it isn’t long before the truth comes to light. Mostly though this is a comic book-style visual feast with colorful clothes and hairstyles that make Star Trek look subdued, while the spacey lounge score is a great addition especially during the party scenes. If you love splashy buffets, boa constrictors, naked interpretive dancing, and track suits doubling as space gear, this is the only place you'll find 'em all in one place.

Unlike its companion film, this one has been available on DVD in the U.S. before courtesy of First Run in an okay presentation with English subtitles, but the restoration here easily eclipses and looks wonderful throughout. It’s worth noting the initial pressing from Deaf Crocodile caused playback to lock up early on, but replacement discs have been replicated and sent out if you find yourself with a bum copy. Both films look excellent here with fine restorations; obviously Signals is more impressive given the fact that it's from the 70mm negative and has that incredible multi-channel mix (presented here in German DTS-HD 5.1), while the second film shot on standard 35mm is even more colorful but also a bit grittier. The optional English subtitles for both are excellent. Both films come with new audio commentaries by Stephen R. Bissette and the DEFA Film Library's Dr. Mariana Ivanova of the DEFA Film Library who do a very thorough job of covering the films' advertising, the progression of sci-fi in East and West Germany, contemporaneous trends like Karl May adventures, the handling of different ethnicities among the characters, and plenty more. Both films also come with their original trailers, while the second disc adds "Other Worlds, Strange Dreams: The East German Space Operas of Director Gottfried Kolditz" (17m43s), a video essay by Evan Chester about the history of DEFA, influences on these films, the studio's sci-fi films (including The Silent Star which became First Spaceship in Venus), the source novel for Signals, and more. The deluxe limited edition comes a slipcase in four alternate covers by Steve Thomas and a very hefty, gorgeous illustrated booklet featuring five new text pieces: an intensive breakdown by Rolf Giesen of Signals' evolution and its DEFA 70 process as well as its utopian communist elements that encouraged state officials; a Signals study by Walter Chaw about the film's place in Cold War genre cinema; another Giesen breakdown of Dust as the swan song for DEFA sci-fi appropriately created while Star Wars was in production; a study of Dust by Jennifer Barker about the heritage of sci-fi cinema to that point and interesting aspects of the Romanian locales and character genders; and an interview with the director's screenwriter son, Stefan Kolditz, in conversation with Deaf Crocodile's Dennis Bartok about memories of his father and visiting the set of Signals.

Reviewed on May 14, 2025