hte-trasme I was initially somewhat puzzled watching this, noticing that that main titles were in Polish, the actors were speaking Russian, and the signs were all in English. It was in fact a co-production of Poland and Soviet Estonia, and its setting in the ambiguous West (complete with strip club and McDoanld's) lend it a cosmopolitan feel and verisimilitude to the idea of huge business interests being at work in backing or opposing the space flight that the plot centers around. I haven't read the original story by Slatinslaw Lem. The concept of a human leading a robot crew is interesting, though the execution of the element of mystery around who is a robot and who is not ends up seeming somewhat contrived. Overall, even though the acting and cinematography are good, it ends up seeming somehow without much dramatic tension, which is not good considering how much potential there is for it in the premise. There are a lot of scenes of negotiations for Pirx to take on the job, expository scenes about the robots, shots of scenery, et cetera -- and it somehow ends up less involving that it could be. When a robot crewman finally laves a threatening message, it doesn't have have the impact it could for not having been built-up-to with many solid dramatic events. I was surprised to see that the famous composer Arvo Part, perhaps the most notably Estonian element. It doesn't have heaps of the minimalism he would be later known for, but it is an excellent score. In all a fairly ambitious and interesting-shot film with an interesting concept, but that concept isn't fully explored and the dramatic tension remains at a fairly lowish level.

Anastasia Kharlamova Stanislaw Lem is one of my favorite authors. Every book of his is both very deep and philosophical and so funny that I laugh to tears. And "The Inquest", the short story that the film's based upon, is one of his most wonderful pieces. So even though I'm not a fan of old sci-fi movies which usually seem boring and dull, I decided to watch this one.Luckily, it turned out to be an exception. The action was as swift and exciting as in modern films, and the plot was great. It was altered, of course - you can't turn a short story into a 1,5-hour film without expanding it. But the alterations fitted in perfectly. Most of Lem's hilarious humor remained in the movie, and some more was added (such as "Humans generally are less reliable. - Poor... poor humans").The acting was very good. I think Alexandr Kaidanovsky was the best - but perhaps that's because his part was the most difficult one. (I can't explain why, because I would spoil one of the main plot intrigues!) And Sergei Desnitsky made an excellent performance of the clumsy, awkward but brave pilot Pirx.To put it short: if you want first-class special effects and modern actors, skip it. If you want a both funny and thrilling sci-fi based on Lem's masterpiece, with various psychological and philosophical problems raised and discussed, "The Inquest of Pilot Pirx" is just for you.

denis888 I remember I saw this Polish - Russian film around 1978 or 1979, when I myself was 8 or 9 years old. That film really shocked me, and I was deadly frightened with the final scene where one of the "bad androids" was trying to launch some mechanism which would certainly kill all the humans of board of the space ship. And then, one of the human pilots managed to kick the velocity, and thus the artificial arms of that robot were vividly torn away. I was so frightened with that so I didn't sleep several hours at night. Let's be serious. This is a low-budget, old Soviet adaptation of Stanislaw Lem's sci-fi book. The problem is still actual now - will the handsome, smart, strong androids be better than real humans, or if they are, will they eliminate us as a defected rudimentary? The film is not a must for those who seek superb special effects, but this is a far warmer and sincere story about the old but actual question - Will robots replace us?

Shaytan This film is based on the story with the same title, written by Polish science fiction writer - Stanislav Lem. Even though the movie not as good as story, it is better than average sci-fi movie.