Cinema is all about creating believable worlds, whether it’s a historical drama that’s seemingly taking place hundreds of years ago or a sci-fi epic set hundreds of years in the future. This is done through a combination of what are called practical effects and computer-generated effects. Productions can film in a stately home with fancy costumes, but dinosaurs are a bit harder to simulate with puppets or models. We’re so used to amazing visual effects, however, that audiences don’t think twice about aliens exploring far-distant planets or our favorite city destroyed by armageddon or overrun with super-smart simians.
One of the most popular environments to simulate is outer space, even back to one of the very first films ever produced, 1902’s Le Voyage dans la Lune by Georges Méliès. Actors have suffered through quite a lot to simulate weightlessness and when we watch actual footage from the International Space Station, it looks like it’s a movie because the simulations are so darn good. But what if a film could actually be shot in outer space? The idea has intrigued actor/producer Tom Cruise. Before he gets into space, however, Russian director Kim Shipenko and actor Yuliya Peresild have already flown to the ISS to film almost an hour of the gripping sci-fi thriller Vyzov (“The Challenge”).
And it’s spectacular.
Similar to the 2013 film Gravity, Vyzov opens with Cosmonaut Oleg Bogdanov stuck outside the International Space Station on a fixit EVA when satellite debris slams into the facility, damaging the solar panels and whipping him into an external strut. Miraculously, he survives, but has broken ribs, exacerbated by a pre-existing lung condition. Quick thinking by his fellow cosmonauts keep him alive, but the medical consensus is that he won’t survive the stress of re-entry. He needs surgery stat, but there are no doctors on the ISS.
Eugenia Belyaeva (Yuliya Peresild), en route to the ISS, from “Vyzov” (The Challenge)
Volin (Vladimir Mashkov), the head of Roscosmos (the Russian equivalent of NASA) confers with local medical experts and they determine that the only choices are to let comrade Bogdanov die in space, die during re-entry, or to send a surgeon up to the space station as soon as possible. A dozen or so local surgeons volunteer and go through an accelerated but grueling astronaut selection process. Almost all of them fail out: They’re doctors, not cosmonauts in tip-top physical health.
The two that make the cut are Vladislav Nikolaev (Milos Bikovic) and thoracic surgeon Eugenia Belyaeva (Yuliya Peresild). In addition to a full load at the hospital, she has a teen daughter who’s rebelling, a mother who forgets to take her meds, and a large dose of unresolved guilt over the death of her husband a few years earlier. She also has an on-again, off-again affair going with Nikolaev, which complicate matters, as does the blatant sexism she encounters at Roscosmos.
It’s Eugenia who is selected and sent up to the space station along with a raft of medical equipment, some of which is improvised: zero gravity surgery remains an unknown, after all. She floats through the claustrophobic tubes that comprise the ISS, even as she tries to remain an active presence in both her daughter’s and mother’s lives. When Bogdanov gets markedly worse, she must begin the surgical procedure, one that proves more challenging than expected. Will the surgery be successful? Will they be able to come back to Earth without any additional health complications for comrade Bogdanov? And what about mom and daughter?
Eugenia Belyaeva (Yuliya Peresild), surgeon in space, from “Vyzov” (The Challenge)
There’s a certain soap opera quality to Vyzov that might have you rolling your eyes at some scenes, and the film is too long, at 2 hours, 44 minutes, but it’s all worth it for the approximately 50 minutes of footage that was recorded on the International Space Station. It’s quite remarkable and fascinating, from the incredibly utilitarian interior layout to the stunningly beautiful views of Earth out the many portholes and windows, the curved horizon with its precious layer of atmosphere to the endless array of stars in the heavens.
While the surgery is obviously the heart of the film, the very best scene is just a few minutes before the end, when cosmonaut Eugenia goes out on an extra-vehicular activity (EVA) and floats in space, taking in the awesome sight of the Earth from 250 miles above the surface. It really makes the rest of the film worthwhile and is a scene that captures the spirit of the story in a way that few other films manage to accomplish, whatever their real or CG setting.
Having said that, it’s also worth noting from an American perspective that Vyzov manages to suggest that the ISS is a purely Russian affair. You never see any other flags or national sections identified, no other astronauts are involved in the story, and no-one from NASA, ESA (EU Space Agency), CSA (Canada Space Agency) or JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) are involved or even referenced. But the ISS is a joint venture between these nations and in the 20+ years it’s been orbiting the Earth, it’s never had just Cosmonauts on board.
This isn’t entirely a surprise to international film fans: Chinese movies also tend to show China going it alone without any help from America, Russia, or the EU. Fortunately, this doesn’t mar the overall experience, it just offers a curious observation for viewers who contextualize storylines rather than just watch them.
If the film had been recorded entirely on sound stages with carefully built sets and computer graphics producing the environment of the space station, it would be an okay drama. But the fact that they flew up to the ISS and that almost a third of the film was produced in zero gravity makes it a must-watch for any sci-fi fans. Highly recommended.
Planet Dave is run by Dave Taylor, who has been writing about film, cars, games, and his lifestyle for many years. He's based in Boulder, Colorado and assures readers he's only occasionally falling into a gravity well or temporal distortion field.
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