Salyut-7: Sublime Imagery Submerged in Manufactured Drama
Salyut-7 (2017) is packed with such sublime visual imagery that it would be entirely possible to enjoy the film without subtitles—or even a working knowledge of the Russian language. In fact, that might not be such a bad idea, considering the plot takes such liberties with reality that even Baron Münchhausen himself wouldn’t buy it.
In a nutshell, after contact with the Salyut 7 space station is mysteriously lost, cosmonauts Vladimir Fyodorov (Vladimir Vdovichenkov) and Viktor Alyokhin (Pavel Derevyanko) are dispatched on a high-stakes mission to intercept, dock with, and repair the stranded vessel. The stakes are set high from the outset, but it’s in the execution of the space sequences that the film truly excels.
The ensuing docking attempts—meticulously edited by Mariya Sergeenkova with a rhythm and tension that play out almost like a delicate mating dance—deliver some of the film’s most mesmerizing and genuinely suspenseful moments. Complementing this is the stunning cinematography by Sergey Astakhov and Ivan Burlakov, who capture some of the most impressive and convincing outer space visuals in recent memory, on par with those seen in James Gray’s Ad Astra. But Salyut-7’s visual strength isn’t confined to the infinite expanse of space. The film thrives just as effectively within the tight, pressurized interiors of the space station, where the cinematography and production design combine to create a tangible, immersive atmosphere. For much of its runtime in orbit, Salyut-7 is a feast for the eyes—an aesthetic experience of rare quality in contemporary space dramas.
The problem is that director Klim Shipenko and his team spend far too much time on Earth, manufacturing unnecessary and implausible conflicts that sap the tension rather than enhance it. The urgency of the mission is heightened by two narrative contrivances. The first involves a speculative scenario in which NASA is allegedly mounting a covert mission to seize Salyut-7 using the space shuttle Challenger, intending to bring the Soviet station back to Earth inside the shuttle’s cargo bay. This premise might have been fine in a James Bond movie, but here it feels like an ill-fitting distraction that undermines the real stakes of the situation.
The second source of pressure comes from the harsh physical realities the cosmonauts face—depleting oxygen reserves, freezing temperatures, and deteriorating life support systems—which supposedly give them only a matter of days to repair the station before succumbing to hypoxia or hypothermia. However, in reality, the actual Salyut-7 rescue mission of 1985 was a far more protracted and methodical operation. Commanded by cosmonauts Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh, the mission lasted 112 days, involving complex manual docking procedures, intricate onboard repairs, and extensive collaboration with ground control. The cosmonauts, unlike their cinematic counterparts, wore proper thermal gear (including gloves) and were operating under protocols shaped by years of accumulated spacefaring experience.
Beyond these distortions, many other plot points are either wildly hyperbolized, shamelessly invented, or reduced to stock clichés—such as the obligatory scene of the thoughtful man in the control center gazing into the distance while everyone else around him erupts into celebratory applause.
It’s a shame, because Salyut-7 could have been a stirring, visually resplendent tribute to the ingenuity, endurance, and quiet heroism of real-life Soviet cosmonauts—men who undertook one of the most dangerous and technically challenging space missions in history, manually reviving a derelict station without the safety net of Hollywood dramatics. Instead, the film ends up resembling the apocryphal anecdote in which NASA allegedly spent millions developing a pen that could write in zero gravity, while the Soviets simply used pencils. Swap out NASA for Hollywood, and pen that could write in zero gravity for CGI spectacle, and you’ve got Salyut-7 in a nutshell—a beautifully rendered, over-embellished tale that didn’t need embellishment to begin with.
Works Cited:
Gray, James, director. Ad Astra. 20th Century Fox, 2019.
Shipenko, Klim, director. Salyut-7. CTB Film Company, 2017.
Siddiqi, Asif A. “The Soviet Space Program: The Lunar Lander and Salyut 7 Rescue Mission.” NASA History Division, NASA, 2000, https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4221/ch10.htm.
Zak, Anatoly. “Salyut 7 Crisis.” RussianSpaceWeb.com, 2016, https://www.russianspaceweb.com/salyut7_crisis.html.
Related
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIdP9sFvOHE&pp=ygUXc2FseXV0LTcgKDIwMTcpIHRyYWlsZXI%3D
#movieReview #salyut7
Markus Nielbock
jp
90% of Everything is Crap
Txifliti
RTN
dunderklumpen80
Ashley Thomas
👽 Lunovox Heavenfinder🛸