Why do you suppose all the interstellar menaces come from the planet Mars? Because Venus is a dead planet where nothing exciting ever happens! Why would you watch a film – whether or not realized in the Communist Soviets – about the exploration of an empty planet while numerous contemporary Sci-Fi flicks handle about dangerous Martian missions or even the invasion of our own planet by ill-tempered aliens? The crew of the titular spaceship discovers that their destination, Venus, has no life on it. Wow, how exhilarating! Even more pointless is that they already seemed to know this before they even went on the voyage. Back in the year 1908, a meteorite crashed down in Siberia. Only sixty years later, scientists discover this actually wasn't a meteorite, but a Venus spaceship of which the crew didn't really practice their landing skills. The most eminent scientists from every race and from all corners of the world (this aspect is actually what makes the film special) combine their knowledge and promptly organize a large-scaled expedition to research why the intelligent life forms on Venus tried to reach for other planets and, more particularly, why they haven't tried again ever since. Is there still life on the Silent Planet? Were they planning an aggressive invasion or did they merely search for help? As you can clearly tell, there are several interesting and potentially compelling ideas hidden in the script of the East-German/Polish co-production, but the elaboration is incredibly dull and tacky. This film appears to be made long before scientists even know the Earth revolved around the Sun, with special effects that are unconvincing and even downright pitiful. I can easily overlook – and even enjoy – a certain level of cheesiness, but the complete lack of action & excitement is truly unforgivable. "First Spaceship on Venus" unites cast-members of several different ethnic origins, like Asian doctors, African technicians and the scripts even hints at an interracial romance between the Asian nurse and the Arian-type astronaut! Perhaps this was innovating and even courageous back in the early 60's cinema industry, but all these people ever do is nag. And there's too many of them! This is the type of film where, after nearly an hour of playtime, someone walks through the screen and you wonder: "Wait, who's he again?". Since there's no real enemy to battle, the body count is extremely low and the only casualties die as a result of banal accidents. This movie may hold some historical value, but a purely Sci-Fi entertainment it's a big dull failure.