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.

Marek Piestrak's film "Test Pilot Pirxa" happens to be one of the most challenging science fiction films made by an East European communist nation.It is based on a story by acclaimed science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem whose novel "Solaris" was made into a film by legendary Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky.This film features a furiously intense clash between robots and human beings.The action takes place on a spacecraft commanded by a pilot named Pirx.He does everything in his capacity to prevent his crew from the dangers caused by some intelligent robots.It is the only film which set out to see answers to the intriguing question : "Can robots replace human beings" ? Some element of suspense is created in the film when the identity of robot on board the spacecraft is not revealed. Test Pilot Pirxa is a landmark film for Polish cinema as it was for the first time that futuristic sets were created for a Polish film.This was done to give a Hollywood kind of feel to this film.

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.