1972·Drama·2h 46m
7.1
★
About Russian space program and missile industry, and it's founder Sergei P. Korolev, from the 1920s to the first man in space in 1961.
Directed by Daniil Khrabrovitsky
IMDB
N/A
Cast
Kirill Lavrov
Andrei Bashkirtsev
Ada Rohovtseva
Natasha
Igor Gorbachyov
Evgeniy Ognev
Andrei Popov
Nikolay Logunov
Igor Vladimirov
Anatoliy Golovin
Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy
Konstantin Tsiolkovskiy
Vsevolod Safonov
Leonid Sretenskiy
Zinoviy Gerdt
Artur Kartashov
Svetlana Korkoshko
Zoya Konstantinova
Petr Shelokhonov
Michael Karelin
Yuri Leonidov
Morozov
Andro Kobaladze
Iosif Stalin
Crew
Daniil Khrabrovitsky
Director
Daniil Khrabrovitsky
Writer
Andrey Petrov
Original Music Composer
Sergey Vronsky
Director of Photography
Semyon Tsvigun
Script Consultant
Andrei Razumovsky
Assistant Director
Emin Khachaturyan
Conductor
Raisa Lukina
Music Editor
Popular Reviews
1 review
James
9.0★ · 12/08/25
I recently watched a documentary about the Soviet space program and despite it not being great, it did introduce me to this incredible gem of a film.
Whilst Taming Of The Fire is allegedly a biopic, it is covered with a layer of Soviet secrecy that means that the line between truth and fiction is so heavily blurred. Considering the time period in which this was made, I was very much expecting this however I wasn’t expecting the film to acknowledge it in the first few lines of narration.
The story follows S̶e̶r̶g̶e̶i̶ ̶K̶o̶r̶o̶l̶e̶v̶ - I mean Andrei Bashkirtsev, a genius who suffers various hardships through war and ridicule who eventually becomes the brains behind the Soviet space program. Whilst Bashkirtsev is a fictitious character, his story follows the outline of Korolev’s life although the finer details differ due to a mix of state secrecy and artistic license. Yet it’s still a compelling and interesting story that takes full advantage of its subject.
Despite my fascination with Korolev, I was drawn to this film because it didn’t use miniatures when it came to the launches, nor did it use a set for Baikonur. Somehow in an era of secrecy, the Soviet government allowed this to be filmed at the actual Baikonur and it uses real rockets for the launch scenes which is so insanely cool.
It’s also shot beautifully with all of the Baikonur stuff being the stand out. I have a thing with the visuals of 70s Soviet films and this just adds to that. It’s just gorgeous.
Whilst at times it can be very dialogue heavy, it has some lines that just jump out and hit the mark. There’s also a discussion about the humanity and ethics of a nuclear bomb which I was not expecting at all.
Considering the production and the subject matter, I’m amazed this isn’t well known or even that well regarded. It’s a brilliant film that works so well considering the circumstances surrounding it.
Whilst Taming Of The Fire is allegedly a biopic, it is covered with a layer of Soviet secrecy that means that the line between truth and fiction is so heavily blurred. Considering the time period in which this was made, I was very much expecting this however I wasn’t expecting the film to acknowledge it in the first few lines of narration.
The story follows S̶e̶r̶g̶e̶i̶ ̶K̶o̶r̶o̶l̶e̶v̶ - I mean Andrei Bashkirtsev, a genius who suffers various hardships through war and ridicule who eventually becomes the brains behind the Soviet space program. Whilst Bashkirtsev is a fictitious character, his story follows the outline of Korolev’s life although the finer details differ due to a mix of state secrecy and artistic license. Yet it’s still a compelling and interesting story that takes full advantage of its subject.
Despite my fascination with Korolev, I was drawn to this film because it didn’t use miniatures when it came to the launches, nor did it use a set for Baikonur. Somehow in an era of secrecy, the Soviet government allowed this to be filmed at the actual Baikonur and it uses real rockets for the launch scenes which is so insanely cool.
It’s also shot beautifully with all of the Baikonur stuff being the stand out. I have a thing with the visuals of 70s Soviet films and this just adds to that. It’s just gorgeous.
Whilst at times it can be very dialogue heavy, it has some lines that just jump out and hit the mark. There’s also a discussion about the humanity and ethics of a nuclear bomb which I was not expecting at all.
Considering the production and the subject matter, I’m amazed this isn’t well known or even that well regarded. It’s a brilliant film that works so well considering the circumstances surrounding it.
I recently watched a documentary about the Soviet space program and despite it not being great, it did introduce me to this incredible gem of a film.
Whilst Taming Of The Fire is allegedly a biopic, it is covered with a layer of Soviet secrecy that means that the line between truth and fiction is so heavily blurred. Considering the time period in which this was made, I was very much expecting this however I wasn’t expecting the film to acknowledge it in the first few lines of narration.
The story follows S̶e̶r̶g̶e̶i̶ ̶K̶o̶r̶o̶l̶e̶v̶ - I mean Andrei Bashkirtsev, a genius who suffers various hardships through war and ridicule who eventually becomes the brains behind the Soviet space program. Whilst Bashkirtsev is a fictitious character, his story follows the outline of Korolev’s life although the finer details differ due to a mix of state secrecy and artistic license. Yet it’s still a compelling and interesting story that takes full advantage of its subject.
Despite my fascination with Korolev, I was drawn to this film because it didn’t use miniatures when it came to the launches, nor did it use a set for Baikonur. Somehow in an era of secrecy, the Soviet government allowed this to be filmed at the actual Baikonur and it uses real rockets for the launch scenes which is so insanely cool.
It’s also shot beautifully with all of the Baikonur stuff being the stand out. I have a thing with the visuals of 70s Soviet films and this just adds to that. It’s just gorgeous.
Whilst at times it can be very dialogue heavy, it has some lines that just jump out and hit the mark. There’s also a discussion about the humanity and ethics of a nuclear bomb which I was not expecting at all.
Considering the production and the subject matter, I’m amazed this isn’t well known or even that well regarded. It’s a brilliant film that works so well considering the circumstances surrounding it.
Whilst Taming Of The Fire is allegedly a biopic, it is covered with a layer of Soviet secrecy that means that the line between truth and fiction is so heavily blurred. Considering the time period in which this was made, I was very much expecting this however I wasn’t expecting the film to acknowledge it in the first few lines of narration.
The story follows S̶e̶r̶g̶e̶i̶ ̶K̶o̶r̶o̶l̶e̶v̶ - I mean Andrei Bashkirtsev, a genius who suffers various hardships through war and ridicule who eventually becomes the brains behind the Soviet space program. Whilst Bashkirtsev is a fictitious character, his story follows the outline of Korolev’s life although the finer details differ due to a mix of state secrecy and artistic license. Yet it’s still a compelling and interesting story that takes full advantage of its subject.
Despite my fascination with Korolev, I was drawn to this film because it didn’t use miniatures when it came to the launches, nor did it use a set for Baikonur. Somehow in an era of secrecy, the Soviet government allowed this to be filmed at the actual Baikonur and it uses real rockets for the launch scenes which is so insanely cool.
It’s also shot beautifully with all of the Baikonur stuff being the stand out. I have a thing with the visuals of 70s Soviet films and this just adds to that. It’s just gorgeous.
Whilst at times it can be very dialogue heavy, it has some lines that just jump out and hit the mark. There’s also a discussion about the humanity and ethics of a nuclear bomb which I was not expecting at all.
Considering the production and the subject matter, I’m amazed this isn’t well known or even that well regarded. It’s a brilliant film that works so well considering the circumstances surrounding it.
