Directed by Pietro Francisci, best known for his popular Hercules films, Raumkreuzer Hydra – Duell im All is an idiosyncratic science fiction B-movie from the later phase of Italian genre cinema. A group of Earthlings is abducted by aliens and drawn into an interstellar adventure that shifts between spy thriller, space fairy tale, and unintended comedy. A curious cosmos shaped by Cold War anxieties, technological euphoria, and pop-art sensibilities. The cast — including Roland Lesaffre, Leontine Snell, and Kirk Morris — navigates through theatrical sets and unfamiliar planets, while Nico Fidenco’s score, enriched by choral drama, adds unexpected gravitas. Premiered in 1966, the film went largely unnoticed internationally, but today it is considered a cult fringe artifact of European sci-fi cinema — valued less for its technique than for its style: Technicolor-bright, theatrical, and audacious. A vision of outer space — through the lens of Cinecittà.

Loan of the film print with kind support of HfG Karlsruhe.