40 Films in Robotech: Battleship Potemkin (1925)

   

If you went to film school, you know…

 ROBOTECH MENTION:  

In the Southern Cross generation of Robotech (a.k.a the Robotech Masters era), Dana climbs onboard a starship named Challenger IV (a clear nod to the ill-fated 80s NASA Space Shuttle and her crew). A nearby ally ship was named…you guessed it…Potemkin.

Excerpt From Jack McKinney’s novelization of Southern Cross – page 76.

And a second mention of Potemkin on the next page….

 SYNOPSIS:  

The New York Times film critic Mordaunt Hall kicked off his December 6, 1926 review of Battleship Potemkin stating this: “The widely discussed Soviet film The Armored Cruiser Prince Potemkin received its initial public screening last night before an audience that packed the Biltmore Theatre. The narrative purports to be an accurate picturization of the events connected with the mutiny of the crew aboard the Prince Potemkin, on Black Monday, June 13, 1905.”

 AWARDS & KUDOS:  

The Online Film & Television Association awarded Battleship Potemkin the 2013 OFTA Film Hall of Fame Award for Motion Picture. Film critic Mordaunt Hall (quoted in SYNOPSIS above) also wrote: “Whether or not one is disposed to accept all the details [of the film] as a faithful record, the fact remains that it is a production in which the director displays a vivid imagination and an artist appreciation of motion picture values.”

 OTHER COOL FACTS:  

Director Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin was once required viewing for those who went to film school – particularly due to Eisenstein’s groundbreaking editing techniques that portrayed parallel action through a series of shots. Eisenstein was one of the first directors to realize that action sequences require lots of shots starting wide and getting tighter and tighter as the intensity increases. The film’s famous “stair sequence” (see trailer above in SYNOPSIS) is often referenced and replicated due to the shots that make up the sequence and how long Eisenstein holds on certain shots creating suspense.  One such home is this scene from The Untouchables (1987)…

And this scene in Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994)…

 ROBOTECH REASON:  

If you’re a film guy writing a massive sci-fi adventure with an armada of ships to name, sooner or later you’re gonna christen one the Potemkin. 

To read my ⭐⭐ ⭐⭐ (out of a possible 5 star) rating for Battleship Potemkin on Letterboxd, click here.