Karel Zeman

Invention for Destruction

Invention for Destruction

This eye-popping escapade revolves around a scientist and his doomsday machine—and the pirates who will stop at nothing to gain possession of it. Freely adapting the fiction of Jules Verne, and inspired by Victorian line engravings, Karel Zeman surrounds his actors with animated scenery of breathtaking intricacy and complexity, constructing an impossibly vivid proto-steampunk world. Released abroad at the turn of the 1960s, Invention for Destruction went on to become one of the most internationally successful Czechoslovak films of all time.

Film Info

  • Czechoslovakia
  • 1958
  • 81 minutes
  • Black & White
  • 1.37:1
  • Czech
  • Spine #1016

Available In

Collector's Set

Three Fantastic Journeys by Karel Zeman

Three Fantastic Journeys by Karel Zeman

Blu-ray Box Set

3 Discs

$79.96

Collector's Set

Three Fantastic Journeys by Karel Zeman

Three Fantastic Journeys by Karel Zeman

DVD Box Set

3 Discs

$63.96

Invention for Destruction
Cast
Lubor Tokoš
Simon Hart
Arnošt Navrátil
Professor Roch
František Šlégr
Pirate captain
Miloslav Holub
Count Artigas
Václav Kyzlink
Serko
Jana Zatloukalová
Jane
Credits
Director
Karel Zeman
Screenplay
Karel Zeman
Screenplay
František Hrubín
Freely adapted from the writings of
Jules Verne
Cinematographer
Jiří Tarantík
Music
Zdeněk Liška
Editor
Zdeněk Stehlík
Production designer
Karel Zeman
Costume designer
Karel Postřehovský

Current

Three Fantastic Journeys by Karel Zeman: Storm of Craft
Three Fantastic Journeys by Karel Zeman: Storm of Craft

One of Czechoslovak cinema’s masters of illusion dazzled audiences with obsessively handcrafted fantasias that combined live action, animation, and the influence of nineteenth-century graphic illustration.

By Michael Atkinson

Our Eye-Popping Tribute to Silver-Screen Magician Karel Zeman
Our Eye-Popping Tribute to Silver-Screen Magician Karel Zeman

The meticulously layered images in the Czech master’s fantasies inspired the pop-up artwork in our new Blu-ray release of Three Fantastic Journeys by Karel Zeman.

By Benjamin Mercer