Films like To the Stars by Hard Ways.

To the Stars by Hard Ways (1981) reads as Neutral, steady, measured sci-fi / russian, inventive in texture. Ambivalent, mid-stakes, measured. Every film below is ranked by distance across the same twelve hand-scored axes — with what it keeps, and where it walks away. Not a genre dump.

The Glass Mountain (1980) poster
1. The Glass Mountain1980

Keeps the patient, unhurried pace and the documentary-plain realism; trades toward a cold, bleak undertow.

Galaxy Express 999 (1979) poster
2. Galaxy Express 9991979

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the documentary-plain realism; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

The Black Cauldron (1985) (1985) poster
3. The Black Cauldron1985

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the documentary-plain realism; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

Adieu Galaxy Express 999 (1981) poster
4. Adieu Galaxy Express 9991981

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the documentary-plain realism; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

Legend (1985) (1985) poster
5. Legend1985

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the documentary-plain realism; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

Dragonslayer (1981) poster
6. Dragonslayer1981

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the documentary-plain realism; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

They Were Eleven (1986) poster
7. They Were Eleven1986

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

The Flight of Dragons (1982) (1982) poster
8. The Flight of Dragons1982

Keeps the documentary-plain realism; trades toward a cold, bleak undertow.

Brainstorm (1983) poster
9. Brainstorm1983

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

Tron (1982) poster
10. Tron1982

Keeps the documentary-plain realism and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a relentless forward drive.

Ghost of the Mirror (1974) poster
11. Ghost of the Mirror1974

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

The Secret of NIMH (1982) (1982) poster
12. The Secret of NIMH1982

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the documentary-plain realism; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

These are To the Stars by Hard Ways’s neighbours — where are yours?

Rate five posters and the same twelve axes read you — then tonight’s pick comes from your own centre of taste.

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