Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (1969)

From the moment it starts, you can tell it's a Gerry Anderson production. The look, the music (by the excellent Barry Gray) and the actors all seem to come from UFO, and many of the sound effects are from XL-5, Thunderbirds and UFO. The story is a good one and the first 60% of the film is intriguing, but after that it gets a bit rushed and confused. The last few minutes look like the financiers told them to 'finish it now' as the money was gone. I'm sure this film was called 'Doppelganger' when I first saw it it the late 70's.

I watched this movie when I was a kid (on video in the 1980s) and it was a bit of a childhood favourite, but I couldn't remember some key points so watched it again just recently on the net. I'm disappointed, needless to say. The ending is 'too' convenient. All the evidence is destroyed in a very 'forced' accident. That being said, it's still a good movie and good science fiction, when you stop to think about it. The models are great and the casting and performances are very good, along with the music and set designs and the futuristic vision with all the nifty gadgets. All I can say about the movie philosophically is that the idea of a counter-earth is Pythagorean: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-Earth. Now as to the "point" the movie was trying to make. My guess, and this is only a guess, is that its about trans-Atlantic relations. You have the European space agency, led by a British guy (Jason Webb ) but with all the funding coming from the French and the Germans (who are very miserly), and the Americans only pitching in when it becomes discovered the Soviets are spying on the new find of a tenth planet (in the same orbit as Earth, but on the opposite side of the sun). The super secret nature of the mission to this new planet also stops the public knowing about the startling discovery and so all the evidence of of the new planet being an opposite copy of Earth. (This is a theme in 2001 A Space Odyssey since the Americans keep the discovery of the monolith on the moon a secret and it was the mistrust and paranoia that Hal Suffered from that made him kill of the crew of the Discovery). Note that the last scene has Jason Webb, old and senile in his mansion, crashing into a mirror when he remembers the mirror image Earth, taking the secrets with him to the grave.There's also the American astronaut hero (Colonel Glenn Ross) and his annoying country-girl wife. She makes fun of his manhood, not wanting to have kids from him, saying he's sterile because of radiation from space, only to discover she's taking birth control bills behind his back. I guess she wants a domesticated husband she can control. Contrast this to the lovely security controller from the European space agency, Lisa Hartmann, a hint that the Americans should stick it with Europe (under British leadership of course) if they want to win the Cold War and explore the solar system. It's this over commitment that gets the hero killed in the end, despite Lisa's warnings that he no longer owed Webb anything. Note the colour contrast too, with the hero's wife being a (wild) redhead and Lisa being a decent blonde!On a final plus note works of art, whatever their quality, are always ageless, gaining relevance when you least expect it. Hence the curious situation the UK is faced with now with the vote on continued membership in the EU. If you can't lead the Europeans, be a member on your own terms, you go it alone. So the movie is, tragically, quite prophetic. (Notice also the scene in Portugal, making Southern Europe look poor, primitive, not unlike the situation today with the debt crisis Spain and Greece have found themselves in).So, all in all, I'd say it's a good movie and has stood the test of time, but nothing of course compared to '2001' or 'Alien', although it's still better than Prometheus!Hope you aren't offended, Emad El-Din Aysha, a freelance movie reviewer in Egypt:

Journey to the Far Side of the Sun aka Doppelgänger was the first live- action film to be made by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, who also wrote the screenplay. It was directed by Robert Parrish.SYNOPSISA planet is discovered in the same orbit as the Earth, but on the far side of the sun. The European Space Exploration Council (EuroSEC) decide to send American astronaut Colonel Glenn Ross and British scientist John Kane to investigate. After a crash-landing, Ross discovers that Kane is near death and that they have returned to Earth. Unfortunately, things are not at all as they appear.REVIEWThis is one of the best Science Fiction films ever made. To start with, it comes from the people who made their name bringing us the future, when the future was still a long way away; 'Fireball XL5', 'Stingray', 'Thunderbirds' and 'Captain Scarlet', to name a few. If you keep that in mind then you will see where I am coming from, with this review. Set in 2069 the story, although now completely absurd, concerns the discovery of an Earth-like planet in our Solar System, in our orbit, but on the opposite side of the Sun. From the moment after launch, you have to pay real attention, otherwise you will miss important moments, because there is a subtlety used in the film that means that not all of the clues are 'shoved in your face', like many of the movies nowadays. This leads you to see the film through Colonel Ross' eyes, meaning you discover things as he discovers them. Roy Thinnes, who plays Colonel Glenn Ross, gives an enigmatic performance as his character goes through various changes. From being the confident American astronaut, to the shaken post crash- landed broken man to the paranoid, but not paranoid, family man trying to get home. It is this character that we follow and, in some ways, feel more for than any other. Ian Hendry, who portrays the ill-fated British scientist John Kane, plays the perfect foil to the character of Ross. At times the two actors play the roles as if they are in a buddy-movie, like 'Lethal Weapon'. Other supporting actors, who deserve a mention, are Patrick Wymark, George Sewell and Lynn Loring. Herbot Lom makes a sinister appearance as Doctor Hassler, a character that I felt absolutely no connection to, or understood what he added to the story. The effects are exactly what you expect from a Gerry Anderson production. Some fantastic models that could quite easily fit into any of his 'puppet' programmes. In fact, many of the models, sets and costumes, from this film, ended up being reused in Gerry Anderson's 'UFO', as did many of the cast members. The computers are dated, as they are in most movies of this era, including '2001: A Space Odyssey', but this is a film that was, in some ways, dated the moment it was released. Remember, when this movie was released on August 27 1969, man had only set foot on the moon, one month before, on July 20 1969. There are a few other problems with the movie, like continuity, plot-holes and editing errors, the latter of which is surprising as the film's director, Robert Parrish, won an Academy Award for Best Film Editing on the 1947 film, 'Body and Soul'. Another, often overlooked, part of this film is the soundtrack. Sometimes a score can spoil a movie, because it isn't matched to the tone. Other films suffer because the composer uses a score that he originally wrote for a different movie. Here, Barry Gray's score works in such a way that the film and soundtrack become one perfect piece of sight and sound.REMAKEThis film was remade as a TV Movie, in 1973, as the pilot for a TV show. The series was never made.

If you are under the age of 75......You did not see it when it came out.And it was never shown on TV.Why you might ask?It's boring compared to pretty much anything else available Of similar genre and cast of that time frame.Character development is non existent. Well that's not true. After about 10 minutes of the film goes by..... Every character has developed an annoying vanilla quality.I turned it off and switched to moon-raker.Jaws with his shiny steel teeth... James Bond... Space ships. That is all.