Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun (1969) DVDRip (SiRiUs sHaRe)

Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun a.k.a. Doppelgänger (1969)



A planet is discovered in the same orbit as Earth's but is located on the exact opposite side of the sun, making it not visible from Earth. The European Space Exploration Council decide to send American astronaut Glenn Ross and British scientist John Kane via spaceship to explore the other planet.



After a disastrous crash-landing Ross awakes to learn that Kane lies near death and that they apparently have returned to Earth, as evidenced by the presence of the Council director and his staff. Released to the custody of his wife, he soon learns things are not as they seem.



Roy Thinnes ... Colonel Glenn Ross

Ian Hendry ... John Kane

Patrick Wymark ... Jason Webb

Lynn Loring ... Sharon Ross

Loni von Friedl ... Lisa Hartmann

Franco De Rosa ... Paulo Landi (as Franco Derosa)

George Sewell ... Mark Neuman

Ed Bishop ... David Poulson (as Edward Bishop)

Philip Madoc ... Dr. Pontini

Vladek Sheybal ... Psychiatrist

George Mikell

Herbert Lom ... Doctor Hassler



Director: Robert Parrish



http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064519/
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Codecs: XVid / MP3



All right, I'll grant you that some of the science in "Doppelganger" (or "Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun") is kind of dopey.The idea of an entire planet existing undetected (because we can't see it on the other side of our sun) doesn't hold up at all - any Astronomy 101 student knows that another planet the size of Earth would cause gravitational perturbances in the motions of other planets. That's how astronomers deduced the existence of Pluto, after all, and that's how they find comets and asteroids and moons on a regular basis.



And the idea that a mirror image Earth somehow evolved in almost perfect parallel to our Earth, down to English speaking scientists and human counterparts for each human born on our Earth...that takes things out of 'hard science' fiction and into "Twilight Zone" territory. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it requires a major suspension of critical thinking to accept and enjoy.



But man, this movie knocked my socks off as an adolescent. I was still used to fairly cheerful, upbeat science fiction films when the hero won through in the end - even "2001" could be interpreted as having an 'upbeat' ending.



But in this case: Thinnes attempted to dock with his orbiting mothership so he could return to his own Earth, only to be bounced back out of his docking berth (Something about 'the polarities not being reversed because his 'doppelganger' wasn't doing the same thing. Apparently Thinnes' 'doppelganger' had decided he was happy in his new home.) Thinnes' ship started the descent back to the CounterEarth launch site, and I was certain that he would somehow get the damaged craft to land safely and try again, armed with the new info that would let him and his backers succeed. He was The Hero after all, and the Hero always wins through in the end.



Instead, Thinnes couldn't maintain control of the crippled craft, and the ship's subsequent crash into the launch site was so horrible and devastating that it killed everyone (except for the chief project leader) and destroyed all records of the project and Thinnes' existence. Thinnes never got to go home, and he perished uselessly, his secrets never revealed.



Except for the Planet Of the Apes series, I had never seen such a sad and downbeat ending, and it always stuck in my mind - especially the ferocious devastation of the crash scene near the beginning of the move (you knew that spaceship was NEVER going to fly again!) and the one at the very end.



A great film and well worth seeing again!



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Gerry Anderson's first live-action foray in the way of a major motion picture that benefits from incredible model FX work and,a great Barry Gray music score. The reel-to-reel analog computers, in the far-off year "2069" (I guess Anderson really wanted a safe date of a 100 years later!) are a hoot to see as are the guru-jacket fashions, but one could easily accuse 2001 of the same violations, but no one could have foreseen some things as they turn out. This film was the springboard for the series UFO the following year, and in fact not only had the same FX people, and producers but many of the cast were regulars in that show.



It always comes off like an "alternate history" future more than anything else-the "Apollo-like" rocket used in the lift-off, it always seems like this is really another planet than earth. Given the "alternate earth" plot, one would assume that was the feeling they wanted. We end up with an ending that posits more questions than answers. That because the "other earth" exists every movement, event and thing said is duplicated as it's happening on both worlds. Because of that given, and the sun in between, the two versions of the same person (in this case Glenn Ross, astronaut) can never meet. A complete accident discovered the planet in the first place when it would have most likely stayed a secret forever.



Filmed mostly in Portugal with FX work in England, it's a must-own for any Gerry Anderson fan.



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Fans of Gerry Anderson's productions will recognise several actors and vehicles from UFO (which was made after Doppelgänger) - as well as sound effects from various Anderson series. Barry Gray's excellent music (mostly unique to this film) adds to the feeling of familiarity. For these reasons alone, I think any Gerry Anderson fan would find Doppelgänger worth getting.



Judged simply as a film, it has to be said that Doppelgänger is flawed. It is known that there were major problems during production, and I suspect this is why there is a time-consuming plot thread that ends abruptly and appears to have no relevance to the rest of the story. Presumably time/budget constraints prevented the relevance from emerging!



Distractingly, the special effects range from outstandingly good - better than any 1960s film that I know of - to disappointingly bad.



Nevertheless, even with these flaws, Doppelgänger's main story is well told and keeps the viewer (or, at least, this viewer) engaged throughout. The ending is perhaps not what one might expect from Anderson, yet at the same time it is typical of Anderson, and it is certainly appropriate. To find out what I mean you'll have to watch it for yourself. :)



# Lynn Loring, real-life wife of Roy Thinnes replaced Tisha Sterling, who had to withdraw because of illness.



# Ed Bishop replaced Peter Dyneley, after rushes revealed the latter's physical similarity to Patrick Wymark, which was thought likely to confuse audiences.