Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

adriangr "Journey to the Far Side of the Sun" has such a great premise that it's a real disappointment that they makers didn't do more with it. The film actually comes to a close just when it should get going. Handled correctly it could have led to a spin off TV series!If you are unfamiliar with the plot, let me fill you in on the good stuff. A planet is discovered on the far side of the sun, in exactly the same orbital rotation as the earth but on the opposite side, which explains why it has never been seen from earth before. A spacecraft is sent out to investigate it, with two astronauts on board. The long journey ends with them crash landing on the new planet, and what they find there is beyond their wildest expectations.What you will see straight away when you watch this film is the trademark style of a Gerry Anderson production. Filled with miniatures models of groovy buildings and spacecraft, it brings to mind a TV episode of Thunderbirds or Joe 90 on the big screen. This is a mixed blessing as Gerry Andersons miniatures always looked a bit like toys - very detailed and beautifully crafted toys, but when mixed with live actors appearing on full sized sets, the differences start to become noticeable. However this is science fiction from 1969 so be grateful that they are of a quality as high as this. The rest of the film looks great too, space fashion in all it's 1960's glory litters the screen, beautiful women, snappy gadgets and gaudy décor are present in abundance. The camera work in the film is great, everything looks crisp and colourful, again in the same way the the TV puppet shows always appeared. The acting is pretty good too, from the two male leads Ian Hendry and Roy Thinnes (for the US audiences) and the supporting cast too.I had great fun watching this but my main gripe is the huge disappointment that I experienced after the film revealed it's "twist". The twist itself is great but from that point onwards the film has nowhere to go, and nothing to do with it's trump card. The ending seemed ridiculous to me, because it basically puts a stop to so many intriguing "what if's" that could have been dreamed up, but instead they chose a really bad pay- off for all the build-up that had been so wonderfully laid down.You should have a great time watching the first 80 minutes of this film, but the last 20 might well leave you unsatisfied. It looks so good and the pacing of the first hour is fantastic. I just wish things had been taken somewhere more exciting instead of thrown in the trash, which seem to me how the scriptwriters decided to end the story.

eaysha 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:

bean-d "Journey to the Far Side of the Sun" (1969) is a beautiful movie with impressive special-effects (given the year) and is well worth watching, although ultimately disappointing. Part of the problem lies with the script. First, the initial fifteen minutes of the film feature some impressive espionage by Herbert Lom for which he is murdered, but this vignette seems to have nothing to do with the rest of the film. Second, the main theme of the film--that a second, identical Earth has been found behind the sun in orbit directly opposite of our Earth--is never explored beyond the superficial. Apparently the only things that distinguish this second Earth are that words are backwards and our internal organs are on the opposite sides. Oooh, wow. Perhaps if the producers had not spent so much time in the filming of the space-flight special effects, they could have dedicated more time to exploring the paradoxical effects of a reverse Earth. Still, the film does have an allure; you can feel the sincerity of the filmmakers.

Raymond Caught it on Viasat Finland having never seen it before. I'm a big fan of true sci-fi (or any sci-fi actually) and this is one of those rare ones that actually makes your brain work. It's got that eerie feel you only had in sci-fi made in the 60's and 70's (think of Planet of The Apes). All gloomy and serious, no laughs.The cast was unknown to me and the acting is a bit stiff (except for Patrick Wymark, who's character is pretty annoying). Characters look as if they came from the 60's, but that's not really a surprise or a bad thing at all.The plot is intriguing, a new planet on the other side of the sun. Propably not as effective today as it was back in the day, but it's still fun. There are a lot of illogicalities and the script is anything but tight, but there are some very effective scenes and the ending is something to remember.If they put a little more thought into details and had had somewhat tighter (and timeless) production, this would be up there with Planet of the Apes. Worth catching definitely.