“Why did you turn back?”
A planet is discovered in the same orbit as Earth on the other side of the sun by a space probe from the European Space Exploration Council's (EUROSEC). Dr. Kurt Hassler (Herbert Lom) is a double agent who has been leaking information on the probe's findings to a rival power in the East. Security Chief Mark Neuman (George Sewell) discovers that Hassler is the leak and kills the scientist. EUROSEC convinces NASA to expedite a mission to investigate the planet before the East beats them to it.
NASA astronaut Colonel Glenn Ross (Roy Thinnes) and EUROSEC astrophysicist Dr. John Kane (Ian Hendry) are chosen for the mission. The space ship is called Phoenix. Once in flight they are in hibernation for three weeks. Scans of the planet for life are inconclusive. The astronauts decide to take their lander, called Dove, to the planet surface. During their decent the Dove is damaged due to an electrical storm. The lander crashes and Kane is injured. Ross and Kane are picked up by an air-sea rescue team. They have landed near Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia. They are flown back to the Space Center. Mark Neuman and EUROSEC official Lisa Hartman (Loni Von Friedl) question Ross but he denies that he aborted the mission. Soon after Kane dies from his injuries.
After a while Ross realizes that he is not on Earth but actually on the unknown planet. A planet where everything is the opposite of that on Earth. A mirror image.
At first Ross’s boss, Jason Webb (Patrick Wymark) and Ross's wife Sharon (Lynn Loring) don’t believe him. Eventually Webb is convinced and suggests that Ross retrieve the flight recorder from the Phoenix and return home.
“Journey to the Far Side of the Sun” AKA “Doppelganger” was released in 1969 and was directed by Robert Parrish. It was written and produced by husband and wife team Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. They are famous for several TV science fiction programs and the use of marionettes. “Space Patrol”, “Thunderbirds”, “Supercar” are their most famous puppet series. They also created “Space 1999”, “UFO” and the documentary “Doctor Who: Thirty Years in the Tardis”. Many of the sets and props were reused for the series “UFO”.
The movie is actually quite good. Unfortunately it was released a year after “2001: A Space Odyssey” so a lot of its thunder was stolen by Kubrick. It’s not fair since I found “Journey to the Far Side of the Sun” more interesting than “2001.” (I actually fell asleep in the theater during 2001.) “Journey” also has some really cool futuristic toys. Of course the science doesn’t support the plot but, who cares, the movie is fun. Perhaps it is outshined by 2001 and there are flaws in the movie, it’s still cool.