Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (1969) - April 7, 2015

[Professor Echo]

Thanks for the mini-reviews. I like scifi a lot, but man, nothing sucks so bad as a terrible scifi movie, they just grate on me as no other genre does. I guess it's because I feel the creative people have liberty to use all the imagination they want and when that opportunity is blown and wasted, it annoys me.

[oddbox83]

It's quite creative in it's script, and very much a western set on the moon. The main issue seems to be purely the comedy/serious mishmash. If you can't get over that, it'll suck. If you can, there's a fun little "bad" film to enjoy IMO.

[CraigThom]

Originally Posted by Professor Echo

Some 60's scifi can be pretty cheesy (e.g. MOON ZERO TWO). I never saw this, but is it any good? I mean beyond being nostalgically good.

I think the subject here is getting a bit confused. You are asking about Journey to the Far Side of the Sun and just using Moon Zero Two as an example of a cheesy sixties SF movie, right? That's the way I read it.

Originally Posted by oddbox83

It has some unexpected casting with UK comedy stars. The film doesn't quite know if it wants to be serious or spoof so is tonally a bit all over the place. It's interesting though if you want to delve into this kind of stuff.

Originally Posted by stuartalex

I thought it was dreadful but I was watching it as a straight sci fi movie . I even made allowances for Hammer not being in their usual comfort zone.
I even bought the expensive dvd double bill that came out a few years ago to check again. Nothing had changed.
Hammer really didn't know what to do with such a subject.

It was so bad that when House of Hammer magazine came round to doing its comic strip adaptation of the movie they changed almost everything about it - and strangely announced this in the editorial as if it was a good thing.

Which film are you two talking about? I may be mistaken, but I think you are talking about Moon Zero Two. I don't think he asked about this.

I want to clarify this because people reading this may believe these are reviews of the movie this topic is about, which isn't a Hammer film, doesn't have comedians in it, and isn't set on the moon.

[oddbox83]

Apologies, the way it was worded I thought it was asking about Moon Zero Two. My mistake. I've never seen this one, though I think I'll wait for the Australian disc.

[Professor Echo]

Originally Posted by CraigThom

I think the subject here is getting a bit confused. You are asking about Journey to the Far Side of the Sun and just using Moon Zero Two as an example of a cheesy sixties SF movie, right? That's the way I read it.

Yes, you are right, ergo employing the parenthesis after mentioning "cheesy" 60's scifi. It was clearly (or so I thought) an indication of a title I considered cheesy from the era and then asked how JOURNEY fit in the framework of the genre during that same period.

I would not be asking about MOON ZERO TWO in a thread devoted to JOURNEY TO THE FAR SIDE OF THE SUN.

[stuartalex]

I was referring to Moon Zero Two aswell because it sounded like he was looking for additional sci fi movies to buy.

Journey to the Far Side of the Sun is a movie I've grown up with in the UK.
As a fan of Gerry Anderson's work I've always enjoyed this movie but if you're not generally an Anderson fan you might be slightly disappointed.

The concept of the film is interesting but it does often come across as if the script was intended for one of his puppet shows .
Often there are heavy handed moves in the script to try and make this a more mature offering similar to the ways UFO tried to separate itself from the likes of Joe 90 and Captain Scarlet.

Effects are excellent as ever with Anderson material but if you are coming to this film having never seen it before nor being familiar with Anderson shows I'd love to hear your reaction to it.

Gerry must have loved the actors as the majority of the supporting cast immediately went on to appear in UFO which started production soon afterwards.

[CraigThom]

Gerry Anderson's shows were not big in the U.S. I think Fireball XL5 may have gotten a big push (I was very young, but I remember having toys from it), but it wasn't until Space: 1999 that another made a splash here. I caught episodes of Stingrays and Captain Scarlet in syndication, but they were just daily after-school kid shows.

I also saw UFO in syndication and fell in love with it, but, at the time, I didn't make the connection to the puppet shows. When I saw Doppelganger on TV, though, I immediately made the connection to UFO because of the actors.

In retrospect it's obvious UFO is an Anderson show: the launches of SkyDiver and the Interceptors are straight out of Thunderbirds.

[notmicro1]

I only recall this as a minor made-for-TV movie decades ago? I didn't realize that it had ever run in theaters. Definitely has a "TV" movie feel to it, as I remember. Very odd selection to pop out on Blu-ray; indicative of how cheap its getting to be to digitally scan old titles using the latest fancy hardware.

[trevanian]

Originally Posted by notmicro1

I only recall this as a minor made-for-TV movie decades ago? I didn't realize that it had ever run in theaters. Definitely has a "TV" movie feel to it, as I remember. Very odd selection to pop out on Blu-ray; indicative of how cheap its getting to be to digitally scan old titles using the latest fancy hardware.

Are you sure you're not thinking of THE STRANGER with Glen Corbett? (TV's Zefram Cochrane on STAR TREK, Pat Garrett in CHISUM)

I seem to remember that being a US tv take on JOURNEY from the early 70s, one that was not as cool or 2001-esque as the Mariette Hartley/Gary Lockwood Earth II of the same era.

I saw JOURNEY theatrically when I was 8 or 9, and it falls into the 'liked the fx & the weird ending' category ... at best. Even so, I'm surprised there hasn't been mention of how the movie -- like DEMON SEED -- appropriates a lot of Jordan Belson opticals. I think Belson only created stuff for other people's pics for THE RIGHT STUFF (though he had been onboard when Phil Kaufman was going to do a new STAR TREK movie in the late 70s, the one that got cancelled the month STAR WARS came out), and he just licensed some of his pre-existing stuff here.

[stuartalex]

Originally Posted by CraigThom

Gerry Anderson's shows were not big in the U.S. I think Fireball XL5 may have gotten a big push (I was very young, but I remember having toys from it), but it wasn't until Space: 1999 that another made a splash here. I caught episodes of Stingrays and Captain Scarlet in syndication, but they were just daily after-school kid shows.

I also saw UFO in syndication and fell in love with it, but, at the time, I didn't make the connection to the puppet shows. When I saw Doppelganger on TV, though, I immediately made the connection to UFO because of the actors.

In retrospect it's obvious UFO is an Anderson show: the launches of SkyDiver and the Interceptors are straight out of Thunderbirds.

According to Anderson it was the US success of UFO that allowed a second season to go into pre-production . However after a great deal of money had been spent on that pre-production popularity in UFO went down and the second season was cancelled but Anderson was able to convince Lew Grade that the money already spent could be used toward an entirely new series which is when it became Space 1999.

The German Bluray release of UFO is highly recommended ( and locked to Region B)

[The Great Owl]

I just finished watching my Blu-ray of Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, and I'm all good with the presentation of the movie. The transfer looks great, and it sounds pretty good.

I'm surprised that this release has only received minimal attention, because it's really quite a good science fiction film. It comes across like a stretched-out episode of The Twilight Zone, but, then again, a lot of good films from this era do.

The subject matter is pretty disturbing in a few ways. I usually don't like to think about things like this, because there's no telling what's out there in the universe waiting for us to discover. The science in this movie may be flimsy by today's standards, but the concept of dealing with the unknown still holds. The final scene is perfect, just perfect.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I'm surprised that this release has only received minimal attention, because it's really quite a good science fiction film. It comes across like a stretched-out episode of The Twilight Zone, but, then again, a lot of good films from this era do.

Hell, a lot of modern genre stuff still does.

[stuartalex]

The US Blu of this is good quality but Universal ever tight can't be bothered to provide a menu let alone a trailer.

So I shall also be picking up the Australian release in August with its bonus alternate UK version aswell as a Gerry Anderson commentary.

I daresay there will be a proper menu too and not just a pop up one for chapters

[StingingVelvet]

Finally watched this after getting it on release. It was a LOT less creepy than I remembered from watching it as a kid. It was still interesting, but it played it more straight than I remembered. The opening is probably the creepiest part.

Transfer looked solid, maybe a little soft.

[billyearle]

Originally Posted by phelings

This was Andersons first foray into live action sci fi and was made just before UFO .
I guess he liked the cast a lot as many of them were included in UFO.

I have the UK and US dvd's and both have different covers.
Would be nice to see the credits of the movie with its original title of Doppelganger but I fear Universal won't care enough to add anything except a trailer although I'm surprised they're releasing it at all considering what they have left that has not been released.

Yeah, I'm surprised neither the packaging or the review point out this is a Gerry Anderson (Thunderbirds, UFO, Space 1999) film. When I popped it on I was like, wow the soundtrack sounds just like UFO and then saw the Gerry Anderson credit. I'm a big fan of the eye-candy-riffic UFO, especially the Austin Powersesque pilot episode, so this was interesting to see.
I agree it plays like a drawn out Twiligt Zone episode and is a bit dour. I was expecting crazy space monsters, but this shoots for serious. The acting is so stiff, I wondered if any of these guys did voices for Thunderbirds, but I guess it's just the Anderson style. Should of been a lot shorter, but I'd give it a 6.

[jovialtwittery]

The Australian release is much better than the US one and includes the alternate UK version aswell as the regular edition.
There's also some bonus content too.

A German steelbook is on the way but as a local only release the packaging doesn't look as English friendly as most German steelbooks

[Patsfan123]

DISC INFO:

Disc Title:     JTTFSOTS_NA
Disc Size:      27,852,088,093 bytes
Protection:     AACS
BD-Java:        Yes
BDInfo:         0.5.8

PLAYLIST REPORT:

Name:                   00800.MPLS
Length:                 1:41:38.926 (h:m:s.ms)
Size:                   27,161,155,584 bytes
Total Bitrate:          35.63 Mbps

VIDEO:

Codec                   Bitrate             Description     
-----                   -------             -----------     
MPEG-4 AVC Video        31994 kbps          1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1

AUDIO:

Codec                           Language        Bitrate         Description     
-----                           --------        -------         -----------     
DTS-HD Master Audio             English         1788 kbps       2.0 / 48 kHz / 1788 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)

SUBTITLES:

Codec                           Language        Bitrate         Description     
-----                           --------        -------         -----------     
Presentation Graphics           English         27.944 kbps                     
Presentation Graphics           French          26.111 kbps                     

FILES:

Name            Time In         Length          Size            Total Bitrate   
----            -------         ------          ----            -------------   
00800.M2TS      0:00:00.000     1:41:38.926     27,161,155,584  35,627          

CHAPTERS:

Number          Time In         Length          Avg Video Rate  Max 1-Sec Rate  Max 1-Sec Time  Max 5-Sec Rate  Max 5-Sec Time  Max 10Sec Rate  Max 10Sec Time  Avg Frame Size  Max Frame Size  Max Frame Time  
------          -------         ------          --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  
1               0:00:00.000     0:05:47.722     31,092 kbps     39,080 kbps     00:00:14.347    34,911 kbps     00:01:00.393    34,823 kbps     00:01:08.818    162,079 bytes   364,910 bytes   00:03:22.076    
2               0:05:47.722     0:06:38.064     31,138 kbps     36,423 kbps     00:08:05.943    34,936 kbps     00:07:46.257    34,819 kbps     00:05:48.973    162,338 bytes   422,097 bytes   00:07:38.791    
3               0:12:25.786     0:06:46.697     33,416 kbps     35,909 kbps     00:16:30.072    35,020 kbps     00:16:32.574    34,866 kbps     00:16:27.569    174,217 bytes   321,442 bytes   00:16:37.579    
4               0:19:12.484     0:05:57.899     31,495 kbps     35,618 kbps     00:24:08.697    34,901 kbps     00:24:04.693    34,796 kbps     00:21:24.908    164,202 bytes   309,560 bytes   00:24:10.657    
5               0:25:10.383     0:04:13.670     32,748 kbps     35,837 kbps     00:25:21.436    34,885 kbps     00:28:11.189    34,842 kbps     00:28:05.934    170,734 bytes   275,634 bytes   00:29:24.053    
6               0:29:24.053     0:05:05.304     33,585 kbps     35,816 kbps     00:32:10.970    35,002 kbps     00:32:06.049    34,882 kbps     00:32:29.489    175,097 bytes   338,838 bytes   00:32:09.344    
7               0:34:29.358     0:05:05.430     32,464 kbps     35,612 kbps     00:35:27.041    34,904 kbps     00:36:52.210    34,849 kbps     00:36:35.860    169,250 bytes   297,695 bytes   00:35:25.206    
8               0:39:34.789     0:04:16.256     31,306 kbps     37,887 kbps     00:43:42.161    34,885 kbps     00:39:34.914    34,839 kbps     00:39:36.624    163,215 bytes   488,450 bytes   00:43:42.995    
9               0:43:51.045     0:06:42.652     30,928 kbps     39,091 kbps     00:48:15.559    35,669 kbps     00:47:36.728    35,168 kbps     00:48:06.633    161,247 bytes   316,804 bytes   00:48:16.226    
10              0:50:33.697     0:05:25.742     31,999 kbps     35,464 kbps     00:53:42.302    34,947 kbps     00:55:02.382    34,866 kbps     00:54:57.460    166,826 bytes   279,132 bytes   00:54:38.233    
11              0:55:59.439     0:06:47.198     31,791 kbps     36,857 kbps     01:01:49.747    35,156 kbps     01:01:45.660    34,905 kbps     00:59:45.748    165,743 bytes   282,004 bytes   00:56:10.158    
12              1:02:46.637     0:06:33.518     31,720 kbps     35,739 kbps     01:02:56.230    34,960 kbps     01:02:52.977    34,794 kbps     01:02:49.849    165,375 bytes   247,350 bytes   01:04:00.795    
13              1:09:20.156     0:06:17.919     32,577 kbps     35,934 kbps     01:13:09.885    34,991 kbps     01:13:39.039    34,852 kbps     01:13:24.358    169,841 bytes   359,243 bytes   01:14:21.081    
14              1:15:38.075     0:04:24.264     31,327 kbps     37,465 kbps     01:17:39.196    34,853 kbps     01:17:58.215    34,624 kbps     01:17:35.817    163,326 bytes   266,033 bytes   01:19:00.026    
15              1:20:02.339     0:06:44.529     31,512 kbps     35,304 kbps     01:24:02.620    34,774 kbps     01:21:11.533    34,605 kbps     01:24:28.521    164,287 bytes   268,801 bytes   01:24:04.164    
16              1:26:46.868     0:05:19.902     32,617 kbps     36,102 kbps     01:28:01.401    35,027 kbps     01:27:57.397    34,924 kbps     01:27:24.906    170,050 bytes   376,715 bytes   01:28:01.442    
17              1:32:06.771     0:07:30.116     32,405 kbps     39,232 kbps     01:39:35.511    35,567 kbps     01:39:31.548    35,133 kbps     01:39:26.543    168,943 bytes   294,923 bytes   01:39:35.970    
18              1:39:36.887     0:02:02.038     31,945 kbps     37,263 kbps     01:41:31.585    34,991 kbps     01:41:31.585    34,682 kbps     01:40:10.879    166,604 bytes   636,040 bytes   01:41:35.089    

STREAM DIAGNOSTICS:

File            PID             Type            Codec           Language                Seconds                 Bitrate                 Bytes           Packets         
----            ---             ----            -----           --------                --------------          --------------          -------------   -----           
00800.M2TS      4113 (0x1011)   0x1B            AVC                                     6098.759                31,995                  24,390,964,587  132,644,715     
00800.M2TS      4352 (0x1100)   0x86            DTS-HD MA       eng (English)           6098.759                1,788                   1,362,811,940   8,378,132       
00800.M2TS      4608 (0x1200)   0x90            PGS             eng (English)           6098.759                28                      21,303,351      122,540         
00800.M2TS      4609 (0x1201)   0x90            PGS             fra (French)            6098.759                26                      19,906,230      114,624

This is a recent remaster as the opening titles are digitally created. At some point you see the film shimmer slightly and they don't move. You can also tell because they are pixel sharp. The end titles are optical.

[Dr. Trog]

Only $5.99 at amazon! Great price for sci-fi fans:

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Journ...lu-ray/123720/

[octobercountry]

Man, it's almost impossible to find the Australian release now (cover image below), which I believe is the only one that contains the commentary track. I was finally able to pick one up on eBay.

[Jobla]

Who does the commentary track?