"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.
Review of Journey to the Far Side of the Sun
