Gerry Anderson was a British film and TV producer who was famous for his SF and fantasy projects that feature puppets, such as Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlett. There are no strings attached to the main characters in Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun, for they are played by living, breathing actors like Roy Thinnes (better known for the TV series The Invaders) and Ed Bishop (who would later star in another SF TV series, UFO, which was also produced by Anderson). There may not be any puppets on hand in JTTFSOTS, but there’s plenty of Derek Medding’s extravagant special effects, which match the Godzilla films in their toy-like wonder. In a couple of these effects scenes, I kept expecting the Big G to pop up in the background.
The story deals with an unmanned probe that’s been sent by the European Space Agency to explore the far side of the sun, the part that’s not normally seen by Earth. The probe finds far more than expected when it sends back pictures of another, previously unknown planet. Locked in orbit around the sun at the exact opposite side of Earth, this new planet becomes the goal for a manned expedition. JTTFSOTS spends a large part of its running time with just setting up the mission--which includes shooting Herbert Lom for taking pictures with a spy camera mounted in his fake eyeball. These kids today, boy, what will they think of next?
There’s a great deal of soap opera moments, such as the scene where Roy’s wife accuses him of shooting blanks, and the 1960s-era extrapolation of what the future would look like (secretaries still use electric ball typewriters, and computers are activated by using old style punch cards) is unintentionally funny to watch some forty years later. But with its snazzy, James Bond-inspired production design, and plenty of Derek Meddings’ amazing eye candy, the film still holds your interest and is very enjoyable overall. Gerry Anderson fans, as well as fans of retro-1960s SF, will certainly want to pick this one up.
--SF
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