The Stranger

Remake of the much better produced theatrical film JOURNEY TO THE FAR SIDE OF THE SUN from 1969 (available on DVD) about an astronaut who lands on a twin Earth on the other side of the sun. This TV film has a good B-film cast including such sci-fi buff favorites as Cameron Mitchell (FLIGHT TO MARS available on DVD), Lew Ayres (1971 TV film EARTH II as well as Dr. Kildare in a series of films from the forties), Dean Jagger (X THE UNKNOWN available on DVD), and Sally Field's mom, Margaret Field (MAN FROM PLANET X available on DVD) to name just a few. Credits go out to the casting but isn't as fun as any of the other films mentioned and tries to start a TV series in the vein of 60's TV show THE INVADERS. By the way if you liked THE INVADERS, star Roy Thinnes is the star of JOURNEY TO THE FAR SIDE OF THE SUN. THE STRANGER is more for sci-fi buffs than sci-fi fans.

The storyline of "The Stranger" mirrors somewhat the 1969 film "Journey to the Far Side of the Sun" (made by Gerry & Sylvia Anderson of 'Thunderbirds' and 'Space: 1999' fame). A parallel-universe Earth is the premise of both films. But there is a difference. Where the world in "The Stranger" features a totalitarian regime out to squash the freedom of the citizenry, "Journey to the Far Side of the Sun" merely showed a true mirror world where handwriting, roads, houses, machinery of every kind, and of course internal organs were all in reverse (or mirrored) order. So, the similarity of parallel Earths is the only connection of both films.

Similarly, the TV series "Land of the Giants" came before both of those films, having run from 1968 to 1970. It featured a world that was nearly parallel to the Earth with the exception that the planet was populated by giants 12 times the size of the humans who crash-landed there. The idea of a totalitarian government out to capture and contain the 'little people' was similar to the premise of "The Stranger" more-so than the premise of "JTTFSOTS". Perhaps because of the similarly to "LOTG", a series to "The Stranger" was shelved. Had it turned into a TV series it would have been a sci-fi version of "The Fugitive," with star Glenn Corbett being chased by the baddies from week to week, hiding out in different locations, etc. BTW, a stronger script could have helped this film along.

I HATE this movie.

It is the WORST of everything: acting, writing, made-for-TV-movies, sci-fi, and the 70's.

The actors are completely WRONG and they all appear to need more fiber in their diet. The CARS in this movie make me want to shoot myself in the mouth- gas-guzzling dinosaurs that just happen to look like cars here on Earth. (Good thing Terra's auto industry is precisely the same as ours.)

And a word here on the "planet": there was not a single visual to differentiate Terra from Earth. Nothing. If it wasn't for Joel & the bots I would have made a list of everyone involved with this disaster and hunted them for sport.

No budget, no energy, no effort.

No wonder.

GRADE: F

I watched this pilot movie for a television show that never came to be on the riff show, Mystery Science Theater 3000. Apparently, it too received the same treatment as such other MST3K classic episodes Pod People and Cave Dwellers where we get a title sequence that comes from an entirely different film all together before being treated to the actual film. It is a rather misleading tactic and one has to wonder why they do it. In Pod People, the film they show actually looks like it might be better and more horrific than the one we get. In Cave Dwellers, the film they show looks more serious and older than the one we get. Here, we get a super science fiction looking show and what we get starts out somewhat promising and then kind of falters by really going nowhere all that special. From this film, it looks like the show was going to be a take on an earlier show, The Fugitive with a few science fiction elements, but not all that many considering it takes place on another planet. Basically, nearly everything thing is the same on this planet our hero finds himself on right down to the cars!

The story has three astronauts experiencing some trouble in space. One of them ends up in a hospital where there is something not quite right. Turns out, that he is not on Earth, but another planet where some sort of oppressive government which at first is trying to get information from the astronaut, but then switches to wanting to kill him because he may pose a threat to their 'perfect' society. He goes on the run and gets the aid of a nurse and a man who happens to help with the space program, but has disdain for the order so he and the astronaut devise a plan that may get him off the planet.

This made for an interesting episode of MST3K. Honestly, during the first section of film I was actually more interested in what was happening in the movie than their riffs as it played out rather good...at first. Then it never goes anywhere and just becomes "The Fugitive" only with the very light science fiction elements. Thankfully, their riffs were good when the story was going stale so it made for an entertaining episode of the show. I liked how they kept trying to get up and leave when the movie looked as if it were going off due to commercial.

So, it was not a totally bad film, but it just needed more. It was interesting up to a point and then it just became kind of a mess. It becomes guy on run and bad guys closing in and then guy finds a way to slip passed them. Pretty sure this one would not have lasted for too many seasons because there is only so much you can do with the premise. The government pretty much had a lot of people under its influence so it would have started becoming unbelievable say he had kept running into people who just happen to hate the order. So, probably for the best it was just a one episode wonder, the main bad thing about it though is no closure.

If I feel tired and desirous to not think much before trying to dose off, I put movies like this on. They are slow moving but entertaining enough for me to lie down and watch before drifting off. This movie is great for that.

The Stranger is a low budget TV pilot which ended up being just a made for TV movie. They do an excellent job of setting things up for a series. An astronaut believes he returns to earth but discovers he isn't on earth at all but imprisoned on an alien planet which happens to be Earth's twin orbiting on the opposite side of the sun. The government is an oppressive police state. The people are identical to humans except they are left handed. There is nearly no effort to make up for the limitations of the budget. The cars are all normal looking, offices, shops, the only thing that looks sci fi is Ward E which is like the Ministry of Love in 1984.

The acting is fine. The movie itself is unremarkable but it doesn't try to be amazing either. I can sit through it but its not interesting enough to be considered a compelling thriller.