Two astronauts are sent to explore a newly discovered planet, previously undetected, because its orbit is the exact opposite of the Earth's.

This is a slow-moving, but very imaginative movie. It's creators, Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, were the minds behind "Thunderbirds" and "UFO", the latter being one of my earliest Sci-Fi obsessions.

The characters are not well-developed, but I think this is common for the Anderson's creations. Roy Thinnes is the star and he acts much like his character in the Quinn Martin series "The Invaders". It's not like the characters were similar, it's just an indicator that Thinnes wasn't the greatest actor. Still, he is certainly enough to guide this story along.

The real star of "Journey..." is its special effects. The miniatures are amazing, but not in the sense that they are realistic. It's kind of like watching a Toho Kaiju movie. It's the sense of awe you get from viewing this meticulously created world. The attention to detail is amazing. Fans of CGI will not appreciate it, but that's their loss. I marveled at this much like I did when I was a seven-year old watching black and white presentations of "UFO" on PBS.

The story itself is silly. No spoilers from me here, other than to say that the concept is cool, but the execution is off. The whole thing gets a bit bug's nuts by the end and not really in a good way. It seems rushed.

I probably won't ever return to "Journey To the Far Side of the Sun" but I'm glad I took a couple of hours to explore it.