उपयोगकर्ता समीक्षाएं

This movie takes the plot behind the sci-fi flick "Doppelganger" (an astronaut from our Earth crashing on a 'counter-Earth' on the opposite side of the Sun, and the Cold War totalitarian vibes on that world) and tries to turn it into a pilot for a TV series. However, the whole thing sank without a trace, and TV is probably better off for it.

Everyone here is perfectly adequate in a 'made for TV' way. Cameron Mitchell turns in his usual solid performance. So does Glenn Corbett (who seems to be a kind of poor man's John Saxon) who plays the rugged individualist whose very existence poses a threat to the foundation of the 'World Order' on counter Earth.

But the low budget and low energy and inconsistent script and the lack of any real imagination in the set designs and cinematography keep this Sci-Fi adventure firmly tethered on the launch pad.

I'll give one example: in the original template for this pilot, ("Doppleganger"), the astronauts lose control of their landing vehicle in a thunderstorm, and crash their ship in a truly appalling sequence (it was obvious that their ship was never going to fly again). Then the two astronauts stagger helplessly from the smoking remains of their vehicle in the middle of howling rains and winds, only to be smacked down and overcome by faceless men yelling through loudspeakers.

In "Stranded in Space", the astronauts are sitting in their seats when buzzers sound, things start shaking, and the camera blurs into a blackout (and as a friend pointed out, it was pretty obvious that the actors were simply shaking themselves on their seats, the director wasn't even shaking the camera or the set). I've seen episodes of "The Twilight Zone" and "The Outer Limits" that took more effort to establish mood and setting than this made-for-TV mediocrity.

And that, in essence, is what's wrong with "Stranded In Space". No budget, no time, no imagination...just making the token gestures and hoping the sci-fi Fan Boys' imagination and enthusiasm will fill in the rest. Sorry, guys, it didn't work.

I'm sure that everyone here just finished their work on this one and walked away, and never thought of it again, except as a listing on their C.V. And that's what you, the viewer will do. You'll remember, if pressed, that you once watched a TV movie called "Stranded In Space", but it made no lasting impression on you, and you can't recall too much about it.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In this TV movie/failed pilot, Glenn Corbett is an astronaut who winds up on the wrong planet. While the details are right, down to Plymouth autos and the bad guys wearing black turtlenecks and double-breasted jackets, there are three moons and the whole world has been a totalitarian state for thirty years. Naturally they want to study him, but he breaks out of the hospital they're keeping him in and tries to figure out how to get. Back to Earth. Along the way, he involves Sharon Ackerman and Lew Ayres, and is pursued by implacable Cameron Mitchell.

It' was clearly intended to be a FUGITIVE sort of show, in which each week he would run across another poor shlub whose life he would ruin in his quest to get home before the IRS came after him. Production costs would be kept down because the world he was on looked exactly like California, as the folks on Mystery Science 3000 kept pointing out. While it's not as bad as it's appearance on that show might indicate, it's very cheap and obvious.

Bob

The other reviews for "The Stranger" were all very negative. Well, for some reason, I didn't hate this one and enjoyed watching it. Am I saying it was great? Nah...but it's worth seeing.

The story is a bit like the movie "Journey to the Far Side of the Sun" combined with "1984" and was intended as a pilot for a potential series. Back during the run of the "ABC Movie of the Week" it wasn't uncommon for the network to show pilots--either to see if the public liked them or to recoup their losses when they knew they weren't going to do the series. This one ultimately was not bought by the network--which was usually the case for these films. One exception that comes off the top of my head was the "Nightstalker" series...and I am sure a few more were first shown here and then became TV shows. Considering others didn't seem to like it, I guess the network did well by not approving the series!

An astronaut (Glenn Corbett) is in space one moment and the next he wakes up in a hospital. This was pretty sloppy and showed that the budget wasn't very high for this project. Anyway, the hospital folks are trying to act like everything is normal but they are actually watching him closely, as they know he's an alien and comes from a planet called 'Earth'. These Terrans look like humans and act much like them but they also live in a parallel world that isn't quite the same. The biggest difference is that the government is very repressive and their way of dealing with problems is violent and nasty...and after he escapes (?) they pull out all the stops to kill him. Can the astronaut manage to survive and even get help from these Terrans?

Okay...there were a few plot problems I mentioned above. Additionally, Corbett didn't have the best screen presence I've ever seen. But the story is interesting and kept me watching. In fact, I might have enjoyed a TV series like this one.

Typical ABC Movie-of-The-Week circa 1973 when some cheesy and some interesting Sci Fi films were produced rather prolifically. They are still way better than the crap that Sci-Fi Channel makes seemingly weekly for "Premieres".

This one was more or less a rip-off/remake of the much better Journey to The Far Side of The Sun(1969) which was made in England and Europe by Gerry Anderson. That film benefited from incredible FX work from Derek Meddings, a great score from Barry Gray and a good cast and had a haunting ending.

The Stranger doesn't have any of that. The plot-an astronaut Glenn Corbett-blown up in space-finds himself on a parallel earth, we learn it is called Terra(one assumes the play on the word "terror" as well as Terra meaning Earth) with three moons. He wakes up-a prisoner in what turns out is a mental hospital-to a very paranoid and not-giving-much-info hospital staff. Managing to escape he finds out he's on this creepy, alternate version of earth but ruled by a totalitarian government called The Perfect Order and is pursued by Cameron Mitchell, a ruthless agent of the secret police for this government. The agents drive around in ominous looking Plymouths(that do not sound like Earth cars) and wear these strange knit jackets with wide lapels and they've cautioned everyone that a dangerous mental patient has escaped and that he must be found. Our astronaut manages to evade capture by dressing like the inhabitants-who dress unfashionably drab sort of like old 60's Communist Russia. When he starts asking questions-such as a scene in a bookstore when he asks "What came before the Perfect Order?" suspicion is aroused and up pops Mitchell and his thugs who threaten the already paranoid citizens with "Ward E" a sinister mental asylum. They'll do anything to cooperate and earn "citizen points" rather than face the ominous Ward E so Corbett is off again in The Fugitive-style escapes. The evils of Ward E are illustrated when another administrator (Tim O' Connor) confides to Mitchell that he wonders if this visitor has something to say and maybe this "Perfect Order" is wrong. Later we see him sitting in the middle of a weird surrealistic room, in hospital clothing, completely docile and vegetative and Mitchell warns him over his shoulder how he has paid the price for doubting. Meanwhile our astronaut befriends a young doctor(Sharon Acker) who not only believes his story of coming from-and wanting to go back to-another earth-but seems to have feelings for him. Eventually she is captured and hooks up with him later saying she escaped. He wants to use this society's slightly better space technology (which is hinted at, by Perfect Order elders that they'll eventually use to invade Earth) to escape this madness. When they get to the launch facility, she implores him not to go(he's already put on a space suit) and in the struggle, she reveals she was in fact taken for "treatments" at Ward E and has been brainwashed to lead him back to the authorities. He sets off an alarm which incapacitates Acker(revealing the nature of the Ward E treatments)who crumbles, grasping her head and he attempts to get aboard the spaceship. She's recaptured and the last we see is Mitchell telling her she's failed and it's back to Ward E-forever-as she screams. The launch fails and he winds up, staring wistfully at the three moons, all set up for a TV series that never happened.

The biggest thing this film had working against it was lack of a budget. The FX are non-existent, space stuff is all stock and a shot of the Terra launch facility simply looks like Cape Kennedy/Vandenberg AFB footage at night. The three moons are nothing more than three balls just hung on string in front of a star field-very cheesy. It has the claustrophobic-shot-in-an-old-office building feel that many of those Made-for-TV'ers suffered from. Also, everything seems very convenient. He appears to have escaped into a regular New England-looking back lot town-that seems very near the space facility. It has a creepy moment when he takes the scarf off Sharon Acker's head to see her temple areas disfigured horribly from shock treatments, though I saw this coming a mile away, the fact she shows up inexplicably and with a head scarf on.

It was a film, very much of it's time that Gerry Anderson did much better earlier, but downplayed the political angle of it.

I saw this movie as a young kid and I just loved it.

As far as I am concerned, it has a very significant plot.

I re-saw this movie as an adult and I still really loved it.

Perhaps it has some similarities to some other movies that I was not aware of.

I am just astonished at the low rating that this movie received.

Way better than 3.5 stars. It's a pity that it was not made into a series. There are some parallels to 'Journey to the Far Side of the Sun', but a different story.

An excellent example of what happens when one central body controls everyone. I liked this movie because Glenn Corbett also appeared in Star Trek as Zeffrem Cochrane in 1967. I also liked it because I am a fan of the apollo space program.

HERE WE GO... Featuring several actors from an amazing array of b-movies and made-for-tv flics, this turkey might appeal to the die-hard fan of velveeta cheese, spam and/or atari 2600, but not to the masses (except perhaps those watching a uhf channel at 3 in the morning after a binge at the local pub). Seemingly a failed pilot for a pre-doomed series, the only thing going for this movie is the sheer ability to crack jokes about the plot. Come on...

An astronaut, adrift in space, wakes up to find himself in a hospital bed surrounded by slightly-paranoid medical staff. Later he finds out (through the silliest of methods) that he's actually on a twin planet to earth (on the other side of the sun where we can never see). He wanders off (actually, it's supposed to be an escape, but my grandmother's escape from the nursing home would be more exciting to watch, not to mention more challenging), and the government wants him back (of course), to pry from him certain details (I won't spoil it). Later we find out that their space technology is slightly better than ours, as he manages to steal a shuttle for the trip back home (anyone doped up on sleeping pills could have been more sneaky, and why would they have to pry in the first place. Didn't they get his ship too?). And to top it all off, he crashes into the ocean, only to find himself....

(sorry, not allowed to spoil it. Too bad, because the truly pathetic

"twist, climax," whatever you'd prefer to call it, proves just how much of a groaner this film is). the end.

And thank heaven they didn't make the series! Great flick for drunken

bouts, cheese-fests and late-night viewing, but nothing I'd want to suffer through again.

I can't even believe I went on about this turkey for more than a few sentences.

Watch it on one of those mondo, make it funny shows late at night, but please don't watch it alone. 'Tis not proper to be a closet cheese-aholic!

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