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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka 'Doppelgänger')

Directed by Robert Parrish
US 1969

Sci-fi adventure and suspense has never been more exciting or intense as when you Journey to the Far Side of the Sun! One hundred years in the future, two astronauts are sent to uncover the secrets of a "duplicate" Earth on the other side of the Sun. When they crash land three weeks earlier than they had planned, they must embark on a life-or-death mission to determine whether they have arrived back home or on the strange mirror world. This imaginative space adventure offers a journey few will ever forget!

***

A previously unknown planet is discovered within our solar system, orbiting on the far side of the sun exactly opposite the position of the Earth, and at precisely the same speed. The European space agency Eurosec, headed by Jason Webb (Patrick Wymark), whose solar probe made the discovery, decides to send a manned mission to investigate, teaming America's top astronaut Glenn Ross (Roy Thinnes) and British astro-physicist John Kane (Ian Hendry). Their voyage aboard the space vehicle Phoenix is supposed to take six weeks, but when the ship returns to orbit in only three weeks -- ending in a crash of their landing vehicle that kills Kane -- Eurosec can only conclude that Ross has engaged in some sort of sabotage. The astronaut is at a loss as to how they could have done a round-trip in just three weeks, until he makes a startling discovery -- that everything that he sees, from the layout of rooms and buildings to all of the writing around him, is reversed, left to right and right to left. It takes Ross, amid his confusion, to arrive at the only possible conclusion -- that he and Kane did, indeed, journey to the new planet, and that world is a duplicate of Earth (and visa versa) down to the last molecule, a perfect mirror-image; and that world dispatched its own mission, with its own Ross and Kane. He and Webb, and Eurosec, scarcely have time to absorb the implications of this discovery -- if true -- as they prepare for a return flight for Ross, despite enormous risks and some potentially very dangerous unknowns in getting him back to the Phoenix.

 

  Posters

Theatrical Release: October 8th, 1969

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Comparison:

Universal - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Universal - Region FREE - Blu-ray

1) Universal - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT

2) Universal - Region FREE - Blu-ray - RIGHT

 

Box Covers

    

  

    

Released on Blu-ray by Fabulous Films in March 2021:

 

Distribution Universal - Region 1 - NTSC Universal
Region FREE -
Blu-ray
Runtime 1:41:38 1:41:38.926
Video 1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 8.60 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

Disc Size: 27,843,395,173 bytes

Feature Size: 27,161,155,584 bytes

Total Bitrate: 31.99 Mbps

Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG4 - AVC

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate:

Bitrate: Blu-ray

Audio English (Dolby Digital 5.1)

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1788 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1788 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 /
48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)

Subtitles English (SDH), French, None English (SDH), French, None
Features Release Information:
Studio: Universal

Aspect Ratio:
Original Aspect Ratio - 1.85:1

Edition Details:
• None

DVD Release Date: June 24th, 2008
Keep Case
Chapters: 36

Release Information:
Studio: Universal

 

Disc Size: 27,843,395,173 bytes

Feature Size: 27,161,155,584 bytes

Total Bitrate: 31.99 Mbps

Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG4 - AVC

 

Edition Details:
None
 

Blu-ray Release Date: April 7th, 2015
Standard Blu-ray case

Chapters 18

 

 

 

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were obtained directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Universal - Region FREE - Blu-ray March 15': Firstly, only a few of these captures are exact frame as this new Universal Blu-ray had a timeline feature during pause and it was very difficult to exactly match the SD. The Blu-ray is nothing surprising. Like the DVD it is bare-bones and the 1080P image improves in the anticipated areas - skin tones, some appealing depth, richer colors, more layered contrast and a higher level of detail. It looks quite pleasing in-motion. The disc creeps into dual-layered territory and the bitrate is very high - about 4X that of the technically robust DVD. Universal augment the 2008 DVD's standard Dolby audio with a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel at 1788 kbps. The effects gain prominence and the score by Barry Gray (also worked with Gerry Anderson composing for Thunderbirds and Space 1999.) There are optional subtitles on the region FREE Blu-ray disc.

No extras on either, but the price reflects that. Journey to the Far Side of the Sun is an interesting, more cerebral, science-fiction film. It drags a little not maintaining the suspense but you can see many of Gerry Anderson's signature marks on the effects (models) and the typical (for his projects) score. I enjoyed re-visiting it, but knew what I was in for, the higher resolution and lossless sound do, absolutely, contribute to a superior viewing experience.

Gary W. Tooze  




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1) Universal - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) Universal - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 


1) Universal - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP

2) Universal - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

Box Covers

    

  

    

Released on Blu-ray by Fabulous Films in March 2021:

 

Distribution Universal - Region 1 - NTSC Universal
Region FREE -
Blu-ray




 

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