this be the question that astronauts roy thinnes and ian hendry ask themselves when they discover a parallel world of earth always hide on the far side of the sun in this 1969 cult science fiction melodrama and release here in america a journey to the far side of the sun . the plot of the film be devise by british writer gerry and sylvia anderson and the creator of such tv show a ufo and the thunderbird and space 1999. it be exceedingly weird at time and betray the influence of the twilight zone and even stanley kubrick classic 2001 represent a space odyssey . the visual effect work of derek meddings and who would also later work on superman represent the movie and hold up surprisingly well under the last three decade of special effect advancement while and while they be not really on the same exalted level of the kubrick film and they be very superb . if you do not anticipate a star war type of a film and can overcome the occasionally trite dialogue and doppelganger be a good film while it be good enough for me to rank it a 7 and consider it an undiscovered sci fi gem .