I can concur with the comments that production values were poor, but I still believe it would have been interesting as a variation on "The Fugitive". I can also see where it would not be believable for him to ever get home, since his best and only chance to get onto a spacecraft was in the pilot. Every Terran spaceport would be alert to him after this. Also, being on their toes, the Perfect Order would have been steadily improving their chances of catching Neil by imprinting his face in every mind. Now, that said, it could have been interesting if Neil discovered a totally different thing going on: the steady erosion and breakdown of the Perfect Order - a growing dissidence that the Order cannot deal with. The suspense would be: what happens first? Neil is caught, Ward E'd and killed, or the dissidence becomes organized and he's in the dilemma of staying out of it or helping it.The movie would have been helped if there were clues that the history of the planet was identical to Earth up to the time of WW2, explaining the similar technology, and if most of the cars seen were less popular and more unusual models, seen so often that they seem to be the preferred models. The three moons should have had some texture, some cratering and maria, and shifted position from night to night, so that at the end of the movie, one is missing and the other two are further apart. Also, there should have been at least a few "northpaws" - in a society that views right-handedness as being as sinister as our society used to regard left-handedness. (Maybe in Ward E, they fix people who are right-handed. Now, what if Bettina was right-handed but they let her pass, then they fixed her while doing the other conditioning, and Dylan wondered about it when she reappeared.)I noticed that all the guards - the rank and file - seemed to be "old guys" - in their mid to late 40s or early 50s - and thus old enough to remember pre-Perfect Order conditions. They look older than Benedict and Dr. Revere, so it looks like they cast guys happy for the work, not because they looked like young, well-educated supporters of the system.But I liked the touch of authoritarianism, and the perverse fact that it had solved poverty, crime and disease, but was ruthless against "thoughtcrime" (a "1984" term) that could cause such problems.

This as a TV movie of the week held was really not bad. How bad can it be with Lew Ayers? Glenn Corbett, Star Trek's TOS Zefrem Cochran, makes a good leading man. Sharon Archer is appealing as well. Cameron Mitchel make a great bad guy. The problem is that you can not see how this would make an interesting weekly TV show. Such a show would be set in a make believe police state that does not seem to have much of an philosophy. There are only two people out there to help him. And he does not want to end the police state. He just wants to get home. He does not seem to have any compassion for the people with the exception of Sharon Archer.

A malfunction in space sends astronaut Neil Stryker (Glenn Corbett) off course and headed to something of a parallel world, called Terra, circling the sun exactly opposite Earth. As a being from space would pose a threat to this world's order, Stryker is held until a determination can be made as to exactly what to do with him. Stryker, however, gets suspicious of his surroundings and escapes. With the help of a sympathetic nurse and a old scientist who opposes the government, Stryker will try to board a spaceship and head back to Earth.Stranded in Space (or The Stranger if you prefer) is another of those 70s made-for-TV movies that was to be turned into a regular, weekly show. In this case, it's easy to see why it didn't make it. First off, there's nothing new about the show's set-up. It was undoubtedly designed to follow the same formula used by The Fugitive or The Incredible Hulk or Planet of the Apes. You know, a stranger constantly on the move going from one town to the next taking whatever odd job he can all the while being pursued by a government agency or newspaper reporter. It's a formula that's been done to death. The second strike against Stranded in Space is its lead, Glenn Corbett. Could this guy come across any less likable? I was rooting for him to get caught. Without sympathy for the main character, this kind of show would never work. Finally, this is supposed to be science fiction. Just because everyone is left-handed and someone has hung three fake looking moons on the horizon I'm supposed to jump to the conclusion that this is some distant planet? So it's a mere coincidence that they all speak English, dress just like people on Earth, and drive Plymouth Furies? Yeah, right.The lone highlight for me was the inclusion of Cameron Mitchell in the cast. Sure, it's difficult to watch him in something this dreadful, but you know the old saying - any Cameron is better than no Cameron (yeah, I've never heard it either).As with a lot of these 70s made-for-TV movies, I watched Stranded in Space courtesy of Mystery Science Theater 3000. I wouldn't call it a great episode by any stretch of the imagination, but there are a few good jokes along the way. So in the end, while I rate the movie a 2/10, it gets a 3/5 on my MST3K rating scale.

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