Sphere (1998)
Bernard Hocke, Dustin Hoffman, Huey Lewis, James Pickens Jr., Liev Schreiber ... (see more) , Marga Gomez , Peter Coyote , Queen Latifah , Samuel L. Jackson , Sharon Stone
From yet another derivative science fiction novel by Michael Crichton comes this equally derivative and flaccid movie, in which three top Hollywood stars struggle to squeeze tension and excitement out of material that doesn't match their talents. You're supposed to find awe and mystery in Crichton's... (read more) From yet another derivative science fiction novel by Michael Crichton comes this equally derivative and flaccid movie, in which three top Hollywood stars struggle to squeeze tension and excitement out of material that doesn't match their talents. You're supposed to find awe and mystery in Crichton's story about a team of scientists and scholars who discover a 300-year-old alien spacecraft deep on the ocean floor, but mostly you feel that this is all much ado about nothing. The exploration team consists of a psychologist (Dustin Hoffman), mathematician (Samuel L. Jackson), biochemist (Sharon Stone), and an astrophysicist (Liev Schreiber), and when they enter the alien ship they discover a mysterious sphere inside. What they don't know is that the sphere has the power to manipulate their thoughts and perceptions, and before long the scientists' undersea habitat is a veritable haunted house of frightening visions and creeping paranoia. Who can be trusted? What is the sphere's purpose, and why is it on the ocean floor? Sphere makes some attempt to answer these questions, but the film is a mess, and it leads to one of the most anticlimactic endings of any science fiction film ever made. There are moments of high intensity and psychological suspense, and the stellar cast works hard to boost the talky screenplay. But it's clear that this was a hurried production (Hoffman and director Barry Levinson made Wag the Dog during an extended production delay), and as a result Sphere looks and feels like a film that wasn't quite ready for the cameras. Though it's by no means a waste of time, it's undeniably disappointing. The special edition DVD includes audio commentary by Hoffman and Jackson and a behind-the-scenes featurette, Shaping the Sphere: The Art of the Special Effects Supervisor, exploring the alien ship's design and creation by special effects technicians. --Jeff Shannon
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PG-13, 152 min.
Directed by:
Barry Levinson
Release Date: Feb 13, 1998
DVD Release Date: Jul 14, 1998
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2: Interesting picture, but I've seen at least one too many times over the years for it to have stayed entirely in my good graces. It's the kind of story I wish were told more often on screen (i.e. Sci-Fi adventure), but I also wish it were handled ... (read more) 2: Interesting picture, but I've seen at least one too many times over the years for it to have stayed entirely in my good graces. It's the kind of story I wish were told more often on screen (i.e. Sci-Fi adventure), but I also wish it were handled better than it is here. Pretty thin.
Interesting. Great cast. I enjoyed even though this wasn't realistic at all and I usually don't like sci-fi.
The book was awesome. As far as this movie goes though...well...they tried. The story ends up being complicated to keep up with and it's very easy to get confused while you are trying to follow it. It looks like it's supposed to be a scary movie b... (read more) The book was awesome. As far as this movie goes though...well...they tried. The story ends up being complicated to keep up with and it's very easy to get confused while you are trying to follow it. It looks like it's supposed to be a scary movie but even that fails on so many levels. I think only fans of the book will appreciate what this film tried to do. All others will probably get confused.
With all this money that has obviously gone into making this film makes one think why didn't they think some more!! Much too simple story or was I having a nightmare ?!!
the ending was good. and it all fit together well. it was missing some excitement... they could have made it was freakier
Watched it on a poor-quality VCD as a kid, not even knowing who the casts are. Well, I'd say it's a pretty much intriguing movie that makes me want to watch it again. And certainly I wanna watch those casts in their youthful days again. Hehe.
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