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Solaris

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Solaris (2002)

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Reviews Counted:195

Fresh:126

Rotten:69

Average Rating:6.5/10

Consensus: Slow-moving, cerebral, and ambiguous, Solaris is not a movie for everyone, but it offers intriguing issues to ponder.

Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

US Box Office: $14,780,776

Synopsis: Steven Soderbergh, whose eclectic resume includes the Academy Award(R)-winning drama "Traffic" as well as last year's ensemble caper "Ocean's Eleven," now brings his unique vision to SOLARIS, a... Steven Soderbergh, whose eclectic resume includes the Academy Award(R)-winning drama "Traffic" as well as last year's ensemble caper "Ocean's Eleven," now brings his unique vision to SOLARIS, a story of love, redemption, second chances and a space mission gone terribly wrong. SOLARIS is a love story rich with emotion and mystery, set within a science fiction framework. The story, which takes place sometime in the future, opens as Dr. Chris Kelvin is asked to investigate the unexplained behavior of a small group of scientists aboard the space station Prometheus, who have cut off all communication with Earth. Kelvin undertakes the journey after watching a communique from his close friend Gibarian, the mission's commander, who seeks Kelvin's help aboard the Prometheus for reasons Gibarian is unwilling - or unable - to explain. Keenly aware that his opinion will decide the fate of the orbital station, Kelvin is shocked by what he finds upon his arrival: Gibarian has committed suicide and the two remaining scientists are exhibiting signs of extreme stress and paranoia, seemingly caused by the results of their examination of the planet Solaris. Kelvin, too, becomes entrapped in the unique world's mysteries. Solaris, somehow, presents him with a second chance at love - to change the course of a past relationship that has caused him overwhelming guilt and remorse. But can he really revisit and alter the past? Or is he fated to repeat its mistakes? -- © 20th Century Fox [More]

Starring: George Clooney, Natascha McElhone, Jeremy Davies, Viola Davis

Starring: George Clooney, Natascha McElhone, Jeremy Davies, Viola Davis, Ulrich Tukur

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Director: Steven Soderbergh
Screenwriter: Steven Soderbergh
Producer: James Cameron, Rae Sanchini
Composer: Cliff Martinez
Studio: 20th Century Fox

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Reviews for Solaris

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; Australian critics are listed first)
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Soderbergh has given us a boutique space picture - smallish but classy with a translucent glow, accented in chrome, white and blue and touched up with crystalline surfaces.

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
03/07/03
Sandra Hall
Sandra Hall
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A moody, multi-dimensional love story and sci-fi mystery, Solaris is a thought-provoking, haunting film that allows the seeds of the imagination to germinate.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
03/08/03
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Ponderous...dismally realized and offers no answers to the puzzle presented.

Full Review Source: FilmsInReview.com | comment Comment
11/21/02
Victoria Alexander
Victoria Alexander
FilmsInReview.com

It's an unusual challenge for a Hollywood film with a major star, but worth the effort.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
03/21/08
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

What grounds Soderbergh's film -- and distinguishes it from Tarkovsky's more mystical take -- is the sensuality that exists alongside the anguish in Kelvin and Rheya's love story.

Full Review Source: eye WEEKLY | comment Comment
12/02/02
Jason Anderson
Jason Anderson
eye WEEKLY

A return to what sci-fi was meant to be: Not a way to titillate teenage boys, but a means of finding a context for complex human issues.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
11/27/02
John Anderson
John Anderson
Newsday

Scripted, shot, directed and edited by Soderbergh with his customary intelligence and assurance, this is perhaps the most ambiguous and cerebrally sophisticated Hollywood movie in nearly three decades.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrews
Geoff Andrews
Time Out

Like the blood on the walls of the space station, it's pretty dry.

Full Review Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel | comment Comment
11/27/02
Todd Anthony
Todd Anthony
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

An absorbing, challenging, mostly well-acted change-of-pace space thriller.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
11/26/02
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

A surprisingly dull adaptation of the classic 1961 science-fiction novel by Stanislaw Lem.

Full Review Source: Aufmuth.com | comment Comment
11/25/02
Jeanne Aufmuth
Jeanne Aufmuth
Aufmuth.com

This bit of pseudoscience has been made appropriately enigmatic by Soderbergh and company.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
11/27/02
Joe Baltake
Joe Baltake
Sacramento Bee

A mysterious and powerful movie, much like the strange planet at the far reaches of the universe for which it is named.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
12/08/02
Marjorie Baumgarten
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle

Soderbergh's film is the perfect blend of artiness and mainstream appeal, a triumph for Hollywood's most successful art-house director.

Full Review Source: Las Vegas Weekly | comment Comment
09/06/03
Josh Bell
Josh Bell
Las Vegas Weekly

Solaris is neither as effective nor as ambitious as Kubrick's masterpiece, but it's still a compelling cinematic experience for those who are willing to abandon themselves to the unforced, measured rhythms of an issues-based motion picture.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
11/26/02
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

Abstract and otherworldly to a vivid, palpable degree, Solaris is a movie of manifold cerebral and emotional context that cannot be easily summarized in print.

Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire | comment Comment
11/26/02
Rob Blackwelder
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire

As written by director Steven Soderbergh, Solaris comes across as one of those movies filled with cryptic dialogue that skirts around the story, forcing viewers to use their imaginations to fill in the blanks.

Full Review Source: Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN) | comment Comment
11/26/02
Bob Bloom
Bob Bloom
Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

Solaris volleys between genius and garbage for the first half an hour then the odious reality of where we are heading becomes sadly clear.

Full Review Source: Blunt Review | comment Comment
11/29/02
Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt
Blunt Review

With audacity and style, Steven Soderbergh has revisited one of Russian cinema's landmarks, and done so very successfully.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
03/25/03
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

I loved every frame of Solaris. I'm just not sure why.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
11/27/02
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

An intense experience of love's bind on the conscious mind and will.

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
12/02/02
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals
 
 
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Latest News for Solaris

July 20, 2007: Catalina Sandina Morena Joins Soderbergh's Che Films
Did you know that Steven Soderbergh was making a movie about Che Guevara? Starring Benicio Del Toro in the title role? Yeah, me too. But somehow I missed the news that he was... More...

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