:
Dustin Hoffman,
Dustin Hoffman,
Sharon Stone,
more...
:
Barry Levinson,
Barry Levinson
see all cast/crew...
: 
: Warner Home Video
: Science Fiction , Time Travel, Seafaring
: 135 min.
: English, French
: English, Spanish, French
see additional details...
|
|
Barry Levinson directed this $100+ million adaptation of Michael Crichton's science fiction novel about the investigation of a half-mile-long spacecraft sitting on the South Pacific ocean floor. Government functionary Barnes (Peter Coyote) assembles a crack scientific team -- psychologist Dr. Norman Goodman (Dustin Hoffman), who wrote a presidential report on alien contact; biochemist Beth Halperin (Sharon Stone), once involved romantically with Goodman; mathematician Harry Adams (Samuel L. Jackson); and astrophysicist Ted Fielding (Liev Schreiber). After descending a thousand feet, they set up housekeeping at their underwater Habitat base, suit up, and enter the craft, finding evidence that it's a U.S. ship from the future. However, the craft's cargo of a shimmering, golden sphere is definitely alien. After Harry contrives to enter the sphere, Norman notes his odd behavior. When the Habitat computer system receives an email message from the sphere ("I am happy"), it's not long before the messages from this entity take a threatening turn ("I will kill you all"), triggering fears to surface along with violent attacks to the Habitat. The film is divided into chapters, such as "The Ride Down," "The First Exchange," and "The Monster." Shot on soundstages at the abandoned Mare Island Naval Shipyard (Vallejo, California), the effects combine animation, miniatures, prosthetics, animatronics, and digital images. Ed Asner reads the Sphere audiobook. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
|
| Not as good as the book
by pumpkinchick28
August 12, 2003 - 10:54 AM PDT
|
|
|
2 out of 2 members found this review helpful
|
If I hadn't read the book before i saw this movie, I probably would have liked it a lot more. The book is a very deep psychological thriller, the movie is a typical horror movie. So if you plan on reading the book, I would recommend seeing the movie FIRST, before you read it...otherwise you will be seriously disapointed by the movie.
Some side notes. I thought the casting was very well done, and, in most cases, the characters were true to the characters in the book. I was also pretty impressed with the special effects and camera work overall. |
| Read it, don't watch it
by PGraydon
January 20, 2003 - 2:25 PM PST
|
|
|
3 out of 3 members found this review helpful
|
I saw this in the theater after having read the book years before. The book was great--chilling and psychological. I didn't expect the movie to be as good--they usually aren't--but even so I was extremely disappointed. The film tries to concentrate more on the horror side of the original story, and somehow fails to adequately capture any of the book's depth. Do yourself a favor. Read it, don't watch it.
|
|
|
GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 4.39)
97 Votes
add to list 
|
 |
|
|
 |
| San Francisco Movies |
|
|
| A complete-as-I-can-make-it list of movies shot in and around SF (with LOTS of help from www.norcalmovies.com) and the Bay Area. I'll try to put comments and info about the movies and rate the ones I've seen. Please email me with any errors or add. info. |
dydeth
|
|
|
see all lists |
|
|
Your cart
© 2006 All Media Guide, LLC. Portions of content provided by All Movie Guide®,
a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.