Solar Crisis (1990)

Directors:

Richard C. Sarafian
Alan Smithee

Writers (WGA):

Takeshi Kawata (novel)
Joe Gannon (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

14 July 1990 (Japan)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

In the year 2050, the battle to save the earth will be fought on the sun.

Plot:

A huge solar flare is predicted to fry the Earth. Astronauts must go to the Sun to drop a talking bomb...

Plot Keywords:

Astronaut | Sun | Earth | Bomb | Space

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Tim Matheson	...	Steve Kelso
Charlton Heston	...	Adm. 'Skeet' Kelso
Peter Boyle	...	Arnold Teague
Annabel Schofield	...	Alex Noffe
Corin Nemec	...	Mike Kelso (as Corin 'Corky' Nemec)
Tetsuya Bessho	...	Ken Minami
Jack Palance	...	Travis
Dorian Harewood	...	Borg
Paul Koslo	...	Haas
Sandy McPeak	...	Gurney
Silvana Gallardo	...	T.C.
Dan Shor	...	Harvard
Scott Allan Campbell	...	McBride
Frantz Turner	...	Lamare
Richard S. Scott	...	Meeks

Also Known As:

Crisis 2050 (USA) (working title)
Kuraishisu niju-goju nen (Japan)

Runtime:

112 min | Japan:118 min (director's cut)

Country:

Japan | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Netherlands:12 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #30410) | South Korea:12 | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Baker, California, USA

Company:

Asahi Breweries

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Who Is Alan Smithee? (2002) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Strip Star Chase

Cinema Crisis

Really bad movie, but it wasn't totally low budget or anything. It had some big name actors, like Chuck Heston of course. This was the worst performance I've ever seen him give but that's only partially his fault. He took the role and delivered the cheesy lines that they gave him without throwing down the script and demanding a rewrite of much of it. But the remaining blame, not only for Heston's scenes and dialogue (he was but one of seven or eight characters used about equally in the ensemble approach to the movie) but for all of the rest of the mess that is this movie goes to the writers and the director. And the wardrobe people also could have done better with Heston's uniform (which looks like pajamas) and I think a lot of the uniforms and clothing of the characters.

This movie is only appropriate for the sci-fi completist.

It is about the fear of a solar flare in the year 2050, a flare that could incinerate humanity, or just blast us pretty good depending how close it gets. There is one chuckle-worthy scene where Dr. Haas (portrayed by Paul Koslo) lists the various percentages of the Earth's population that will be killed depending on whether the flare reaches Mercury, Venus, or mother Earth herself. It is almost as if he is making up the numbers extemporaneously. So a mission is sent to explode an anti-matter bomb to stop the flare, but a certain corporation sets out to sabotage the mission, because... well, this is never clearly explained, it's another problem with the script, but the idea is that they stand to profit by the planet-burn. The corporation "stockpiles" food and grains, but maybe it would have made more sense if it was sun-screen they hoarded.

Annabel Schofeld portrays a genetically-enhanced human who gets a lot of screen time (and a shower scene with brief partial nudity) but she's not much differentiated from a normal human, she's scientifically skilled in a couple scenes and then she exhibits strength in another. Jack Palance is present as a weather-beaten desert loon, but he's pretty much wasted because of the dialogue and has a lame outfit too.

The effects are okay generally, and the space shots of orbit and space stations and so on are, oddly enough, very good.

I picked up this old VHS tape second-hand from a video store nearby. It wasn't worth the three or four dollars. I almost stopped watching the movie halfway through, but I did finish it. I'd recommend to stay away from it, but then there are worse things you can do with your time too, and it's all up to you.