Sphere (1998)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Barry Levinson

Writers (WGA):

Michael Crichton (novel)
Kurt Wimmer (adaptation)

Release Date:

13 February 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

A thousand feet beneath the sea, the blackest holes are in the mind...

Plot:

A spaceship is discovered under three hundred years' worth of coral growth at the bottom of the ocean.

Plot Keywords:

Ocean | Sphere | Scientist | Bottom Of The Ocean | Time Loop

Cast

Dustin Hoffman	...	Dr. Norman Goodman
Sharon Stone	...	Dr. Elizabeth 'Beth' Halperin
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Dr. Harry Adams
Peter Coyote	...	Captain Harold C. Barnes
Liev Schreiber	...	Dr. Ted Fielding
Queen Latifah	...	Alice 'Teeny' Fletcher
Marga Gómez	...	Jane Edmunds
Huey Lewis	...	Helicopter Pilot
Bernard Hocke	...	Seaman
James Pickens Jr.	...	O.S.S.A. Instructor
Michael Keys Hall	...	O.S.S.A. Official
Ralph Tabakin	...	O.S.S.A. Official

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action including some startling images.

Runtime:

134 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Brazil:16 | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | France:U | South Korea:12 | Philippines:PG-13 | Hungary:16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Finland:K-12 | Germany:16 (w) | Mexico:B | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Mare Island Naval Yard, Vallejo, California, USA

Company:

Baltimore Pictures

Trivia:

The ending had to be reshot because test audiences could not believe that the characters could survive without spending weeks in decompression.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Oxygen is not a corrosive gas in the same family as flourine and chlorine. Oxygen is still toxic, especially at such high pressures, but not for the stated reason.

Quotes:

[the group is breathing helium]
Dr. Ted Fielding: [high pitched voice] Oxygen is a corrosive gas, in the same family as fluorine and chlorine - hydrochloric acid, hydrofluoric acid. That's why we're breathing helium down here, because oxygen at any level higher than 2.3 becomes toxic.
Norman Goodman: [high pitched voice] Can you run that by me again, Ted? I don't speak balloon.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "South Park: Pinewood Derby (#13.6)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

ONLY A LONELY HEART SEES

First half is really good – but quickly becomes a load of `spheres'!

When the military discover what they believe to be a spaceship at the bottom of the ocean they bring in Dr Norman Goodman who had once written a report on the protocol for an alien encounter. His report had named a team of experts – this team is also assembled. The team descend to the craft and begin to find some astonishing things about the craft. However when they find a huge golden sphere they begin to experience problems. Problems that become worse when a storm traps them at the bottom of the ocean.

With a cast like this – you gotta have high hopes. With a director and a writer to match you deserve something fantastic! And for the most part this delivers. The build up is dark, mysterious and exciting. However once the sphere is found it goes downhill. It still has some really good moments – the jellyfish bit is scary and other actions bits are cool. But it gets all muddled up in what the sphere is and who is doing what on the base. It almost manages to hold together until the final half hour then it all just collapses like a flan in a cupboard! It's a shame because for the most part it felt like it was building to something much better, but no.

The cast promised much but didn't deliver. Jackson was great, but I don't think he can be bad – even in a bad movie. Hoffman stutters around like he doesn't know what he's doing. I know he's meant to be playing a character that isn't used to heroics, but he doesn't bring anything. Stone is OK but at times looks like she reading her lines off a board. Coyote is OK and Schreiber is understated by his own hammy standards. It's also cool to see Queen Latifah in a role.

Overall this is worth watching as for the majority it's real good. However you notice that the film has got 30 minutes left to go – make your excuses and leave, by then you've seen the best it has to offer.