The Solaris mission has established a base on a planet that appears to host some kind of intelligence, but the details are hazy and very secret. After the mysterious demise of one of the three scientists on the base, the main character is sent out to replace him. He finds the station run-down and the two remaining scientists cold and secretive. When he also encounters his wife who has been dead for ten years, he begins to appreciate the baffling nature of the alien intelligence.Written by
Dan Ellis
Let us take you with us to Solaris, planet of mystery, embodiment of man's latent conflict with the unknown. Man, face to face with his conscience, and with his past.
While Solaris mostly doesn't concern itself with real-world technology and doesn't refer to it much, it does correctly predict two devices which did in fact become commonplace: home video recording and widescreen flat-panel TVs. Ironically, these are both shown in the pastoral first part of the film. See more »
Goofs
In the weightless scene, in addition to the candle flames behaving as if they were in Earth's gravity, Khari's dress and hair fall downwards, rather than floating upward. See more »
Quotes
Kris Kelvin:
I burned the blood with acid, but it's restoring itself.
Dr. Sartorius:
Regeneration? In essence, immortality - Faust's problem.
See more »
Alternate Versions
The Russian state film archive has a longer print that runs about 190 minutes. Deleted scenes from that version including mirror room presented on Criterion DVD See more »
Solaris will always be synonymous will 2001. And while both films are towering works of 20th century science fiction, they are actually very different in scope. Kubrick's masterpiece concerns itself more with grander ideas about humans place in the universe, technology and alien life. And while Tarkovsky's film touches on those subjects as well, its main goal is more personal. It is a film that is much more concerned with the individual, human nature, memory and reality. In short, Solaris operates more on the micro level, while 2001 does so on the macro level. It has to be said that Solaris is not an easy film to watch. If you thought that 2001 was slow then you will most likely not enjoy this film. There were times that the film almost exhausted my patience (mostly in the beginning) but once the scenery changed to the space station, the film started to work its magic on me. This is not an exciting picture; what it is though, is a meditative, absorbing and intelligent work of science fiction.
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Solaris will always be synonymous will 2001. And while both films are towering works of 20th century science fiction, they are actually very different in scope. Kubrick's masterpiece concerns itself more with grander ideas about humans place in the universe, technology and alien life. And while Tarkovsky's film touches on those subjects as well, its main goal is more personal. It is a film that is much more concerned with the individual, human nature, memory and reality. In short, Solaris operates more on the micro level, while 2001 does so on the macro level. It has to be said that Solaris is not an easy film to watch. If you thought that 2001 was slow then you will most likely not enjoy this film. There were times that the film almost exhausted my patience (mostly in the beginning) but once the scenery changed to the space station, the film started to work its magic on me. This is not an exciting picture; what it is though, is a meditative, absorbing and intelligent work of science fiction.