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Sphere

  • 1998
  • PG-13
  • 2h 14m
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
115K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,279
1,081
Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson, and Sharon Stone in Sphere (1998)
Home Video Trailer from Warner Home Video
Play trailer0:31
1 Video
65 Photos
Psychological DramaPsychological ThrillerMysterySci-FiThriller

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

  • Director
    • Barry Levinson
  • Writers
    • Michael Crichton
    • Kurt Wimmer
    • Stephen Hauser
  • Stars
    • Dustin Hoffman
    • Sharon Stone
    • Samuel L. Jackson
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.1/10
    115K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    4,279
    1,081
    • Director
      • Barry Levinson
    • Writers
      • Michael Crichton
      • Kurt Wimmer
      • Stephen Hauser
    • Stars
      • Dustin Hoffman
      • Sharon Stone
      • Samuel L. Jackson
    • 362User reviews
    • 81Critic reviews
    • 35Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 nominations total

    Videos1

    Sphere
    Trailer 0:31
    Sphere

    Photos65

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    Top cast12

    Edit
    Dustin Hoffman
    Dustin Hoffman
    • Norman
    Sharon Stone
    Sharon Stone
    • Beth
    Samuel L. Jackson
    Samuel L. Jackson
    • Harry
    Peter Coyote
    Peter Coyote
    • Barnes
    Liev Schreiber
    Liev Schreiber
    • Ted
    Queen Latifah
    Queen Latifah
    • Fletcher
    Marga Gómez
    • Jane Edmunds
    Huey Lewis
    Huey Lewis
    • Helicopter Pilot
    Bernard Hocke
    Bernard Hocke
    • Seaman
    James Pickens Jr.
    James Pickens Jr.
    • O.S.S.A. Instructor
    Michael Keys Hall
    Michael Keys Hall
    • O.S.S.A. Official
    Ralph Tabakin
    • O.S.S.A. Official
    • Director
      • Barry Levinson
    • Writers
      • Michael Crichton
      • Kurt Wimmer
      • Stephen Hauser
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews362

    6.1115.4K
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    Featured reviews

    bat-5

    Truly disappointing

    When I saw the preview for Sphere over and over again, I should've known that something bad was up. The preview had no tension in it at all! At the end, I wanted to shout "Gimmmie an S!" and so on. Undaunted by my doubting self I went to see the movie anyway. I think I should've stayed home and reread the book. The film lacked any tension that being several thousand feet below the Pacific should provide. The title cards placed in the film threw it off balance. It reminded me of "Frasier," but on that show, they work! Dustin Hoffman and Samuel L. Jackson were game enough to go along with this soggy mess, and Sharon Stone hasn't made a decent movie since Casino. The usually talented Barry Levinson was out of his element here. The film should've been handled by someone who knew the intricacies of working in a wet for wet environment. Maybe someone like, James Cameron? He would've been a fine choice, but he was too busy making a ship sink. If you want a good underwater adventure from Michael Crichton, read the book.
    dave fitz

    Read the book first

    Most times when a novel is made into a film, you can follow the story without having to read the book. Sphere has a very strange and complex story. If you haven't read the book first, the movie will be hard to follow.

    The movie follows the book pretty closely. Barry Levinson directs his 2nd Crichton adaptation, following Disclosure. There is a terrific superstar cast. Dustin Hoffman is a legend and has made several great movies with Levinson. Samuel L. Jackson, always fun to watch, is one of the top actors of today. The sexy Sharon Stone here continues to prove how good of an actress she is.

    Sphere is a very strange, but entertaining movie. I do reccomend reading the book beforehand, though.
    Damian-Sawyer

    The best underwater action film!

    This is the rarest of action films - one that engages your intellect not just your senses.

    On the seabed in mid-ocean a huge vessel is discovered. A team is dispatched to investigate - and what they find is beyond belief.

    Admittedly there were a couple of scenes which I felt missed the intended realism of the film, and occasionally it seemed far too obvious what was going on, but the ending resolved everything beautifully.

    I suspect that fans of action films will feel let down by the thought necessary to follow this film, and fans of science fiction may well feel that after the first half hour there is a lack of a traditional sci-fi element. Many people I'm sure will feel that too little is explained, but the point of the film is that it doesn't need to be - the message of the ending is strong enough that we don't need explanation.

    I'd particularly recommend this film to anyone who likes psychological thrillers. I was fairly impressed by the action integrated in The Abyss, but Sphere far surpasses it in terms of plot. Most of all, if you like films that simply entertain, this is not for you. It's more about the reactions it causes in you when you follow the story. If you come away from this film unchanged, you've missed the point.
    8Pookyiscute

    Very good!!

    Excellent! I went into the film thinking it would be bad, since that is what I had heard from someone before watching it.

    However, I was pleasantly surprised at what a terrific film this actually was. The only downfall to the film, was Dustin Hoffman. With all due respect to one of the best actors ever, he just wasn't suited for this particular role. He was good in it, but just not the right person for the job.

    The film begins with Dustin Hoffman flying over the Pacific Ocean in a helicopter, going to a Submarine investigating a plane crash. As a psychologist, he is impatiently waiting to speak to the survivors, and after having been on the sub for over 3 hours, is upset with the Capatain. However, the Captain informs him there was no plane crash, but rather an arrival of some sort not quite 300 years ago, under the Ocean.

    Sharon Stone, Leive Shreiber and Samuael L. Jackson join Hoffman as apart of his team, to go beneath the surface to discover and determine what it is exactly that they have found under the Pacific.

    With complete intensity and excitement non-stop throughout the entire film, it will leave you feeling a little disturbed at times, and perhaps a bit paranoid, also.

    I would advice anyone who does not have a liking to intense sci-fi type films...this is not going to be your cup of tea, but for those enjoy good horror, intensity and a great story line, you will definitely enjoy this flick!
    bob the moo

    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.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Many scenes, like Harry (Samuel L. Jackson) and Norman's (Dustin Hoffman's) conversation about making up the ULF report and dealing with Ted (Liev Schreiber), were completely improvised.
    • Goofs
      When Jerry first makes contact, he transmits in code : "MY NAME IS JERRY". Later, the code is revealed to have been mistranslated and the message reads: "MY NAME IS HARRY" If the letters H, E, J, and A in the simple letter/number substitution code were wrong, the first message would have read: "MY NEMA IS JERRY". Also, the entire series of conversations they had would have exhibited the same error, yet none did so. (HAPPY would have been JEPPY, ALL = ELL, etc.)
    • Quotes

      Dr. Harry Adams: We're all gonna die down here.

      Norman Goodman: What?

      Dr. Harry Adams: You see? It's curious. Ted did figure it out - time travel. And when we get back, we gonna tell everyone. How it's possible, how it's done, what the dangers are. But then why fifty years in the future when the spacecraft encounters a black hole does the computer call it an 'unknown entry event'? Why don't they know? If they don't know, that means we never told anyone. And if we never told anyone it means we never made it back. Hence we die down here. Just as a matter of deductive logic.

    • Crazy credits
      The opening credits are cast over an invisible sphere.
    • Alternate versions
      SPOILER ALERT: An alternate television edit has been shown with a simplified and more ambiguous ending that follows the shooting script; Harry warns them that the authorities are on their way to debrief them, and they will demand answers. The three survivors ready themselves to forget about their mission and the power they possess. Outside, a helicopter sets down. Subsequently, we see the three survivors being interviewed in a debriefing room after decompression, each shot individually against the same background. They react as if they're oblivious to anything going wrong in the Habitat, unaware of anything that happened to Ted, Barnes or the Sphere. The helicopter leaves, and the camera pans down to the ocean, where the Sphere supposedly still remains.
    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Blues Brothers 2000/Illtown/The Replacement Killers (1998)
    • Soundtracks
      Horn Concerto No. 3 in E Flat Major, K.447
      Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

      Performed by Vienna Mozart Ensemble; Herbert Kraus, Conductor

      Courtesy of LaserLight Digital

      By arrangement with Source/Q

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 13, 1998 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Esfera
    • Filming locations
      • Mare Island, Vallejo, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Warner Bros.
      • Baltimore Pictures
      • Constant c Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $80,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $37,020,277
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $14,433,957
      • Feb 15, 1998
    • Gross worldwide
      • $37,020,277
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 14 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • DTS
      • Dolby Digital
      • SDDS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

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