Sphere (1998)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

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:

Andre Braugher was originally cast as Harry.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Fielding is looking at the Sphere he mentions the Artist Giotto, but grossly mispronounces his name, saying Ge-oh-to. The name is pronounced Jot-to.

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 Godzilla (1998)

Soundtrack:

HORN CONCERTO NO. 3 IN E FLAT MAJOR, K.447

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.