Sphere (1998)

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

In the book, we learn what the message decodes to merely from what Harry claims. In this movie, 'My name is Jerry' is actually what's printed on the screen, which isn't realistic. If it were realistic, all of the sentences would be messed up. After getting back from the falling eggs and getting unsuited, Norman states with determination that he wants to talk to Jerry, only to try to explain to him a minute later that the guys and he need some time alone to talk things over while Jerry's adamant to talk.

Movie Review: "Sphere" (1998)Based on the 1987 novel by Michael Crichton (1942-2008), director Barry Levinson encounters new grounds with this underwater science-fiction drama, working with collaborated-before actor Dustin Hoffman, who performs undermined and coldly the character of psychologist Dr. Norman Goodman together with character supporting cast members Sharon Stone as zoologist Dr. Beth Halperin, Samuel L. Jackson and Peter Coyote as submarine captain going down as scientific team to the grounds of the deep blue sea, where a mystical golden "Sphere" hidden in a coral-overgrown spaceship, giving anyone, who witnesses its existence the power of foreclosure and putting thoughts into reality due to metaphysical mind-binding.The result of this unless beyond-belief promising motion picture of 80 Million Dollar production value, open for Warner Bros. Studio distribution set for December 1997, which had been pulled to be Mid-February 1998, turns into full-bodied character development by neglecting cinematography as sound design and an hammering score of Elliot Goldenthal, which leads to a mixture of enormous scene potential in character conflicts, which stay behind full-frontal expectations and even the occasional suspense catharsis, when one Samuel L. Jackson's character interpretation of mathematician Dr. Harry Adams, enchanted by the "Sphere", envisions parts of Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" in order to endanger remaining crew members outside the underwater station.The editorial by Stu Linder (1931-2006) comes along fairly, but uninspired with its 120plus minutes final cut. The director as the editor treats the adapted screenplay by Kurt Wimmer as psychological claustrophobic chamber play, without risking the scope nor boldness in action of competitive productions as the major focused and character-confronting piece of cinema "The Abyss" (1989) directed by James Cameron and even the more trivial horror-oriented science-fiction movie "Event Horizon" (1997) directed by Paul W.S. Anderson.© 2017 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC)

... it would be Sphere which came out just a year later. Both movies are about a group of scientists who want to investigate a spacecraft which came out of nowhere and seems to have some kind of psychological effect on them, so that they get paranoid, or even turn on each other.The main reason Sphere does a way better job with this kind of plot, is the script. There is so much more to work with for the actors and the audience, so that it's a way more engaging mystery about what's really happening. I don't just want to compare these two movies, because that would be unfair, because a film has to stand on it's own, but let's just say, Sphere has none of the weaknesses which the other movie tried to overcompensate with cheap jump scares and gore.Now on to the real Review: Sphere is a very well made psychological- science-fiction-movie.The photography is very effective in creating an underwater setting which is unsettling and claustrophobic, and the lighting creates the perfect atmosphere. Also the editing helps do give the movie a sometimes dream-like- quality which seems weird at first, because some scenes seem to have no real conclusion and jump in time, but that's exactly the kind of feeling you supposed to feel. The special effects do their job and never distract you from what's going on.As I said is this movie very psychological and that's where the actors come into play. All of them do a great job in bringing their characters to life, especially Dustin Hoffman who holds this movie together. All in all i think Sphere is a fairly underrated film, which delivers what it set out to deliver...

I found this film very tedious and boring. It lacks surprises. It is not a very good horror film, and a rather chaotic and poorly made science fiction film. Where are the good ideas? The can't be found. The story line has no real surprises, and have we not seen this before? Yes, we have. The great horror of Alien. It's very very similar. The settings are different, but where Alien was scary and groundbreaking, this attempt fails miserably.The film score are always very important in these kind of films. But the music sounds tame and outdated too. I guess the special effects are okay. It is strange that Dustin Hoffman wanted to be in this film. He is miscast along Sharon Stone. Don't bother with this one. Rent Alien one more time instead.