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Movies / On DVD / Sphere
Sphere

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Sphere (1998)

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Reviews Counted:48

Fresh:6

Rotten:42

Average Rating:4/10

Consensus: Sphere features an A-level cast working with B-grade material, with a story seen previously in superior science-fiction films.

Runtime: 2 hrs 32 mins

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Synopsis: When psychologist Norman Goodman (Dustin Hoffman) wrote a report for the government on how to deal with extraterrestrial life forces, he didn't expect his recommendations to be used. Now that a... When psychologist Norman Goodman (Dustin Hoffman) wrote a report for the government on how to deal with extraterrestrial life forces, he didn't expect his recommendations to be used. Now that a secret government agency is investigating what may be an alien spaceship that has been discovered partially buried on the floor of the Pacific Ocean, Norman finds that the plan he outlined is being put into effect and that the team he named in his report has been assembled. In addition to Norman, there is Harry Adams (Samuel L. Jackson), a mathematician; Ted Fielding (Liev Schreiber), a physicist; and Beth Halperin (Sharon Stone), a biochemist and Norman's old flame. Led by the secretive Barnes (Peter Coyote), the foursome undergoes a crash course in diving and living under the sea in a naval habitat and begins investigating the mysterious vessel, discovering a huge glowing sphere made of an unidentifiable substance with a shimmering, almost liquidlike surface. As the investigation continues, a series of strange, horrific events leads the team of scientists to doubt each other's sanity and motives. The film is based on the best-selling novel by Michael Crichton. [More]

Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Sharon Stone, Samuel L. Jackson, Peter Coyote

Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Sharon Stone, Samuel L. Jackson, Peter Coyote, Liev Schreiber, Queen Latifah, Marga Gomez, Huey Lewis, Michael Keys Hall, Bernard Hocke, James Pickens

Director: Barry Levinson

Director: Barry Levinson
Producer: Barry Levinson, Michael Crichton, Andrew Wald
Story: Michael Crichton
Screenwriter: Kurt Wimmer, Stephen Hauser, Paul Attanasio
Composer: Elliot Goldenthal

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Sphere

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Three major stars being involved, it all wraps up happily but implausibly.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Decent performances and an abundance of good ideas and effects but there is definitely a lack of pace to the dramatic tension and you may find yourself just not caring.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Jeff Dawson
Jeff Dawson
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
01/01/00
E! Online

No review available.

comment Comment
01/01/00
USA Today

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bill Chambers
Bill Chambers
Film Freak Central

Sphere tries hard to be an intelligent genre piece, but a weak and convoluted storyline only leads to a disappointing experience.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bob Bloom
Bob Bloom
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Sphere yearns to be a philosophical epic but it's final and only edict is so rudimentary as to barely exist: man is not yet 'ready' either intellectually or emotionally for the gifts E.T.'s are willing to share with us.

Full Review Source: Critics Inc./America Online | comment Comment
01/02/03
Brandon Judell
Brandon Judell
Critics Inc./America Online

Let's face facts: Michael Crichton is a hack. He comes up with innovative concepts, but his characters are cardboard cutouts. Given the psychological foundations of the story, that's an egregious flaw, and the ending is absurdly dissatisfying.

comment Comment
08/12/03
Carlo Cavagna
Carlo Cavagna
AboutFilm.com

Sphere is not trashy, or silly, or exploitative; a lot of talent has been used to good effect here. But in the final analysis, fine filmmaking cannot overcome mediocre material.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
06/05/02
Cathy Thompson-Georges
Cathy Thompson-Georges
Boxoffice Magazine

Sphere winds up just a load of balls.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Charles Taylor
Charles Taylor
Salon.com

This journey is a road to nowhere.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
01/01/00
Chris Grunden
Chris Grunden
Film Journal International

Director Barry Levinson still has his strong visual sense -- both the infinite water and ultimate confinement are effectively creepy -- but the story starts dragging about halfway through.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia City Paper | comment Comment
01/01/00
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
Philadelphia City Paper

There are some things that humankind is just better off not knowing about.

Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
David Denby
David Denby
New York Magazine

It is an annoying and distracting movie, where the actors lose all of their prospect for existing, and the story loses all faith in the material and gives up just as it seems to begin.

Full Review Source: Cinemaphile.org | comment Comment
01/01/00
David Keyes
David Keyes
Cinemaphile.org

A run-of-the-mill fantasy, competently produced but disappointingly familiar.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
01/01/00
David Sterritt
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor

Word 'pointless' is the one that should be attributed to this whole film, one of the worst to come from Hollywood in past decade and one that would test patience and temper of the audience like few others.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
02/02/04
Dragan Antulov
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews

If you want a better sci-fi film go see Dark City. A better Levinson movie? Try Wag the Dog.

Full Review Source: Film Blather | comment Comment
05/22/03
Eugene Novikov
Eugene Novikov
Film Blather

A sci-fi thriller that presents a riveting and rounded anatomy of fear.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
03/01/02
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Dark Horizons | comment Comment
03/14/05
Garth Franklin
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons

Making yet again the mistake that more is more, director Barry Levinson piles on the concepts with such increasing rapidity that clarity takes a back seat to spectacle, and believability is stretched to the breaking point.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
01/01/00
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
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Latest News for Sphere

November 05, 2008: Michael Crichton Passes Away (1942-2008)
Best-selling author, screenwriter, and director Michael Crichton has passed away at the age of 66. The medical doctor-turned-filmmaker was best known for writing... More...

See All

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