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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]

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Release:

Jul 14, 1998

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Reviews for Sphere

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z)
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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

The central idea for Sphere is an intriguing one, but similar concepts have been much better executed on episodes of Star Trek, which makes one wonder why movie writing is allowed to be so bad.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/26/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

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

Packaged as a smart psychological drama, it gradually dissolves into a badly edited action thriller, albeit one obscured by a cast of top notch talent.

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
05/14/03
Jeanne Aufmuth
Jeanne Aufmuth
Palo Alto Weekly

Somewhere out there, maybe there's a small cadre of film-goers who will appreciate Sphere's dubious charms, but I'm not among them.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
01/01/00
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

It takes every trick in the book of undersea filmmaking to try to make Sphere interesting to the mainstream.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
James Brundage
James Brundage
Filmcritic.com

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

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

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
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The sphere is luminous and hauntingly beautiful on the surface, with its interior kept alluringly, frustratingly unclear -- much like the superficially diverting but ultimately disappointing film itself.

Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com

The only excellence is in the acting, and even then the screenplay puts the characters through so many U-turns that dramatic momentum is impossible.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

Despite being blue bloods of filmmaking, Levinson and his stars are relative novices in the special-effects world of science fiction.

Full Review Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Jack Garner
Jack Garner
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Given its situational premise -- outer space goes underwater -- Sphere is filled with visual potential, yet Levinson can't tap it. He's just a whole lot more comfortable trying to tame the human software than the technical hardware.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
04/12/02
Rick Groen
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

Cool premise and eerie buildup from the first hour, ultimately downshifts into an unsatisfying film that drags long past its bedtime, and turns into a gobbledygook of psychological head games and illusions.

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment Comment
01/01/00
JoBlo
JoBlo
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

I've seen Alien, and I've seen The Abyss -- hence, I had already seen Sphere.

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
01/01/00
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher

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

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
 
 
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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...

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