Reviews (30)

A Holiday Classic...
In 1984, another Christmas classic was released: "The Night They Saved Christmas." This movie of full love, giving and holiday fun. This movie has a great cast of chracters and is sure to get you into the holiday spirit and it will remind you how important Christmas really is.

As we start out, we meet Mr. Baldwin, a professional oil rigger who has been dynamiting ice fields near the north pole. This smells trouble for Santa and the elves. So Mr. Balwdin and his wife Claudia go home and there we meet his kids, David(oldest), Marianne (middle), and C.B. (youngest). David is basically a good kid that is sort of a suck-up to his parents. Marianne is an average yound girl with a heart of gold. Their youngest son C.B. is a trouble maker. He's always getting into fights with bullies who parade around saying, "There's NO Santa Claus." So C.B. is having trouble getting into the holiday spirit.

The next day Mr. Baldwin meets Santa's chief elf named Ed. He warns Mr. Balwdin that he has to stop the dynamiting because he will eventually blow up the North Pole. He breaks out in laughter and doesn't believe any of this. So Mr. Baldwin goes home and relays this whole story to his family and everyone laughs except C.B. because he's the only one that believes it.

The next day when Mr. Baldwin goes to work, Ed (Chief Elf) visits Claudia and her kids at their house and brings them to the north pole in a motorized Reindeer sleigh. There Claudia and the kids meet all the elves and SANTA! Then they go visit Santa's house where he has a talk with Claudia as to why they should stop the dynamiting. She is convinced that this tragedy will happen if they don't stop now. So she and the kids go home and she tries to get her husband to stop right away. Finally he stops the dynamiting.

This is movie is full of love, laughter and joy and is a Christmas classic. The movie has great visual effects and the setting of the North Pole is unbelievably stunning. This movie should be the next Christmas movie in your collection.

A real "Feel Good" movie!!
This movie is the best Christmas movie I have ever watched. I like it better than "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street". I bought it and watched it so much that I wore the tape out. It took a lot of searching to find this movie about 5 years ago and I finally found one place who could order it, so I ordered 2 just in case I wore the new one out, but ended up giving one away because I wanted to share this awesome movie with a friend! Buy it - You will not be disappointed! Makes me believe all over again!!

great film
Ever since I remember my family has watched this movie every christmas season. A long time ago my family taped it on tv and we've watched it ever since. everytime we watch it we have to fast forward through the commercials, so I am happy I've found it on vhs. I'm going to buy this movie and I recomend eveybody else does too. It's a great classic family film.

Absolutely Magical!!!
I saw this movie for the first time, when I was probably about 5 years old. Me and my family would watch it before we went to bed on Christmas Eve. Although it is make believe, it is not over the top or terribly far fetched. I recommend this to anyone with kids, looking for a great Christmas movie. To this day, I watch it every Christmas Eve, and the best way I can describe The Night They Saved Christmas.......Absolutely Magical!!!

The Night They Saved Christmas
I bought this movie not having ever seen it. It should be a Christmas movie everyone should have. I rate it up there side by side with Miracle On 34th St. The family that didn't believe, the Santa, played by Art Carney, and Mrs. Santa, played by June Lockhart, surely will give you a warm Christmas feeling. It is a must have for a truly magic, nostoligic Christmas. ... Read more

Reviews (30)

A Holiday Classic...
In 1984, another Christmas classic was released: "The Night They Saved Christmas." This movie of full love, giving and holiday fun. This movie has a great cast of chracters and is sure to get you into the holiday spirit and it will remind you how important Christmas really is.

As we start out, we meet Mr. Baldwin, a professional oil rigger who has been dynamiting ice fields near the north pole. This smells trouble for Santa and the elves. So Mr. Balwdin and his wife Claudia go home and there we meet his kids, David(oldest), Marianne (middle), and C.B. (youngest). David is basically a good kid that is sort of a suck-up to his parents. Marianne is an average yound girl with a heart of gold. Their youngest son C.B. is a trouble maker. He's always getting into fights with bullies who parade around saying, "There's NO Santa Claus." So C.B. is having trouble getting into the holiday spirit.

The next day Mr. Baldwin meets Santa's chief elf named Ed. He warns Mr. Balwdin that he has to stop the dynamiting because he will eventually blow up the North Pole. He breaks out in laughter and doesn't believe any of this. So Mr. Baldwin goes home and relays this whole story to his family and everyone laughs except C.B. because he's the only one that believes it.

The next day when Mr. Baldwin goes to work, Ed (Chief Elf) visits Claudia and her kids at their house and brings them to the north pole in a motorized Reindeer sleigh. There Claudia and the kids meet all the elves and SANTA! Then they go visit Santa's house where he has a talk with Claudia as to why they should stop the dynamiting. She is convinced that this tragedy will happen if they don't stop now. So she and the kids go home and she tries to get her husband to stop right away. Finally he stops the dynamiting.

This is movie is full of love, laughter and joy and is a Christmas classic. The movie has great visual effects and the setting of the North Pole is unbelievably stunning. This movie should be the next Christmas movie in your collection.

A real "Feel Good" movie!!
This movie is the best Christmas movie I have ever watched. I like it better than "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street". I bought it and watched it so much that I wore the tape out. It took a lot of searching to find this movie about 5 years ago and I finally found one place who could order it, so I ordered 2 just in case I wore the new one out, but ended up giving one away because I wanted to share this awesome movie with a friend! Buy it - You will not be disappointed! Makes me believe all over again!!

great film
Ever since I remember my family has watched this movie every christmas season. A long time ago my family taped it on tv and we've watched it ever since. everytime we watch it we have to fast forward through the commercials, so I am happy I've found it on vhs. I'm going to buy this movie and I recomend eveybody else does too. It's a great classic family film.

Absolutely Magical!!!
I saw this movie for the first time, when I was probably about 5 years old. Me and my family would watch it before we went to bed on Christmas Eve. Although it is make believe, it is not over the top or terribly far fetched. I recommend this to anyone with kids, looking for a great Christmas movie. To this day, I watch it every Christmas Eve, and the best way I can describe The Night They Saved Christmas.......Absolutely Magical!!!

The Night They Saved Christmas
I bought this movie not having ever seen it. It should be a Christmas movie everyone should have. I rate it up there side by side with Miracle On 34th St. The family that didn't believe, the Santa, played by Art Carney, and Mrs. Santa, played by June Lockhart, surely will give you a warm Christmas feeling. It is a must have for a truly magic, nostoligic Christmas. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great movie...
I looked for a long time for this movie, and was lucky enough to find it a few months ago. The first time I saw it, I happened to see it on TV. Tim Daly is a gem, makes the unbelievable seem believable in this movie. You really experience the entire ordeal with them. It's an action movie with a softer side, and I'd recommend it to anyone. A+++ ... Read more

Amazon.com

From yet another derivative science fiction novel by Michael Crichton comes this equally derivative and flaccid movie, in which three top Hollywood stars struggle to squeeze tension and excitement out of material that doesn't match their talents. You're supposed to find awe and mystery in Crichton's story about a team of scientists and scholars who discover a 300-year-old alien spacecraft deep on the ocean floor, but mostly you feel that this is all much ado about nothing. The exploration team consists of a psychologist (Dustin Hoffman), mathematician (Samuel L. Jackson), biochemist (Sharon Stone), and an astrophysicist (Liev Schreiber), and when they enter the alien ship they discover a mysterious sphere inside. What they don't know is that the sphere has the power to manipulate their thoughts and perceptions, and before long the scientists' undersea habitat is a veritable haunted house of frightening visions and creeping paranoia. Who can be trusted? What is the sphere's purpose, and why is it on the ocean floor? Sphere makes some attempt to answer these questions, but the film is a mess, and it leads to one of the most anticlimactic endings of any science fiction film ever made. There are moments of high intensity and psychological suspense, and the stellar cast works hard to boost the talky screenplay. But it's clear that this was a hurried production (Hoffman and director Barry Levinson made Wag the Dog during an extended production delay), and as a result Sphere looks and feels like a film that wasn't quite ready for the cameras. Though it's by no means a waste of time, it's undeniably disappointing. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (147)

DVD 5,Special Effects 5, Plot 4, Movie 2!!
This movie starts off with an extremely fascinating plot: a vessel has been located 1000 feet down on the ocean floor; its very large - a fin alone is 100 feet tall; it has a perfect sphere inside.

These items alone would give any competent film-maker the necessary material for a very good movie. Not-so the makers of Sphere.

A great deal of the movie is spent dazzling the viewer with very good special-effects. An equal amount of time should have been spent including many of the dialogues, from Crichton's book, the crew has with the alien intelligence. As it is, the movie does drag. As compensation, of a sort, I did learn a lot about the toxic properties of marine life on the ocean floor, and thats worth something!

The DVD picture is beautifully clear, and the 6 (uh...5.1) channels of digital sound will put your home-theater system, and your neighbors, through their paces.

For a Science-fiction fanatic like myself it was okay. It should have been Great!! END

Break Out 5 Day Deodorant Pads-We're Here For The Duration!
"Break Out The 5 Day Deodorant Pads-We're Here For The Duration!"
So says Capt. Harold Barnes (Peter Coyote) when things really start to take a turn for the worse and their underwater habitat is abandoned by base due to a typhoon on the surface in Barry Levinson's "Sphere".

Four civilian doctors are recruited to assemble a so-called "dream team" to investigate a 300 year old alien spacecraft at the bottom of the ocean that encases a HUGE golden sphere inside.

The team consists of: Dr. Norman (Hoffman) - psychologist, Dr.Beth (Stone) - biochemist, Dr. Harry (Jackson) - mathmetician, and Dr Ted (Schreiber) - astrophysicist.

Great cast and ensemble acting along with a small part by Queen Latifah as Alice "Teeny" Fletcher and a cameo by Huey Lewis as a helicopter pilot!

Why and more importantly, HOW has the spacecraft been underwater for the past 300 years? What is the sphere's purpose? Watch for yourself and find out!

If you like your sci-fi mixed with a side of psychology, you will enjoy this film!

Happy Watching!

H.G. Wells Lives
Sphere is based on the book of the same name (very loosely, I might add) which is a novel-length science fiction version of H.G. Wells's short fantasy story The Man Who Could Work Miracles. The movie contains a strong cast including Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson and Sharon Stone.

A giant spaceship is found on the ocean floor under a thousand feet of water. An old government report about how to deal with alien contact is put into service and a team is sent to investigate. The three-hundred year old ship turns out to be American but it does contain an alien artifact in the form of a golden sphere. The movie then borrows heavily form Forbidden Planet as the team interacts with the device and are set upon by monsters from the id. Eventually three survivors with the power to work miracles and create monsters from the id decide to wish away their powers.

Aside from bearing little resemblance to the book this movie has some very major flaws. Possible the largest is the translation program designed for talking to a supposed alien intelligence. It involves a simple substitution cipher based on a spiral overlapping a qwerty keyboard. A mistake is made so when the intelligence says its name is Jerry it should read Larry. For some reason all of the other Ls and Js translate normally and even when the intelligence says to stop calling it Jerry it shows up as Jerry with no incorrect substitutions. I would have preferred the movie to end the same way the book did with two survivors and the female character only pretending to wish away her powers but that was not to be.

From the original trailers I knew the movie would vary greatly from the book so this was not a real disappointment. Therefore I was able to actually enjoy the film for what it was (mistakes and all). It is sort of like watching the original film version of The Shining where you had a good book and a decent movie and only superficial resemblances between the two. But I really did enjoy Sphere and you might, too.

Sphere (1998)
Director: Barry Levinson
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson, Sharon Stone, Liev Schrieber.
Running Time: 144 minutes.
Rated PG-13 for violence and language.

The success of Michael Crichton's "Jurassic Park", "The Lost World", "Congo" (well, not so much), and his "E.R." television series caused Hollywood studio executives to swallow up any undisturbed pieces of his work that had not yet been brought to the big screen. Enter : "Sphere", featuring an all-star cast, a top-notch drama director, and a self-destructing story line that eventually ruins a beautifully made, well-acted science fiction romp.

When a three-century old space vessel is found at the bottom of the ocean, the government sends its most intelligent, qualified individuals to study the vessel in order to determine why it is at the bottom of the body of water and what happened to it. Dustin Hoffman (a psychologist), Samuel L. Jackson (a mathematician), and Sharon Stone (a biochemist) star as they individuals who investigate the mysterious ship. They discover a strange, otherworldly Sphere in the center of the craft, not knowing its purpose or what it does. What they later find out is that the Sphere can alter their thoughts, perceptions, and desires, manipulating their every move. The team turns against themselves and the abandoned ship becomes the stage for deception, mystique, and terror.

The first half of "Sphere" is superb, as Levinson unravels the plot swiftly and latches onto the audience using his marvelously constructed cast; however, the second half of the film lags and the final payoff is neither powerful or suspenseful. The entire cast gives fine performances, the special effects are quite good, but overall this adaptation of the popular Crichton novel does not live up to the hype. Not a complete disappointment; should have been a much more enchanting, enjoyable suspense sci-fi thriller.

Big Budget, Bigger Stars, Biggest Disappointment
OK, pretend that you want to make a movie just like "Event Horizon" except it takes place underwater. Oh wait, they did. It's called "Sphere". This is a very uninspired, unoriginal movie with lukewarm performances all around. Big name cast, big money production, big disappoint. Totally unnecessary film - you don't need to see this one.

I suggest renting "Event Horizon" first. Pay attention to the dream manifestation sequences. Now watch "Sphere". Aren't these the same ideas just done in a new setting? Worth a rent maybe, but don't buy this. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Pyromania over the top!
The silliness begins in 1955 with newlyweds Brian and Peggy Bell undergoing a secret government experiment to give humans an increased resistance to radiation. As an unfortunate side effect, (don't all nuclear experiments have icky side effects?)their newborn child has developed the ability to cause people to burst into flame. Alas, Brian and Peggy are our first victims and our first hint that this is not going to be a special-effects masterpiece.

Jump to the present-day (late 80's) and our little firestarter is all grown up in the form of university student, Sam Kramer (Brad Dourif). Sam's opening scene is a school play audition wherein his performance is so pathetically bad that even his loving fiance, Lisa (Cynthia Bain) tells him not to quit his day job. If this scene was meant to ease the audience into Dourif's unconventional manner of acting by poking fun at him, it doesn't work, because we'll get to cringe a whole lot more as Dourif spends the rest of the film screaming and bugging his eyes out in an over-the-top performance that, for many other actors, would be a career-ending one. Even if this movie had a decent director, Dourif is woefully miscast and should really stick to roles that welcome complete psychosis like Grima Wormtongue (The Two Towers) and Piter De Vries (Dune).

Cynthia Bain doesn't fare much better, which is a shame because she does show some promise and is one of the better actors in the movie. Indeed, seeing her smiling face early on, while dressed in some attractive, if outdated outfits is one of the few bright points of the film. Unfortunatley, the screenplay soon has her bouncing between moderate to extreme hysteria, reminiscent of the closing scenes of Pumpkinhead, but without the believable motivation. It is actually a testament to her acting abilities that she can keep a straight, albeit tortured face through an increasingly ludicrous and muddled plot. In one scene, while driving her deteriorating, flamethrower of a boyfriend to the doctor, she has to alternately comfort and express her love for him while dodging the jets of flame shooting out of a hole in his arm. With driving skills like these she belongs in NASCAR, not this whacked-out flick.

If you think this sounds completely insane, just wait, it gets better - or worse depending on how you like your camp. After all, the words, "subtle" and "Tobe Hooper" are never found in the same sentence, let alone the same screenplay. As with Hooper's other works like Poltergeist and Lifeforce, the level of chaos and zaniness can only escalate, but in this case, on a very limited budget. Soon Sam Kramer is inadvertently toasting everyone around who even mildly upsets him - from a snotty radio producer (John Landis in a cameo role) to a friendly old security guard to an evil doctor/scientist who's trying to inject our poor hero with some green goo that looks fresh out of a cylume stick. All of this culminates in one of moviedom's most memorably silly climaxes that will leave you either laughing hysterically or uttering a very large: "huh?".

Bottom line: If you enjoy campy movies, Spontaneous Combustion can be quite fun at times. Unfortunately, the film is laced with enough seemingly serious acting and overtones to give the viewer the feeling that it wasn't meant to be funny. This, combined with a demented musical score and some seriously flawed writing make for an experience that can only be truly enjoyed by die-hard Brad Dourif (or Cynthia Bain) fans.

As far as this DVD version goes, the transer is very so-so and the only extra offered is a theatrical trailer. Blech.

CAUTION: Contents of this movie may be hot!
spontaneous combustion
Function: noun
: self-ignition of combustible material through chemical action (as oxidation) of its constituents -- called also spontaneous ignition

The thought of inanimate objects -- such as a pile of rags, or an old collection of tools -- spontaneously bursting into flames, is terrifying. Well, imagine if there was such a thing as spontaneous HUMAN combustion! Pretty scary, huh?

For Sam, it's not only scary, it's reality.

Sam always knew that there was something wrong with him, but he couldn't quite figure out the origin of his problem. After years of research, Sam discovers that his parents had been used in a number of atomic-weapons experiments shortly before he was born. The government was attempting to engineer the perfect weapon for war. When the project fails, the government hides all evidence of the project, and it becomes a tightly-kept secret.

Or did it?

No!

As a result of Sam's parents' repeated exposure to radiation, both of their genetic codes were changed, eventually being passed onto their first (and only) child, Sam. Because of the radiation running through his veins, Sam discovers that he has the uncanny ability to make things AND PEOPLE burst into flames.

Talk about getting "hot under the collar"!

"Spontaneous Combustion" is a masterful horror/sci-fi movie by one of the most talented filmmakers in the industry - Tobe Hooper ("The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Poltergeist"). ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Worst Movie I Have Ever Seen
Be forewarned: this movie has disturbing suicide images and the plot delves into severely disfunctional families in a cliched, purposeful manner. Action scenes were mediocre, storyline was bizarre, acting was poor. An all-round let down.

This is one of the best movies i have ever seen!
I never new this movie existed till i saw it. It is action packed and if you like nukes you will love this movie. Even Dave loved this movies so much that he had to buy it!

good movie
I never knew this movie existed until I saw it the other day. I was surprised how good it was. It was much better than most of Air Force movies I've seen. It didn't have any of the sappy, romantic scenes in it that usually (and unbearably) bog action films down. It was pure action with an intriguing plot. This was very worthy movie! ... Read more

Reviews (147)

DVD 5,Special Effects 5, Plot 4, Movie 2!!
This movie starts off with an extremely fascinating plot: a vessel has been located 1000 feet down on the ocean floor; its very large - a fin alone is 100 feet tall; it has a perfect sphere inside.

These items alone would give any competent film-maker the necessary material for a very good movie. Not-so the makers of Sphere.

A great deal of the movie is spent dazzling the viewer with very good special-effects. An equal amount of time should have been spent including many of the dialogues, from Crichton's book, the crew has with the alien intelligence. As it is, the movie does drag. As compensation, of a sort, I did learn a lot about the toxic properties of marine life on the ocean floor, and thats worth something!

The DVD picture is beautifully clear, and the 6 (uh...5.1) channels of digital sound will put your home-theater system, and your neighbors, through their paces.

For a Science-fiction fanatic like myself it was okay. It should have been Great!! END

Break Out 5 Day Deodorant Pads-We're Here For The Duration!
"Break Out The 5 Day Deodorant Pads-We're Here For The Duration!"
So says Capt. Harold Barnes (Peter Coyote) when things really start to take a turn for the worse and their underwater habitat is abandoned by base due to a typhoon on the surface in Barry Levinson's "Sphere".

Four civilian doctors are recruited to assemble a so-called "dream team" to investigate a 300 year old alien spacecraft at the bottom of the ocean that encases a HUGE golden sphere inside.

The team consists of: Dr. Norman (Hoffman) - psychologist, Dr.Beth (Stone) - biochemist, Dr. Harry (Jackson) - mathmetician, and Dr Ted (Schreiber) - astrophysicist.

Great cast and ensemble acting along with a small part by Queen Latifah as Alice "Teeny" Fletcher and a cameo by Huey Lewis as a helicopter pilot!

Why and more importantly, HOW has the spacecraft been underwater for the past 300 years? What is the sphere's purpose? Watch for yourself and find out!

If you like your sci-fi mixed with a side of psychology, you will enjoy this film!

Happy Watching!

H.G. Wells Lives
Sphere is based on the book of the same name (very loosely, I might add) which is a novel-length science fiction version of H.G. Wells's short fantasy story The Man Who Could Work Miracles. The movie contains a strong cast including Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson and Sharon Stone.

A giant spaceship is found on the ocean floor under a thousand feet of water. An old government report about how to deal with alien contact is put into service and a team is sent to investigate. The three-hundred year old ship turns out to be American but it does contain an alien artifact in the form of a golden sphere. The movie then borrows heavily form Forbidden Planet as the team interacts with the device and are set upon by monsters from the id. Eventually three survivors with the power to work miracles and create monsters from the id decide to wish away their powers.

Aside from bearing little resemblance to the book this movie has some very major flaws. Possible the largest is the translation program designed for talking to a supposed alien intelligence. It involves a simple substitution cipher based on a spiral overlapping a qwerty keyboard. A mistake is made so when the intelligence says its name is Jerry it should read Larry. For some reason all of the other Ls and Js translate normally and even when the intelligence says to stop calling it Jerry it shows up as Jerry with no incorrect substitutions. I would have preferred the movie to end the same way the book did with two survivors and the female character only pretending to wish away her powers but that was not to be.

From the original trailers I knew the movie would vary greatly from the book so this was not a real disappointment. Therefore I was able to actually enjoy the film for what it was (mistakes and all). It is sort of like watching the original film version of The Shining where you had a good book and a decent movie and only superficial resemblances between the two. But I really did enjoy Sphere and you might, too.

Sphere (1998)
Director: Barry Levinson
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson, Sharon Stone, Liev Schrieber.
Running Time: 144 minutes.
Rated PG-13 for violence and language.

The success of Michael Crichton's "Jurassic Park", "The Lost World", "Congo" (well, not so much), and his "E.R." television series caused Hollywood studio executives to swallow up any undisturbed pieces of his work that had not yet been brought to the big screen. Enter : "Sphere", featuring an all-star cast, a top-notch drama director, and a self-destructing story line that eventually ruins a beautifully made, well-acted science fiction romp.

When a three-century old space vessel is found at the bottom of the ocean, the government sends its most intelligent, qualified individuals to study the vessel in order to determine why it is at the bottom of the body of water and what happened to it. Dustin Hoffman (a psychologist), Samuel L. Jackson (a mathematician), and Sharon Stone (a biochemist) star as they individuals who investigate the mysterious ship. They discover a strange, otherworldly Sphere in the center of the craft, not knowing its purpose or what it does. What they later find out is that the Sphere can alter their thoughts, perceptions, and desires, manipulating their every move. The team turns against themselves and the abandoned ship becomes the stage for deception, mystique, and terror.

The first half of "Sphere" is superb, as Levinson unravels the plot swiftly and latches onto the audience using his marvelously constructed cast; however, the second half of the film lags and the final payoff is neither powerful or suspenseful. The entire cast gives fine performances, the special effects are quite good, but overall this adaptation of the popular Crichton novel does not live up to the hype. Not a complete disappointment; should have been a much more enchanting, enjoyable suspense sci-fi thriller.

Big Budget, Bigger Stars, Biggest Disappointment
OK, pretend that you want to make a movie just like "Event Horizon" except it takes place underwater. Oh wait, they did. It's called "Sphere". This is a very uninspired, unoriginal movie with lukewarm performances all around. Big name cast, big money production, big disappoint. Totally unnecessary film - you don't need to see this one.

I suggest renting "Event Horizon" first. Pay attention to the dream manifestation sequences. Now watch "Sphere". Aren't these the same ideas just done in a new setting? Worth a rent maybe, but don't buy this. ... Read more

Reviews (147)

DVD 5,Special Effects 5, Plot 4, Movie 2!!
This movie starts off with an extremely fascinating plot: a vessel has been located 1000 feet down on the ocean floor; its very large - a fin alone is 100 feet tall; it has a perfect sphere inside.

These items alone would give any competent film-maker the necessary material for a very good movie. Not-so the makers of Sphere.

A great deal of the movie is spent dazzling the viewer with very good special-effects. An equal amount of time should have been spent including many of the dialogues, from Crichton's book, the crew has with the alien intelligence. As it is, the movie does drag. As compensation, of a sort, I did learn a lot about the toxic properties of marine life on the ocean floor, and thats worth something!

The DVD picture is beautifully clear, and the 6 (uh...5.1) channels of digital sound will put your home-theater system, and your neighbors, through their paces.

For a Science-fiction fanatic like myself it was okay. It should have been Great!! END

Break Out 5 Day Deodorant Pads-We're Here For The Duration!
"Break Out The 5 Day Deodorant Pads-We're Here For The Duration!"
So says Capt. Harold Barnes (Peter Coyote) when things really start to take a turn for the worse and their underwater habitat is abandoned by base due to a typhoon on the surface in Barry Levinson's "Sphere".

Four civilian doctors are recruited to assemble a so-called "dream team" to investigate a 300 year old alien spacecraft at the bottom of the ocean that encases a HUGE golden sphere inside.

The team consists of: Dr. Norman (Hoffman) - psychologist, Dr.Beth (Stone) - biochemist, Dr. Harry (Jackson) - mathmetician, and Dr Ted (Schreiber) - astrophysicist.

Great cast and ensemble acting along with a small part by Queen Latifah as Alice "Teeny" Fletcher and a cameo by Huey Lewis as a helicopter pilot!

Why and more importantly, HOW has the spacecraft been underwater for the past 300 years? What is the sphere's purpose? Watch for yourself and find out!

If you like your sci-fi mixed with a side of psychology, you will enjoy this film!

Happy Watching!

H.G. Wells Lives
Sphere is based on the book of the same name (very loosely, I might add) which is a novel-length science fiction version of H.G. Wells's short fantasy story The Man Who Could Work Miracles. The movie contains a strong cast including Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson and Sharon Stone.

A giant spaceship is found on the ocean floor under a thousand feet of water. An old government report about how to deal with alien contact is put into service and a team is sent to investigate. The three-hundred year old ship turns out to be American but it does contain an alien artifact in the form of a golden sphere. The movie then borrows heavily form Forbidden Planet as the team interacts with the device and are set upon by monsters from the id. Eventually three survivors with the power to work miracles and create monsters from the id decide to wish away their powers.

Aside from bearing little resemblance to the book this movie has some very major flaws. Possible the largest is the translation program designed for talking to a supposed alien intelligence. It involves a simple substitution cipher based on a spiral overlapping a qwerty keyboard. A mistake is made so when the intelligence says its name is Jerry it should read Larry. For some reason all of the other Ls and Js translate normally and even when the intelligence says to stop calling it Jerry it shows up as Jerry with no incorrect substitutions. I would have preferred the movie to end the same way the book did with two survivors and the female character only pretending to wish away her powers but that was not to be.

From the original trailers I knew the movie would vary greatly from the book so this was not a real disappointment. Therefore I was able to actually enjoy the film for what it was (mistakes and all). It is sort of like watching the original film version of The Shining where you had a good book and a decent movie and only superficial resemblances between the two. But I really did enjoy Sphere and you might, too.

Sphere (1998)
Director: Barry Levinson
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson, Sharon Stone, Liev Schrieber.
Running Time: 144 minutes.
Rated PG-13 for violence and language.

The success of Michael Crichton's "Jurassic Park", "The Lost World", "Congo" (well, not so much), and his "E.R." television series caused Hollywood studio executives to swallow up any undisturbed pieces of his work that had not yet been brought to the big screen. Enter : "Sphere", featuring an all-star cast, a top-notch drama director, and a self-destructing story line that eventually ruins a beautifully made, well-acted science fiction romp.

When a three-century old space vessel is found at the bottom of the ocean, the government sends its most intelligent, qualified individuals to study the vessel in order to determine why it is at the bottom of the body of water and what happened to it. Dustin Hoffman (a psychologist), Samuel L. Jackson (a mathematician), and Sharon Stone (a biochemist) star as they individuals who investigate the mysterious ship. They discover a strange, otherworldly Sphere in the center of the craft, not knowing its purpose or what it does. What they later find out is that the Sphere can alter their thoughts, perceptions, and desires, manipulating their every move. The team turns against themselves and the abandoned ship becomes the stage for deception, mystique, and terror.

The first half of "Sphere" is superb, as Levinson unravels the plot swiftly and latches onto the audience using his marvelously constructed cast; however, the second half of the film lags and the final payoff is neither powerful or suspenseful. The entire cast gives fine performances, the special effects are quite good, but overall this adaptation of the popular Crichton novel does not live up to the hype. Not a complete disappointment; should have been a much more enchanting, enjoyable suspense sci-fi thriller.

Big Budget, Bigger Stars, Biggest Disappointment
OK, pretend that you want to make a movie just like "Event Horizon" except it takes place underwater. Oh wait, they did. It's called "Sphere". This is a very uninspired, unoriginal movie with lukewarm performances all around. Big name cast, big money production, big disappoint. Totally unnecessary film - you don't need to see this one.

I suggest renting "Event Horizon" first. Pay attention to the dream manifestation sequences. Now watch "Sphere". Aren't these the same ideas just done in a new setting? Worth a rent maybe, but don't buy this. ... Read more

Reviews (147)

DVD 5,Special Effects 5, Plot 4, Movie 2!!
This movie starts off with an extremely fascinating plot: a vessel has been located 1000 feet down on the ocean floor; its very large - a fin alone is 100 feet tall; it has a perfect sphere inside.

These items alone would give any competent film-maker the necessary material for a very good movie. Not-so the makers of Sphere.

A great deal of the movie is spent dazzling the viewer with very good special-effects. An equal amount of time should have been spent including many of the dialogues, from Crichton's book, the crew has with the alien intelligence. As it is, the movie does drag. As compensation, of a sort, I did learn a lot about the toxic properties of marine life on the ocean floor, and thats worth something!

The DVD picture is beautifully clear, and the 6 (uh...5.1) channels of digital sound will put your home-theater system, and your neighbors, through their paces.

For a Science-fiction fanatic like myself it was okay. It should have been Great!! END

Break Out 5 Day Deodorant Pads-We're Here For The Duration!
"Break Out The 5 Day Deodorant Pads-We're Here For The Duration!"
So says Capt. Harold Barnes (Peter Coyote) when things really start to take a turn for the worse and their underwater habitat is abandoned by base due to a typhoon on the surface in Barry Levinson's "Sphere".

Four civilian doctors are recruited to assemble a so-called "dream team" to investigate a 300 year old alien spacecraft at the bottom of the ocean that encases a HUGE golden sphere inside.

The team consists of: Dr. Norman (Hoffman) - psychologist, Dr.Beth (Stone) - biochemist, Dr. Harry (Jackson) - mathmetician, and Dr Ted (Schreiber) - astrophysicist.

Great cast and ensemble acting along with a small part by Queen Latifah as Alice "Teeny" Fletcher and a cameo by Huey Lewis as a helicopter pilot!

Why and more importantly, HOW has the spacecraft been underwater for the past 300 years? What is the sphere's purpose? Watch for yourself and find out!

If you like your sci-fi mixed with a side of psychology, you will enjoy this film!

Happy Watching!

H.G. Wells Lives
Sphere is based on the book of the same name (very loosely, I might add) which is a novel-length science fiction version of H.G. Wells's short fantasy story The Man Who Could Work Miracles. The movie contains a strong cast including Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson and Sharon Stone.

A giant spaceship is found on the ocean floor under a thousand feet of water. An old government report about how to deal with alien contact is put into service and a team is sent to investigate. The three-hundred year old ship turns out to be American but it does contain an alien artifact in the form of a golden sphere. The movie then borrows heavily form Forbidden Planet as the team interacts with the device and are set upon by monsters from the id. Eventually three survivors with the power to work miracles and create monsters from the id decide to wish away their powers.

Aside from bearing little resemblance to the book this movie has some very major flaws. Possible the largest is the translation program designed for talking to a supposed alien intelligence. It involves a simple substitution cipher based on a spiral overlapping a qwerty keyboard. A mistake is made so when the intelligence says its name is Jerry it should read Larry. For some reason all of the other Ls and Js translate normally and even when the intelligence says to stop calling it Jerry it shows up as Jerry with no incorrect substitutions. I would have preferred the movie to end the same way the book did with two survivors and the female character only pretending to wish away her powers but that was not to be.

From the original trailers I knew the movie would vary greatly from the book so this was not a real disappointment. Therefore I was able to actually enjoy the film for what it was (mistakes and all). It is sort of like watching the original film version of The Shining where you had a good book and a decent movie and only superficial resemblances between the two. But I really did enjoy Sphere and you might, too.

Sphere (1998)
Director: Barry Levinson
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson, Sharon Stone, Liev Schrieber.
Running Time: 144 minutes.
Rated PG-13 for violence and language.

The success of Michael Crichton's "Jurassic Park", "The Lost World", "Congo" (well, not so much), and his "E.R." television series caused Hollywood studio executives to swallow up any undisturbed pieces of his work that had not yet been brought to the big screen. Enter : "Sphere", featuring an all-star cast, a top-notch drama director, and a self-destructing story line that eventually ruins a beautifully made, well-acted science fiction romp.

When a three-century old space vessel is found at the bottom of the ocean, the government sends its most intelligent, qualified individuals to study the vessel in order to determine why it is at the bottom of the body of water and what happened to it. Dustin Hoffman (a psychologist), Samuel L. Jackson (a mathematician), and Sharon Stone (a biochemist) star as they individuals who investigate the mysterious ship. They discover a strange, otherworldly Sphere in the center of the craft, not knowing its purpose or what it does. What they later find out is that the Sphere can alter their thoughts, perceptions, and desires, manipulating their every move. The team turns against themselves and the abandoned ship becomes the stage for deception, mystique, and terror.

The first half of "Sphere" is superb, as Levinson unravels the plot swiftly and latches onto the audience using his marvelously constructed cast; however, the second half of the film lags and the final payoff is neither powerful or suspenseful. The entire cast gives fine performances, the special effects are quite good, but overall this adaptation of the popular Crichton novel does not live up to the hype. Not a complete disappointment; should have been a much more enchanting, enjoyable suspense sci-fi thriller.

Big Budget, Bigger Stars, Biggest Disappointment
OK, pretend that you want to make a movie just like "Event Horizon" except it takes place underwater. Oh wait, they did. It's called "Sphere". This is a very uninspired, unoriginal movie with lukewarm performances all around. Big name cast, big money production, big disappoint. Totally unnecessary film - you don't need to see this one.

I suggest renting "Event Horizon" first. Pay attention to the dream manifestation sequences. Now watch "Sphere". Aren't these the same ideas just done in a new setting? Worth a rent maybe, but don't buy this. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Worst Movie I Have Ever Seen
Be forewarned: this movie has disturbing suicide images and the plot delves into severely disfunctional families in a cliched, purposeful manner. Action scenes were mediocre, storyline was bizarre, acting was poor. An all-round let down.

This is one of the best movies i have ever seen!
I never new this movie existed till i saw it. It is action packed and if you like nukes you will love this movie. Even Dave loved this movies so much that he had to buy it!

good movie
I never knew this movie existed until I saw it the other day. I was surprised how good it was. It was much better than most of Air Force movies I've seen. It didn't have any of the sappy, romantic scenes in it that usually (and unbearably) bog action films down. It was pure action with an intriguing plot. This was very worthy movie! ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Worst Movie I Have Ever Seen
Be forewarned: this movie has disturbing suicide images and the plot delves into severely disfunctional families in a cliched, purposeful manner. Action scenes were mediocre, storyline was bizarre, acting was poor. An all-round let down.

This is one of the best movies i have ever seen!
I never new this movie existed till i saw it. It is action packed and if you like nukes you will love this movie. Even Dave loved this movies so much that he had to buy it!

good movie
I never knew this movie existed until I saw it the other day. I was surprised how good it was. It was much better than most of Air Force movies I've seen. It didn't have any of the sappy, romantic scenes in it that usually (and unbearably) bog action films down. It was pure action with an intriguing plot. This was very worthy movie! ... Read more

Description

San Francisco's prize-winning American Conservatory Theater's rowdy commedia dell'arte production incorporates slapstick, pratfall and earthy humor into William Shakespeare's comedy about the two unmarried daughters of a wealthy Italian merchant. While daughter Bianca is genteel and popular, daughter Kate is foul-tempered and strong-willed. No one dares to marry Kate, until Petruchio arrives in Padua and tries his hand at courtship."...delivered with such clarity." --The New York Times. With Fredi Olster, Marc Singer, Stephen St. Paul, Sandra Shotwell, and William Paterson. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

The very best version of this play!
This is the play that began my love of shakespeare! The exceptionally funny wordplay is mirrored by fast-paced slapstick which never fails to elicit gales of laughter. Marc Singer is the quintessential Petruchio and the chemistry between the leads is as good or better than that between Burton and Taylor in the more well-known version. This is terrific!!!

The very best version of this play!
This is the play that began my love of shakespeare! The exceptionally funny wordplay is mirrored by fast-paced slapstick which never fails to elicit gales of laughter. Marc Singer is the quintessential Petruchio and the chemistry between the leads is as good or better than that between Burton and Taylor in the more well-known version. This is terrific!!!

It takes a beastmaster to tame a shrew
Riveting high energy interpretation of one of Shakespeare's more problematic comedies. The director's decision to present this somewhat sexist comedy as an over-the-top commedia dell'ate production was brilliant. Patruchio's use of physical violence to tame his headstrong finacee is somehow made tolerable because all the relationships in this play are embued with violence. And like characters in a Roadrunner cartoon, victims bounce back with vigor and always manage to give as good as they get. The troupe is incredibly in sync with one another, highly athletic, and incredibly gifted at reciting their iambic pentameter flawlessly while being twirled overhead or kicked in the groin. It really has to be seen to be believed. And who knew Marc Singer, the Beastmaster, could act?! In the end, he brings a subtlety to his part that leaves you wondering who's taming whom?

Harold Clurmann's interview with the director is a nice DVD extra.

OH. MY. GOD.
Marc Singer. Bare to the waist. In tights.

What more needs to be said?

Taming of The Shrew
This is one of the best productions a Shakesperian play that you will ever see. The language is well spoken and the comedy bits are remarkable and 'work' with this production. I used a bad tape of this for twenty years for introducing tenth graders to William. Knowing that it is out again almost makes me want to go back to the little...dears. There is a production of the RSC of Midsummer's Night with Diana Rigg that is as enchanting and lyrical as this Shrew is bawdy and wonderufl. BUY IT NOW! ... Read more