The 17 Best Sci-Fi Movies On Netflix (June 2024) - IGN
The 17 Best Sci-Fi Movies On Netflix (June 2024) · Top sci-fi films you can stream with your Netflix subscription. · The Matrix (1999) · Spider-Man: Across the ...
Solaris
Hinging on its disturbing, horror-infused vibes and solid acting by Hilary Swank and Clara Rugaard along with the collaborative performance of Mother, this is not to be missed by fans that love a good ominous sci-fi film. I Am Mother is one of those stories that is remarkably difficult to describe without inevitably giving away a major twist, but that’s all the more reason for genre fans to seek it out for themselves. Claustrophobic dystopian tales that keep you on your toes until after the credits roll like <anchor>Solaris</anchor>(1979) or Moon(2009) will delight in the heady concepts tucked into a roller coaster plot.
Review of Solaris - IGN
Review of Solaris - IGN

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[Solaris](/movies/solaris)

# Review of Solaris

By KJB

Updated: Oct 15, 2020 1:59 am

Posted: Nov 26, 2002 8:00 am

Science fiction cinema seems to finally be getting its due respect in Hollywood. A quick look at the top money makers of all time will show a wealth of science fiction and fantasy themed films. A "hard" science fiction film, Stanley Kubrick's _2001: A Space Odyssey_, is considered one of the great classics of cinema. Ridley Scott's _Blade Runner_ has influenced over 20 years' worth of cinema. So many of science fiction author Phillip K. Dick's stories have been optioned for production that it wouldn't surprise me if some enterprising studio exec didn't have a Ouija board hooked up to a word processor right now, trying to contact Dick on the other side for one more film-worthy short story.

_[Solaris](https://movies.ign.com/objects/034/034290.html),_ based on the book of the same name by Polish science fiction author Stanislaw Lem, has been referred to as "the Russian _2001_" with good reason. The original version, from director Andrei Tarkovsky, is long, heavy on visuals and full of themes that give you a lot to think about. One of the few unedited Russian films to ever see release in the U.S., that version is considered a true, if rarely seen, classic.

There were a lot of people who questioned why some of Hollywood's current A-list talent would want to remake a 3-hour-long Russian SF film that was released in the U.S. in 1973. After the screening, some of those critics were still asking while others were impressed with what the Americans had done with the material.

What follows is a story that explores love, life and death and questions the finality of all the above. George Clooney plays Chris Kelvin, the psychologist sent to the space station Prometheus to try and salvage the project and the crew. Once there, the psychologist finds the remaining two crew members distant and secretive but also discovers other things that shouldn't be there. Like his long dead wife.

![](https://moviesmedia.ign.com/movies/image/solaris-6791-sm.jpg?width=1280&fit=bounds&height=720&quality=20&dpr=0.05)

**Natascha McElhone as Rheya Kelvin and George Clooney as Dr. Chris Kelvin in _Solaris_** Kelvin is as cold and distant as the surviving crew members he finds on the space station orbiting the strange thing called Solaris. Haunted by a past that slowly reveals itself through encounters with his dead wife (played fetchingly by Natascha McElhone, _Ronin_), Soderbergh uses a very non-linear time line to tell his story that could confuse some viewers but will completely engage others. We jump forward and backward in time, experiencing events in Kelvin's past as if we are a part of his own stream of consciousness. Some events are told through the veil of Kelvin's own hazy memory, with time and event jumps. If you can hold on, it makes perfect sense and is really one of the strong visual points of the film.

The additional budget and obvious advances in filmmaking are present in some of the changes from the Russian version to the U.S. version. While the characters are planet bound in the original (Solaris was an ocean in the 1972 version), Soderbergh adds the claustrophobic element of a space station orbiting the planet / star / entity known as Solaris. Continuity freaks who like all of their plot questions wrapped up on screen by the final reel need to just keep right on walking to the auditorium screening _Harry Potter_. This film asks more questions than it answers, leaving the ultimate conclusions up to the viewer.

If there is one problem that the film has, it is that Soderbergh focuses too much on the process of making the film and not enough on his characters. In a film where everyone is fairly cold and distant from one another, there should be at least one character who helps bring the audience into the story, even if its only the spectre of the dead wife. Unfortunately, many mainstream audiences may not find any character they like enough to make them care about the eventual outcome. Which is a shame because even a minor lack of focus and a 90-minute running time can't diminish the power of Lem's original work. This is a film that can stick with you and is a true science fiction film, worthy of the title.

![](https://oyster.ignimgs.com/wordpress/stg.ign.com/2005/09/ign-five-star-movie-legacy-3_0.png?width=1280&fit=bounds&height=720&quality=20&dpr=0.05)

**3 out of 5 Stars, 6/10 Score**

### In This Article

![Solaris [2002]](https://dvdmedia.ign.com/dvd/image/solaris_box.jpg?width=114&auto=webp)

[Solaris \[2002\]](/movies/solaris)

[20th Century Fox](/movies/publisher/20th-century-fox "Distributors") Nov 27, 2002

[PG-13](/wikis/content-ratings/MPAA "MPAA: PG-13")

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### Review of <i>Solaris</i>

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