Rating: 
Summary: An outstanding spiritual science fiction movie
Review: At the heart of the movie is a criticism of the modern need to understand scientifically the meaning of existence, which if not balanced with healthy skepticism and human understanding leads to a negation of one's humanity. The understated, ambiguous dialogue and plot are a refreshing change to the usual unimaginative Hollywood fare. Highly recommended for those who enjoy movies that make you think.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Bad - Still Cool
Review: I'm not sure why people thought this film was bad. Better than Lost in Space. More mysterious than Psycho (the new one). Who needs 10 million special effects when you got eye candy, cool supernovae, a good spooky distracting story. This isn't Halloween, Star Trek, Star Wars, or Event Horizon. Maybe not even a movie - this is film. A remake, but very original. George Clooney sure was a great actor in this film and I'm not even a fan of his. Anyone who thinks this is the worst film they ever saw - so far I haven't seen their bad reviews really explain anything. If they want a bad film, how about Peewee's Big Adventure (what the hell was that?). My point is Solaris was a good film if you're not looking for the meaning of life everytime you go to a true sci-fi film. Still plenty of that if you have plenty of mind power and knowledge in your head. I'm no Einstein, but I bet Albert Einstein would have loved Solaris - jah. Buy some coffee and watch this wide awake. May get a thrill. If not, go to the imax theatre and watch elephants in Africa on the flat savannah during a thunderstorm. Both are wild. Use your imagination.
Rating: 
Summary: One of those movies you might just walk out early
Review: There aren't very many movies where I'm tempted to walk out early, but this is one of them. In short, this movie is awful. It's slow paced from the get-go, and never picks up the pace. About a half-hour into the show, I silently gave my wife "two thumbs down", and she agreed, as did the rest of a very small audience after the show finally ended.Don't waste you money on this snoozer.
Rating:
Summary: Solaris and Inner/Outer Space
Review: I know this movie has been getting some grief from the critics but I really enjoyed it. The movie really has very little sci-fi about it and instead is all about deep spiritual/psychological themes. Clooney gives a great, nuanced performance and Solaris itself is stunning to look at. I give big kudos on the music as well which was wonderfully atmospheric. If you want aliens and laser guns you'll be disappointed but if you'll go a thought-provoking exploration of what it means to be human, Solaris is fascinating.
Rating: 
Summary: Maybe I was just really tired...
Review: My husband and I had really looked forward to this movie...so why then did we both fall asleep several times? Like I said, maybe we were just really tired. It has wonderful thought provoking moments but they were just not enough to keep us with the movie. Perhaps if we had read the book it would have helped but this is definately a video rental waiting for release.
Rating:
Summary: Good remake
Review: I just had a brief comment to make about this movie, which was a remake of the Russian director Tarkovsky original from the late 60's. Having seen the original movie 30 years ago, but being too young to really appreciate it perhaps, although I was already a fan of Lem's, I was curious to see how this one would turn out with Soderberg direction in charge, since I usually like Soderberg's movies. I overall enjoyed this flick, although the movie's slow pacing, psychological, and metaphysical themes probably won't appeal to a wide audience. The story raises fundamental issues on these subjects, but the movie offers no answers--as one of the characters says, "There are no answers--only choices." The most basic question of where the human copies are coming from is never solved in the movie, although Solaris must in some way be responsible. In the novel it was hinted at that Solaris housed a powerful, planetary intelligence that was trying to communicate with humans, but didn't really know how. The fact that this intelligence was seemingly omnipotent and able to manipulate matter at will, but wasn't omniscient, is the most interesting idea in the movie and the book. This all-powerful but not all-knowing intelligence can therefore make mistakes--sometimes with tragic consequences for the humans on the space station. The sets are spectacular, and the haunting soundtrack really adds to the movie's overall ambience. I think Clooney and McElhone did a creditable job in their roles. Overall, a good remake of the original. Big Steve says go see it and don't Bogart the popcorn.
Rating:
Summary: What a waste of so much talent!
Review: I knew this film was going to be esoteric so I was determined to pay full attention. I did not want to have to see it three times to "get it" as I did "2001" when I saw it in college. But this film defies intellectual understanding and if one must conjur up all kinds of mysticism in order to get anything out of it, it is a waste of energy. How sad that all these extremely talented people wasted so much time on a story that is on the upside irrelevant and on the downside totally confusing, empty and yes...BORING. I only dragged my husband to see it because of Clooney. My husband, who LOVED "2001" as his favorite film of all time, didn't get "Solaris" either. And why would we go to a film that makes us work harder to understand than incomprehensable poetry we were forced to read when we were 17 and thought all poems had to rhyme! ... I know everyone who liked this film is going to hate this review, but that's what makes horse racing work...a passionate difference of opinion.
Rating:
Summary: A refreshingly intelligent and adult Sci-fi film
Review: This is the second film version of Stanislaw Lem's magnificent Sci-fi novel SOLARIS, which is, in my opinion, one of the half dozen greatest novels the genre has produced. What is perhaps as remarkable is that we now have two quite remarkable film versions of the novel. Andrei Tarkovsky, arguably the greatest Soviet director after Eisenstein, made a contemplative, magnificent version in 1972. Objectively, it is probably a stronger film than Soderbergh's new film starring George Clooney. Nonetheless, Soderbergh's version of the Lem novel is also first rate, and the mast of film goers will find it to be far more accessible than Tarkovsky's slower paced, more meditative version. I would like to stress, however, that neither, for me, comes up to the level of Lem's great novel. There are significant differences between both movies and the novel, almost all to the novel's benefit. George Clooney turns in one of his finest performances in this films, creating a character that has nothing in common with his previous roles. Instead of the infinitely confident, sex symbol we see in other films, he portrays a wounded, unhappy, prematurely aging soul. The sadness and loss and guilt he feels about his wife's suicide makes his unexpected reunion with her departed form all the more poignant. The story of their relationship, both past and in the very strange present, give this Sci-fi film an emotional complexity light years beyond anything else that Hollywood has created before. Some will find this disappointing, those who feel that Sci-fi should be about space ships, aliens, and good versus evil. Others, among whom I count myself, will find a highly intelligent Sci-fi film about the enormous complexity of human relationships and about what constitutes personhood to be stimulating and refreshing. Jeremy Davies is superb as Snow, one of the crew members. His slow, hesitating, reflective, and quirky replies to Clooney's many questions makes for many of the movies more enjoyable moments. Natascha McElhone is extremely fetching as Clooney's wife, and handles all the nuances of her character magnificently. The photography is first rate, Cliff Martinez's original soundtrack is so stunning that I would think about purchasing it (there is a Philip Glass feel to much of the music). There is one missing character in Soderbergh's film, or, at least missing in the manner in which it is portrayed in Lem's novel: Solaris itself. One of the glories of the novel is realizing the nature of the planet around which the space station revolves, and how it is self-aware and is attempting to communicate, albeit ineffectively and ambiguously, with those on the space station. This is a serious transformation, because it changes significantly the meaning of the story. The Soderbergh film becomes an attempt to recover the irrecoverable, while the Lem novel embraces both that and stresses on a deeper level the difficulty of communication. Physically, the planet is represented far less interestingly on a purely physical plane than it is in the novel, in which it has islands upon which people can descend, and whose surface fashions recognizable shapes and forms. Soderbergh's planet is vastly more abstract and indistinct, more a beautiful blob than a mystifying concrete entity. Anyone enjoying the movie (or perhaps especially those who do not) should definitely read the novel by Lem.
Rating:
Summary: Needs Cliff Notes
Review: This will be very short, but I just have to say that this has to be one of the worst, if not the WORST, movies I've ever seen. Also, a quick warning for anyone thinking about spending the money to see it in the theater, don't waste your money. Not even seeing Clooney's bare butt is worth the price of admission, and that's about the best part of the movie.
A man that came out of the theater right behind me said, "I hate it when I feel like I should read the cliff notes before going to see a movie," and that's the best description I can think of. It's not that it's hard to follow, it's that there's no action, and not really any point, and barely even a story.
It's just plain TERRIBLE, and i had to warn others so they don't waste their money like I did.
Rating:
Summary: not for the faint of brain power
Review: This movie is not for everyone. That being said, for those who are looking for a deep movie that questions the human condition, reality, religion, and desire... this would be it. This movie about a psychologist, Kris Kelvin (played by George Clooney) whose friend asks him to journey up to a space station that is orbiting a planet, Solaris, due to some psychological problems the crew is having. Upon his arrival, Kelvin finds his friend dead and the two remaining crew members as having major psychological issues (e.g. freaking out). The planet is not just a hunk of matter floating through space. Solaris not only interacts with them it can physically manifest a person's innermost desires. The climax of the film has Kelvin choosing between the reality that he knows and the fantasy of Solaris-his conclusion is surprising and also very revealing. This movie is philosophical and really interesting. I liked Steven Soderberg's direction of the actors in this movie... like all of his movies, the characters in the film are incredibly intense. George Clooney's performance in this film, is (dare I say it?) his best ever. However, my disclaimers are as follows: judging by the other people in the audience (besides my friend of course), do not bring anyone who has the IQ of a chair to this movie. they will hate it and complain. also, be prepared for the movie to follow you home.. it is very thought provoking.
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