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George Clooney, Natascha McElhone, Jeremy Davies, Viola Davis, Ulrich Tukur ... see more see more... , Donna Kimball , John Cho , Michael Ensign , Morgan Rusler , Shane Skelton

A therapist travels to a distant space station to treat a group of astronauts traumatized by mysterious entities -- and ends up having to deal with an entity of his own -- in this second film version ... read more read more...of Stanislaw Lem's philosophical sci-fi novel. Solaris stars George Clooney as Chris Kelvin, a psychologist still mourning the loss of his wife Rheya (Natascha McElhone) when he's implored by a colleague named Gibarian (Ulrich Tukur) to investigate the increasingly weird goings-on at the Prometheus space station. By the time Kelvin gets there, Gibarian has committed suicide, leaving only the cryptic, babbling Snow (Jeremy Davies) and the paranoid, guarded Gordon (Viola Davis), both of whom are holed up in their respective rooms. As Kelvin interrogates the skeleton crew, he learns that they've had unwanted "visitors," apparitions of long-dead friends, family, and loved ones who are apparently being generated by the interstellar energy source Solaris. The doctor is dubious of their claims until one night he, too, is greeted by his wife Rheya (Natascha McElhone), whose death still torments him. At first skeptical of the new Rheya, Kelvin gradually becomes obsessed with her -- and with the guilt that he feels over their troubled marriage -- to the point where the others begin to fear for his sanity. Produced by James Cameron, Solaris represented director Steven Soderbergh's first screenplay credit since the independently financed Schizopolis in 1996. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

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54% liked it

45,037 ratings

Critics

65% liked it

202 critics

PG-13, 2 hr.

Directed by: Steven Soderbergh

Release Date: November 27, 2002

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DVD Release Date: July 29, 2003

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Flixster Reviews (2,929)

  • fb1710827246
    May 28, 2012
    fb1710827246
    It's a new take on Andrei Tarkovsky's classic, but it might just be too complicated, and at times, the original really stands out, with the latter only a mimics the haunting quality that made Tarkovsky's so eloquently powerful. Mysterious, but it too incoherent, it seems.
  • xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    April 30, 2012
    xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    There are some places man is not ready to go

    Very confusing film. SOLARIS, directed by Steven Soderbergh, and starring George Clooney, is one of those pointless remakes Hollywood has been making these past decades that adds almost nothing to the original classic. The movie itsel... read moref is good. Not great or even close to being bad or a misfire, just good. Interesting but not really fulfilling. Some Sci fi movies are classics. Some are Legends. This one just doesn't fit in anywhere. If you're a classic Scifi lover of action, aliens and at least some kind of story - then I would give this one a skip.

    Dr. Gibarian, part of a team at a space station studying Solaris, makes an urgent and self-described bizarre video request to his friend, civilian psychiatrist Dr. Chris Kelvin, to come to the station to deal with an unspecified phenomenon aboard, that phenomenon with which Chris' experience and background may be able to explain and solve. Chris learns that his trip is sanctioned by the space program as a security force had been sent to the station to investigate, that security team which is now missing. When Chris arrives at the station, he finds only two surviving team members, Drs. Gordon and Snow (Dr. Gibarian committed suicide), who are both acting nervously. Chris also finds two unexpected people there, the first, who Chris only sees fleetingly, being Dr. Gibarian's adolescent son Michael, and the second being Chris' deceased wife, Rheya. Chris and Rheya had a passionate relationship in all its good and bad before she committed suicide. Apparently, these appearances of loved ones of the crew at the station are what Chris has come to investigate. As Chris, Gordon and Snow discuss and argue about what to do, Chris becomes emotionally invested in this vision of his wife, who herself begins to realize she looks like Rheya, acts like Rheya (including having the same feelings for Chris), answers to the name Rheya, but is not really the Rheya that was once Chris' wife.
  • spielberg00
    February 11, 2012
    spielberg00
    Steven Soderbergh has worked as the director for a wide variety of movies. After making his career breakthrough in 1989 with SEX, LIES & VIDEOTAPE, he moved on to direct all the way from a light-hearted heist comedy, OCEANā(TM)S ELEVEN, to a heavy thriller about disease, CONTAGI... read moreON. SOLARIS falls somewhere between heavy and light-hearted. Itā(TM)s not an intense, violent understudy about space, nor is it a light-hearted romp around the moon and whatnot.

    George Clooney proves once again that when it comes to acting, he simply cannot go wrong. He has embellished the usual personality onto his character: suave and charming (making it easy to believe him with a woman as attractive as Natascha McElhone), yet with a subtle tendency to go all-out hot-headed. He, of all actors and actresses, stands out among the visually-adept but action-lacking film.
  • CloudStrife84
    April 23, 2011
    CloudStrife84
    Can't sleep? Give this a go and your insomnia will be instantly cured. That isn't to say it's bad though. Just too calm and draggy for my taste. The basic premise is fairly interesting, but it's lacking the drive and excitement that a story like this really needs. Visually sophis... read moreticated and beautifully photographed, but ultimately a bit of a bore.
  • ythelastman89
    August 3, 2010
    ythelastman89
    Really nowhere near the same caliber as the original, but it's still interesting. I love Jeremy Davies performance as Snow, it's really the shining moment of the movie. However, George Clooney is dull and has some pretty cringe-worthy moments, which is sort of odd for his usually... read more good acting. It's too fast paced, typical and unimaginative; ultimately doing nothing for the viewer. Sadly, this could have been great knowing Steven Soderbergh's talent behind the camera.
  • Deano78
    December 29, 2009
    Deano78
    A slightly strange film, something like a sci-fi, thriller but with a romantic feel to it? It's well shot, the cinematography is good and the cast is quite strong. The films raises a lot of questions without providing many answers. Some will like it for this others won't. One for... read more sci-fi fans, or those open to debate about life, time, religion etc. I'm sure the girls will like it for George Clooney's scenes as well!
  • SirPant
    September 24, 2009
    SirPant
    Watch the original! That said, this is a bit different and not too bad but I hate Soderbergh. It?s fairly arrogant to remake such an seminal classic, especially as he could never improve on the story.
  • fb619846742
    September 14, 2009
    fb619846742
    A well put-together sci-fi/romance that succeeds due to it's unique dreamlike nature that would make Stanley Kubrick proud, as well as a strong lead performance from George Clooney. While Clooney's character isn't exactly colored to the extreme, you are still interested as to wha... read moret eventually happens to him. The score is outstanding, complementing a slow, but effective plot structure extremely admirably. The ending is really what saves this movie from mediocre territory, as Soderbergh is able to drive up the suspense while staying grounded on what made this movie watchable to begin with, that being the surreal nature the entire film is drenched in from beginning to end.
  • arashxak
    March 5, 2009
    arashxak
    Suprisingly good, Not just another hopeless remake, Not as profound as the original but more enjoyabl
  • pier007
    February 21, 2009
    pier007
    In my opinion, both films, Tarkovsky's first and this Soderbergh's remake are two somewhat painful and stretched out experiences. Despite the enormous sacrifice that means to sit through the whole, there is no doubt that the essential argument of the story is intriguing and compl... read moreex, therefore fascinating.

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Critic Reviews

Rex Reed
December 19, 2002
Rex Reed, New York Observer

Fiasco of infuriating pretentiousness and numbing incoherence.

Andrew Sarris
December 19, 2002
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer

I prefer Soderbergh's concentration on his two lovers over Tarkovsky's mostly male, mostly patriarchal debating societies.

Steve Murray
November 29, 2002
Steve Murray, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A hushed, haunted tone poem about love and loss. Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum
November 29, 2002
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

[Soderbergh] tends to place most of the psychological and philosophical material in italics rather than trust an audience's intelligence, and he creates an overall sense of brusqueness. Full Review

David Edelstein
November 28, 2002
David Edelstein, Slate

A solemn, splintered meditation on lost love: a movie about personal space, in space. Full Review

Bill Muller
November 28, 2002
Bill Muller, Arizona Republic

It is, all at once, exhilarating, frustrating, cryptic and wise.

Desson Thomson
November 27, 2002
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

Although it's meant to be restrained and free of emotional hysteria, the result is a movie that pretty much lies dead on the screen for an hour and a half.

Stephen Hunter
November 27, 2002
Stephen Hunter, Washington Post

One for the graduate students who know everything about movies except how to enjoy them.

Claudia Puig
November 27, 2002
Claudia Puig, USA Today

Soderbergh does a fine job creating a moody atmosphere of pervasive anxiety. Full Review

Geoff Pevere
November 27, 2002
Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star

Meshing philosophical inquiry with a propulsive otherworldly mystery, it has the smart-pop quality of a vintage episode of Star Trek. Full Review

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Facts

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    • Gibarian: If you think that there is a solution, you'll die here.
    • Dr. Chris Kelvin: And death shall have no dominion. Dead men naked they shall be one with the man in the wind and the west moon. When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone they shall have stars at elbow and foot. Though they go mad they shall be sane. Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again. Though lovers be lost love shall not. And death shall have no dominion.
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Solaris Trivia

  • What actress played opposite George Clooney in the movie "Solaris"?  Answer »
  • He's one type of Bruce Wayne, he had one fine day, and was in Solaris. Who is it?  Answer »
  • Who directed the following movies; Aliens, Titanic, Solaris, Terminator  Answer »
  • Which actor/actress stared in Spy Kids, Solaris, Out of Sight and Welcome to Collinwood  Answer »
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