"I borrowed from good writers ... like Rod Serling" one of the characters exclaims in the middle of the film. Do I ever wish.
Sphere is based on not-one-of-Crichton's best efforts. Instead, go see "Andromeda Strain," which, although long and slow-paced in classic Robert Wise directorial style, creates a real atmosphere as a team of scientists struggles in an isolation facility to save humanity from a deadly virus.
The film is full of cheap scares (like women-sea divers jumping up and screaming when a skeletonized human astronaut is found, one of those stereotypes). And that's pretty much all it tries to deliver.
A bunch of diver-scientists discover a US spaceship from the future. It contains a mysterious sphere, which grants them the power to materialize their imagination to reality. Of course a storm traps them under water (in a great B-flick like "Deep Blue Sea," that old plot device is tolerable), and some of them die under the influence of the hallucinations/creations. Back to the surface, the survivors decide to take away the power granted by the sphere - or is one of them cheating? Sequel time! Fortunately, they did not bother making one.
The movie is mediocre SF fare based on a mediocre SF novel (although Crichton has written some great ones). It replaces genuine wonder with in-your-face sounds or flashes to make you jump in your seat. The characters are so routine you wish they'd just die and get on with it. There is some competent action, and for a while (middle third) the film has spell-binding imagery, so it still gets a 5: watchable, but not really satisfying even on the first viewing.
Sphere is based on not-one-of-Crichton's best efforts. Instead, go see "Andromeda Strain," which, although long and slow-paced in classic Robert Wise directorial style, creates a real atmosphere as a team of scientists struggles in an isolation facility to save humanity from a deadly virus.
The film is full of cheap scares (like women-sea divers jumping up and screaming when a skeletonized human astronaut is found, one of those stereotypes). And that's pretty much all it tries to deliver.
A bunch of diver-scientists discover a US spaceship from the future. It contains a mysterious sphere, which grants them the power to materialize their imagination to reality. Of course a storm traps them under water (in a great B-flick like "Deep Blue Sea," that old plot device is tolerable), and some of them die under the influence of the hallucinations/creations. Back to the surface, the survivors decide to take away the power granted by the sphere - or is one of them cheating? Sequel time! Fortunately, they did not bother making one.
The movie is mediocre SF fare based on a mediocre SF novel (although Crichton has written some great ones). It replaces genuine wonder with in-your-face sounds or flashes to make you jump in your seat. The characters are so routine you wish they'd just die and get on with it. There is some competent action, and for a while (middle third) the film has spell-binding imagery, so it still gets a 5: watchable, but not really satisfying even on the first viewing.