Search - Solar Crisis on DVD

John P. (AvraValleyJohn) from MARANA, AZ
Reviewed on 7/20/2011...

Ok, so it's not a Hollywood blockbuster that cost millions to make. The special effects were good, the casting was good, and even the story line was plausible. After all, is not the purpose of a movie to entertain??? I highly recommend it to any scifi fans out there.

Inept sci-fi

Rottenberg's rotten book review | nyc | 10/25/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This flick posits the world facing a doomsday solar flare in the near future. Tim Matheson leads a cast of boring action figures to the edge of the sun, where he will pilot a smaller spaceship into the sun while carrying an anti-matter bomb - what amounts to a suicide mission. (The science of solar flares theorizes that they form based on magnetic lines that work like rubber bands; the bomb will snap the lines and prevent the lethal flare from forming.) Meanwhile, Matheson's son escapes from his military school, and Matheson's disapproving father - Charlton Heston as an uptight career military man - sets out to find him. The flare is preceded by other solar phenomenon that's steaming up the earth (and interfering with anything that relies on basic principles of electromagnetism). While the mission must succeed for the sake of humanity, a sinister tycoon played by Peter Boyle is determined to sabotage it.

Nothing in this flick works - least of all why Boyle is set on sinking a mission that's clearly mankind's last hope (doubts over whether it may be worse than the flare or at least uneccessary seem to have been left out of the script). The plot about Matheson's son seems entirely uneccessary, even if it does allow for the obligatory showdown between Heston & Boyle. Lastly, what is the state of technology here? It looks like the near future (with concept versions of today's space and aircraft), but also with holograms and nearly sentient AI - embodied in a luscious fembot and the antimatter bomb's computer (voiced effectively by Paul Williams). "Crisis" rode the crest of early 1990's CGI (a path blazed by the new Trek show) in which then nifty effects made drama obsolete. Now its effects look dated, and the story remains as incomprehensible as before."

'Entertainment Crisis' more like.

ted gonzalez | 10/02/2000

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I saw this DVD on the shelf and thought "...wow, sci-fi...and look at the credits." Then I saw the actors...Charlton Heston, Tim Matheson...and the plot seemed somewhat plausible...for the future anyway, so I bought it. Then I watched it the first time, then a second, and a third. I came to the conclusion that this movie was composed entirely of what was on the cutting room floor. The plot was disjointed, the most of the characters were uninspired and unbelievable (especially Matheson who couldn't act his way out of a paper bag), and despite the great special effects (2001 was touted as a credit to the sfx crew) this turkey of a movie couldn't get off the ground...much less to the sun. I give it one because, as they say; 'zero wasn't an option'. If you buy it, play the sound track to 'Event Horizon'...it makes it so much more interesting."

The Worst SF Movie I ever saw.

A viewer | Redmond WA | 01/11/2000

(1 out of 5 stars)

"It was the first time I ever felt a need to fast forward through a video and even then I couldn't stand to watch it. Fast forwarding through all the action on earth I was dumbfounded by the impossible plot on the space ship. Special effects or not, this movie is not worth paying for, I didn't - (checked it out of the local library).Take a hint from the Director credit: Alan Smithee - the real director did not even want his name on it."