Sphere

1998
PG-13
2h 14m

IMDb RATING

6.1/10

114K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer0:31

Psychological Drama Psychological Thriller Action Mystery Sci-Fi Thriller

A spaceship is discovered under three hundred years' worth of coral growth at the bottom of the ocean.A spaceship is discovered under three hundred years' worth of coral growth at the bottom of the ocean.A spaceship is discovered under three hundred years' worth of coral growth at the bottom of the ocean.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.1/10

114K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

4,699

627

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 3 nominations

Trivia
Many scenes, like Harry (Samuel L. Jackson) and Norman's (Dustin Hoffman's) conversation about making up the ULF report and dealing with Ted (Liev Schreiber), were completely improvised.

Goofs
When Jerry first makes contact, he transmits in code : "MY NAME IS JERRY". Later, the code is revealed to have been mistranslated and the message reads: "MY NAME IS HARRY" If the letters H, E, J, and A in the simple letter/number substitution code were wrong, the first message would have read: "MY NEMA IS JERRY". Also, the entire series of conversations they had would have exhibited the same error, yet none did so. (HAPPY would have been JEPPY, ALL = ELL, etc.)

Quotes
Dr. Harry Adams: We're all gonna die down here.
Norman Goodman: What?
Dr. Harry Adams: You see? It's curious. Ted did figure it out - time travel. And when we get back, we gonna tell everyone. How it's possible, how it's done, what the dangers are. But then why fifty years in the future when the spacecraft encounters a black hole does the computer call it an 'unknown entry event'? Why don't they know? If they don't know, that means we never told anyone. And if we never told anyone it means we never made it back. Hence we die down here. Just as a matter of deductive logic.

Crazy credits
The opening credits are cast over an invisible sphere.

Alternate versions
SPOILER ALERT: An alternate television edit has been shown with a simplified and more ambiguous ending that follows the shooting script; Harry warns them that the authorities are on their way to debrief them, and they will demand answers. The three survivors ready themselves to forget about their mission and the power they possess. Outside, a helicopter sets down. Subsequently, we see the three survivors being interviewed in a debriefing room after decompression, each shot individually against the same background. They react as if they're oblivious to anything going wrong in the Habitat, unaware of anything that happened to Ted, Barnes or the Sphere. The helicopter leaves, and the camera pans down to the ocean, where the Sphere supposedly still remains.

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Blues Brothers 2000/Illtown/The Replacement Killers (1998)

Soundtracks
Horn Concerto No. 3 in E Flat Major, K.447
Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by Vienna Mozart Ensemble; Herbert Kraus, Conductor
Courtesy of LaserLight Digital
By arrangement with Source/Q

User reviews359

Review

Featured review

8/10

A fairly decent Crichton flick!

After reading many users' mixed comments on the movie..i can't help but feel that a majority have underrated the film. True it could have been better, especially in the latter half, but having read the book first, i did not feel it actually falling off midway like the way other viewers have described it. People who have read the novel will acknowledge that the movie does follow the novel fairly closely. Thus comments about Hoffman's role and the ending are unfair, since i feel they are the closest big-screen reproductions of one of Crichton's best works. I feel Stone's character was the role followed the weakest.

Definitely the giant squid thrills are insufficient (note that Crichton devoted a good part of his novel describing encounters with 'the monster'). I guess animation artists were short budgeted...though the film as a whole still is a visual treat...and the atmosphere is rightly captured, with nice music.

Overall, I think the movie is worth watching and is definitely of a much higher caliber than 'The Lost World'. It follows a psychological-cum-sci-fi thriller theme and i feel is better than the similar flick 'Abyss'. As from the novel's point-of-view...it could have been done better though. 8/10 stars!