The new _Solaris_ (trailers included). (1 Viewer)

[Adam Lenhardt]

20th Century Fox Presents a James Cameron Production of a Steven Soderbergh Film:
Solaris

 

[Guy_K]

This one looks promising. It's a remake though, so ya never know.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Is it a remake or a new adaptation of the original material? IIRC, there was very little Lem in Tartovsky's film.

 

[SteveGon]

Cameron and Soderbergh teaming up? Could be pretty good!

 

[Luc D]

There's no way this film is coming out this year, they haven't even started principle photography yet.

It's a great book, and though I haven't been too impressed by Soderbergh or Cameron's more recent work, this does have the potential of being a really special film.

 

[Gordon Elgart]

The teaser trailer that ran before Minority Report listed a December 13 release date. I'm not going to hold my breath, but I may cross my fingers . . .

 

[DanaA]

This should be interesting. I remember reading, I think it was the L.A. Times, a review when Solaris first was released in the United States wherein it was compared very favorably to 2001. I went to a theater (this I do remember - the Nuart in West L.A.) and watched a late showing of it. To me, it was very much in the mode of 2001 in that it required a very actively thinking viewer. I thought it was actually a very good science fiction movie, but not at the same level as Kubrick's classic, which I had seen many times, so the comparison might not be valid due to my familiarity with 2001. I really anticipate the remake, but worry that it might end up typical Hollywood...well, you all know what I mean. But, what if they do it right. Then, it too might be a film being discussed on HTF 30 years from now...or about the time they decide to do an Andrei Rublev remake.

 

[Nigel McN]

Teaser 8 megs
Link Removed
and it does only say 'December 13'

 

[Sarah Temple]

the trailer in MINORITY REPORT was more like a teaser to me. im interested to see the outcome though. i think its a pretty fantastic team!!

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

There's no way this film is coming out this year, they haven't even started principle photography yet.

Production began on May 5th, so I suspect they have already began shooting, but many sources have said the film will come out in Summer 2003 and not the original December 13th date. I have a feeling the teaser was made before that date change.
I've seen half of the original Solaris (I fell asleep, not cause I was bored, just cause I was up late) and I liked what I saw (hopefully I'll be able to see the whole film one day) and with a team like Cameron and Soderbergh, I'll be there opening day.

 

[Jack Briggs]

I am pretty much perched in Dana's camp. Solaris is a monumental, unforgettable triumph. Which is why I'm apprehensive about this new thing, Soderbergh notwithstanding. Cameron producing should bring fears of the Big Dumb Hollywood Production to mind. I am trying to be open to this new thing, but I certainly am not hopeful.

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

Cameron producing should bring fears of the Big Dumb Hollywood Production to mind.

It should bring fears (especially after Titanic), but I think he will remain faithful to the source (he's been a fan of science fiction all his life). Also, I don't think that Soderbergh would turn Solaris into just a Big Dumb Hollywood Production. I have faith in the project, but I don't think I would be suprised if the film was "dumbed down."

 

[Shawn C]

Hey, I just caught the Solaris trailer over at http://www.apple.com/trailers
Apparently, it's directed by Steven Soderbergh and produced by James Cameron?? Has this been under wraps or something for a while? I hadn't heard of it until I saw the trailer. I guess it stars George Clooney. The synopsis sounds a little like Event Horizon:
"Astronaut Kris Kelvin travels to a space station orbiting the planet Solaris. He discovers that the commander of an expedition studying the planet has died under mysterious circumstances and that the planet itself is responsible for the death. Solaris, it turns out, is not only a planet, but a giant and powerful life form that has been studying and destroying the minds of the scientists who have been observing it. Now it's Kelvin's turn, and Solaris will use his deepest, darkest fears against him."
Thanks for the merge---I'm an idiot.

 

[Nigel McN]

heh, watching Solaris while tired wouldn't be recommended
I look forward to seeing what can be done, while I enjoyed the movie a lot, I am not sure how long it would take before I would want to watch it again
Link Removed

 

[Nigel McN]

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...threadid=78042

 

[Rich Malloy]

I've been hearing about this for awhile - Tarkovsky's film version of "SOLARIS" is the movie that turned me onto his brilliance as a director - and I was thrilled to see that little teaser before Minority Report yesterday.

Though I'm betting Soderbergh will stick closer to Stanislaw Lem's vision (whereas Tarkovsky used the novel more as a jumping off point to primarily explore themes of human guilt and redemption), I strongly recommend checking out Tarkovsky's version. It's available on a fine DVD from Ruscico with an anamorphic transfer and surprisingly effective 5.1 remix. Criterion has also announced that they'll eventually release Tarkovsky's "Solaris", but no release date's been set and it looks to be at least a little while before we see it.

There wasn't all that much to the teaser trailer, but the second I saw that space station in orbit above Solaris, I felt like applauding! As I sat there watching "Minority Report", thinking about "A.I." and the "The Matrix" sequels and the new "Solaris", I realized that we're in the midst of something like a sci-fi renaissance!

 

[Jack Briggs]

I wish I could share your optimism, Rich. We shall see, we shall see. ...

 

[Jack Briggs]

Ooooops. Forgot about the other thread about the same topic. Gonna merge the two. Fasten your seatbelts.

 

[TheLongshot]

A script review for Solaris..
http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=12535
Jason

 

[Rich Malloy]

Thanks, Jason! That review reads like it was written by someone with a clue... love the way he starts it off:

I have fundamental reservations regarding this adaptation. [A]s I told Tarkovsky during one of our quarrels, he didn't make Solaris at all. He made Crime and Punishment. What we get in the film is only how this abominable Kelvin has driven poor Harey to suicide and then he has pangs of conscience which are amplified by her appearance; a strange and incomprehensible appearance. This phenomenalistics [sic] of Harey's subsequent appearances was for me an exemplification of certain concept which can be derived almost from Kant himself. Because there exists the Ding an sich, the Unreachable, the Thing-in-Itself, the Other Side which cannot be penetrated. But in my prose this was made apparent and orchestrated completely differently... I have to make it clear, however, that I haven't seen the whole film except for 20 minutes of the second part although I know the screenplay very well...

The whole sphere of cognitive and epistemological considerations was extremely important in my book and it was tightly coupled to the solaristic literature and to the essence of solaristics as such. Unfortunately, the film has been robbed of those qualities rather thoroughly. Only in small bits and through the tracking camera shots we discover the fates of those present at the station but these fates should not be any existential anecdote either but a grand question concerning man's position in Cosmos, etc.

My Kelvin decides to stay on the planet without any hope whatsoever while Tarkovsky created an image where some kind of an island appears, and on that island a hut. And when I hear about the hut and the island I'm beside myself with irritation... This is just some emotional sauce into which Tarkovsky has submerged his heroes, not to mention that he has completely amputated the scientific landscape and in its place introduced so much of the weirdness I cannot stand.

I can't tell you how surprised I was to learn that the finale of Tarkovsky's "SOLARIS" was different from Lem's in this regard. That final shot, which the aint-it-cool script reviewer describes as "haunting.... grow[ing] progressively bleaker as the camera pulls back" was one of those rare jaw-dropping endings that stayed with me for days after my first viewing. It makes me wonder whether Soderbergh will end it in whatever fashion Lem did, or whether he'll strive for some equally mind-blowing last minute misdirection leading to revelation like Tarkovsky's?