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

DonaldB

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That's a moot question because Soderbergh hasn't the wherewithal to pull off anything as profound as Tarkovsky could. The man is at best a craftsman, not an artist.
 

Alex Spindler

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That's a bold statement.

Personally, I couldn't be any more excited. Literate source material in the hands of a very character driven director and a producer passionate about science fiction in general.

This should be quite something.
 

MickeS

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I have tried to watch "Solaris" twice, but both times were late at night and I was tired, which are NOT ideal conditions for a slowmoving and quiet film like that.

I'm looking forward to this movie, as I think Soderbergh is one of the more artistic yet commercially successful directors working today. Cameron has shown a good grasp of and love for Sci-Fi before and is a very visually inventive artist. Should be good. It'll be interesting to see how Clooney does too, he's one of my favorite actors.

/Mike
 

Anthony Hom

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I have to agree that in order for Soderbergh to make it, he has to top that finale in the original. The raining inside and the pan back was one of the most artistic moments in film history. The question that begs itself is: will he create a work of art like the original, or will he make an entertaining movie to appeal to the general public? He dare not go down the same route as Event Horizon or Sphere, we all know what happened there.
Cameron has a good history of making re-makes/sequels and putting them back on the map for mainstream movie goers (Aliens, T2, Titanic).
I think anyone who thinks Solaris is "cool" probably doesn't get it. :)
 

Rich Malloy

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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.
(BTW, I'm getting these quotes from the website www.nostalghia.com, the finest Tarkovsky resource on the web.)
In Lem's defense, he apparently had no idea what the "hut" is in reference to (nor, it seems, that Kelvin's "father" is in there). He claims to have read the script, but apparently saw no more than 20 minutes of the finished film.
But, back to the original topic, I think Soderbergh can make a great film of this novel. I'm not nearly as excited by James Cameron's presence and each of the movies you mention in his defense strike me as being far less than the originals. The original "Terminator" still stands up whereas "T2" strikes me as just so much production-line silliness, all lame one-liners and bad child acting - the "McBane/Rainer Wolfcastle" version of "Terminator"; "Aliens" simply never had a thing on "Alien", and gets creakier by the year; "Titanic" ripped off everything that was good about it from "A Night to Remember", and then added all the groan-inducing cliches that brought in the 13 yr old girls in droves.
"Solaris", if done right, should be like kryptonite to 13 year old girls.
 

JohnRice

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The latest word seems to be that principal photography is completed, since George Clooney is done with his part of the project. The release date does appear to be next summer.
 

Nick Sievers

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Count me in as someone who is excited, especially since Soderbergh is involved.
Anyway there are some pictures from the set of Solaris HERE.
 

Rich Malloy

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Those pictures look remarkably similar to the set in Tarkovsky's version!

I wonder if the blood stains (?) on that door (?) are from the scene where Kelvin leaves the Hari-emanation alone in his room and she/it rips through the metal door to remain in his presence?
 

Anthony Hom

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Sorry if I wasn't clearer about my statement on every sequel/ remake that Cameron did. I didn't mean to say he made a better film than the original version, but to say he made a bigger selling movie than the original in each case. That's not to say the film was better, just sold more tickets and in Hollywoodland, that's a good thing :).
Remember Rich, I said he made the sequels and remakes that appealed to the mainstream (the popcorn movie crowd), he didn't make it for artistic sake. Which is good that he isn't directing it, since he directed all the sequels/remakes that outsold the original (including his own T1).
As for the Lem novel, I purposely did not read the book before seeing the movie. As good as the book may be, I did not want to already have a bias on the movie. like 2001, I expected this to be more director driven, not based 100% on the original story. It's still my favorite part of the film, despite that it's not in the book.
I don't buy the idea that all a director has to do is follow a book verbatim and voila, a great movie! I'm sure there is evidence for both sides of that argument.
A film becomes a work of art when a director can take a story and capture a vision that works from so many different levels and angles. I would be dissappointed if Soderbergh just took everything out of the book and dressed it up with special effects. A director has to be inspired by a story and take it in the direction that few have an idea.
 

Rich Malloy

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I completely agree, Anthony. Obviously, Tarkovsky went this route in a big way.

And I hope Soderbergh puts a good bit of himself into this movie, too. We haven't seen the auteur-Soderbergh in years, and I think he's been doing the impersonal thing for too long now. He's proved himself as a hired gun. I'd like to see him prove himself once again as an artist.

And I also agree with the flipside of your statements -slavish devotion to the text shouldn't be the primary criterion for success. I can't think of a better example than "Lolita", Kubrick's brilliantly imaginative adaptation that captures Nabokov's satirical tone (if perhaps going a tad too slapstick on occasion) as compared to Lyne's ridiculous note-for-note transcription that doggedly follows the book without beginning to understand it. I still can't believe he took Humbert's Ana Lee story seriously, much less that he used it as the lever to turn Nabokov's clever, bittersweet satire into a dreary, hamfisted tragedy. Perhaps someday someone will show him Poe's poem and he'll die of embarrassment. :b
 

Anthony Hom

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Thanks for the reply Rich, you seem like someone (like Jack Briggs) who can appreciate the depth of a film's screenplay and how it's adapted visually to make a work of art.. I enjoy a film that's a work of art, but also enjoys films that are pure entertainment. It's nice to appreciate both aspects of film.
I agree about Soderbergh, let's hope Solaris will inspire him to bring out his artistic film side once again.
:emoji_thumbsup:
 

Peter Apruzzese

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Time for me to try Tarkovsky's SOLARIS again. My one and only viewing was an inadequate VHS more than 12 years ago and the film failed to make a big impact on me, even though I loved much of it. I have a *big* feeling I wasn't quite expecting what I saw that night. After waiting, in vain, for a theatrical showing somewhere near here, I'll have to check out the DVD.

Rich, you mentioned the Rusico DVD of SOLARIS. Where did you order it from? - I'd like to track it down.
 

Rich Malloy

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Peter, I'm not sure how to go about buying it directly from the Ruscico site (it was my understanding that you had to subscribe to the whole collection, crazy as that sounds).
But, assuming these online distributors still have them in-stock - and recent problems regarding the use of the trademarked "DVD Video" symbol may soon be drastically limiting their availability - you can find this 2-disc set at one of two stores where most of us purchase them:
Direct link to Solaris DVD at RBCmp3.com ($34.99): http://www.rbcmp3.com/store/product....1439&sku=26292
Direct link to Solaris DVD at St.-P's Press ($34.99 - seems to be stuck in "russian language mode"): http://www.st-p.com/sell.asp?ItemId=11111&whereid=100
Again, as far as purchasing it directly from Ruscico, I have no idea how this is done and I'm not sure whether it's advisable. Thi?
 

Rich Malloy

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Also, Peter, here's a really complete and accurate review of the Ruscico SOLARIS disc, just to help you feel better about that premium price:
http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/index.cgi?...594&story=2692
I've got each of Ruscico's Tarkovsky discs, and SOLARIS is definitely the best one. In fact, I was all set to hate the 5.1 remix (and I do hate their 5.1 remixes of STALKER and RUBLEV), but it completely won me over. It's a very effective remix.
 

David Rogers

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Unlike a rather LARGE number of the spoilsports who've chimed in here, I think the people attached to this project (Cameron, Sodderberg, with Cloney as lead) ... are the reason it's an interesting project.

Too bad so many of you can't see past whatever hangups you apparently have to stop trashing Sodderberg or Cameron. I for one am glad Cameron is finally attached to SOMETHING, and can't wait for him to finally attach to something ELSE as director either. Sodderberg I think is promising as a great director but I haven't decided yet.

Good thing the original film is on DVD though, for those of you already doom-and-glooming about how bad a remake will just have to be with THESE people involved.
 

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