Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		2.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

Solarbabies Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf April 6, 2016

Brooksfilm is the company Mel Brooks created to help develop personal projects, helping them through the Hollywood system. The quality of these efforts varied wildly, but 1986 was a particularly volatile year for the company, which welcomed the release of “The Fly,” arguably one of the best horror pictures of the 1980s, showcasing a thunderous directorial vision and creative freedom from David Cronenberg. In ’86, Brooksfilm also shepherded “Solarbabies,” an awkwardly titled take on “Mad Max” that featured a cast on roller skates, emoting to a glowing blue sphere. There’s certainly no way to compare the movies in terms of artistic and dramatic reach, but it’s difficult to fathom what Brooksfilm was thinking with “Solarbabies,” their attempt to join the fantasy film sweepstakes of the decade, only without a defined approach to transform its vast collection of absurdities into high-flying, fast-rolling, orb-cradling fun.

In the post-apocalyptic year of 41, the world is without water, with “The Waste” a dry, unforgiving land, without hope. At Orphanage 43, a group of young charges, the Solarbabies, try to keep their spirits alive under harsh rule from Commander Grock (Richard Jordan), sticking to games of Skateball, challenging rivals The Scorpions. One day, an accident in a nearby mine allows young Daniel (Lukas Hass) to discover a glowing alien sphere he names Bodai, who shares his consciousness with the child, curing his deafness. Excitedly bringing the ball back to the orphanage, Daniel introduces Bodai to pals Jason (Jason Patric), Terra (Jami Gertz), Metron (James LeGros), Rabbit (Claude Brooks), and Tug (Peter DeLuise), sharing his power and vision of an oceanic future. Trying to keep Bodai a secret, the blue orb is soon stolen by Darstar (Adrian Pasdar), a native man of the Chicani people who longs for freedom. Breaking out the highly secured orphanage to save their round friend, the Solarbabies enter The Waste for the first time, encountering its dangerous citizens and temptation as Grock organizes a capture mission.

As simple as it looks, there’s a lot of plot to digest in “Solarbabies,” with screenwriters Walon Green and D.A. Metrov trying to craft a Tolkien-esque saga to fuel a post-apocalyptic adventure, requiring some hand-holding in the beginning of the effort to help viewers work through ideas on “The System” and “The Protector” before being subjected to an unregulated game of Skateball (essentially lacrosse on roller skates) in an empty mining area, watching the Solarbabies clash with The Scorpions. Orphanages? Bodai? Chicani? The Waste? “Solarbabies” is a tad too ambitious for the most part, struggling to define this world for viewers while still tending to a story about the shifting possession of a glowing blue sphere. As sci-fi filmmaking goes, the effort doesn’t put in the time to clarify details, hoping that special effects and a speeding cast might be distracting enough to hold attention.

“Solarbabies” wears its “Mad Max” fandom proudly, liberally lifting a futureworld look that favors desolate locations populated with grimy characters, and Grock’s army largely consists of modified vehicles that tear across the landscape on the hunt for roller-skating teenagers. However, pinching from greatness doesn’t really matter in the long run, as the movie grows confused quickly, with rough editing cleaving away scenes to meant to act as connective tissue to the story, reducing the effort to a series of confrontations instead of a sustained narrative. Things tend to happen in “Solarbabies” without warning, extending to Darstar’s theft of Bodai, Terra’s place of purpose with a hidden society located in The Waste, and the system of orphanages, which collects young people, exposing them to militaristic submission and aggression therapy. It’s certainly not a lazy feature, offering a blinding level of earnestness from a largely untested cast (Gertz overacts like a maniac here), while Bodai’s presence in the drama in meant to provide a Spielbergian sense of wonder and alien comfort, finding bright-eyed Daniel most interested in the sphere’s charms.

Director Alan Johnson (a longtime choreographer for Brooks, also helming “To Be or Not To Be”) has spirit, but no sense of storytelling, but at least “Solarbabies” doesn’t look cheap, avoiding genre production pitfalls by spending a little coin on the project. Sets are massive, building a credible sense of scale to the fascist future, and costuming has its highlights, developing broad outfits for villainy, while the kids are clad in dirty rags, but nothing that could get tangled up in the skates. Speaking of foot-powered mobility, it’s awfully convenient that everywhere the Solarbabies go, there are always flat surfaces to roll across, even in the untamed reaches of The Waste. Half the fun of the movie is watching how Johnson handles skating accessibility, making sure there are enough caves to zoom through and crevasses to jump across to keep up the only exciting aspect of the picture.

Solarbabies Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Age is apparent in the AVC encoded image (2.34:1 aspect ratio) presentation, which delivers a dull, overly processed viewing experience. Colors aren't vibrant, mostly emerging from costuming and neon lighting, and the blue glow of the magic ball registers as intended. Skintones look deflated, missing natural pinkness. Detail isn't available, with softness apparent throughout, and even close-ups are barely acceptable, straining to bring out the sweatbox environment. Distances are largely blurry. Grain is present but not precisely managed. Delineation isn't problematic, but never truly defined. Source is in passable shape. Banding and haloing are periodically spotted.

Solarbabies Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 Dolby Digital sound mix remains agreeably active, offering a wealth of sound effects that hold position, finding combat and chase sequences lively. Scoring is unbearably thin, but it retains its original purpose, buttressing the action and forcing emotional responses. Dialogue is crisp, making laborious exposition easy to understand, while group activity provides reasonable separation to identify hardships and character excitement.

Solarbabies Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Theatrical Trailer (1:53, SD) is included.

Solarbabies Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Solarbabies" shows surprising menace, finding Grock a sadistic baddie who enjoys a little ant-based torture in his spare time, soon teaming with a sexually forward scientist (Sarah Douglas) to help crack open Bodai, trying to tap into his alien power. Threats of surgical alteration for misbehaving children are thankfully not kept, but the picture maintains its PG-13 rating throughout, despite possessing pronounced Disneyfied elements. Like everything in the feature, the climax is a messy display of explosions, near-misses, and roller skating mischief, again missing a few steps to secure a proper resolution. Overall, it's a disappointing feature, never achieving its lofty sci-fi and action goals, bungling a chance to stun with weirdness and a special kind of screen velocity. "Solarbabies" isn't a slapdash effort shot over a long weekend. It's a big film that, unfortunately, died a long death during the production process.