Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Sphere Blu-ray Movie Review

What’s inside the Sphere? Nothing, really.

Reviewed by Casey Broadwater September 13, 2009

Somewhere between seventh and eight grade I went through an intense Michael Crichton phase, devouring Jurassic Park, Congo, and The Andromeda Strain in quick succession. I have clear memories of staying up much too late with a flashlight and a tattered library copy of Sphere, shuddering at the book’s creepy manifestations and mentally chewing on some ideas that were a bit beyond my junior high mind. And yet, for whatever reason, until yesterday I had never seen Sphere, the movie. Part of it, I’m sure, has to do with Crichton’s spotty film record. Aside from Rising Sun and Jurassic Park, adaptations of his novels haven’t exactly been blessed with the Midas movie touch. So, despite the comforting presence of director Barry Levinson (Wag the Dog, Rain Man) and a solid, unlikely cast of actors—including Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson, Sharon Stone, and Liev Schreiber—I was understandably wary going into Sphere. Some fifteen years after reading the book, I don’t remember many details for comparison, but I found the first hour of the film to be genuinely gripping. Unfortunately, Sphere unravels like a ball of yarn in its second half, quickly becoming a tangled mess of unfocused action, vague plot points, and some metaphysical nonsense.

The team discovers a giant Christmas tree ornament.

The set-up is promising. After a supposedly alien spacecraft is discovered on the ocean floor, mysterious government liaison Captain Barnes (Peter Coyote) calls in a team of experts, including psychologist Norman Goodman (Dustin Hoffman), biochemist Beth Halpern (Sharon Stone), mathematician Harry Adams (Samuel L. Jackson), and astrophysicist Ted Fielding (Liev Schreiber), to investigate the ship and rendezvous with any potential unidentified living entities. One thousand feet underwater, with a typhoon raging overhead, the team makes a striking discovery. The spacecraft turns out to be an American vessel from the future—it had been sucked through a black hole—and contained it its cavernous hull is an enormous sphere, rippling like mercury and reflecting everything around it but the team of scientists. Spooky. When Harry sneaks on board the craft and finds a way to enter the sphere—a smile of almost demonic glee on his face—strange things begin happening on board the undersea base station. Binary code received by the station’s computers reveal an intelligence named “Jerry” who claims “I am happy,” leading Norman to wonder, “What happens if Jerry gets mad?” The answer comes in the form of bizarre manifestations—aggressive jellyfish attack the habitat’s technician (Queen Latifah), a giant squid rattles the hull, and a fire on board is put out as mysteriously as it was started. When the surviving characters realize they’ve all been inside the sphere, a circle of distrust causes the situation to go from bad to much, much worse.

The particulars of the plot all but name-check a legion of much better sci-fi films. Watching the team amble underwater toward the ship, holding flashlights and moving with near slow-motion speed, I couldn’t help but think of the scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey, when the scientists approach the monolith on the moon in similar outfits and with similarly impeded movements. The titular sphere is basically a monolith stand-in anyhow, a mysterious alien object that expands human consciousness, whether we’re ready for it or not. The distrust between the team members is reminiscent of The Thing’s great blood-testing sequence, but it’s far less cleverly—or clearly—resolved here. And there are other moments that echo Contact, The Abyss, Alien, Solaris, and Close Encounters. If there’s one overarching thing that hampers Sphere, it’s that it feels far too familiar and underwhelming when compared to the best and brightest cinematic stars in the science fiction universe.

In many ways, though, the film is very competently made. The underwater cinematography is stunning, and Levinson’s compositions adequately convey feeling through spatial orientation—there’s a definite awe and wonder when the team approaches the enormous spacecraft via sub, and the cramped quarters of the undersea station are tense and claustrophobic. The actors too handle the material with ease, and several scenes ring true with off-the-cuff improvisation. Jackson plays a relatively cool-headed character for once, so we don’t get the pleasure of his trademark outbursts—no “I’m sick and tired of these mother-bleeping sea snakes on this mother-bleeping submarine” here—but he nabs a few great moments with Hoffman, who frequently looks nonplussed, considering the circumstances. Still, “The Hoff” is fantastic as always, even if his character is somewhat flat. This goes for just about everyone. There’s a rivalry between Harry and Ted about who was the best scholastic wunderkind in college, and of course there’s Norman and Beth’s hinted former history, but there’s little development of these threads, and at no point do we every really care about any of the characters.

However, it’s the unspooling of the central mystery—the what, why, and how of the sphere’s influence—that comes as the biggest disappointment. As the crew members gradually become aware that they are causing the manifestations, the internal logic of the film begins to break down. What are the rules governing these manifestations? Obviously, not just any fleeting thought can pop into reality, otherwise the film would be cluttered with all the sundry internal visions that an average person has during the day—pumpkin pie, sex, existential dilemmas, 1980s sitcom intros, etc. Maybe that’s just me. Anyway, the things that do become manifest— angry jellyfish, a giant squid, sea snakes—all seem so mundane and ocean-specific. Granted, the characters are underwater at the time, but are these really their deepest, darkest fears? The premise of the power to create tangible, physical objects from thought alone has so much promise, but the potential is almost completely wasted here. Near the end of the film, Hoffman’s character gives a “look what we’re capable of” monologue about how, as intelligent people, they nonetheless willed horrible things into being, and how humans aren’t ready for this power, but the tacked on moral lacks any emotional resonance. By the time you get to the film’s coda, a causal, time-loop completing moment of literal handholding (you’ll understand if you see it), you might be manifesting your own visions—of better sci-films you could have watched.

Sphere Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

As a catalog title from the late 1990s, Sphere looks great on Blu-ray, with a clean and detailed 1080p/VC-1 encoded transfer. Nearly the whole movie is set underwater, so the palette is understandably subdued—the interior of the submerged base of operations is almost entirely stainless steel, the inside of the "alien" craft is a darker grey, and the ocean floor segments are awash in deep blues. There are a few vivid colors, like the bright red flashing of warning lights and, of course, the rippling gold sphere, but the overall look is appropriately restrained. Black levels and contrast are well balanced through most of the film, though you'll notice—or rather not notice—a few crushed details here and there. Some of the undersea segments also seem a little washed out, so to speak, though this seems due to the diffuse dust and debris in the water. The print itself is just about spotless—I only noticed one white speck throughout—and there's a thin layer of barely noticeable grain that gives the image a warm and definite filmic quality. The title may not be as crisp as some modern offerings, but this is still a sharp and pleasing transfer, with plenty of detail apparent in facial textures and on-set props. Aside from one or two instances of very minor contrast wavering, there are no real transfer-related problems to report. All in all, Sphere looks better than ever.

Sphere Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle. Sphere rolls onto Blu-ray with a watery Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track that suits the film well. You won't notice a huge number of discrete effects, but there's almost always something bubbling up in the rears, whether it's subtle ambience, bleeding score, or aquatic sound effects. Water is obviously a big part of Sphere, and you'll hear it drip, slosh, splash, trickle, gush, and flow frequently in the surround channels. Listen to the plunging, bubbly sounds as the team's submarine first descends to the ocean floor and hear the deep twanging of the hull succumbing to water pressure. Be disturbed by the creepy thumping of something banging on the outside of the underwater station. Warning sirens peel out loudly, hatches seal with satisfying suction, and atmospheric, tension-building sounds roar and throb with low-end presence. Elliot Goldenthal's score is a big, Hollywood affair, with bold, bellowing horns and strings that sweep one moment and screech with staccato stabs the next. There are a couple of stocky sounds, and there's an indistinct quality to some of the bass, especially during the opening scene, but most of the film has a clean presence that's bolstered by clear, front and center dialogue. This track won't necessarily rock your world or rattle your walls, but it provides Sphere with plenty of strong, watery waveforms.

Sphere Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Commentary by Dustin Hoffman and Samuel L. Jackson
When you read "Commentary by Dustin Hoffman and Samuel L. Jackson" you might assume that the two heavy-hitting actors are watching the film together, trading anecdotes, having a few laughs, and engaging in a little witty repartee. Well, think again. This is one of those commentary tracks, where the participants are recorded separately and their comments are cut 'n pasted in accordance to whoever has the most interesting thing to say at the moment. Sam Jackson is given the most play here, and he manages to have a good time all by his lonesome, chatting casually about the film and giving some insights into the process of shooting underwater. Hoffman is a bit more subdued, and it seems like he didn't have as much fun on set as he did on some of his other films with Barry Levinson. It's a disappointment the two actors couldn't have recorded a track together, but if you can get past its somewhat disjointed nature, this commentary is a decent enough listen.

Shaping the Sphere: Art of the Special Effects Supervisor (SD, 14:36)
Special Effects Supervisor Jeff Okun gives an overview of his responsibilities on Sphere, and takes us through some of the techniques used to create the illusions that sell the film, from storyboards and concept drawings through scaled miniatures and CGI. The segment ends with Elkins giving some advice for those who might want a career in the special effects industry.

Theatrical Trailer (SD, 2:21)

Three TV Spots (SD, 2:07 total)

Sphere Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The beginning of Sphere is tense and exciting, but as soon as all hell begins to break loose for the characters, the film itself follows suit, wasting a fantastic premise for psychological terror. The film feels like one of those matinees you'd catch on basic cable on a lazy weekend afternoon, something you'd commit to watching—it's modestly entertaining, after all—even though you don't really expect it to be any good. On the plus side, the film gets a strong high definition treatment on Blu-ray, and fans should feel comfortable trading in their scratched up DVD copies. If you're new to the film, it's worth a rental, if only for the fun cast and underwater cinematography.