Product Details

• Actors: Tim Matheson, Charlton Heston, Peter Boyle, Annabel Schofield, Corin Nemec
• Directors: Alan Smithee, Richard C. Sarafian
• Writers: Crispan Bolt, Joe Gannon, Takeshi Kawata
• Producers: Barbara Nelson, James Nelson, Joan McCormick-Cooper
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Lions Gate
• DVD Release Date: September 20, 1999
• Run Time: 112 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305645566
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #74,853 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Solar Crisis" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Not everyone will have the patience for Solar Crisis; in many ways, it lands on the not-so-good end of the B-movie spectrum. Possibly something got lost in translation between the American crew and the Japanese producers. The premise: a giant solar flare is threatening to end all life on Earth. Our only hope is an antimatter bomb launched into the sun to trigger the flare prematurely. A greedy corporate concern (headed by Peter Boyle as a somewhat doofy antichrist) sabotages the mission. Meanwhile, the mission leader is under additional pressure--his admiral father (Charlton Heston) has descended to the near-apocalyptic Earth to rescue his son (Corin Nemec) who has gone AWOL from his military academy. Jack Palance gives the best performance in the film as a half-crazy desert dweller who rescues the son from the cruel environment and the corporate goons. Story sound a little complicated? Wait till you get to the "intelligent bomb" subplot.

This movie has high hopes and some interesting moments, but can't make up its mind whether it's a Mad Max-style end-of-the-world movie, an Outland-style space thriller, or a Blade Runner-style "soul of the robot" meditation. It's none of the above. Best viewed after midnight. --Grant Balfour

Product Description
Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 09/23/2003

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Inept sci-fi, October 25, 2004

By	Rottenberg's rotten book review (nyc) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This flick posits the world facing a doomsday solar flare in the near future. Tim Matheson leads a cast of boring action figures to the edge of the sun, where he will pilot a smaller spaceship into the sun while carrying an anti-matter bomb - what amounts to a suicide mission. (The science of solar flares theorizes that they form based on magnetic lines that work like rubber bands; the bomb will snap the lines and prevent the lethal flare from forming.) Meanwhile, Matheson's son escapes from his military school, and Matheson's disapproving father - Charlton Heston as an uptight career military man - sets out to find him. The flare is preceded by other solar phenomenon that's steaming up the earth (and interfering with anything that relies on basic principles of electromagnetism). While the mission must succeed for the sake of humanity, a sinister tycoon played by Peter Boyle is determined to sabotage it.

Nothing in this flick works - least of all why Boyle is set on sinking a mission that's clearly mankind's last hope (doubts over whether it may be worse than the flare or at least uneccessary seem to have been left out of the script). The plot about Matheson's son seems entirely uneccessary, even if it does allow for the obligatory showdown between Heston & Boyle. Lastly, what is the state of technology here? It looks like the near future (with concept versions of today's space and aircraft), but also with holograms and nearly sentient AI - embodied in a luscious fembot and the antimatter bomb's computer (voiced effectively by Paul Williams). "Crisis" rode the crest of early 1990's CGI (a path blazed by the new Trek show) in which then nifty effects made drama obsolete. Now its effects look dated, and the story remains as incomprehensible as before.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars 'Entertainment Crisis' more like., October 2, 2000

By	ted gonzalez - See all my reviews

I saw this DVD on the shelf and thought "...wow, sci-fi...and look at the credits." Then I saw the actors...Charlton Heston, Tim Matheson...and the plot seemed somewhat plausible...for the future anyway, so I bought it. Then I watched it the first time, then a second, and a third. I came to the conclusion that this movie was composed entirely of what was on the cutting room floor. The plot was disjointed, the most of the characters were uninspired and unbelievable (especially Matheson who couldn't act his way out of a paper bag), and despite the great special effects (2001 was touted as a credit to the sfx crew) this turkey of a movie couldn't get off the ground...much less to the sun. I give it one because, as they say; 'zero wasn't an option'. If you buy it, play the sound track to 'Event Horizon'...it makes it so much more interesting.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Worst SF Movie I ever saw., January 11, 2000

By	A viewer (Redmond WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Solar Crisis (VHS) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

It was the first time I ever felt a need to fast forward through a video and even then I couldn't stand to watch it. Fast forwarding through all the action on earth I was dumbfounded by the impossible plot on the space ship. Special effects or not, this movie is not worth paying for, I didn't - (checked it out of the local library).

Take a hint from the Director credit: Alan Smithee - the real director did not even want his name on it.