Cheap Solaris - Criterion Collection (DVD) (Natalya Bondarchuk, Donatas Banionis, Jüri Järvet) (Andrei Tarkovsky) Price

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Customer Reviews of Solaris - Criterion Collection

Director Andrei Tarkovsky has created visually stunning movie discusses what it means to love and to be a human being. Filled with fine acting performances by Donatas Banionis as Kris Kelvin and Natalya Bondarchuk as his dead wife Hari, the film relies much more on storytelling than special effects. The only drawback to the film is its length. A few scenes seem to drag on forever with no point to them. But, those can be easily overlooked.

Don't confuse this with the George Clooney remake! There is no comparison between the two.

Extraordinary Movie
I'm so pleased that SOLARIS is finally on DVD (prompted, no doubt, by the recent remake). Ostensibly, it's a sci-fi movie, but it's likely to appeal to non-sci-fi fans. In many ways, it reminds me of 2001. The plot concerns some mysterious events in a Russian space station in the future. The space station is studying the planet Solaris, which has a swirling plasma-like ocean that may or may not be sencient. A psychologist, Dr. Kris Kelvin, is sent to retrieve the remaining crew and determine whether the mission can continue. When he arrives, Dr. Kelvin is shocked to find that the crew has "guests." Whether the "guests" are hallucinations is left somewhat unanswered, and the ending is fairly enigmatic. However, the film is first-rate in every way.

The visuals are simply stunning; it's one of the best looking films I've ever seen, and this beauty is enhanced by DVD technology. The film is long (2 hours and 45 minutes) and slow-moving; however, I was never bored and actually found myself wishing the movie could go on further. Highly recommended to fans of 70s cinema, intelligent sci-fi, and great movies. I haven't seen the remake, but seeing the original has definitely made me curious.

Learning one's place
We find a creature who seems far more advanced than we are. Who we might like to destroy but hardly know if we can. Who can seemingly turn our minds against us. For whom we don't seem to be a priority at all. Of whom our best minds manage only feeble speculations.

I saw this movie first and only recently read Lem's story. Tarkovsky got a great start from Lem. It's difficult to compare text and movie. Tarkovsky seemed to have been reasonably faithful to the contents of the book, but added a long introduction as well as his own ending. Both works are impressive. Tarkovsky seems to linger often so a good deal of patience is a prerequisite for enjoying this film.

Now that I've read Lem's "Solaris", I'm less satisfied with Tarkovsky's "Solaris". Lem's book moved along well. Tarkovskky's added introduction (including moving up the inquiry of Burton) accomplishes little and the ending may be more explicit than is needed: hasn't Solaris already done enough to impress? On the other hand, Tarkovsky's cast is excellent (I especially enjoyed Hari and Snow) and visually the movie is a treat.