Not everyone will have the patience for <I>Solar Crisis</I>; 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. <P> This movie has high hopes and some interesting moments, but can't make up its mind whether it's a <I>Mad Max</I>-style end-of-the-world movie, an <I>Outland</I>-style space thriller, or a <I>Blade Runner</I>-style "soul of the robot" meditation. It's none of the above. Best viewed after midnight. <I>--Grant Balfour</I>
Viewer Reviews Solar Crisis turned out to be a surprise. At first, the film starts out as a typical science fiction movie; you know, pretentious. Then, slowly as the plot finally emerges out from its "suspense"--behold!--a story that can be considered truly "science fiction." Without giving its ending away, Solar Crisis spiral its story and its characters into the heart of the sun. The movie does one thing that most science fiction film of late have failed to accomplish or forgotten its original premise: that self-sacrifice--not space exploration--is the ultimate adventure.
