Sphere

Name: Sphere
Genre: Sci-Fi, Mystery, Thriller
Released: February 13, 1998
Duration: 134 min
Rating: 35
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Peter Coyote, Samuel L. Jackson, Sharon Stone

1998

METASCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 101 Ratings

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7.9

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7.9	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 101 Ratings

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Sphere

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Movie Details & Credits

Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: February 13, 1998 | PG-13

Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Peter Coyote, Samuel L. Jackson, Sharon Stone

Summary: A new dimension in thrills in the deep-water, deep-suspense sci-fi adventure centered on a spacecraft that plunged into the Pacific -- 300 years ago. (Warner Bros.)

Director: Barry Levinson

Genre(s): Sci-Fi, Mystery, Thriller

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 134 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

Sarah Kerr

Levinson is terrific at claustrophobia. In fact, this doesn't resemble any of his previous films so much as it does his gripping TV series, "Homicide." Read full review

David Kehr

A choppy, incoherent science-fiction thriller that does no credit to its expensive cast. [13 February 1998, p. 57]

David Sterritt

The result is a run-of-the-mill fantasy, competently produced but disappointingly familiar, from its "Forbidden Planet" premise to the digital-clock countdown near the end. Read full review

James Berardinelli

By trying to satisfy every kind of viewer, it's possible that Sphere may end up pleasing no one. Read full review

Roger Ebert

A watered-down take on the sci-fi classic "Solaris," by Stanislaw Lem, which was made into an immeasurably better film by Andrei Tarkovsky. Read full review

Andrea C. Basora

With the talent involved in Sphere -- director Barry Levinson, novelist Michael Crichton and actors Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson and Sharon Stone--how could it fail? Somehow, it does. Read full review

Lisa Schwarzbaum

Stripped of the pleasures of terror, flattened of grandeur (with a tacked-on coda that fairly groans with storytelling defeat), the movie sinks from the weight of its own heavyhandedness. Read full review

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User Reviews

Eulogist111

May 21, 2021

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,..............................
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3 of 5 users found this helpful32

Consort

Apr 24, 2021

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6 of 10 users found this helpful64

lionheart8888

Feb 3, 2015

I created a metacritic account when I saw the low score this movie received. This movie is great. Dustin Hoffman does a great job. Sheron Stone great job. Liv Schreiber great job. And Samuel L. better job. Oh, and Queen Latifah's has a small part that's just there for icing on the cake. ItsI created a metacritic account when I saw the low score this movie received. This movie is great. Dustin Hoffman does a great job. Sheron Stone great job. Liv Schreiber great job. And Samuel L. better job. Oh, and Queen Latifah's has a small part that's just there for icing on the cake. Its also pretty terrifying. This movie touches our deepest fears about the deepest portions of our oceans and our minds.… Expand

20 of 21 users found this helpful201

StewartC.

Mar 11, 2006

at times the acting is poor but the rest of the time this is an intense thriller which is easily one of the cleverest and best sci-fi's.

2 of 2 users found this helpful

SchroederRock

Dec 25, 2016

I watched this movie as a kid and found it a lot of fun and a bit scary. That was a while ago. Watching it again the movie still holds pretty strong - only the ending isn't so good. But with an excellent cast and an interesting story/setting, Sphere is a movie that was heavily dismissed byI watched this movie as a kid and found it a lot of fun and a bit scary. That was a while ago. Watching it again the movie still holds pretty strong - only the ending isn't so good. But with an excellent cast and an interesting story/setting, Sphere is a movie that was heavily dismissed by critics. Unfortunate.… Expand

10 of 12 users found this helpful102

jhegedus42

Aug 1, 2013

Strange that this movie is so down rated on IMDB and metacritic. It's really good for _my_ taste. This also shows that people have different taste in movies and taking the average of their rating is perhaps not the best measure to assess the quality of the movie. In other words, it would beStrange that this movie is so down rated on IMDB and metacritic. It's really good for _my_ taste. This also shows that people have different taste in movies and taking the average of their rating is perhaps not the best measure to assess the quality of the movie. In other words, it would be a better measure to see which other movies were liked by people who liked a given movie. In technical (machine learning/statistical) terms, some kind of a clustering of movies based on an empirical similarity matrix (created by asking people's opinion) would be a more useful characterization of a given movie than just simply assigning a score to a movie.… Expand

7 of 9 users found this helpful72

FadeBlack

Mar 18, 2017

Yikes. It's a movie with a fantastic concept, and a great cast that tries to keep it alive - but the plot disintegrates into complete nonsense. It tries to be mysterious and present some kind of psychological current, but the character's actions, the logistics, the presentation, even theYikes. It's a movie with a fantastic concept, and a great cast that tries to keep it alive - but the plot disintegrates into complete nonsense. It tries to be mysterious and present some kind of psychological current, but the character's actions, the logistics, the presentation, even the music all felt hammy and almost comedic at times. This one needs a remake.… Expand

0 of 21 users found this helpful021

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33	#33 Most Discussed Movie of 1998
39	#39 Most Shared Movie of 1998