Supplements:

• Shaping the Sphere: The Art of the Visual Effects Supervisor Featurette
• Audio Commentary by Dustin Hoffman & Samuel L. Jackson
• Production Notes
• Theatrical Trailer

A thousand feet beneath the ocean surface in the middle of the Pacific, something has been discovered. Its origin, its structure, its malevolent energy are baffling. But whatever it is, it can reach into your mind. It knows your worst fears. And now it's starting to make those fears come true...

Hoffman stars as Dr. Norman Goodman, a psychologist who is unexpectedly summoned by the government to a spot in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. There, he joins a cadre of specialists supervised by a mysterious team leader named Barnes (Coyote). Also joining them is Stone as Beth Halperin, a biochemist who shares a past with Goodman; and Jackson as Harry Adams, a skeptical mathematician. The hastily assembled project team is asked to embark on a mission to explore a massive spacecraft that appears to have been submerged, untouched, for almost 300 years on the ocean floor.

The team quickly travels undersea and takes up residence in a high-tech deep-water habitat while investigating the strange craft. In examining the submerged spacecraft, the team uncovers a remarkable sphere inside it. The sphere's purpose and design are enigmatic but it somehow seems to have intelligence - and is inexplicably seductive.

As the team tries to unravel the meaning and function of the sphere, they become cut off from surface contact, their world limited to the claustrophobic habitat, the submerged craft, its baffling sphere - and each other.

And then a series of horrifying incidents begin to unfold around them. One by one, the crew's subconscious terrors become real as each person's worst fears become physically manifested. With time and oxygen running out, the team members begin to turn on each other in a frantic search for who--or what--is creating this terror.

Well, that seems to be the general consensus about Sphere, at least. When it came out in January, 1998, it received a critical drubbing and sold roughly $87 worth of tickets. Its release on home video actually exposed it to many more viewers simply because Warner Bros. saw fit to package the DVD as their first (along with U.S. Marshals) attempt to generate some heat for disappointing films by issuing them as low priced special editions.

As a matter of fact, that tactic worked. Between the poor reviews and the fact that I don't much like director Barry Levinson, I passed on Sphere theatrically but thought I'd give it a chance on DVD; it was a gamble, but for about $20 MSRP, not much of one, so I gave it a try.

At this point, I've watched Sphere twice but I'm still not quite sure what I think of it. Is it as bad as I had heard? No, not even close. It has numerous faults, most of which seem to be related to the script: the plot makes some sense, but not much, and the actors have to speak some extremely tired and clichéd dialogue. (If you create a drinking game that revolves around downing a shot every time someone says "My God!" then you'll be trashed about twenty minutes into this thing.)

Despite the major handicap of the script, the cast and crew make Sphere about as watchable as it could have been. Really, it's the actors that turn the film into a semi-enjoyable experience. They all seem to realize that the project is doomed so they spice it up as much as they can. Levinson also seems looser than usual; he rarely displays the heavy-handedness that I think pervades and ruins most of his films.

Yes, the movie tends to move slowly at times, and it should have been trimmed down a bit; at 135 minutes, it's simply too long. And while I won't give away the ending, I will note that it's pretty weak. Nonetheless, I enjoyed Sphere both times I watched it. It won't make anyone's list of classic science fiction films, and it definitely is disappointing considering what could have been done with it, but the film contains enough plot twists and excitement to make it worth viewing.

As I pointed out earlier, the DVD of Sphere makes the prospect of owning it much more enticing than it would be if the title listed for five to ten dollars more. Overall, this DVD is a top-notch production. Picture quality appears nearly immaculate. Focus is sharp, and although the film was made with a rather muted palette - as in most underwater films, blues dominate - colors are accurately reproduced. I saw no hints of grain from the print. It's a terrific transfer.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound also pleases, though I don't think it's as spectacular as the film transfer. The mix works more to create a sound environment than to dazzle with effects, and it does so well. The rear channels could have been used a bit more actively - they seemed quiet through too much of the film - but overall the sound design helps immerse the viewer in the film.

Warner Bros. certainly made a statement with the concurrent DVD releases of Sphere and U.S. Marshals: they clearly did a lot to solidify their place as industry leaders when it comes to providing top of the line DVDs. The Sphere DVD contains a fair number of supplemental materials, the quantity of which may not be overwhelming but certainly was amazing for such a low-priced title.

I've said it before, I'll say it again: I'm a sucker for audio commentaries, and the prospect of listening to Dustin Hoffman and Samuel L. Jackson talk about their work for more than two hours pretty much sold this DVD to me on its own. Unfortunately, the reality of their track is something of a let-down. The commentaries were recorded separately and edited together. I guess old Dusty must have been pretty dull, because we don't hear much of him throughout the track. He chimes in every once in a while, mostly to gripe about how little he liked working in such an effects oriented film, but that's about it. This commentary really belongs to Jackson, and he entertains and informs well. Hoffman comes across as especially whiny in contrast to Jackson's "whatever it takes" attitude; he discusses all sorts of inconveniences and difficulties he encountered throughout the shoot, but he usually conveys a tone that says he felt the problems weren't really a big deal. Like the film, the commentary was disappointing but still entertaining nonetheless.

The rest of the extras are less compelling. The fifteen-minute Shaping the Sphere: The Art of the Visual Effects Supervisor is moderately interesting. Essentially, it's an audio commentary from effects supervisor who discusses his trade while images from the film appear on the screen. It's okay, but not terrific. Other informative features on this DVD include the usual cast and crew biographies, plus a brief but interesting written history of science fiction films. Neither of these programs is essential but both are well-executed.

Other than that, we get some ads: Sphere's theatrical trailer and three TV spots, plus a few actor-related trailers for other films. All of Sphere's trailers are competent enough that I'm still not sure why the film performed so poorly at the box office. The clips make it look really interesting. Do enough people really read reviews to get opinions before they plunk down their cash to sink a film like this?

Probably not, if you are looking for THIS reviewer's opinion to decide if you should own a copy of Sphere I'd give that the old thumb's up! Well, that's a thumb's up with a caveat: you should probably be a fan of this genre. Some people may be enticed to get it because of the actors or the director, but Sphere isn't much like the kind of work one normally associates with Dustin Hoffman or Barry Levinson; this ain't exactly Rain Man 2. If you're like me, however, and you enjoy science fiction films, Sphere is definitely worth the low price.