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Information Exchange => Reader Comments => Topic started by: Andrew on November 25, 2006, 04:09:49 PM



Title: Solarbabies
Post by: Andrew on November 25, 2006, 04:09:49 PM
Roller skating teens and their friend, a glowing ball from outer space, defy the evil company that controls all of Earth's water.

Click here to go to the Review (http://www.badmovies.org/movies/solarbabies/)


Title: Solarbabies
Post by: Squishy on February 04, 2000, 04:10:24 AM
Shandray is, of course, Sarah Douglas, who helped make this movie and "Superman II" and "Quest of the Delta Knights" and "Conan the Destroyer" that much more painful. Tug was played by a DeLuise, and we all know what THAT name means...more PAIN!


Title: Solarbabies
Post by: Terra on May 18, 2000, 12:49:16 AM
Whatever, I love this movie, it rocks, eightees movies were the best and it wasn't supposed to be realistic just entertaining, Go Solarbabies!!!


Title: Solarbabies
Post by: scuzzbopper@mail.epeespice.com on April 28, 2000, 01:35:12 PM
Well, well, well... If it isn't the "Hootie & the Blowfish" of the Sci-Fi movie industry... I don't know about any of you people, but if I was imprisoned in a rough'n'tough orphanage facility in the middle of the desert, I would NOT try to gain any respectability by naming my gang, "Solarbabies".  End of discussion.


Title: Solarbabies
Post by: Canadaphile on November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM
"Solarbabies" and "Megaforce" make up a dandy Eighties Sci-Fi Cheesefest Double Feature.  Throw in "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" and you'll want to hit the desert in your best torn leather and big hair!  


Title: Solarbabies
Post by: Mr. Mucus on July 16, 2000, 06:38:02 AM
The best combo of post-apocalyptic and roller skating I've ever seen! It's watchable. Jami Gertz was a cutie. It's much better than "Prayer of the Rollerboys", the psuedo-post apocalyptic Corey Haim rollerblade movie co-starring Patricia Arquette.


Title: Solarbabies
Post by: Sophia on September 16, 2000, 12:12:30 AM
From the moment SolarBabies opened with a man’s wise voice telling of the
destruction and dehydration of Earth, I told myself that it couldn’t possibly get worse.
That was until a pre-teen dressed in orphan rags skated down a desert slope shortly
followed by a hockey team sharing the movie’s ludicrous name. The film had sunk into a
hilariously feeble attempt at sci-fi and the only way to bear the rest would be to laugh at
any pathetic sense of seriousness that came along.

   SolarBabies’ plot was stupid, unbelievable, and for the most part unoriginal. What
little originality there was, wasn’t in the main plot, but in how they had managed to fit
such idiotic scenes together to form a movie without adding surreal, psychedelic effects
to it like so many 60s movies have done. Obviously, SolarBabies was meant to be taken
in the utmost gravity. It was “dramatic” and “poetic” at all the wrong moments and scenes
moved too swiftly without showing logical reasoning behind each action (although,
thankfully, that spares the audience from watching one moronic scene for a tedious 15
minutes). And, as in every movie of its genre, the end was accompanied by a victorious
revenge fight scene in which the heros kill, or at least seriously injure, all who have done
them wrong. The plot, if one at all exists, is surely not the highlight of the movie.

   Originality wasn’t much better. Although the entire film consisted of one cliche
after another, some were more memorable than others. For instance, a group of boys who
happen to play hockey are favored by a cop over another group (why, it’s West Side Story
all over again!). Mist would also appear out of nowhere at the most “powerful” moments.
Perhaps that would work well near a water source (i.e, Lake, ocean, swamp, etc.) but it’s
not very successful in a desert.

   The movie isn’t exactly brilliant with cinematography either. It’s colorless, bland,
and mediocre. Any special effects that happen by are pathetic: The magical orb/sphere
sparkles while flying—very high-tech . . .  Not.         

   Acting and dialog could easily fit into one category since neither of them really
exists. Either it was the actors who made the dialog horrible or vice versa. Or perhaps
they were both just horrendous. All together it was shallow, monotonous, and transparent.
The jokes came out lame, happiness was obviously faked and the metaphors, which were
very simple to begin with, were all too clear. Somehow I don’t think SolarBabies
acquired any Oscars in Best Script/Actor/Actress.

   I have to admit, the part that really shocked me was music and sound. I had heard
that the composer who did it was fairly talented but when the credits opened and a
mixture of Richard Strauss and Star Wars blared through the TV, it couldn’t have been
more opposite.  It was almost frightening in its stupidity: Complete with Happy-Go-
Lucky, Let’s-All-Rejoice dancing songs, eerie space noises, and freaky 80s “music”
inserted at random intervals. The background music during dialog reminded me
amazingly of elevators. All in all, SolarBabies is as laughable as its name.

                                 
                               
                               





Title: Solarbabies
Post by: Todd on November 25, 2006, 04:09:49 PM
Man, this movie totally rocked! I totally remember watching it when I was like 10 or something way back in the 80s...
I was always wondering why the guys didn't jump that girl's bones.


Title: Solarbabies
Post by: SiaFhir on November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM
Here's an addition for "Things I Learned From This Movie":  When you're being chased, there's always a tunnel or bridge that you can fit through, but the persuers' vehicles can't.


Title: Solarbabies
Post by: Afua on November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM
I love this movie. I watched it over and over again when I was little and I just bought it to watch over and over again now. But then again I love bad eighties movies like "Howard the Duck" and "Moonwalker" too!


Title: Solarbabies
Post by: Pikachu on November 25, 2006, 04:09:49 PM
This movie is vile!  Watch it at all costs!  (I know I'm contradicting myself here, but it's so bad it's addictive)


Title: Solarbabies
Post by: Joe on November 25, 2006, 04:09:03 PM
This film is definately lame mid-Eighties cheese.
Lucky for Jason Patric and Jamie Gertz that they went right on to The Lost Boys after filming this...


Title: Solarbabies
Post by: Mike on November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM
What about the part when the leader of the "Scorpians" has his flesh melted off!


Title: Solarbabies
Post by: dana on November 25, 2006, 04:09:49 PM
OOps.  Yeah so It seems like a common story now, upon reading these reviews.  I too saw this movie many times as a child, and have since been trying to remember it's name, actors, or anything concrete about the film besides the fabulous, inspiring plot.  I have faced ridicule from my peers who would not believe in it's existence.  They called me crazy but like a true solarbaby I persevered against impossible odds.  And now at last, I will have in my possession proof of my sanity (if not my good taste)!
Common skeptics, don't be so serious, this film freakin rocks.  Where else do you find ecowarriors on roller skates hanging out with glowing orbs? I rest my case in the sheer and utter brilliance of bodhi the bodhisattva mahasattva (sp).


Title: Solarbabies
Post by: Anthony on November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM
Like a few of the other people here, I saw this film when I was nine.Sure the movie has some outlandish scenarios and loops in it's plot but I don't see anyone knocking Han christian anderson or the brothers grimm or even Mother goose for that sort of thing.What about this thing called a " willing suspension of disbelief" without it no enjoyment can be had from any sort of story, fiction or otherwise.It's that suspension that allows the imagination to play and to fill in blanks .The special effects for a low budget movie in the 80's was exemplary for the time and I'd much rather enjoy the theatricality of a laser beam garage door opener than an invisible infra red one, ( it got my mind racing )and even as adult it's admittedly still more engaging than the reality.You can hear the spaceships exploding in space in Star wars and yet it's common knowledge that there is no sound in outerspace.Kids can't drive but we can have skates or bikes and for a long treck some form of transportation is necessary.I was inspired to take up rollerskating from it, and that proved more fun than pretending a cardboard box was a car not to mention it got me outdoors enjoying myself instead of vegging out on cartoons and cheap cereal.It was also touching to see a story aimed at kids that had big and little kids of differing backgrounds overcoming differences and trying to remain postive, spirited and  hopeful in a world that had so little promise.                                         Today we have teeny movies of over primped,over priveledged, prissy teenboppers who are just bored, cynical, self absorbed, and desperate for peer approval who resort to copying from glossy magazines  a lifestyle dictated to them by people who only care about their pocket books. They can't appreciate anything because they've gotten everything too easily resulting in stunted imagination and lack of drive. There is still only one black boy or one black girl around and the character of "Rabbit" to this day is still treated with far more dignity than contemporary versions.                       Oscar material this movie isn't;nor was it mean't to be.It was a flight of fantasy. It got my imagination going.In real life people in desperate situations often do gravitate to happy escapism it's what you do when you need a will to survive." Solarbabies" as a team name in such a place isn't so farfetched and I would know I've been to some desperate places and see what people do to keep going.It was inspiring, not banal,but necessarily elementary and yet VERY engaging and responsibly mindful of it's INTENDED audience.There are more hopeful and redeeming qualities in this film than many an oscar contender and my life was richer for having seen it as a child as opposed to making them richer from the currently inevitable torrent of merchandise that would have accompanied it nowadays.


Title: Solarbabies
Post by: Rachel on November 25, 2006, 04:09:49 PM
This movie rocks! It's a great, fun 80s flick.  It's about friendship and sticking together to fight for something you believe in!  
Remember back when the world wasn't so cynical and unfeeling and people could be friends and genuinely care about each other and work together?  This film refelects that time.  Boy do I miss the 80s!  Man does it suck now!  This is a great sci-fi/fantasy film.  All the good fantasy films were made in the 80s, not like the crap that's made now. Remember when movies actually developed characters and relationships and weren't a bunch of brainless action sequences?  Great movie!


Title: Solarbabies
Post by: firebird on July 11, 2004, 01:54:08 PM
Has got to be one of the most stupidist movies ever made they go around on their roller skates and the idiotic dogs with the flashlights on their heads the only real interesting cartitures in the movie is the kid with the owl most of the rest act like idiots


Title: Solarbabies
Post by: gaz on November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM
I remember watching a film which id for some reason taped off the TV...some time around the mid to late 80's and I remember the film being somthing about a group of kids on roller skates playing with a ball of light. i typed in on google somthing like "roller skate 80's film" and i got this forum, now i know the film was called SOLARBABIES but i wanna make sure. Is there any other wierd 80's films involding roller skated teens and a ball of light or have I nailed what i was looking for and what has played on my mind all these years?


Title: Solarbabies
Post by: Charlotte on November 25, 2006, 04:09:49 PM
Lol...wow! I went to bed last night, and I think I saw an orb. Which brought back a distant memory of a floating orb and boys pulling a wagon like horses. So I typed that into google this morning and BOOM! I found Solarbabies. I had let my self be convinced that I was imagining the movie!


Woohoo...I'm not crazy! Now if only I had the courage to watch it again. Movies are so great when your young...and then watch them when your older and full of vinegar...and you can ruin some of your best memories.


Title: Solarbabies
Post by: Jean-Marie on November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM
OMG!!!! You are all so very hilarry-ass!!!  I laughed out loud reading several of your comments and investigative search stories on this movie because I too, was one of those dork-bombers asking everyone around me older and younger what the heck the name of that movie was.  I am one of those crazy-silly, outthere/random-type people so everyone's first comments to me were " Um...that must have been a really cool dream friend."  I was like "NOOOOO it was not a dream, some crazy magic ball in the desert, directs these teenagers to water in a huge dam, and they are all on rollerskates and have to do this crazy pinwheel slingshot maneuver to get over this cliff in the desert.." Everyone just stopped listening to me then. It was all over with. So I was like, "damnit if I just forget about it they will tease me forever...I HAVE TO FIND THAT MOVIE!!!! So I typed in some random words from the movie and look...I found it!  Yee-haw!!! Thanks everyone who knew the movie, and thanks to everyone else who just made me laugh.  


Title: Solarbabies
Post by: Rollerh on November 25, 2006, 04:09:49 PM
Wow. This film has been a mystery film since I was little. I always thought the movie was Roller Babies. When I think of roller skating, I think of my childhood and I think of Solar Babies. I haven't watched it again, but from this page, I'm sure if I watched it now, it would take on a whole different meaning. Long live rollerskating, look out for the revival of Roller Derby! Talk about nostalgia!


Title: Solarbabies
Post by: Buster on November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM
This movie is on my "never tiring" list. I've seen it countless times since I was a kid. I watched it two nights ago, and it's still a wonderful fantasy movie. Yes, the plot plenty of holes in it, and it could only be considered a "b" quality movie by any standard, I still think it's great movie. What always gets me (besides my enduring crush on Jami Gertz) is the backstory that's always touched on, but never really fleshed out. That's brilliant to me. It says that this is a mere chapter in an entire mythology. It says that kids on skates freeing the water of the world with the help of a mysterious ball was niether the first nor last part of the story. To me, that's what made it better than most stories of this ilk. There was a world that these characters were interacting with and exploring, and I was only seeing the parts they were, while at the same time, I knew that there was more to the world beyond. That let my imagination run wild, and it's what has constantly provided a level of freshness to each viewing of this movie.


Title: Solarbabies
Post by: Brenda on November 25, 2006, 04:10:12 PM
I watched this film over and over with my son, who is now 22.  Like a previous writer, I've been looking for "Roller Babies" to share with my second son who is now 10.  FINALLY, I learn (and remember now) that it was SOLAR Babies!   We're off to Blockbuster to see if we can fine it!  YAHOO!


Title: Re: Solarbabies
Post by: Mayumi-H on April 20, 2007, 12:37:32 PM
This film is definately lame mid-Eighties cheese.
Lucky for Jason Patric and Jamie Gertz that they went right on to The Lost Boys after filming this...


Better than that: Adrian Pasdar (Darstar) and James LeGros (Metron) went on to do "Near Dark" after filming this! Go cowboy vampires!


Title: Re: Solarbabies
Post by: Duane on June 12, 2007, 10:15:51 PM
 :cheers:
I have been wondering aimlessly without meaning for years.
But today my search ends in victory
Solarbabies is the Greatest Movie Of All Time
I would like to thank the director and the actors for there hard work.


Title: Re: Solarbabies
Post by: Andrew on September 15, 2007, 03:05:45 PM
Review has been updated and republished on this date.  I understand that the orb that played Bodhi is trying to get a part in the new "Belgariad" movie.

Click here to go to the Review (http://www.badmovies.org/movies/solarbabies/)

(Yes, I'm kidding about the "Belgariad" film.)


Title: Re: Solarbabies
Post by: HarlotBug3 on September 18, 2007, 06:56:22 PM
Well, well, well... If it isn't the "Hootie & the Blowfish" of the Sci-Fi movie industry...

LOL! Where's the + Karma feature?!


As it happens, the only thing I remember about the movie is:

Shandray: "Gentlemen, this is Terminack. He's a multi-capable masterpiece; he can squeeze the color from a ruby or deftly pluck the eye from a living bird, and he's been programmed to enjoy what he does."

I came in on the end of this moive at friend's house, still a few years from puberty, but I think by that time we were already rooting for the bad guys.

If anything can summarize being a kid in the 80s, it's being marketed really REALLY lame heroes.


Title: Re: Solarbabies
Post by: Kevin on September 19, 2007, 06:44:27 AM
I actually had the chance to see this movie the other weekend on Starz. What I found interesting was that the E-Protectorate was calling the glowing sphere "The Sphere of Longinus" which is actually the spear of Longinus or the spear of destiny. This spear was supposed to have been the spear that pierced the side of Christ when he was on the cross.  :bouncegiggle: Oh well, with everything else going on in the movie, I guess that is not the worst thing, but I found it very amusing that they would confuse "sphere" with "spear."

Kevin


Title: Re: Solarbabies
Post by: John on April 10, 2008, 04:04:44 AM
A great cheesy movie.  :wink: I remember first seeing it when I was REAL little and being confused by it. Latter i learned not to take bad movies so seriously and just enjoy a good cheese fest! At a party with drinking game that you have to chug!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xTodM_ujDvA


Title: Re: Solarbabies
Post by: FLU-BIRD on January 22, 2009, 10:47:09 PM
Only few words for this movie or at least a few letters P.U.T.R.I.D and maybe even worse


Title: Re: Solarbabies
Post by: Patrick Jackson on August 20, 2009, 07:08:55 PM
I read somewhere that they tried to get John Boorman (of ZARDOZ, EXCALIBUR and THE EMERALD FOREST fame) to direct SOLARBABIES. I wonder how that would have worked out?

I couldn't help but notice that the costume/production design team of Anthony Pratt and Bob Ringwood has worked on several of Boorman's previous epics...

But, of course, they settled for Mel Brooks choreographer Alan Johnson...whose only other directorial credit was TO BE OR NOT TO BE.


Title: Re: Solarbabies
Post by: radio nixon on October 06, 2009, 03:36:32 PM
One of the saddest things about this total drivel is that the horrible theme song, "Love Will Set You Free (Theme From Solarbabies)", by Smokey Robinson no less, was the last ever single to be released on Tamla Records.  So this terrible, terrible film has a place in history for all Motown collectors and music trivia nerds.

Solarbabies: so awful it managed to kill Tamla Records. :bluesad:


Title: Re: Solarbabies
Post by: Psycho Circus on October 06, 2009, 03:48:54 PM
Solarbabies: so awful it managed to kill Tamla Records. :bluesad:

Poppycock.


Title: Re: Solarbabies
Post by: Trevor on March 06, 2013, 03:16:20 AM
I saw this on Monday: not bad, all things being considered and believe me, I considered everything.  :buggedout: :teddyr:

The waterless world of Solarbabies is one where I wouldn't be frowned upon because of the state of my undies.  :tongueout: :wink:


Title: Re: Solarbabies
Post by: Bushma on March 06, 2013, 08:57:16 AM
This is one of those films that I saw around 2am one morning when I was a kid.  I used to set my alarm during the summer to wake up and watch a movie, then go back to bed. *sigh* There were good times!

I don't have many memories of Solarbabies, but from what I remember I actually liked the movie.  Yes it was several years ago, and I really don't want to watch it again only because I don't want my happy memories to be crushed.

Now comes the torment, because I love watching bad movies with my kids.  I watched Video Dead a few months ago with my younger two and they both had a lot of fun.  So I think they might enjoy Solarbabies.