Solaris Remake

[AndyC]

Went to see Minority Report, which I enjoyed, last week, and saw a trailer for a remake of Solaris, starring George Clooney.

Not sure what to make of this. I like most of Clooney's movies.

As far as Solaris goes, I was never able to watch the entire thing. The big problem for me was the terrible subtitling job done on the tape I watched, making the dialogue really difficult to follow. As I recall, the small (probably done for the big screen) subtitle would come up after a character had already started speaking, then disappear promptly as he stopped. Frustrated the hell out of me.

Anyway, I think I'll look forward to the remake, just because I know I'll be able to understand it without repeated winding back and squinting every time somebody says something important.

[Cullen]

The novel was fairly interesting, but I couldn't finish the Russian Movie.  This remake might be worth watching...

[John]

I taped it a few months ago when it was on cable, but still haven't watched it.

[Neville]

That might be interesting. Is Steven Soderbergh the director? I saw the russian movie years ago and it was pretty good, if you could forget the cheap, cartoon-looking settings and the lame ending. Heard it was sort of russian, sorry, soviet, answer to 2001 ASO, but it was quite different.

[Gerry]

Personally I love the Tarkovsky film, but it is very slow.  If you can make it past the first hour or so, it becomes a lot more interesting once it gets to the space station.  It's a fascinating concept and story.  I'm not a Clooney fan myself though, so I'm a little worried about the remake.  The trailer was far from impressive.

[AndyC]

I thought the trailer was refreshingly ambiguous, and with the exception of Batman and Robin, I can't say I've ever hated a Clooney film. Well, if you count his barely-a-cameo appearance in the Thin Red Line, I suppose there are two Clooney films I don't like.

As for the Russian Solaris, I agree that it moves very slowly. Between that and the subtitle problem, I found it unwatchable. If there is a DVD version with either English dialogue or improved subtitles, it might be worth a second look though.

[Gerry]

AndyC wrote:
>
> I thought the trailer was refreshingly ambiguous

My concern from the trailer is that it will emphasize special effects over the psychological aspects of the story, which was the strong point of the Tarkovsky version (the SFX certainly weren't).  As for Clooney, it's a matter of taste.  I just don't care for his acting style.

> If there is a DVD version with either English
> dialogue or improved subtitles, it might be worth a second
> look though.

There is a DVD out, but I'm not sure if it has improved subtitles--I haven't seen it.  The ones on my two-tape VHS version didn't bother me at all and I only have a 19-inch set.