Andrey Tarkovskiy must be using the slowest filming techniques in the history of filmmaking... and that's something good actually; this way there is so much room for emotions that is being left. The movie clearly promotes profound human emotions. "Solaris" is actually more fast-paced than "Stalker", and both are outside of the boredom spectrum; most of the scenes are overwhelmingly eerie and beautiful, even if there's no dialogue. The philosophy here is outstanding! It gives a whole new purpose of the human existence on Earth. Everything is based on dialogues and symbolic imagery (typical Tarkovskiy concepts) and everything about this movie is a continuum revelation. Even after the end, the movie continues to echo into your mind. Artistic and soulful movie. An interesting observation: someone from the movie says something like this: "Don't transform this marvelous scientific phenomena into a cheap love story." Well, that's exactly what the American version is!

We finally got around to watching this. I wish we hadn't.

Today we see many movies which are defined as science fiction. But what does science fiction actually mean? Does adding space ships and special effects to a regular action movie make this movie science fiction? My answer is no. The real science fiction isn't just a story that takes place in the future, it's something more. The real science fiction has a dramatic character and almost no action in it.Solaris is one of the movies we can define as science fiction. The movie's special effects are bad because of the time the movie was made. But even though the bad effects, Tarkovsky managed to make this movie awesome. Some people say that the movie is boring because it's slow. But it's slow because you need time to feel the atmosphere of the movie. And this atmosphere is the most important part because if you can't feel the movie's atmosphere then you can't see the pain shown in this movie. The pain of a man who receives the chance to see his wife again after her death but is forced to lose her once more. Solaris is a sad movie and its dramatic character is the thing that makes it so awesome and unique.

This is more than a Sci Fi film. It is intelligent, provocative, and extremely well directed. It involves a planet, Solaris, which is a puzzle to astronomers. Astronauts have been there and one, in particular, has been affected by the planet. Of course, he is initially thought to be suffering from some mental imbalance and hallucinations. But as explorations go on, there seems to be something about the oceans on the planet. They seem to be sentient. While this is an incredibly long film, it is a joy to watch. I believe that this is a film that requires a second look, especially if you think you got it. Of course, it's in Russian, and that makes certain demands on English speaking viewers, but many of the events are visual, with fairly long, almost surreal moments. I put this near the top of all the films I have ever seen.