1990s Mega Millions Sci-Fi Epic Completely Forgotten Today, Stream Immediately
What if one of the best sci-fi movies ever made was something that you’ve never even heard of? Solar Crisis is an epic, star-studded film that should appear on the movie shelves of film lovers all over the world. Instead, this ambitious film isn’t available on physical media and isn’t even available through official streaming channels (just VOD).
That’s the bad news…the good news is that you can stream the entire film for free below.
From screen legends to “hey, it’s that guy” character actors, this film is brimming with talent.
Just what is Solar Crisis actually about, though? In this high-stakes science fiction nailbiter, scientists must deal with the most unexpected threat: a solar flare that threatens to destroy Earth. To prevent the destruction of all life as we know it, scientists plan to drop an intelligent bomb onto the sun, but a greedy saboteur decides to risk the fate of the entire planet on his own chance to make a few extra bucks.
Admittedly, the premise sounds a bit like a SyFy original film, or maybe just the love child of Armageddon and Apollo 13 (with a healthy dose of Mad Max thrown in there). Beyond the plot, however, this film is compelling largely because of its killer cast. From screen legends to “hey, it’s that guy” character actors, this film is brimming with talent.
For instance, Solar Crisis stars Planet of the Apes veteran Charlton Heston and City Slickers alumnus Jack Palance. It also stars Tim Matheson (arguably best known for his role in Animal House) and Peter Boyle (perhaps best known to modern audiences for his role in Everybody Loves Raymond).
To prevent the destruction of all life as we know it, scientists plan to drop an intelligent bomb onto the sun, but a greedy saboteur decides to risk the fate of the entire planet on his own chance to make a few extra bucks.
That’s just a sample of the talent that went into this film, but that brings us to the obvious question: why is this $55 million sci-fi epic something that is nearly impossible to watch and that hardly anybody has even heard of?
The devil is in the details of the production. Originally, the film was made for Japan, and despite some wild ambitions (there was even going to be a theme park based on this movie!), Solar Crisis ended up crashing and burning in its original country.
When the film was brought to the West, it required so many tweaks and major alterations that director Richard C. Sarafian no longer wanted to be associated with the production. That’s why the final film lists the director as “Alan Smithee,” which is a well-known Director’s Guild alias directors can use when they want to effectively disown a film.
Solar Crisis is, at the very least, an entertaining flop that features a surprisingly large budget and an equally surprising cast of big names.
Unfortunately, the movie was a dud outside of Japan as well, and it has flown under the radar ever since. For example, there are no critical reviews for this film on Rotten Tomatoes, and there are no ways to officially stream it. Fortunately, our YouTube link above will help you experience Solar Crisis in all its flawed glory.
At this point, you might be asking “wait, why would I watch a sci-fi movie that was a flop all over the world?” The simple answer is that Solar Crisis is, at the very least, an entertaining flop that features a surprisingly large budget and an equally surprising cast of big names.
After consuming big-budget sci-fi epics like the most recent Dune movie, we always love a bit of cinematic schlock for dessert, and trust us: nothing is sweeter to the shlocky palate than seeing an unhinged Jack Palance embrace the chaos of space madness.
