Solar Crisis (film)
Encyclopedia
Solar Crisis is a 1990
science fiction
film
from Japan America Picture Company. The screenplay was written by Joe Gannon
and Tedi Sarafian
(credited as Crispan Bolt, Tedi is the director's son), based on the novel Kuraishisu niju-goju nen
by Takeshi Kawata, and directed by Richard C. Sarafian
credited as Alan Smithee
. The cast featured Tim Matheson
as Steve Kelso, Charlton Heston
as Adm. 'Skeet' Kelso, Peter Boyle
as Arnold Teague, Annabel Schofield as Alex Noffe, Corin Nemec
as Mike Kelso and Jack Palance
as Travis. The executive producers were Takeshi Kawata and Takehito Sadamura, with Richard Edlund
as one of the producers.
This film received a MPAA rating of PG-13, and was filmed in color with Dolby SR stereo sound. Estimated budget was about $55,000,000. It had a very limited theatrical release.
is predicted to fry the Earth. Astronauts aboard the spaceship Helios must go to the Sun to drop a bomb equipped with an Artificial Intelligence
(Freddy) and a Japanese pilot (as a backup if the Artificial Intelligence fails) at the right time so the flare will point somewhere else. Giant IXL Corp CEO Teague thinks the flare will not happen and wants the mission to fail so he can buy the planet cheaply while the scare lasts. Employee Haas prepares a surprise for the astronauts. While Steve Kelso commands the space ship where temperature rises, Steve's father Admiral 'Skeet' Kelso is searching the desert for Steve' son Mike who has gone AWOL to say goodbye to his dad but who inadvertently crossed the path of the guys from IXL after meeting desert-dweller Travis.
The novel Starfire by Paul Preuss, about a near-future spacecraft making a close encounter with the sun, appears to have a connection with this movie.
1990 in film
The year 1990 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall .* The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2....
science fiction
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
from Japan America Picture Company. The screenplay was written by Joe Gannon
Joe Gannon
Joe Gannon is a Philadelphia native, recording producer, director, musical stage lighting and production designer. Gannon operated and managed Frank Zappa’s record company and produced records for CBS. He worked as road manager for Bill Cosby and staged Madonna's first film appearance...
and Tedi Sarafian
Tedi Sarafian
Tedi Sarafian is an Armenian-American Screenwriter. He is perhaps most known for collaborating on the story development for Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines . He is the on of Richard C. Sarafian, and the brother of Richard Sarafian Jr...
(credited as Crispan Bolt, Tedi is the director's son), based on the novel Kuraishisu niju-goju nen
Solar Crisis (novel)
Solar Crisis by Takeshi Kawata is a 1990 science fiction novel on which the film Solar Crisis is based. The story involves the speculated destruction of the Earth from a gigantic solar flare....
by Takeshi Kawata, and directed by Richard C. Sarafian
Richard C. Sarafian
Richard C. Sarafian is an Armenian-American TV and film director. Richard Sarafian has complied a versatile career that has spanned over five decades as a director, actor and writer. He is most popular for his film Vanishing Point . He is the father of: Richard Sarafian Jr., Tedi Sarafian, Damon B...
credited as Alan Smithee
Alan Smithee
Alan Smithee was an official pseudonym used by film directors who wish to disown a project, coined in 1968. Until its use was formally discontinued in 2000, it was the sole pseudonym used by members of the Directors Guild of America when a director dissatisfied with the final product proved to...
. The cast featured Tim Matheson
Tim Matheson
Tim Matheson is an American actor, director and producer. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of the smooth-talking Eric 'Otter' Stratton in the 1978 comedy National Lampoon's Animal House and has had a variety of other well-known roles, including providing the voice of the lead character...
as Steve Kelso, Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
as Adm. 'Skeet' Kelso, Peter Boyle
Peter Boyle
Peter Lawrence Boyle, Jr. was an American actor, best known for his role as Frank Barone on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, and as a comical monster in Mel Brooks' film spoof Young Frankenstein ....
as Arnold Teague, Annabel Schofield as Alex Noffe, Corin Nemec
Corin Nemec
Corin "Corky" Nemec is an American actor. Nemec is known for playing the title character on Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Jonas Quinn on Stargate SG-1, and Harold Lauder in the ABC miniseries The Stand.-Personal life:Nemec's mother was a graphic artist as well as a painter, writer and poet...
as Mike Kelso and Jack Palance
Jack Palance
Jack Palance , was an American actor. During half a century of film and television appearances, Palance was nominated for three Academy Awards, all as Best Actor in a Supporting Role, winning in 1991 for his role in City Slickers.-Early life:Palance, one of five children, was born Volodymyr...
as Travis. The executive producers were Takeshi Kawata and Takehito Sadamura, with Richard Edlund
Richard Edlund
Richard Edlund, A.S.C. is a multi-Academy Award-winning US special effects cinematographer.Edlund was born in Fargo, North Dakota. After first joining the Navy, he developed an interest in experimental film and attended the USC School of Cinematic Arts in the late 60s...
as one of the producers.
This film received a MPAA rating of PG-13, and was filmed in color with Dolby SR stereo sound. Estimated budget was about $55,000,000. It had a very limited theatrical release.
Plot summary
A huge solar flareSolar flare
A solar flare is a sudden brightening observed over the Sun surface or the solar limb, which is interpreted as a large energy release of up to 6 × 1025 joules of energy . The flare ejects clouds of electrons, ions, and atoms through the corona into space. These clouds typically reach Earth a day...
is predicted to fry the Earth. Astronauts aboard the spaceship Helios must go to the Sun to drop a bomb equipped with an Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
(Freddy) and a Japanese pilot (as a backup if the Artificial Intelligence fails) at the right time so the flare will point somewhere else. Giant IXL Corp CEO Teague thinks the flare will not happen and wants the mission to fail so he can buy the planet cheaply while the scare lasts. Employee Haas prepares a surprise for the astronauts. While Steve Kelso commands the space ship where temperature rises, Steve's father Admiral 'Skeet' Kelso is searching the desert for Steve' son Mike who has gone AWOL to say goodbye to his dad but who inadvertently crossed the path of the guys from IXL after meeting desert-dweller Travis.
The novel Starfire by Paul Preuss, about a near-future spacecraft making a close encounter with the sun, appears to have a connection with this movie.
See also
- SunshineSunshine (2007 film)Sunshine is a 2007 British science fiction film directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland about the crew of a spacecraft on a dangerous mission to the Sun. In 2057, with the Earth in peril from the dying Sun, the crew is sent to reignite the Sun with a massive stellar bomb with the mass...
, a film with a similar premise of dropping a bomb into the Sun to save the Earth. - Solar AttackSolar AttackSolar Attack is a 2005 direct-to-video film by Lions Gate Entertainment.It concerns large coronal mass ejections that cause the Earth's atmosphere to burn, potentially suffocating all life on Earth. All of this happens during a time of political tension between the United States and Russia...
, a direct-to-video film by Lions Gate EntertainmentLions Gate EntertainmentLions Gate Entertainment Corporation is a North American entertainment company. The company was formed in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1997, and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California...
with a somewhat similar plot