[.ca] Solar Crisis (ISBN 6305645566)

From Amazon.com:
Not everyone will have the patience for Solar Crisis; in many ways, it lands on the not-so-good end of the B-movie spectrum. Possibly something got lost in translation between the American crew and the Japanese producers. The premise: a giant solar flare is threatening to end all life on Earth. Our only hope is an antimatter bomb launched into the sun to trigger the flare prematurely. A greedy corporate concern (headed by Peter Boyle as a somewhat doofy antichrist) sabotages the mission. Meanwhile, the mission leader is under additional pressure--his admiral father (Charlton Heston) has descended to the near-apocalyptic Earth to rescue his son (Corin Nemec) who has gone AWOL from his military academy. Jack Palance gives the best performance in the film as a half-crazy desert dweller who rescues the son from the cruel environment and the corporate goons. Story sound a little complicated? Wait till you get to the "intelligent bomb" subplot. This movie has high hopes and some interesting moments, but can't make up its mind whether it's a Mad Max-style end-of-the-world movie, an Outland-style space thriller, or a Blade Runner-style "soul of the robot" meditation. It's none of the above. Best viewed after midnight. --Grant Balfour

A FLARE WITHOUT FLAIR:
SOLAR CRISIS, a Japanese/American co-production, never seems to understand what it wants to be. The main plot concerns a solar flare that will decimate the earth and kill all living habitants; a secondary plot involves a young military academy student who goes AWOL to join his father on the mission to deflect the solar flare. Thats where the movie's problem lies; the movie could have survived without the subplot at all. Makes it appear as though the writers felt the solar mission couldn't sustain the entire movie, so they threw in this other plot to make it 90 minutes. The only good thing about the subplot is the inspired performance by the late Jack Palance as a seemingly demented "road warrior." As for the solar mission, Tim Matheson again sabotages a role that could have been played by countless other actors; Annabel Schofield makes for a lovely saboteur; and Dorian Harewood is the token minority who tries to keep things going on board. Charlton Heston is wasted as Matheson's father and Peter Boyle is his usual surly self as the corporate wizard who will stop at nothing to make money. Brenda Bakke as his sidekick slithers around, smoking funky looking cigarettes. For a 1992 movie, the effects are adequate, and there is some suspense in the final moments, but overall, SOLAR CRISIS burns out because it's too heavy.