The power of cinema is that it transcends time: a movie may be looked at one way in the time of its release, only to have that perception and reputation evolve with the changing times. In the digital era, with its various streaming platforms, there’s now the ever-present chance that something old becomes new again; this is especially true for platforms like Pluto TV and Tubi, which bring the old cable TV channel-surfing experience to the streaming generation. And indeed, plenty of hidden gems are waiting for you to find out there.
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If you love sci-thrillers (which are currently hot thanks to new TV series like Alien: Earth or films like Marvel’s Fantastic Four: First Steps), then head on over to Tubi or YouTube. There, you can stream one of the best (and still criminally underrated) sci-fi/thrillers of the 1990s for free, and watch a star-studded ensemble that includes Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson, and Sharon Stone. The film is Sphere (1998), another blockbuster 1990s movie adaptation of writer Michael Crichton, the author of Jurassic Park.
Sphere Is Streaming For Free: Why You Should Watch It
Sphere follows psychologist Dr. Norman Goodman (Hoffman), who is called to a remote area of the Pacific Ocean by the US military. A plan Goodman off-handedly wrote for the government about psychological protocols for encountering alien life is now being put into very real practice: a team supposed experts turns out to be collection of colleagues Norman has close ties with, including his former lover, biologist Dr. Elizabeth Halperin (Stone), wunderkind mathematician Dr. Harry Adams (Jackson), and ambitious astrophysicist Dr. Ted Fielding (Liev Schreiber). Under the command of Captain Barnes (Peter Coyote), the team is convoyed to a state-of-the-art underwater base, constructed on the ocean floor.
The base houses a mysterious spacecraft that is dated to be 300 years old. When the team ventures inside, that the alien craft isn’t at all what they initially thought it was – nor is the cargo of the ship: a giant, golden sphere of perfect design, hovering in place. After the initial encounter, the team finds itself battling for survival against whatever entity is within the sphere, which claims to want to play mind-bending games with its new human friends.
Sphere is a movie that has arguably gotten better with time. When the film was initially released, it was in a period when Crichton and his novels were red-hot commodities in entertainment, especially on the heels of Jurassic Park becoming a monster hit film in 1993. The lack of internet didn’t stop hordes of Crichton book fans from publicly scrutinizing director Barry Levinson’s (Rain Man, Bugsy) adaptation, which was never going to hold up to the deep, probing, psychological quandaries of Crichton’s book. However, as Sphere, the movie, has taken on a life of its own, the weight of the novel has lessened.
Now the film achieves two big things for viewers who seek it out: It’s an amazing showcase of Hollywood heavyweight veterans like Hoffman, Stone, and Jackson sharing the screen and playing off of one another. Taking it as just a movie (not the adaptation of the book), Sphere deserves way more credit for being a thought-provoking sci-fi parable. The trailers for the theatrical release played up more of a mystery-thriller angle, asking viewers to ponder what is inside the sphere. Without spoilers, that question in the marketing turns out to be an almost hilariously bad way to frame the film, which arguably steps on the deeper point and themes of the story.
The performances of the cast and the deeper implications of the characters they build are what ultimately make Sphere a juicy sci-fi story about humanity and our nature. It’s also what makes Sphere the kind of film that is good to watch (for free) right now, when these questions are so prevalent.
Sphere is now streaming on Tubi. Or you can stream it for free on YouTube above.
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