15 Underrated Movie Remakes That Deserve Another Look

2. Solaris (2002)

Andrei Tarkovsky’s psychological sci-fi opus Solaris is often listed alongside Kubrick’s 2001 as being one of the most significant and impactful contributions to the science fiction cinematic canon of all time. Steven Soderbergh’s 2002-made, George Clooney-starring remake is not. The former film won the Grand Prix Spécial du Jury at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival, as well as being nominated for the Palme d'Or; the latter didn’t make back its budget.

But, some 23 years after Soderbergh did the unadvisable, there are a few good reasons to return to his corner of space.

Clooney stars as Dr Chris Kelvin, a clinical psychologist who is sent to a space station orbiting the mysterious planet Solaris. Once there, he finds a skeleton crew, several bodies in the morgue, and the spectre of impossible people haunting the ship - including his own dead wife (Natascha McElhone’s Rheya). While this version is not as existential or cerebral as its predecessor, there is more than enough to ponder while watching beautiful shots of beautiful people in a beautiful part of the universe.

Soderbergh repackages the avant-garde classic as a romance, avoiding the American habit of just remaking the film in English by shifting the focus to Chris’ memories of Rheya and unpacking their tragic story, while still leaving plenty of narrative room to breathe. Soderbergh’s version is also mercifully short, adopting the basic plot but condensing Tarkovsky’s meandering three-hour epic down to a tight hour forty.