15 Greatest Hard Science Fiction Movies Of All Time
9. Solaris
Andrei Tarkowsky's 1972 adaptation of Stanislaw Lem's novel of the same name is perhaps one of the most meditative, slow paced hard science fiction movies out there, preoccupied less with the technical aspects of mankind's forays into the outer limits of space and more on the psychological ramifications of space exploration.
Research on the space station orbiting the fictional planet Solaris has stalled, as each of the crew begins to succumb to a psychological malaise which seems to be manifesting in very real forms. New arrival Psychologist Kris Kelvin (Donatas Banionis) has been sent to get to the root of the problem, but the appearance of his deceased wife soon distracts him from his mission, as he's drawn into a world of hallucinations and unusual dopplegangers.
Solaris is about alien life forms operating beyond the comprehension of human understanding, and how our yearning for a better understanding of worlds beyond the stars says just as much about the yearnings which live inside us, unanswered and threatening to undermine our psyche.