Sphere: Difference between revisions

 

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* [[Amazonian Beauty]]: In the novel, Dr. Beth Halpern (sic) happens to be a very attractive weightlifter. One of the other characters described her as "Mother Nature with muscles."

* [[Applied Phlebotinum]]: Vocal regulators so that the audience isn't forced to listen to Munchkin talk the entire film.

* [[I Always Wanted to Say That]]: Ted, on "[[We Come in Peace]]".

* [[I'll Kill You!]]: In the novel, Norman is the first to figure out "Jerry's secret." He then attempts to taunt Jerry. Suffice it to say, Jerry does not appreciate this.

* [[Inertial Dampening]]: The spaceship discovered at the bottom of the ocean features water-filled chair systems to help counteract high g-forces.

* [[In Space Everyone Can See Your Face]]: Played straight.

* {{spoiler|[[Reality Warping Is Not a Toy]]}}

* [[Reset Button]]: Used in the film. In the novel it is attempted but the results are unclear. The book's ending is left ambiguous enough that {{spoiler|one can infer that the Reset Button attempt only made things ''[[It Got Worse|worse]]''. The line at the very end where Norman says Beth is looking "lovely" could mean that she, with her inferiority complex and her hunger for power, deliberately held on to her abilities while the others forgot them -- or it could imply that while they erased their memories of ever having had these powers, they failed to erase their ability to ''use'' them.}} [[The Film of the Book]] lacks this [[Karmic Twist Ending]].

* [[Sinister Geometry]]: The Sphere is a great example. It is enigmatic and scary by virtue of being so simple and featureless. It's nature is what you project on to it, which is perfect for the theme of the film. One character is very unnerved as he observes that, aside from the random pattern of grooves that criss-cross it, the rest of the surface seems to be ''perfectly'' spherical.

** Worse:

* {{spoiler|[[Spheroid Dropship]]: The mysterious sphere is revealed to be able of autonomous flight at the finale.}}

* [[Starfish Aliens]]: The sphere itself, if it is indeed a living creature.

* [[The Worm Guy]]: Norman, a psychologist carried off by the military to study aliens. To a lesser extent the other scientists. Crichton loved this trope and it features in several of his novels.

* [[You Are Not Ready]]: A depressing thought to Norman.

'''Norman:''' [[Explain, Explain, Oh Crap|We have what's called an imagination. I mean, look what we're capable of. We can...]] ''[[Explain, Explain, Oh Crap|(sighs)]]'' [[Explain, Explain, Oh Crap|We're not ready.]] }}

* [[You Can't Fight Fate]]: Harry invokes this. Because the ship encounters an "unknown event", it means no one on the ship of the future knew what was going to happen. Therefore, he reasons, they all die because that's the only way it could ''be'' an "unknown event". This leads to a haunting question delivered perfectly by Jackson with no irony whatsoever.

* {{spoiler|[[Your Mind Makes It Real]]: Both the novel and the film, a device bestows this power on unwitting researchers sent to inspect a seemingly alien ship find on the ocean floor. Half are killed by nightmares emanating from themselves or someone else.}}

 

[[Category:Sea Stories]]

[[Category:Sphere]]