Doesn't quite reach the heights of 'The Mirror' or 'Stalker' yet is still pretty great. The one real stand out flaw is the pacing. No matter how interesting that second half was, it is a undeniably slow movie.

Interesting to see a consummate master fail so spectacularly. There is some gorgeous imagery here, and some striking moments, but as a cohesive whole, it's just not there. Stalker worked as a sci-fi because it didn't have to be. This has to be sci-fi, and Tarkovsky tries to abstract it unsuccessfully. To think this is put up there with 2001. No way.

I tried, believe me, I tried. Just couldn't bare with the incredibly slow pacing. The ideas, the shots, everything is perfect, its just so slow and long.

A disturbing and confusing view on ... necrophilia in space, I guess. Like all of Tarkovsky's films, it's photographed to the best extent and is wonderfully directed. The intellectual baffle can be a bit much at times, but I suppose that's what happens when you're so distant from your home.

The pacing is so slow that at times there's no pace at all, but a stand-still. When the story did move it was quite interesting, and the visuals were good as well. Overall it was quite an ordeal to watch and not really worth it.

This was a slight let-down. I'm going to revisit it some day, because I think the movie's slightly too smart for me. Or, rather, I think Tarkovsky is slightly too smart for me, if I go by his other movies. I saw the remake first, which I loved, but I had a hard time getting into the original. It dragged on and on, and once we got some momentum going on the space station it didn't really seem to go anywhere. If this almost 3 hour movie was 2 hours, I think I might have loved it.

Loved the opening scene, it's so beautiful. 2 hours and 45 seems long, but it certainly doesn't feel like a long time. Fascinating to watch

Major disappointment. Tarkovsky's visual mastery is rarely on display, and the science fiction elements are handled with such disdain that it borders on redundancy. More philosophical than the American remake, but endlessly less appealling, partly because Tarkovsky tries to arsty up a novel, he has himself simplified into a love story. Primarily though, it's the 'anti-pacing' that brings it down. There's a problem when a 15 minute ride on a Russian freeway isn't the most boring part of a film.

Like nearly all Tarkovsky, it is slow-moving, difficult to watch, but ultimately rewarding in the profoundest way. Beautiful cinematography, excellent performances, and a near-perfect script make Solaris an unforgettable experience, and much like Stalker, the film revels in the exploration of the unknown and the uncertain, thus leaving the viewer with many ambiguous ideas that can be explored for further discovery and enjoyment inside and outside of the film. Breath-taking and awash with depth.

It didn't grab me in the way Stalker did, and it is in need of some more editing in the first half, but it's still great. It builds up an amazing atmosphere, and poses some great questions to the audience.