The film was widely panned by critics as a nonsensical, derivative sci-fi mess, criticized for its silly dialogue, poor acting, blatant rip-offs from Blade Runner and Mad Max, and a nonsensical plot involving roller-skating kids, a magical glowing orb, and a lame villain, though some found it enjoyable as “80s cheese” due to its unintentional humor and nostalgic value. It bombed theatrically but became a cult favorite on video/cable, with some reviewers noting its production values (like music and design) and the careers it launched for stars like Jami Gertz and Jason Patric.

…

Reviews for Solarbabies were very poor, with film historian Leonard Maltin describing it thus: “An appalling stinker, the 1980’s teen jargon doesn’t exactly capture the futuristic mood of this junk.” The film was given a BOMB rating in his annual publication.[11]

Joe Kane of The Phantom of the Movies’ Videoscope called the picture “A pathetic Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome rip-off, working from a script which must have been scrawled in Crayola, with every futuristic cliché you could possibly imagine. Lacking in originality, but rich in brain-dead dialogue; when Jami Gertz snarls, ‘Get out, you creature of filth!’, consider that a subliminal message.”[12]

Steven H. Scheuer, author of Movies on TV, also slammed the film: “This pic rips off everything from Cool Hand Luke to Dune to Rollerball to Logan’s Run to The Warriors and still comes up dry.”[13]

Mike Clark, reviewing the film for USA Today, had this message for the filmmakers: “Better pray for a pox on Spock, guys, and fast” (the film was released on the same day as Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home), and added “…we see in a couple of scenes that movies still exist. I’d have thought both civilization and the movies would have been wiped out by '41 [the year in the future the movie is set], thanks to atrocities like Solarbabies.”[14]

Gene Siskel, on his syndicated film review show At the Movies, called the movie “trash…Such is what happens when you begin with good characters, costume/production design, special effects, and stunt-work…then scramble to build a plot around it all. The best thing about this picture is its title; rather than a screenplay, it has a barrel of gimmicks.” Siskel’s colleague Roger Ebert seemed to agree: “You can’t expect any cast, no matter how committed, to sell a movie that–apparently–can’t decide what it’s about. The actors must be given a solid storyline to work with and build on, which neither this film nor its producers have done.”[15]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solarbabies

Nevertheless, Solarbabies (1986) is the movie for this Sunday’s “monsterdon” watch party over on Mastodon, our fediverse sibling!

  • Just start watching that movie this Sunday, July 19 at 9pm ET / 8pm CT / 6pm PT which is 1am Monday UTC
  • and follow #monsterdon over on mastodon for live text commentary. For example, you can follow that hashtag here: https://mastodon.social/tags/monsterdon
  • I usually open two web browser windows side-by-side on a computer. But you could follow the mastodon commentary on a phone app while watching the movie on TV or something.

Where to watch the movie: