Abandoning the streamlined swagger of Ocean's Eleven, Steven Soderbergh instead distilled Stanislaw Lem's weighty sci-fi novel into an anguished, elliptical study of love, loss and liberation. The cerebral result confounded both audiences and the studio publicity machine.

Alienated psychologist Chris Kelvin (George Clooney, never better) is sent to investigate a spacecraft orbiting Solaris, a living, sentient planet able to conjure up `visitors' for the surviving crew. One such visitor is include Rheya (Natascha McElhone), the dead wife Kelvin still grieves for. Set among the stars, this space oddity unfolds in its protagonists' minds. Give it time and it could well start to haunt yours, too.

DVD Extras:

Pass over the on-screen screenplay option and the bland Making Of packages - - in which Clooney's off-camera goofing sits awkwardly with his performance. Instead, head straight for the big one: a commentary from two of Hollywood's heavyweights, director Soderbergh and his producer, one James Cameron. It's fascinating to hear the "King Of The World" turn Prince Charming, often deferring to his director as both offer interpretations of the film. And if your inner geek wants to know which auteur dissuaded the other from setting the ship-docking sequence to The Velvet Underground's `Venus In Furs', this is essential stuff.