This week on Tapeworm Podcast, Razsal and DJ descend thousands of feet below the ocean to talk about Sphere (1998) the strange sci-fi thriller based on the novel by Michael Crichton, the same author behind Jurassic Park.

The movie follows a team of scientists played by Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson, Sharon Stone, and Liev Schreiber who are sent to investigate a mysterious spacecraft discovered on the ocean floor. Inside the wreckage they find a massive golden alien sphere… and things immediately start getting weird.

In this episode the guys break down the movie’s bizarre premise, including the discovery that anyone who enters the sphere gains the power to manifest their thoughts and fears into reality.which explains why the crew suddenly has to deal with things like giant squid attacks, hallucinations, and increasingly paranoid behavior. As Razsal points out, the sphere almost feels like a test of humanity, forcing the characters to confront what happens when imagination becomes a weapon.

DJ, meanwhile, spends a good portion of the episode questioning the movie’s logic, from how the massive alien artifact even got inside the ship in the first place to the strange computer messages from an entity calling itself “Jerry.” The conversation spirals into debates about decoding alien messages, whether the sphere is actually extraterrestrial technology or something else entirely, and how several major plot points seem to appear… and then immediately disappear.

Along the way the hosts also talk about some of the movie’s more memorable moments, including the bizarre calamari scene, the increasingly chaotic deaths inside the underwater base, and the discovery that the spaceship may actually be from the future, creating a time-loop style paradox that raises even more questions about what’s really happening.

By the time the ending arrives where the surviving characters decide to use the sphere’s powers to erase their own memories of the entire event Razsal and DJ have plenty to say about whether the movie sticks the landing or completely sinks under the weight of its own ideas.

If you love 90s sci-fi movies, deep sea thrillers, alien artifact mysteries, or Michael Crichton adaptations, this episode is for you.

Just remember: if you ever find a mysterious alien sphere at the bottom of the ocean… maybe don’t touch it.

Tapeworm Podcast is a comedy movie review podcast where Razsal and DJ break down cult classics, bad movies, and bizarre films from every era.