I saw the George Clooney version on DVD, and probably haven't given it a thought since. I remember it as being OK, certainly not pretentious, irritating and overlong like the last couple of George Lucas botches. Apparently there was a Russian or Polish version many years ago, but I haven't seen that. The author of the book was Stanislaw Lem, but I have to confess I haven't actually read any science fiction in decades. Michael Did anyone see "Solaris"? I read the book some 30+ years ago and loved it, though I'm sure it was a translation, I think it was originally written in Polish or Russian. Probably one of the most original "aliens" ever concieved.