I have to take exception to the comments of anyone who says this movie could only appeal to truly stupid and uneducated viewers, because I enjoyed the heck out of it, and I am the exact opposite of stupid and uneducated. Some pompous windbags apparently think any science fiction movie, particularly one of the global disaster variety, should be written by scientists to ensure that every single detail of the story is consistent with current scientific theories (ignoring the fact that no two scientists are ever going to agree on everything and will likely radically change those theories over time). I for one don't mind having some actual fiction in my science fiction, as long as the story holds together on its own merits. Even Carl Sagan's science fiction novel Contact goes far off the hard science reservation at the end.

Are the events found in this movie scientifically sound and believable? No, but who the heck cares? It's a great story that makes for one surprisingly exciting science fiction and geopolitical thrill ride. Solar Attack (also known as Solar Strike) might even warm the cockles of Al Gore's fear-mongering heart. Global warming? I've got your global warming right here, fellow.

As the title might suggest, the sun is mad as hell about something and isn't going to take it anymore. The release of CMEs (coronal mass ejections) is nothing new, but all of a sudden our life-giving star is belching out, one right after the other, the veritable mothers of all CMEs. The first sign of trouble comes when the solar probe designed to help watch for these things is incinerated in a heartbeat. Then the privately-financed space plane launched by Lucas Foster (Mark Dacascos) is suddenly lost before it can begin its mission of measuring the levels of methane in the upper atmosphere.

Foster's global warming theories about methane gas buildup in the atmosphere led to his dismissal from the Solar and Near Earth Laboratory, but it looks like he may just get the last laugh now -- although he may not have long to enjoy it. Once he gets a look at the data coming in from the unprecedented solar storm -- and learns from his former partner Joanna Parks (Joanne Kelly) that Earth's orbit will bring it right into the path of the oncoming CMEs -- he predicts that the CMEs will penetrate the atmosphere through the holes in the ozone and ignite the unprecedented amount of methane in Earth's atmosphere. If he's right, Earth is looking at a truly extinction-level event. The sky will literally catch on fire and burn around the globe, quickly sucking all of the oxygen from Earth's atmosphere and killing every living thing on the planet.

Earth's only hope for survival rests on this renegade scientist's shoulders. Not only must Foster find a way to divert disaster, he must also convince his exceedingly skeptical former boss and the president of the United States (Louis Gossett Jr.) to believe what he is saying -- and time is very much of the essence.

Complicating the problem, especially when communications satellites start falling out of the sky, is the tense relationship between the U.S. and Russia. With Russian nuclear submarines taking part in war games in the North Atlantic -- under the watchful eye of their American underwater counterparts -- the timing could not be worse for a complete loss of communication.

Obviously, a majority of reviewers hold this film in some measure of disdain, so I can't promise you that you'll enjoy it as much as I did. It doesn't have a big budget or feature any well-known actors (apart from an admittedly underused Gossett), but I think the movie acquits itself quite well. I actually think Dacascos is a decent actor, and I think the storyline plays quite well as long as you suspend your disbelief and reject any urges to overanalyze the underlying science. It's just a movie, and I say give it a chance -- you might just enjoy it.