Solarbabies

In a future where most of Earth's water is gone, a group of teenagers lives in an orphanage controlled by the authoritarian body that rules what remains of the planet. The young people share a talent for a roller-skating game similar to hockey, and their bond on the rink sets them apart from the regime that wants to break their spirit. When they come across a mysterious sphere that affects them in unusual ways, they flee the orphanage on their skates and head into the barren landscape, hoping to find somewhere they can live freely while the regime's enforcers pursue them and the object they carry.

Solarbabies is a 1986 American science-fiction adventure directed by Alan Johnson, whose only other feature behind the camera was To Be or Not to Be three years earlier. The screenplay is by Walon Green and D.A. Metrov, with Mel Brooks among the producers through Brooksfilms, and the cast includes Richard Jordan, Jami Gertz, Jason Patric, Lukas Haas, James Le Gros and Claude Brooks. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer handled production.

The film met with a poor reception on release. Audiences rate it 4.8 out of 10 on IMDb and 5.3 out of 10 on TMDB; a much smaller set of critics' ratings sits at 2.9 out of 10. Against a budget of about 25 million dollars, it took in roughly 2 million worldwide, a clear shortfall.