The film stars Stephen Baldwin and Pauly Shore, and has cameo appearances by celebrities such as Roger Clinton and Patricia Hearst.

Best friends Bud "Squirrel" Macintosh and Doyle "Stubs" Johnson live together in Arizona, but their environmentalist girlfriends, Jen and Monique, dump them due to their immaturity.

Dr. Leaky, the project's investor, discovers them and demands their removal, but Dr. Faulkner refuses, claiming it would destroy the purpose of the experiment, so Bud and Doyle remain.

Although things initially go smoothly, this proves to be a mistake, as Bud and Doyle continue their antics, harming themselves and destroying many of the scientists' projects.

The two are then banished to the desert environment section and, after three days of isolation, they discover a key in the lock of one of the windows, which opens a back door, and they escape the Bio-Dome.

[9] The producers of Bio-Dome originally intended to film in the real Biosphere 2, but permission was denied by Steve Bannon who had become involved in managing the facility.

[12] While the film adds the element of two unqualified people finding themselves accidentally sealed in the dome and exaggerates the story for comedic purposes, many elements of the plot - food shortages, a drop in oxygen levels, a wealthy benefactor, the grandiose opening ceremony, arguments between the crew and kissing the glass as visitors drop in from outside - are based in fact.

[11] Two of the original Biosphere 2 scientists - Jane Poynter and Taber MacCallum - later saw Bio-Dome and enjoyed it, saying they "laughed a lot" and always thought a movie would be made about the experience but expected something along the lines of Total Recall instead of a comedy.

However, Biosphere 2's then-manager Wallace Smith Broecker was offended by the film and called it "a step in the wrong direction" as the facility was trying to distance itself from its past and develop a reputation as a legitimate scientific institution.

[16] It is one of eleven films to hold this rating; the other 10 being 10 Rules for Sleeping Around, Chaos, inAPPropriate Comedy, Not Cool, The Singing Forest, The Garbage Pail Kids Movie, Death of a Nation, Hardbodies, Mother's Day and United Passions.

[17] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B− on scale of A to F.[18] Leonard Klady of Variety wrote: "It's not by any means inspired madness.

"[19] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a grade F, saying "Even with the low expectations any reasonable viewer brings to a Shore flick, this rates only stupid-plus.

[23] On December 18, 2013, Stephen Baldwin said in an interview with Mancow Muller that he was in talks with Pauly Shore about making a sequel to the film revolving around the children of their characters Bud and Doyle.