[3][4][5] In a bleak post-apocalyptic future, most of Earth's water has been placed under containment by the Eco Protectorate, a paramilitary organization, who governs the planet's new order.

These orphans are Jason, the group's leader, Terra, Tug, Rabbit, Metron, and a young deaf boy named Daniel.

The orb is an alien intelligence called Bodhi, who miraculously restores Daniel's hearing and has other powers, such as creating rain indoors.

The teens leave the Eco Warriors and using their roller skating skills, break into the Protectorate's high security Water Storage Building.

Ultimately, in the closing credits, the orphans are seen swimming together in the newly-restored ocean, Darstar being fully accepted into the group and Jason and Terra sharing a kiss.

[8] Metrov was inspired by the "guerrilla filmmaking" methods of his friend Abel Ferrara to create a low-budget film of his own.

The treatment caught the attention of veteran screenwriter Walon Green, and Mark Johnson, an employee for Mel Brooks.

Metrov's presentation caught the attention of Brooks, who agreed to make it in Spain due to the lack of unions and cheaper production costs.

Brooks recounted how a number of sequences Johnson shot didn't make sense, or had poor coloration, and more money was needed for additional filming.

Eventually, Alan Ladd Jr. at MGM agreed to distribute the movie, and connected Brooks with international distributor UIP.

[9] Reviews for Solarbabies were very poor, with film historian Leonard Maltin describing it thus: "An appalling stinker; the 1980's teen jargon doesn't exactly capture the futuristic mood of this junk."

[10] Joe Kane, the "Phantom of the Movies", called the picture "A pathetic Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome rip-off, working from a script which must have been scrawled in Crayola, with every futuristic cliché you could possibly imagine.