RED PLANET
2000 - USA

Director: Antony Hoffman
Starring: Carrie-Anne Moss, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Benjamin Bratt, Simon Baker, Terence Stamp

- Reviewed by Tom

Red PlanetOK, after seeing Mission To Mars, I didn't have my expectations up too high for the latest version of the Mars movie. I am happy to report that this movie isn't a sequel to that other loser.

The movie takes place about 50 years into the future when the Earth is just about destroyed by pollution (Hmmm....George W.?) and the only option is to make Mars into a livable planet. Spacecraft are sent to Mars to seed the planet with plants to produce oxygen into the atmosphere. It works for a while, but then the oxygen levels start to drop, so the first manned mission is sent out to investigate. A solar flare knocks out the mothership, stranding most of the crew on the surface. There is a pet robot that goes bad, there's fighting amongst the crew, most of them get killed, and it turns out there is actually oxygen after all (to sum it up quickly without too many spoilers!). And yes, there is life on Mars!

I think the "pet" robot (named AMEE) that turns against them should have had more of a role in this movie since the robot was actually very cool. I guess the special effects budget may have limited more of the robot. The robot was a cat-like thing that could fold up on itself very neatly, kind of like the Destroyer Droids in Star Wars: Phantom Menace. (See the official site for some nifty animations.)

They did a great job on the surface of Mars. Of course nobody has been there, but it looked pretty close to the kind of images that were sent back by Pathfinder. Speaking of Pathfinder, they happened to land very near the rover, and used it to call home. I thought that was kind of cool to see some real NASA spacecraft used in a movie. We haven't seen that since Star Trek!

Overall, the special effects were fabulous! Mars from orbit looked very convincing, the astronauts had some really nifty maps on the surface, and of course AMEE the robot gets a slice for herself too!

Summary: 

  • +1 slice—Attempt at a halfway decent sci-fi movie

  • +2 slice—AMEE, I liked that robot.

  • +1 slice—Pathfinder!

  • +3 slices—Special effects

  • -1 slice—There was one of those long, teary, "I love you forever" goodbye scenes when someone was about to bite it.

  • -1 slice—The plot was very predictable

Total: 5 slices

I would recommend the movie if you are a person that enjoys sci-fi space movies, but go see it before 6pm and save some money.

Official Movie Site

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