Mars 2056

Do you know what this movie reminded me of, Chuck Norris on steriods and trapped on Mars. That's all. The plot did not make any sense what-so-ever. The movie started right away with no explaination of what the story was about, only a guy running through a tunnel. It sounded like this guy was having sex by all of the panting that was going on. Then his brother shows up, this Caution fellow, never smiles (not once), and then starts the Chuck Norris on steriods bit. This movie had nothing to do with Sci-Fi. It should have been listed under Action not Drama/Sci-Fi. Usually in Drama's you can figure out what the movie is somewhat about. One other thing upset me, was that Caution had this sidekick, who reminded me of the mouse in those cartoons that would circle the bigger/stronger mouse again and again and say stuff like, "what are we going to do boss?, are we going to hurt..." stuff like that.

My advice, save your coins. Go buy a soda, it'll feel better in the end.

It took three sittings to get through, but I made it through this low-budget sci-fi kick-boxing thriller. The two elements that really killed this film are the script and Gabrield Dell Jr's channeling of Rob Schneider (on crack). Mars is so full of clichés that the cast should have been given awards for keeping straight faces throughout the production. And Dell's character is so loud, obnoxious, and unfunny, that the single best line in the film, and perhaps it's most dramatic moment, occurs when Greunier tries to get him to shut up.

Shari Belafonte is beautiful and Olivier Greunier looks good too, but good looks don't help a bad script. Some of the acting is poor, but mostly its the absurd script that makes good acting almost inconceivable. Belafonte carries her lines better than the rest of the cast. Greunier is pretty good at looking apathetic, angry and detached, but I have to say that the whole casting non-actors as silent unemotional heroes thing is really wearing thin.

Knowing how low budget this film was, and knowing a little about how it was made, I have to say that the production values are really not that bad, and the directing is actually pretty good. The director, a tenth degree black-bekt and Undefeated Florida Full-Contact Heavyweight Karate Champion, has made some absolutely hideous films (The Watchers http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096425/ being the worst example), but Mars is a big improvement over his earlier works. The film keeps a reasonable pace and doesn't try to do very much with what it doesn't have (i.e. a useful script).

Though I just finished watching this last night, I am struggling to remember the plot. Greunier is Caution Templer - a "Keeper" - a kind of corporate intelligence officer. His brother, also a keeper, has been murdered on Mars, where the company has a mining interest. Almost as soon as he gets to Mars to investigate, he connects with Belafonte, who has just made a startling and troublesome discovery, and people start trying to kill them both. There really isn't much more too it.

I recommend this film for kick-boxing fans, and would give it a very mild recommendation of low budget sci fi fans.

There is a lot of terribly negative reviews of this movie. I can certainly see why. There are parts of this movie which seem incoherent, unnecessary and silly; I will not lie. The Plot is thin, but the Protagonist, Caution Templar, (Olivier Gruner) gives a performance that is on par with the likes of Chuck Norris or Steven Segal. That may not be your forte, and that is fine. If it isn't, then you may wish to watch something else, if however you like seeing the protagonist kick butt all the way through and not even get touched, this might be for you. Caution Templar is a member of a Mining Company's police force. His brother was as well. Caution is there to investigate his brother's disappearance and death. He kick-boxes his way through henchmen and finds out why his brother is killed. On his way he meets Doc Halliday (Shari Bellfonte) and they work together. He also meets an irritating sidekick and I was thankful to see he didn't have much in the movie. This is a C+ movie. It is not ground breaking stuff by far, but given the facts in the trivia, that this movie was shot in an old shopping mall on 1 million dollars budget and a short time, it is not terrible. It will not compete with Total Recall or other A list Mars movies, but it is like your first car, rough around the edges, but gets you there. It is worth your time if you can see past a few faults.

OK, so it's been a few years since I watched this movie, and I'll have to dig it out of my collection and rewatch it one of these days, however I have to say that while this movie didn't thrill me, it's no where near the worst movies out there.

Just in case you're at a bargain bin and you see, say, this movie and "King of the Ants", or "King Kong Lives", or maybe "Ghost Rock", then by all means take home Mars. It's the classic line you get from the second worse team in a league: "We don't suck the worst". I've definitely seen worse. A cop gets a message from his brother that sends him to Mars where he finds his brother is dead. With the help of a local babe he has to biatch-slap his way around to find out what's going on. So, it's pretty much a Hollywood plot retread, but as I mentioned it's sure not the worst you can do in a pinch.

A man with a bag is hunted down in Mars and killed by his pursuers. His brother, the keeper Caution Templer (Olivier Gruner), arrives in Mars to investigate the murder, and the killer, Ike Ringo (Lindsey Lee Ginter), sends his men to chase Caution. The obnoxious scum Buckskin Greenberg (Gabriel Dell) teams-up with Caution and he looks for the body of his brother at the morgue. Dr. Halliday (Shari Belafonte) is examining his body and memories, and Caution presses her for the information. He does not suspect that the CEO of the mining company, Phillip Clement (Alex Hyde-White), has a deadly secret and Ike Ringo is his right hand.

"Mars" (1997) is an extremely low budget movie with a terrible screenplay. It seems that it was shot in an abandoned shopping in Los Angeles and if this information is correct, explains the poor sets. The unfunny character Buckskin Greenberg is ridiculous and certainly irritates any viewer with his stupid lines and attitudes. The cast of this B-movie is not so bad (except Gabriel Dell) since they have an awful screenplay and dialogs to work, and most of the scenes are reason for a fight. In the 90's, this film was not so bad, but revisiting it in 2024, it is a dreadful experience. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Marte" ("Mars")