Pianeta rosso

Red Planet may not be sufficient when rated as a science-fiction, but for people who watch the movie for its plot and not with expectations of very high technology and special effects, its not a disappointing one.

It starts with a slow tempo, and although the whole movie takes place far from earth, we are not blinded by non-stop special effects. Instead Anthony Hoffman gives us the story he is telling and does not care much whether he satisfies the science-fiction lovers. By staying away from the unnecessary effects, he keeps our attention on the theme.

The suspense in the movie is quite good, although not many big surprises occurs.

Biggest negative point for me (as a guy not interested in effects but in the way the director tells what he has to say) is Hoffman fails to show us the relationship between the crew and gives us his characters with simple out lines. I guess he knows his weakness here, and so he makes his captain (Carrie-Anne Moss) describe all her crew members one by one.

Finally if you are not especially looking for a science-fiction but say you can watch one, Red Planet will not be a very bad choice. I rate the film 6, but its 6,5 actually.

Of Mission to Mars.

Both movies were hastily put together, not out of any creative impulse, but purely to capitalize on the spike in public interest in Mars exploration after the 1997 Pathfinder mission with its Sojourner rover. Both involve manned missions to Mars in spin ships, both expeditions encounter some sort of disaster in Mars orbit in order to kill off a few characters and inject some drama, and both involve the discovery of alien life on the surface. Both premises are highly derivative with cookie cutter dialogue and plot structure hastily adapted to a Mars theme.

Both were also staples of my childhood, but I can honestly say that I did not remember the dialogue in this film being so utterly pathetic. It's as if they didn't have time to write a proper screenplay so they just unboxed a premade 'action adventure movie script', slapped a Mars theme on it, and called it a day. This is some real straight-to-video stuff. There's very little abuse of scientific jargon because they don't even attempt to use scientific jargon. The ship gets hit by a 'solar storm' and it's just 'dead in the water'. Sure, that's sufficient information...

The CGI is somewhat worse than Mission to Mars. At least they tried to hide it tastefully in that movie, here they're trying to make it the main attraction, 10 years too early.

Mission's soundtrack is pretty pretentious but at least it's not total garbage. Red Planet gives us 90's club music. This movie would have been better with less audio in general, let us take in the few worthwhile panoramic shots in peace.

OK, OK, OK. The bit where the Russian lander has a little distressed cartoon bear cosmonaut is pretty memorable for its originality. I mean, it's sort of unintentionally hilarious, but it's memorable. The design of the killer robot is also pretty iconic, totally impractical, but iconic. And the scene where the bug creatures move in unison across the plain is pretty interesting. So this movie has its moments. But on the whole, pretty bad.

I think it will take about as much time to see a good film about Mars as it will take mankind to land on it. Although this film is much better than the (oddly) bigger box-office hit Mission to Mars it still lacks a lot. OK Carrie Ann Moss and Tom Sizemore are good in their roles, but the plot is just too predictable at times. The biggest compliment though goes out to Val Kilmer who on his own earned one of the points I give this film.

6 out of 10

¨Red Planet¨ (2000) by Anthony Hoffman boasts a nice cast with Val Kilmer , Carrie Anne Moss , Terence Stamp , among others . Some stronauts (Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore , Benjamin Bratt , Simon Baker , Terence Stamp) , and their robotic dog AMEE (Autonomous Mapping Evaluation and Evasion) commanded by Bowman (Carrie-Anne Moss) are sent to a dangerous mission : search for solutions to save a dying Earth by searching on Mars , only to have the mission going terribly awry. When the manned flight to Mars lands on the desert location , things go awry . As expert astronauts endure a hard assignment to Mars in hopes of finding some sign of life . As usual , during the expedition , risks and distresses happen step by step , but it eventually ends in disaster . As weird beings and unfortunate events cause wreak havoc while the equipment suffers life-threatening damage and the crew must depend on one another for survival on the hostile surface of Mars . In this alien environment they must come face to face with their most human interior . As a number of "living" astronauts decreases , a race against time unfolds for any astronaut hoping to return to earth safely . The search for life is about to end !. Not A Sound. Not A Warning. Not A Chance. Not Alone. In the near future, Earth is dying . A new colony on Mars could be humanity's only hope. The Color Of Fear . They Didn't Find Life On Mars. It Found Them.

This enjoyable picture blends Science Fiction and adventure genre , developing an intelligent script that disseminates the clues to maintain the interest and tension of the viewer and reflect on the eternal theme of the confrontation between man and nature , as well as the struggle between faith and scientific reason . Adding other philosophical themes as crew doubts , fears and questions about God and divine providence , man's destiny and the nature of the universe turn defining elements in their fates . Filmmaker Anthony Hoffman spent a long period at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston (Texas) with the goal of researching Mars and space travel and studying photography to see how light behaves in the atmosphere. The result is a feature film narrated with rhythm enough, with careful production design and a sober touch on the scenes in which the dazzling special effects created by the Cinesite Inc. Company also responsible for ¨Deep Blue Sea¨ and ¨Matrix¨stand out . It is an interesting and thought-provoking motion picture , though typical routine -at times- space odyssey that goes wrong when some astronauts find death , one by one , in diverse strange forms . On the way , they encounter problems you've seen in other , better-done sci-fi flicks . In the film there're chilling set pieces , suspense , body-count , intrigue and visual wizardy , but the very used plot and indifferent interpretations undermine whatever it was attempting to accomplish. Red Planet (2000) follows the style of other 2.000's films in which expeditions on Mars get in trouble , such as : ¨Mission to Mars¨ by Brian de Palma with Gary Sinese, Tim Robbins and the subsequent¨The Last Days on Mars (2013)¨ by Ruairi Robinson with Liev Schreiber , Elias Koteas , Romola Garai , Olivia Williams . Although the greatest rivalry and competence was ¨Brian De Palma's Mission to Mars¨, being made at the same time . The biggest claim of this space epic ¨Red Planet (2000)¨ is its cast , headed by Val Kilmer (The Saint) as a mechanical systems engineer who goes from being in the background at the beginning to gain more relevance throughout the film and Carrie-Anne Moss as valiant and risked commander Bowman at the head of the expedition , along with Tom Sizemore, Benjamin Bratt and Terence Stamp.

Highlights the mysterious and suspenseful musical score by Graeme Revell . As well as colorful , though dark at times cinematography by cameraman Peter Suschitzky , David Cronenberg's regular cinematographer . The yarn was adequate and professionally directed by Anthony Hoffman , though with no originality , because copying other films . Being Hoffman film debut , he's presently working on an ambitious feature film that he wrote and with direct for 20 Century Fox, 'Fox Hunt' that will shoot in Hong Kong and Los Angeles, in addition a ten part series 'The Keepers' set in the world of illegal animal poaching across the globe. Rating : 6.5/10 . Well worth watching . The pic will appeal to Val Kilmer and Carrie Anne Moss fans.

This movie was released the same year as "Mission To Mars" and both movies had an interesting twist to them.

While "Mission To Mars" dealt humans "visiting" the planet and dealing with the "face on Mars" and a previous civilization living on that planet at one time, "Red Planet" dealt with humans trying to "colonize" the planet but running into a problem they didn't count --- life still being there.

I would suggest viewing both movies as companions to each other.