Red Planet

What a perfect rivalry this film has with Brian De Palma's Mission to Mars. Two films coming out in the same year, set on the same planet, with the same production values and featuring casts of equal talent. While both movies also feature numerous scientific inaccuracies and stupidities, each has something different to offer. If you are looking for mystique, try Mission to Mars, but if you want action or thrills, then go with Red Planet.

Set in the mid twenty first century, Earth is dying, and humanity has turned to Mars as a potential replacement. An unmanned terraforming experiment has been attempted (according to the introductory narration) Months later, it appears to have failed, so a group of astronauts are sent out to investigate. They are surprised and excited to discover not only breathable air but the existence of life on the barren cold red world. When their space craft shuts down however, not only are they stranded, but they become threatened by the malfunctioning of their navigator droid 'Amee'. These few individuals must survive to carry the news back to Earth which proves that man can live on the Red Planet.

I think the story works decently as a nifty sci-fi thriller. Mars in this film looks quite convincing, because the terrain closely resembles the photographs taken by the Pathfinder in 1997. The color scheme is made up of browns and tans, rather than the over saturated red from Mission to Mars.

Ret Planet was received better than Brian De Palma's movie, and I can see why. Although neither of them are examples of great filmaking, I would recommend them both.

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.

¨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.

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.

Whoa there kids! Red Planet is just a movie and in my opinion a pretty good sci-fi picture. Yes, it is not 2001: A Space Odyssey or Mission to Mars (which I think was ridiculous). It is not meant to be. Maybe the characters are not fully developed but name a science fiction movie where the characters are completely developed. The movie is called "Red Planet" not "Who are the People Who are Going to Mars to Save Earth?" and we join the action "in media res" which means in the middle of things so character development is not stressed in the beginning. Good grief. People throw around scientific, cinematic, and character development flaws with the movie instead of trying to enjoy the suspense of this movie.

You are stuck on the planet Mars. No food or water. Someone on the crew is already dead and another is a little sketchy. You have a limited time to get off the planet, your friendly neighborhood military robot has decided to play "Seek and Destroy", and something mysterious is happening on the surface of Mars involving tiny, bio-luminescent aphids.

So imagine all of that and you will get an idea of what the writers and director wanted to recreate for the audience. I liked this movie. I recognize there are flaws in the movie and possibly the acting but honestly I thought it was a great premise. Reminded me of the Greek myth of Jason and Argonauts on their quest for the Golden Fleece.

I would give the movie 4 stars out of a possible 5. Before you write and tell me how inaccurate or misguided a movie-goer I am realize I have read the classic sci-fi adventures from the likes of Heinlein, Clarke, and Bradbury. They would recognize the film for what it was: a piece of escape fiction that had its moments of comedy, intelligence, and suspense.