Red Planet (2000)

Director:

Antony Hoffman

Writers (WGA):

Chuck Pfarrer (story)
Chuck Pfarrer (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

10 November 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Action | Thriller

Tagline:

Not A Sound. Not A Warning. Not A Chance. Not Alone.

Plot:

Astronauts search for solutions to save a dying Earth by searching on Mars, only to have the mission go terribly awry.

Plot Keywords:

Mars | Future | Infra Red | Space | Dismemberment

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Val Kilmer	...	Robby Gallagher
Carrie-Anne Moss	...	Cmdr. Kate Bowman
Tom Sizemore	...	Dr. Quinn Burchenal
Benjamin Bratt	...	Lt. Ted Santen
Simon Baker	...	Chip Pettengill
Terence Stamp	...	Dr. Bud Chantilas

Also Known As:

Mars (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence, brief nudity and language.

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Australia:M | Malaysia:U | Iceland:12 | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:M | Norway:11 | Peru:PT | South Korea:12 | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Boral Quarry, Prospect, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Village Roadshow Pictures

Trivia:

Antony Hoffman made his feature debut with this film.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The two moons of Mars, Deimos and Phobos, are so small that they could not block enough light to cast shadows on the Martian surface.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Commander Kate Bowman: [narration] By the year 2000 we had begun to over populate, pollute, and poison our planet faster than we could clean it up. We ignored the problem for as long as we could. But we were kidding ourselves. By 2025, we knew we were in trouble. And began to desperately search for a new home - Mars.
Commander Kate Bowman: For the last 20 years we've been sending unmanned probes with algae, bio-engineered to grow there and produce oxygen. We're going to build ourselves an atmosphere we can breathe. And for 20 years it seemed to worked. It looked like we pulled it off. We'd done it. Then all of a sudden, oxygen levels started to drop. We don't know why.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Triple-X Tom (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

When the World Is Running Down (You Can't Go Wrong)

A straight-forward science fiction movie

I avoided most of the Mars movies when they came out in the past 4 years because the reviews were mostly bad and none of the trailers inspired me. I eventually caught MISSION TO MARS on TV and I was glad I didn't see it at the movies or even rented it. But now I rented RED PLANET last night and I have to say that I liked it a lot. It's much better than the hokey De Palma movie. There are a lot of weaknesses in it but even with all it's faults, the whole package worked.

The problems with RED PLANET: Val Kilmer is miscast. He doesn't seem interested in the story and his acting is lazy. He looks like a lost surfer dude on Mars. They should have hired another actor instead of Kilmer. Some characters were weak (Stamp and Bratt). The designs of the ship's interior were a tad cheesy. The dialogue was sometimes terrible. And the story had some major holes in it, like the idea that the ship's censors didn't detect the breathable atmosphere on Mars.

But aside from those problems, the rest is fun. It's a straight forward science fiction story. If you don't like that kind of story, you'll certainly won't like this. It reminded me of ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS or PITCH BLACK, in the way it respected the sci-fi themes and elements without watering them down for the audience. Tom Sizemore and Carrie-Anne Moss are excellent in their roles. Some of the cinematography is excellent. And while the fx are uneven (sometimes spectacular, sometimes obvious), the overall look of the film is always credible. And the ending is thrilling.

If you like straight forward science fiction films like me, you'll enjoy this movie.