"The Martian Chronicles" (1980) TV mini-series

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Michael Anderson

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

27 January 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Plot:

Earth sends its first manned probe to Mars in 1999, and a jealous Martian murders the two astronauts when his wife has erotic dreams of meeting them...

Plot Keywords:

Mars | Martian | Plague | Telepathy | Lost Civilization

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Rock Hudson	...	Col. John Wilder (3 episodes, 1980)
Gayle Hunnicutt	...	Ruth Wilder (3 episodes, 1980)
Bernie Casey	...	Major Jeff Spender (3 episodes, 1980)
Christopher Connelly	...	Ben Driscoll (3 episodes, 1980)
Nicholas Hammond	...	Commander Arthur Black (3 episodes, 1980)
Darren McGavin	...	Sam Parkhill (3 episodes, 1980)
Roddy McDowall	...	Father Stone (3 episodes, 1980)
Bernadette Peters	...	Genevieve Seltzer (3 episodes, 1980)
Joyce Van Patten	...	Elma Parkhill (3 episodes, 1980)
Maria Schell	...	Anna Lustig (3 episodes, 1980)
Fritz Weaver	...	Father Peregrine (3 episodes, 1980)
Linda Lou Allen	...	Marilyn Becker (3 episodes, 1980)
Michael Anderson Jr.	...	David Lustig (3 episodes, 1980)
Robert Beatty	...	General Halstead (3 episodes, 1980)
James Faulkner	...	Mr. K (3 episodes, 1980)
Jon Finch	...	Christ (3 episodes, 1980)
Richard Heffer	...	Captain Conover (3 episodes, 1980)
Barry Morse	...	Peter Hathaway (3 episodes, 1980)
Nyree Dawn Porter	...	Alice Hathaway (3 episodes, 1980)
Wolfgang Reichmann	...	Lafe Lustig (3 episodes, 1980)
Maggie Wright	...	Ylla (3 episodes, 1980)
Terence Longdon	...	Wise Martian (3 episodes, 1980)
Richard Oldfield	...	Captain Nathaniel York (3 episodes, 1980)
John Cassady	...	Briggs (3 episodes, 1980)
Anthony Pullen Shaw	...	Edward Black (3 episodes, 1980)
Burnell Tucker	...	Bill Wilder (3 episodes, 1980)
Peter Marinker	...	McClure (3 episodes, 1980)
Vadim Glowna	...	Sam Hinston (3 episodes, 1980)
Alison Elliott	...	Lavinia Spaulding (3 episodes, 1980)
Derek Lamden	...	Sandship Martian (3 episodes, 1980)
Phil Brown	...	Narrator (3 episodes, 1980)
Estelle Brody	...	Mrs. Black (3 episodes, 1980)
Laurie Holden	...	Marie Wilder (3 episodes, 1980)
Stacey Sipes	...	Margarite Hathaway (3 episodes, 1980)

Runtime:

360 min | Brazil:165 min (compact video version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Robert Powell was asked to play the Jon Finch cameo

Goofs:

Factual errors: [Probably intentional] People on Mars move about in normal Earth gravity, but Mars has only about 38% of the gravitational pull of Earth.

Quotes:

Maj. Jeff Spender: I just believe in things that were done. And there were so many things done here. Streets and houses and books and big canals and clocks and places with names - things that were used and touched for centuries. And I don't see how we could ever use them without feeling uncomfortable...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Mission to Mars (2000)

You're alive

I saw this in 79-80, when I was 8 years old. It was shown quite late once a week on the BBC. Due to its late showing and married with my tender age, I was the only person out of all my peers who watched it. It left a big impression on me and I can still remember some of the scenes over twenty years on.....The thing is I have asked scores of people over these years to see if anyone remembered it. As the years passed and not one person said they had, I was beginning to wonder if it was a product of my fertile imagination - especially with its dreamy tone. Here we are on IMDB (one of my very favourite web sites) and you have proved to me that I am not totally mad. I hope it will be available in the UK one day so I can see just why it left this mark on me. I won't place a review though as it would be unfair after so long. LONG LIVE IMDB!!!