Mission to Mars (2000)

When the first manned mission to Mars meets with a catastrophic and mysterious disaster after reporting an unidentified structure, a rescue mission is launched to investigate the tragedy and bring back any survivors.

Director:

Brian De Palma

Writers:

Lowell Cannon (story), Jim Thomas (story)

Stars:

Tim Robbins, Gary Sinise, Don Cheadle

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gary Sinise	...	Jim McConnell
Tim Robbins	...	Woody Blake
Don Cheadle	...	Luke Graham
Connie Nielsen	...	Terri Fisher
Jerry O'Connell	...	Phil Ohlmyer
Peter Outerbridge	...	Sergei Kirov
Kavan Smith	...	Nicholas Willis
Jill Teed	...	Reneé Coté
Elise Neal	...	Debra Graham
Kim Delaney	...	Maggie McConnell
Marilyn Norry	...	NASA Wife
Freda Perry	...	NASA Wife
Lynda Boyd	...	NASA Wife
Patricia Harras	...	NASA Wife
Robert Bailey Jr.	...	Bobby Graham

Storyline

When a mysterious storm kills all but one crew member of the first manned mission to mars, a rescue mission is launched. Once on the red planet, the crew finds the sole survivor of the first mission who informs them that this was no ordinary storm. It was meant to protect something. But what?

---

Plot Keywords:

human on mars | based on theme park ride | astronaut | human in outer space | reference to constantin brancusi | 

---

Taglines:

For centuries, we've searched for the origin of life on Earth...We've been looking on the wrong planet.

---

Genres:

Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for sci-fi violence and mild language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chosen by "Les Cahiers du cinéma" (France) as one of the 10 best pictures of 2000 (#04)

---

Goofs

In the movie it stated that the 23 chromosomes came from mars about a million years ago and set off the explosive growth on the planet earth. Chromosomes are never mentioned in the dialogue. Merely that "they seeded earth" hundreds of millions of years ago. The only goof here is the time scale. Life is believed to have begun roughly 3.5 billion years ago during the Eoarchean period with true multi-celled organisms appearing during the early Proterozoic era, roughly 2 billion years ago.

---

Quotes

Luke Graham: Come on - three commanders. One ship. I don't think that's gonna work. There's not enough rocket fuel in the world to get those egos off the ground.

---

Crazy Credits

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's cooperation and assistance does not reflect an endorsement of the contents of the film or the treatment of the characters depicted therein.

---

Connections

Referenced in Top 5 Worst Sci-Fi Movies Ever Made (2014)

---

Soundtracks

Dance the Night Away
Written by Edward Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony and David Lee Roth
Performed by Van Halen
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.
By arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

Solid, Intelligent Entertainment

I do not understand why this movie was slagged so badly when it came out. I finally watched it on VHS, and I liked it much better than "Red Planet", its companion Mars movie.

Sure, "MTM" steals from lots of other movies, but what film doesn't? The opening is lifted directly from "Apollo 13", but it serves the purpose of setting everything up rather painlessly. I love the cast, and they do establish a sense of camaraderie here.

I am not an aeronautical engineer, but I do know enough science to appreciate the way the fight to survive the entry into Mars' atmosphere is based on the limitations of their equipment. In most action movies, the hero has limitless ammo, fuel, food, etc. It was truly heartbreaking to see Tim Robbins' character make the choice he did.

Overall, "Mission to Mars" is very enjoyable. It felt like a short story lifted directly out of the Sci-Fi of the 60's, which I grew up reading. The pacing is very good, the acting is good (given some of the cliched situations), the script does not insult your intelligence, and I liked the resolution very much. Fun at the movies, what more can you ask?

Details

Official Sites:

Cinopsis [Belgium] (French)

Country:

USA Canada France

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 March 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

M2M

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$22,855,247, 12 March 2000

Gross USA:

$60,883,407

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$110,983,407

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment, StudioCanal

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1