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?

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Plot Keywords:

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

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Taglines:

Getting there was the easy part.

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Genres:

Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for sci-fi violence and mild language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Armin Mueller-Stahl, who plays Ray Beck (commander on the space station) is not listed in the credits, nor is the character.

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Goofs

(at around 28 mins) When Phil Ohlmyer shows the "DNA-model" of his dream woman to Jim McConnell, the free floating candy moves in a circular motion around the center of the model. Unless the candy is interconnected, this would be impossible to obtain in real life, as the individual pieces of candy can only have a straight line of motion. Even if you would rotate one candy in a circular motion and then release it, it would continue in a straight line tangent to the circle.

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Quotes

Jim McConnell: There's pressure in here.
Terri Fisher: Above Mars atmospheric? That's impossible.
Jim McConnell: We're millions of miles from Earth inside a giant white face. What's impossible?

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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.

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Connections

References Flash Gordon (1936)

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Soundtracks

Ma 'Tit Fille
Written by Buckwheat Zydeco (as Stanley Dural, Jr.)
Performed by Buckwheat Zydeco
Courtesy of The Island Def Jam Music Group
By arrangement with Universal Music Special Markets

User Reviews

I can't believe the bad reviews !

I don't understand why this film is getting such a hard time here ! OK, so it's no 2001 - a film with which is has much in common - but it's certainly no Battlefield Earth either.

The story is engaging - the action sequences are realistic and entertaining - the special effects are excellent, with very realistic spaceship designs and photography. The main criticism I can level at the film is that is totally avoids some important scenes, such as the first landing on Mars, or the landing of Mars 2 crew. Also the initial scene is drawn out and there's far too much hugging going on !

This is an intelligent, but low-key film - it reminded me of some mid-fifties sci-fi, like the Thing. Perhaps audiences today are less sophisticated - having been brought up on a diet of poor action movies and even poorer Star Trek 'science fiction'. Mission to Mars has a more realistic basis, is less flashy - and I don't think there's even one explosion in the whole film.

If you enjoyed Contact or 2001 and want more of the same, then Mission to Mars is a definite must-watch. It's a shame that a quality film like this is getting panned so badly, as movie studios are more likely to avoid similar projects in the future. Would 2001 be made today ? I doubt it.

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