Red Planet (2000)

Astronauts, and their robotic dog AMEE (Autonomous Mapping Evaluation and Evasion), search for solutions to save a dying Earth by searching on Mars, only to have the mission go terribly awry.

Director:

Antony Hoffman

Writers:

Chuck Pfarrer (story), Chuck Pfarrer (screenplay)

Stars:

Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss, Tom Sizemore

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Val Kilmer	...	Gallagher
Carrie-Anne Moss	...	Bowman
Tom Sizemore	...	Burchenal
Benjamin Bratt	...	Santen
Simon Baker	...	Pettengil
Terence Stamp	...	Chantilas
Jessica Morton	...	Website Fan
Caroline Bossi	...	Website Fan
Bob Neill	...	Voice of Houston (voice)

Storyline

In the near future, Earth is dying. A new colony on Mars could be humanity's only hope. A team of American astronauts, each a specialist in a different field, is making the first manned expedition to the red planet and must struggle to overcome the differences in their personalities, backgrounds and ideologies for the overall good of the mission. When their equipment suffers life-threatening damage and the crew must depend on one another for survival on the hostile surface of Mars, their doubts, fears and questions about God, man's destiny and the nature of the universe become defining elements in their fates. In this alien environment they must come face to face with their most human selves.

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Plot Keywords:

extinguishing a fire | cold the temperature | survival | environment | algae | 

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Taglines:

They Didn't Find Life On Mars. It Found Them.

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Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The most complex part of the spaceship was the flight deck where Navy Lieutenant Commander Kate Bowman (Carrie-Anne Moss) spends most of her time and from which all the functions of the ship are controlled. "It was some flight deck," commented Moss. "I've never seen so many switches and dials. It all looked real to me! It makes it so much easier to play the character when your surroundings are so life-like. My character spends a lot of time alone on the ship while the others are down on Mars. After a while I felt quite claustrophobic confined in this small deck and it really made me think about the pure and simple danger of an astronaut's life."

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Goofs

The 1997 Pathfinder/Sojourner is labeled "UISA", like the crew's 2052 equipment. The Pathfinder/Sojourner was launched by NASA, and included the US flag and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory logos.

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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 ...

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Crazy Credits

In the credits, Pettengill is spelled Pettengil (one "l").

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Connections

References The Angry Red Planet (1959)

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Soundtracks

The Fifth Heaven
Written by Graeme Revell
Produced by Graeme Revell and Paul Haslinger
Performed by Emma Shapplin

User Reviews

Non-exciting but realistic SF movie

I was amazed when reading so many bad reviews . O.K. there're no spectacular Aliens and we're not blinded by non-stop special effects. The movie has more realism than the traditional Holywood science fiction stuff. Many parts of the Mars mission were based on the NASA reference Mars mission . The Mars explorer spaceship is build in Earth orbit . There're 6 crew-members . Artificial gravity to stimulate adaptation to Martian conditions . AMEE a multi-purpose robot with aerial probe . Cushioned landing . Wearable spacesuits . Other points of realism were the accurate 'fire in space' sequence, and the computer technology used by the crew. Red Planet could have been better, but it's decent compared to most Holywood products. Moreover, real science fiction is a very small niche market and will never draw nor encourage a broad audience.

If you're a fan of science fiction, looking for more realistic spaceflight stuff, watch Red Planet .

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Poland] Warner Bros. [Canada]

Country:

USA Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 November 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Planète rouge

Filming Locations:

Moon Plain, South Australia, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$80,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,721,296, 12 November 2000

Gross USA:

$17,480,890

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$33,463,969

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures, NPV Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1