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.
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.Written by
Anonymous
To create a style for the costumes, costume designer Kym Barrett, who previously designed the sleek, futuristic costumes for 'The Matrix' (1999), spoke to a number of people who had designed the space suits used in actual space flight and then extrapolated their ideas into the future. "We wanted to have the feeling of something lightweight but durable, where you could almost see the layers of technology under the skin of the suit," said Barrett. "For instance, the suit looks as if it has its own cooling system inside. The irony of that is that we did, in reality, use a very archaic cooling system in an attempt to keep the cast cool, in some extraordinarily hot locations." See more »
Goofs
The Russian text in KOSMOS launch ship computer menu is just a random set of symbols. See more »
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"). See more »
When the World Is Running Down (You Can't Go Wrong)
Written by Sting
Published by Magnetic Publishing Ltd.
Administered by EMI Blackwood Music, Inc.
Performed by DifferntGear vs. The Police
Courtesy of A&M Records/Pagan Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises See more »
I don't know why everybody rips this movie. The special effects are very realistic, down to the pink-tinted Martian sky. The plot is plausible (for science fiction), paying attention to many small details that often make these kinds of movies farcical. Most important, it's very existential; humans simply trying to survive against almost insurmountable odds. As the struggle builds, the relationships begin to gel nicely. This IS a movie about human relationships, not Star Wars style hype. I know, there are some weak spots. The opening and closing dialog, Val Kilmer whispering all the way through, some of the dialog, etc. But overall, this movie doesn't try to do too much (unlike the abysmal Mission To Mars), and that's what makes it a success.
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I don't know why everybody rips this movie. The special effects are very realistic, down to the pink-tinted Martian sky. The plot is plausible (for science fiction), paying attention to many small details that often make these kinds of movies farcical. Most important, it's very existential; humans simply trying to survive against almost insurmountable odds. As the struggle builds, the relationships begin to gel nicely. This IS a movie about human relationships, not Star Wars style hype. I know, there are some weak spots. The opening and closing dialog, Val Kilmer whispering all the way through, some of the dialog, etc. But overall, this movie doesn't try to do too much (unlike the abysmal Mission To Mars), and that's what makes it a success.