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 | mars | robot as menace | robot | 

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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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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence, brief nudity and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Poland] Warner Bros. [Canada]

Country:

USA Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 November 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mars

Filming Locations:

Moon Plain, South Australia, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$80,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,721,296, 12 November 2000, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$17,480,890

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$15,983,079

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:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Many of the Mars scenes were filmed in Wadi Rum, Jordan, a desert valley several miles long.

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Goofs

(around 19:37) When commander Bowman is trying to activate manual override on the launch system she can be seen taking a small metal hanging crucifix down from the overhead controls then in the next shot it is there again and she takes it down a second time.

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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

Featured in Saturday Night Live: Val Kilmer/U2 (2000)

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Soundtracks

The Tower That Ate People
Written by Peter Gabriel
Published by Real World Music (BMI)
Produced by Peter Gabriel
Courtesy of Real World Music, Ltd.
Peter Gabriel appears courtesy of Geffen Records for North America and Virgin Records Ltd. for the rest of the world

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 .