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.
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.
Simon Templar (The Saint), is a thief for hire, whose latest job to steal the secret process for cold fusion puts him at odds with a traitor bent on toppling the Russian government, as well as the woman who holds its secret.
Director:
Phillip Noyce
Stars:
Val Kilmer,
Elisabeth Shue,
Rade Serbedzija
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
VFX supervisor Jeffrey A. Okun and his team worked closely with Thomas J. Smith, special effects supervisor, at F/X house Cinesite, and explored the possibilities of motion-capture and key-frame animation to give the robot AMEE fluid, human-like movements. Images of AMEE were created on background plates which were then integrated into composite scenes with the actors. Finally, the subtleties of lighting on the robot's body as she moved, her shadow and the wisps of dust that she kicked up were added. "AMEE has a very Japanese feel to it," said producer Mark Canton, adding: "Cool is the right word to describe it." See more »
Goofs
(at around 29 mins) After Bowman puts out the fire and restores power in the ship, the ship resumes spinning and the artificial gravity goes back into effect. When this happens Bowman and the various floating objects immediately fall "down" to the floor. In space there is no down, so objects could just as easily fall up or to the side. What's more, artificial gravity produced by centrifugal force does not attract objects. Object in free fall would continue to remain in free fall until they came to rest onto the rotating surface, at which point the effect of artificial gravity would then be felt. 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 ...
See more »
Crazy Credits
In the credits, Pettengill is spelled Pettengil (one "l"). See more »
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 See more »
I have not seen "Mission to Mars" yet, so I can't make any comparisons between this film and that film. I just saw this film at a free sneak preview, and although I already decided I wouldn't pay for it if I had to, I figured, what the hell. They were giving out free soundtracks and T-Shirts to those that came, so I was already in pretty good spirits about the movie.
So the movie started, so far so good. My friends are asking me if I wanted to leave. It was only 10 minutes into the film, not enough time for me to detect anything wrong with a film...for me anyway. About 30 minutes into the film, I realized why it was free. An hour and a half into the film, I realized this thing was never going to end. I was just waiting for it to end so I could leave. Whatever the makers of "Red Planet" were trying to make fell flat halfway into the movie, and shortly after that, I realized it died and was never going to come back to life. The rest of the movie wasted time and failed to excite or entertain me.
I'm usually very patient with films, so don't gang up on me and tell me that long films with very little action bore me, because it's not true. If "Red Planet" had something to say, I'd be very interested and enthused. "Red Planet" was lacking plotwise and although the characters received a lot of screentime, I never really understood who they were. I think they were trying to develop the characters after years of sci-fi films that go for the effects and overlook the characters. Despite their efforts, they failed.
On a technical note, "Red Planet" is superb. The effects and photography are very good, and the aura of sound will knock your socks off! However, effects and sound are not essential to storytelling. It's interesting that Carrie-Ann Moss was in this film. She hardly does anything, and her lack of humor is never really explained(I don't know how I could've missed an explanation, but I did). Also, she was in "The Matrix", another effects and sound bonanza. However, "The Matrix" had developed characters, and it had a plot, which is what made it work.
I wouldn't call "Red Planet" a terrible film. It's technically superb, and they did try to make a good film. And even if nothing happens in a film, that doesn't bother me. The problem was they forgot a plot and didn't know how to develop the characters. Without those essential elements in a film, it can make a film with a promise a long, boring failure.
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I have not seen "Mission to Mars" yet, so I can't make any comparisons between this film and that film. I just saw this film at a free sneak preview, and although I already decided I wouldn't pay for it if I had to, I figured, what the hell. They were giving out free soundtracks and T-Shirts to those that came, so I was already in pretty good spirits about the movie.
So the movie started, so far so good. My friends are asking me if I wanted to leave. It was only 10 minutes into the film, not enough time for me to detect anything wrong with a film...for me anyway. About 30 minutes into the film, I realized why it was free. An hour and a half into the film, I realized this thing was never going to end. I was just waiting for it to end so I could leave. Whatever the makers of "Red Planet" were trying to make fell flat halfway into the movie, and shortly after that, I realized it died and was never going to come back to life. The rest of the movie wasted time and failed to excite or entertain me.
I'm usually very patient with films, so don't gang up on me and tell me that long films with very little action bore me, because it's not true. If "Red Planet" had something to say, I'd be very interested and enthused. "Red Planet" was lacking plotwise and although the characters received a lot of screentime, I never really understood who they were. I think they were trying to develop the characters after years of sci-fi films that go for the effects and overlook the characters. Despite their efforts, they failed.
On a technical note, "Red Planet" is superb. The effects and photography are very good, and the aura of sound will knock your socks off! However, effects and sound are not essential to storytelling. It's interesting that Carrie-Ann Moss was in this film. She hardly does anything, and her lack of humor is never really explained(I don't know how I could've missed an explanation, but I did). Also, she was in "The Matrix", another effects and sound bonanza. However, "The Matrix" had developed characters, and it had a plot, which is what made it work.
I wouldn't call "Red Planet" a terrible film. It's technically superb, and they did try to make a good film. And even if nothing happens in a film, that doesn't bother me. The problem was they forgot a plot and didn't know how to develop the characters. Without those essential elements in a film, it can make a film with a promise a long, boring failure.