Mission to Mars

BAAA…BAAAA… BAAAAA…can you hear the sheep? There sure were a lot of them running around when this film was released. People billed it as the biggest stinker ever made, a contender for worst film of all time and possibly the cause of every single problem known to man. Strange thing is, Mission To Mars should have been one of the biggest moneymakers in history if as many people that claim to have seen it really did see it. But noooo…EVERYONE saw it and EVERYONE thought it was crap. And the movie bombed. Oh, and it also highlights how most people seem to have only two views of a movie worth publishing. The first view is "It SUCKS!" The second view is "It ROCKS!" Where's the friggin' grey area in peoples opinions? What ever happened to "It's not all bad from point A to B, but at point "C" it starts to take a nose dive into stupidity".

Conversations about MtM would go something like this:
Person 1: I hated it.
Person 2: Yeah me too.
Person 3: What's wrong with it? I haven't seen it, but I still think it sucks.
Person 4: What's wrong with it? It was crap! That's what was wrong with it. Haven't you been listening?
Person 3: Oh. When's it out on dvd?
Person 4: Next month. I got it pre-ordered reals cheap.
Person 5: It's John Howards fault! Let's get him!
Person 6: Yeah! I agree! Um, what are we talking about?
Person 1: I'm hungry.
Person 2: Me too!
Etc etc…

I guess everyone thinks they could do a better job than De Palma…

Anyway, Mission To Mars is a flick about the first manned trip to Mars. It goes bad, verrry bad. Lives are lost. Limbs are flung. After a little mishap with a popular topic of conspiracy theories, there's only one survivor and a rescue team is sent to save the day and find out just what the gosh darned heck happened.

So, what are the bad bits?
Sure, it's full of banal dialogue, with nearly all the actors just going through the motions as a bunch of gung-ho super cool rocket dudes. Lots of clichéd edgy glances and moody shots that are supposed to pass for characterisation. Some dodgy score work that's a bit over the top at times from Ennio Morricone doesn't help much, either. Oh, and the whole "explanation bit" at the end should have been turfed.

Okay, what about the good bits?
The low key portrayal of space travel, rather than being a flashy MTV edited, noisy, flashy assault on the senses. The micro-meteorite shower and the aftermath that plays fantastically low key, rather than an MTV "dodge the boulders" Armageddon scenario. The space walk escape segment, the whole sandstorm disaster (I've watched one bit of this section about 100 times because it looks soooo painful) and the general concept of the film itself is interesting.

So, asides from the plot points that derive from popular conspiracy/coverup theory, most of this seems to play for reality. De Palma strings things out longer than most directors would, and some viewers probably won't be able to sit without fidgeting for the duration.

In the end, although it tries, the movie doesn't leave you in wonderment or with a sense of ultimate fulfillment. But it makes for a nice dose of sci-fi when you need your quick fix.

Excellent, for a relatively recent film you'd expect this, but seeing it still makes you wonder how they get such great results on your tele from a bit of round plastic. My overall impression was that the picture was very easy on the eyes, with a film like appearance. Nicely detailed with a good stability to it, the detailed sets coming up very well in some scenes, with some metallic edges occasionally a bit soft but generally flawless. The red wash of the Mars surface came up particularly well, with a great contrast to the plants in the greenhouse. This is interplay of colour is mentioned in the commentary, referring to the need to relax the viewers eyes after the extended shots of red causing fatigue. Gee, aren't they considerate people? And all we ever do is complain…

The audio was also quite good, doing all the right things in the right places. I'll mention first the one negative thought I had, which was much of the early dialogue. It tended to sound very bright and artificial, and was not the easiest to understand without bumping the level up a few notches. But I guess it's forgivable in this case as much of the early character dialogue was fairly inane and skippable. On a positive note, there was some very good use of the LFE and surround channels, such as one instance with the surrounds in which the focal speech of a character pans through all the channels going around your head very smoothly as the camera rotates around a room. Another good example of the audio often overlooked in favour of louder "demo" pieces are the very quiet moments the film which hilight the subtlety of the mix rather than bombarding us with over the top sound effects and swelling orchestral scores.

I guess that even though the movie may not be everyone's cup of tea, those who do look at it favourably will at least have the benefit of a very pleasing A/V transfer.

Normally people get all indignant, arrogant and holier-than-thou-ish when they find some incorrect packaging that mentions things that we don't get or incorrectly labels the facts. Well, on the flip side I just have to say that I love it when they DON'T mention the extras that we DO get! I see it as getting a free extra Extra, and that can't be too bad. Asides from the enthusiastic commentary from crew such as the director of photography and the effects guru which gives a fair bit of technical info that went in the creation of the film, we get a featurette that condenses the making of the film into relevant sections highlighting some of the production info. The effects analysis show the computer generation of a few scenes and has a commentary for each. The animatics to scene comparisons show the generation of simple animated storyboarding to create an idea of the scene before shooting, then compares it to the finished product. With the trailer and gallery to cap it off, I was very happy with the total extras selection and quality on this dvd.

I'm happy to admit to enjoying this film and the quality of the dvd in general. Yes I know it isn't to everyone's taste, and that some of it leaves a lot to be desired, but overall, I thought it was an easy enough way to pass the time with a bit of sci-fi hokum (or who knows, it might turn out not to be hokum at all) and I think you should give it a go and judge it for yourself. You still might hate it in the end, but at least you decided for yourself. As a dvd, the quality of the picture and sound is fine and has some very good standout moments in both areas. Extras wise, it's much better value than the packaging might indicate.

Mission To Mars Vs Red Planet
If you weren’t aware, Red Planet was supposed to be released at around the same time as Mission To Mars. What with Hollywood being the hotbed of originality and creativity and all, the need was obviously felt to milk the Mars concept to death (there’s one more film yet to come) but unfortunately neither of these films was considered to be worth the effort in the end. Eventually, MtM came out first to a critical shitcanning and Red Planet faced some delays to be released later(clearly hoping to avoid some of the bad press generated for Mars movies by MtM).

So now these two films are out on dvd and you have the chance to compare them side by side in your own lounge rooms. If you don’t want to fork out the cash though, and would rather some generous soul just told you which to see, the decision isn’t quite as easy as saying “Neither�.

If you want a quick fix of action and faster pacing, then Red Planet is the way to go. If you want a slower paced story with a little more of an attempt at a story and characterisation, then MtM is the one. Looking for extras? MtM wins again by a wide margin. Best single line spoken by an actor? “F**ck this planet!� by Val Kilmer in Red Planet. Best actor in a singlet? Carrie-Ann Moss in Red Planet. But in the end, it comes down to the most successful and satisfying overall of the two movies based on the film alone. And on this criteria, the winner is (drum roll please) badabadabadabadabadabadaBOOMTISHHH!!! Red Planet!

Thank you. You’ve been a lovely audience. Good night!