Mission To Mars

Rating:
Summary: This one is realy bad
Review: Starting with positiv aspects, the scpecial effects are good (not the makeup) and i laughed a few times (in disbelieve). But now the bad ones: Dull screenplay. There are so many scenes you excpect in this genre and they simply dont show up (rocketlaunches or landings etc.). Dialogs you wont believe. Good actors gone bad. Most of them seem to tell themselves "Its only for the money" repeatedly throughout the movie. The most stupid looking makeups i've seen so far (just to mention the africanmericans glued beard). Last and the least the embarassing the crying Alien (which looks bad enough without the tears). And all this by a director who nearly made me sleep with Mission Impossible. This isnt bad, its worse.

Rating:
Summary: Not Great But Not the Worst
Review: I dont completely understand the loathing people have for this movie. Those that give it a 5 are trying way too hard to sell it and those that give it a 1 are trying too hard to slam it (perhaps because the ideas were conflicting with their views Relious or Scientific). It was not the worst movie I have ever seen nor was it the best. The CGI was beautiful, and the Science was Solid (NASA consulted to maintain accuracy), the acting was sufficient. I have to say that the sandstorm in the beginning was laughable but I found the rest of it to be quite enjoyable. So what if it was not super fast with headache inducing jiggle-cams. I am tired of the fast action/horror sci-fi movies where people are always chased and slaughtered by barely seen creatures. This is a break from that and it is slower paced. Do not expect 2001 and certainly do not expect this to become known as one of the greatest but expect a Sci-Fi that thinks beyond convention. If you cant use and stretch your imagination and accept the possibility that we are not the only life-forms out here either because of religous constraints or scientific statism then avoid this movie. If you like the possibility that we really are just beginning to learn (as science continually shows us) then you will probably enjoy this. Do not go looking for revelations nor expect to find the same old stuff . Sit back, relax, suspend disbelief and dont be afraid to laugh at it sometimes. This is just a movie, give credit where credit is due but dont go overboard.

Rating:
Summary: excellently done
Review: One thing i want to make clear before i get started is that this is not an outer space movie that involves tons of ailens killing people brutally like starship troopers. This movie is set around 2015 about the first space flight to mars. While there a group of U.S. astronauts find life there that doesn't want them and kills all of them but one who manages to survive by the plants that they brought with them producing oxygen. A rescue team is sent to discover what happened lead by the head astronaut ( Gary Sinese ) and his other partner ( Tim Robbins. ) They discover that the life on Mars holds the key to all civilazation and the head astronaut is taken to where all of creation suppsoedly began. I don't believe some of the things in this movie but it was very entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: What a Waste of Time
Review: I thought that this was going to be one of the best movies that I had seen in a long time. With talent like Tim Robbins, Gary Sinise, and Brian De Palma, you couldn't think that things could go so wrong. What there was in the special effects department were done well, but other than that I absolutely hated this movie. The story was so choppy and seemed drawn out. The pivotal and really dramatic scenes were hokey as well. I love De Palma's work. Snake Eyes was at least a well done movie. This on the other hand was a total waste of time and money to even produce such a thing. What were these people thinking?

Rating:
Summary: Insult my intelligence why dontcha?!
Review: Mission to Mars suffers from the same malady that so many of today's feature science fiction films do: it's dumbed down to the point where it insults the audience's intelligence.

I wonder how movies like Mission to Mars get made. Do these studio guys deliberately make these films stupid because they think we, the viewing audience, are too dumb to understand a more complex, scientifically accurate film? Now, I'm not some MIT graduate, ST:TNG fan who goes ballistic every time the laws of physics are flouted in a sci-fi movie, but I'd just like to see a little attempt to make things a little more realistic.

Mission to Mars isn't all bad. Many of the special effects are cool looking, most of them CGI. Some of the space sequences are interesting to look at.

But that's about where it ends. Gary Sinise looks like he's had about an inch of facial make-up thrown on. What happened to this guy? Why the need to embellish his face with more base than an Estee Lauder model? Weird. I'm surprised Tim Robbins signed up for this one. His standards are usually higher. His efforts and those of the other actors in the movie are mostly wasted by a lackluster script and subpar direction by Brian dePalma.

The quality of the DVD version is fine and there's a fairly interesting bonus feature on the making of the film, but not enough to justify the price of admission.

Obviously, I don't recommend this movie to you, but if you're a sci-fi and special effects fan, and you have a Saturday night to waste, you might get something out of Mission to Mars.

Rating:
Summary: Magnificent! -- by A Studio Flack, er, "A Viewer"
Review: "Mission to Mars" is an undisputed MASTERPIECE! I don't understand why there are so many negative reviews posted here, when you consider the average grade on the scorecards at this wonderful movie's premier was a B-minus! In fact, I think that in time, this astounding movie's reputation will grow until it equals the prominence of "2001: A Space Odyssey" (available on DVD from Warner Bros.)! [As a side note, Mr. De Palma HOMAGES "2001"; he doesn't "rip it off" as some reviewers say!]

The big-name cast includes: Academy Award-winning Gary Sinise . . . Hollywood's "wunderkind" Tim Robbins . . . the lovely Connie Nielsen, last seen in this summer's $100 million-earning blockbuster "Gladiator" . . . the gifted Don Cheadle . . . and up-and-comer Jerry O'Connell, from TV's "Sliders"! With a top-notch cast like this, you just can't go wrong!

De Palma certainly hasn't lost his touch! Watch for the scene where Gary Sinise's character locates a leak in the spaceship by opening a packet of DR PEPPER in a zero-gravity situation! This amazing DR PEPPER sequence is typical of De Palma's consummate artistry, and this fantastic film is just studded with scenes like this!

The score by Ennio Morricone may be the most brilliant in a film since "Amadeus"! So moving, so haunting . . . it's as if Leonard Bernstein and Yanni have combined forces in Music Heaven! And the ending! -- Eschewing the trendy darkness of recent sci-fi movies like "The Matrix" and "Pitch Black", "Mission to Mars" goes instead for universal acceptance! Its strong spiritual message is grounded in humanitarian values! [And it DOESN'T "rip off" "Close Encounters"; it HOMAGES the earlier film!] Criticism of the wholesome finale only illuminates the despair of our cynical age!

But why go on? "Mission to Mars", the most underrated film in history, is waiting to blow your mind! So buy it! Please! BUY THIS FILM! BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT B

Rating:
Summary: It would get better reviews if it were marketed as a comedy
Review: Oh my lord, this movie sucked. The best part was the music - most movies try to create a mood with music - make a love scene more romantic, to add mystery etc - this movie smacks you on the head with its music. It is hard enough to believe in this movie without the over the top music. Unlike other reviewers, I thought the acting was fine, but no acting can overcome such a horrible script.

This movie will make you think - about what could have possibly made such good actors agree to make such a cheesy film.

Rating:
Summary: To bad the plot was not as good as the effects.
Review: The special effects were out of this world as well as the acting (although Jerry O'Connell did have a little problem with the dramatic crying scene at the end, "don't get me wrong, I think he's a sweetheart"), it's just too bad there was no plot. This movie, considering it's budget, had great potential, but it was all show and no substance. It FIRST, begins when a space mission to Mars is lost under mysterious circumstances and another team is sent to find out what happend. THEN, (and this is the part I dont "get") once on the planet the plot 180's into something about aliens and human origin or something like that. It's just such a shame that the script was so shallow. I gave this movie a 2 because of the acting and special effects, but if you are looking for more than that, DONT WATCH.

Rating:
Summary: They forgot to have something happen during this movie!
Review: I really, really wanted to like "Mission to Mars." Interesting premise, quality actors, a few wild special effects, and... nothing. The movie is almost amazingly wooden, and so liberally sprinkled with standard action plot devices that I laughed out loud a few times. Scenes that should've been making me sweat with fear turned into "Mystery Science Theater 3000" episodes. Example: A giant 500 foot tall roaring vortex of sand is looming ever closer to our intrepid Mars astronauts. The vortex growls menacingly! Rocks begin to fill the air! The end is near! And how do they react? Are they rooted with fear? Awe? Do they scream and run in a panic? Do they say "My God, what is that thing?" Nope. They, uh, stand there, expressionless. Soundless. Doing, uh, nothing. Hmm. Stretch that out over the entire movie and you'll get an appreciation for my disappointment. If you like semi-rigid sci-fi of this genre try 2010. It's much less pretentious and the actors remember to smile, grimace, look scared, etc.

Rating:
Summary: A breathtaking masterpiece from a brilliant director
Review: Refers to the German DVD from VCL Communications.

Once in a great while, there are movies, quite undiscribable with mere words. Like "Contact" with Jodie Foster, "Mission to Mars" goes deep beneath your skin and leaves you thinking about yourself and the universe. One who expects a gory sci-fi slasher will be taught better. Although the Thomas Boys are famous for such things as "Predator", "Mission to Mars" is a romantic and moving tale about heroes, exploration and the regaining of an almost forgotten dream. But "Mission to Mars" is even more. Technically it's an fantastic movie, with astonishing effects, new ideas what could go wrong in space and an overwhelming soundtrack as well as for Morricone's music and as for the effects (German DVD in DTS ES). Last but not least DePalma's visonary style, how he "paints" and "draws" a movie liken a work of art made every second rate stoy like "Mission Impossible" a real event. This is NOT an action movie although there is action, and it's no thriller, although there is much suspense. "Mission to Mars" is one hell of a movie for both brain and heart.