Rating: 
Summary: I'm glad I only rented it.
Review: I am a real DVD fan and enjoy a wide variety of videos. I keep my own file of videos so I can rate them for myself. This one I'm afraid didn't make the top of my list. In fact of over 200 videos in my private list this one is third from the bottom. It was so hard to watch I actually fast forwarded through much of it. The direction was the big failure here. I'm sorry for the great actors that had to suffer through having their names associated with this video. Save yourself the trouble and don't even rent it. The dialog is bad. Where are the exciting launch views? Who thought this story would be accepted by the public?
Rating:
Summary: Fictional science, not science fiction
Review: I just rented Mission to Mars, and it is so horrible I feel I need to speak out. I cannot believe there are five star reviews here. Do not, under any circumstances, watch this film if you have ever done any of the following:1. Taken an entry-level or higher course in physics, astronomy, biology, genetics, or physiology. (I'm not kidding, your brain will refuse to process certain parts of the show) 2. Ever seen a good science fiction movie such as Dune or The Matrix. The idea of science fiction is that part of the story is based in some part on science. Take, for example, the Matrix. While the movie is purely fantastic, it is a logical leap from our current understanding of virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and neurophysiology. The fact that it takes place at least 100 years in the future actually leaves room for the leap to happen. Mission to Mars takes place a scant 20 years in the future. But we have crystal clear computer displays scattered all over our space vessels and space SUITS!! There are sensors everywhere, except where they would interefere with the plot (say some kind of fuel gauge). The astronauts' wrist computers can solve ridiculous physics problems in less than a second. And that's just the improbable -- there's plenty of impossible to go around. The greenhouse on Mars is completely open to the outside atmosphere, but the astronauts can breath just fine! If you ever run out of oxygen, just stand next to a cactus. A single DNA base pair is a "chromosome". Puncturing a shuttle's hull causes all the computers to crash (lousy microsoft!). Despite the well-known fact that spacecraft use solid fuels because liquid fuel weighs too much, NASA decided to use liquid fuel anyway. So what if you know nothing about science? How's the acting? Terrible. How's the story? Predictable. And if you really don't know enough about science to hate this movie, let me suggest college (or least a GED).
Rating: 
Summary: What in the world ever happened to Brian DePalma?
Review: Remember? *Carrie*. *Body Double*. *Blow-Out*. *Casualties of War*. He was the next Hitchcock, remember? One of our best directors, remember? You'd never know that from the work he's put out this decade. While *Mission to Mars* isn't the worst thing he's done recently (*Mission: Impossible* and *Raising Cain* vie for that sad honor), it certainly indicates the work of a lazy hack with a whole lotta dough to play with. The story's about space-jockeys in 2020 who attempt to rescue a colleague who's been stranded on Mars while checking up on . . . well, we're not really told WHY the first mission went to Mars, or what the heck we're doing there in the first place. There is a greenhouse. There are weird scientifickal thing-a-ma-bobs we've put there. Why? Because we need to colonize? Because the gov't has a lot of tax money to play with? Or just because it's 2020? Who knows? The writers don't bother going into it, which is just one example of their colossal laziness here. Another example is the characterization. They're all really cool astronauts . . . the females have close-cropped haircuts a la Ripley; the guys are easy-going macho, even the Guy Whose Wife Recently Died. There's a fine collection of actors here, but they can do nothing with this material. Another irritant is DePalma's BLATANT ripping-off of *2001* and *Close Encounters*. DePalma used to homage Hitchcock and Welles in clever ways that made us admire his film knowledge and expertise; now he merely steals, doubtless under the assumption that we'll think all these rehashed ideas are HIS because he's a famous director. The recent abasement of Coppola nowhere near approaches what DePalma's been showing us lately -- this is some really irrelevant work. Finally, the music by Ennio Morricone tries to supply what the script could not -- emotional involvement. It's very dramatic and rather derivative . . . and manipulative. So this is what DePalma's resorted to: a TV-movie score that tries to generate involvement. Certainly the "crises" DePalma cooks up do not -- the scientific jargon used to describe these crises sounds a lot like the palaver you'd hear on *Star Trek*: meaning, for normal people, it's gibberish. Better luck next time, Bri. We'd love to see you make a good movie again. . . .
Rating:
Summary: I wish Bladerunner had these wonderful DVD options
Review: Let me start by saying that the DVD version for Mission to Mars is great. It has dolby digital 5.1, directors commentary, and numerous special effects behind the scenes footage. Too bad though that when seeing Mission to Mars in the theater I knew from the opening "pre-launch party" scene that I was in for a comedic experience of a film attempting to mimic Armaggedon's cheesy aura. These were the only two movies in my 23 years of experience where I wanted to walk out on but never did due to the fact that I had no car and had a better time laughing at the pathetic attempt at a story (seriously). I can see Brian de Palma, the director, sitting with the writers and producers and millions of dollars thinking "yeah, this is cool we got everything a movie needs for a forest gump tearjerker from mars. All we need are a ring of aliens which have cute eyes, noses, and little mouths holding hands in a circle while the hero"... whoops not allowed to spoil the ending....n and Robbins is guaranteed to leave you in tears. Special effects are where this movie excels, and the weightless environment of free-fall has never been so accurately and imaginatively presented. M2M is considered by many to have a weak ending, and I won't argue that point, but that turns out to be a minor blemish on an otherwise spectacular movie. I thought the musical score was excellent, but I suspect its retro stylistic elements will not sit well with everyone. As for the DVD version, the video transfer is superb, among the best. The audio, as auditioned in Dolby Digital 5.1, is as good as the source material allows, but the original sound, while competently done, is not particularly razzle-dazzle. There is abundant bonus material on the DVD: 1. "Visions of Mars", a "making of" documentary. This is almost worth the price of the DVD by itself. It goes into more detail than most such documentaries. 2. Alternate audio track with commentary by cinematographer and special effects team. I listened to this entire commentary, transfixed. If anything caused me to raise the rating to 5 stars, this was it. Even if you didn't care much for the film by itself, just listen to the commentary, and I guarantee you will have a lot more respect for what was accomplished here. 3. Animatonic versions of 3 scenes. These are the digitally animated story boards used to set up some of the shots--very interesting. 4. Production art gallery. 5. DVD-ROM capabilities (runs on both PC and MacOS; requires a Web browser), including the content of the original film Web site. 6. French and Spanish audio tracks; Spanish subtitles. According to the audio commentary, MISSION TO MARS was shot with an aspect ratio of "2.4:1". The DVD cover indicates a ratio of 2.35:1, which I guess is close enough. The picture certainly looks great on the screen.
Rating:
Summary: BOOOOOOO
Review: At least they tried, that's why the extra star
Rating:
Summary: Just a bad movie
Review: I saw this one in the theatre, and let me tell you, it was BAD! It was a double date, my finacee' and I were laughing at it, (its saving grace is that it's SO bad that it's funny), my older brother was laughing, and his date was crying. So I suppose based on my experience that 3/4 people would laugh at the movie, and the other 1/4 will love it. There is a 25% chance you'll like this movie: not very good odds.
Rating: 
Summary: Best movie of the year so far.
Review: I only have a few things to say about Mission to Mars. It's a great movie, full of action and adventure, with a smart script and fine acting. A must see.
Rating:
Summary: Mission to Mars crashes.
Review: I rated this movie two stars only for the impressive special effects. On a whole, it was quite lame. For example, one could certainly "feel" Connie Nielsen's grief as Tim Robbins drifted away, and eventually hastening his own death, but did she shed even one tear, not that I saw. Not very convincing. And the premise that aliens seeded humankind was downright laughable. Glad I spent only $3.00 for a rental. Gee, I wonder what good ol' Star Trek rerun I should have watched instead.
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly Great Mission
Review: I rented the DVD to Mission to Mars and I wasn't expecting very much because of all of the negative reviews. Well this movie blew me away not only for the fact that Disney would put their name on this but that it was rated PG. This should have been a PG-13 pushing R so don't let the rating fool you. Some very gruesome deaths occur including a guy frozen in space and a guy who blows up into thousands of pieces. The special effects were great too. One of my favorite effects scenes showed the evolution of all animals overall, but there were definitely a lot more effects than that. The acting wasn't that bad either. Actually it was a lot better than another recent really bad sci-fi space movie, Supernova. Rent Mission before Supernova or the second can be skipped all together. Interesting storyline, but only an ok ending. Get this movie. At least rent it. It was especially added to my collection because of a great documentary and a great commentary. You won't be disappointed with this one. If only people hadn't gone into the movie hoping for it to be Apollo 13 which I thought was good but definitely something I don't want to see very much again. Think more along the lines of Armageddon, but change the asteroid part with mishap on Mars. Just as good if not better!
Rating:
Summary: I expected better....
Review: I have to say I expected better from Brian De Palma and the cast. In all honesty I found this movie to be a bore. Gary Sinise and Tim Robbins,who are usually wonderful,just seem to be going through the motions. They are acting without life. Don Cheadle and Jerry O'Connell,along with the last 20 minutes or so, are the only good things about this film. I give credit to the premise of this story,but the writing and acting fall short.
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