Red Planet
Tags: mystery

Plot synopsis:
In 2056 A.D., Earth is in ecological crisis as a consequence of pollution and overpopulation. Automated interplanetary missions have been seeding Mars with atmosphere-producing algae as the first stage of terraforming the planet. When the oxygen quantity produced by the algae is inexplicably reduced, the crew of Mars-1 investigate—a crew consisting of Quinn Burchenal (Tom Sizemore), an agnostic geneticist; Bud Chantillas (Terence Stamp), an aging philosophical scientist and surgeon; systems engineer Robby Gallagher (Val Kilmer); commander Kate Bowman (Carrie-Anne Moss); pilot Ted Santen (Benjamin Bratt); and terraforming scientist Chip Pettengill (Simon Baker).
When Mars 1 is damaged in arrival, Bowman remains aboard for repair while the others land to locate an automated habitat (HAB 1) established earlier to manufacture food and oxygen. During insertion, the team's landing craft is damaged and lands off-course. In the aftermath, "AMEE" (Autonomous Mapping Exploration and Evasion)—a military robot programmed to guide them—is lost, and Chantillas suffers a ruptured spleen and internal bleeding, and tells the others to leave him behind. Santen refuses, but Chantillas tells them that they have limited oxygen left to make it to HAB 1. Chantillas tells Gallagher that it is all right, as he got to see Mars for the first time. The crew leaves to allow Chantillas to die in peace. In orbit around Mars, Bowman contacts Houston, which informs her that Mars-1 is in decaying orbit, but offers hope of restoring engine function in departing Mars.
On Mars, the landing party find HAB 1 mysteriously destroyed. They are baffled for an explanation, since the module was designed and field-tested in Tornado Alley to withstand any damaging storms on Mars. All expect their imminent deaths by suffocation. Pettengill and Santen wander from the others to explore, later to reach a canyon where Pettengill accidentally kills Santen, after they get into a fight over whether or not the mission was a failure, and that Pettengill realizes that Santen would never accept defeat. Pettengill returns to Burchenal and Gallagher, and tells them that Santen killed himself. His oxygen depleted, Gallagher opens his helmet, choosing a quick death over asphyxiation – and discovers that Mars' atmosphere is thin but breathable. The only salvageable material from the habitat is all of the liquid fuel, which has ruptured out of its containers but pooled under the wreck. With no remaining power in their suits, the astronauts set it on fire with a flare so they can have a bonfire to survive the massive temperature drop of the Martian night. AMEE reunites with the crew, and the three astronauts notice the robot is damaged and attempt to shut it down so they can recover its guidance device. Perceiving their actions as a threat, AMEE breaks Burchenal's ribs and pursues the others before retreating. Gallagher tells the others she has gone into military mode, and intends to kill them all one by one. She wounded Burchenal instead of killing him because she has been programmed with knowledge of the old guerrilla tactic that a wounded man will slow the enemy down since effort must be expended to transport a wounded teammate.
Eventually, Gallagher builds a makeshift radio from parts of the Mars Rover Pathfinder, through which Bowman instructs them to use a Russian probe's sample-return system to launch themselves into orbit. During the trip, Bowman tells Gallagher that the probe can hold only two people. The trio takes shelter from an ice storm inside of a cave. Devastated by the recent news and afraid of being left behind, Pettengill flees with the radio, only to be killed by AMEE. After the storm subsides Gallagher and Burchenal recover the radio from Pettingill's corpse, and discover that it has become infested by insect-like native Martian life (identified by Burchenal as "nematodes"). The insects are highly flammable, as using a simple cutting torch on Pettengill's corpse to free his grip caused a chain reaction, making all of the insects in his corpse explode like firecrackers. Later, the two encounter a field of algae being eaten by the insects, and Burchenal pieces together what happened.
The Martian insects had lain dormant on their almost dead world, but when the probes from Earth spread algae fields across Mars it gave them a massive new food source and led to a population explosion. The Martian insects are what caused the algae to disappear, but in the process they actually gave Mars breathable oxygen levels, because they produce oxygen as a waste product (explaining why they are so flammable). The insects are also what destroyed the habitat module, as they tore in to get to the food supplies inside.
Burchenal explains to Gallagher that the biochemistry of alien insects' respiratory metabolism is capable of producing oxygen far more efficiently than human science is currently able to. Studying the insects' biochemistry is the key to terraforming Mars, and may even lead to discoveries which will allow Earth's polluted atmosphere to be repaired. However, Burchenal is attacked by swarms of the insects when blood drips from an open wound. Rather than be eaten alive, he passes his sample vial of insects to Gallagher before immolating himself and his attackers.
Gallagher reaches the Russian probe, finds sufficient fuel to power the rocket's engine, but not enough electrical power to launch the probe, and realizes that the only available replacement is AMEE's power core. In a final confrontation, Gallagher is able to lure AMEE into a trap and disable her using one of the probe's sample launchers, then takes her battery. Gallagher launches himself in the probe's sample-return capsule and reaches orbit where Mars-1 is waiting for him, and he is recovered and revived by Bowman. Gallagher becomes upset that four astronauts died so that he could live, but Bowman tells him that they did not die for nothing. The computer is busy analyzing the sample of Martian insects which Gallagher brought back, and research on them might lead to repairing Earth itself. With a six-month-long trip back to Earth, the computer has plenty of time to analyze the insects, and Bowman and Gallagher have time to start pursuing a romantic relationship.

Review: Red Planet is just a movie and in my opinion a pretty good sci-fi picture.
The movie is called "Red Planet" not "Who are the People Who are Going to Mars to Save Earth?" and we join the action "in media res" which means in the middle of things so character development is not stressed in the beginning.
You have a limited time to get off the planet, your friendly neighborhood military robot has decided to play "Seek and Destroy", and something mysterious is happening on the surface of Mars involving tiny, bio-luminescent aphids.So imagine all of that and you will get an idea of what the writers and director wanted to recreate for the audience.
I honestly loved "Red Planet." I thought that Kilmer did a great job playing the "rebellious yet skilled" character that he was so deft at in the 80's.
I also felt that Moss added another good performance that was similar to her "soldier yet woman" role from "Matrix." The thought of not only oxygen but LIFE on Mars had not really been touched yet but it worked out greatly..think about it: the actors can actually do their thing without having to wear a bulky space suit the whole time...it adds a lot of fast moving action and real drama to the movie.
I guess if you like the actors and are open to a new kind of sci-fi/action plot, you at least should give this movie a shot.
And the ending is thrilling.If you like straight forward science fiction films like me, you'll enjoy this movie..
If you are looking for mystique, try Mission to Mars, but if you want action or thrills, then go with Red Planet.Set in the mid twenty first century, Earth is dying, and humanity has turned to Mars as a potential replacement.
These few individuals must survive to carry the news back to Earth which proves that man can live on the Red Planet.I think the story works decently as a nifty sci-fi thriller.
I know that Mission to Mars was bad, i'd be the 1st to admit that......but that doesn't mean that all other sci-fi films are going to be bad.
Last year we had Pitch Black which i thought was okay.........and we had Red Planet.Red Planet came with a reasonably large budget, a really superior cast to Mission to Mars and absolutely great special effects.
The main story line in itself is not ground breaking, but the sub plots within the film give the film its real grip!A crew of 4 astranauts and 2 science officers agree to board a mission into building a new home on mars through the aid of making it a breathable atmosphere through the aid of planting algae.Then in comes your usual suprises, the spacecraft that their in hits critical conditions causing them to land on Mars earlier than they wanted to and therefore building a storyline of what they are going to do to get back to earth.The sub plot involving the crews relationship between pentigill who was a last minute choice for the mission is excellent.
Movies like "Red Planet" remind me why I enjoy science fiction so much.
While that's not a bad idea (I have enjoyed several films in that vein such as "Independence Day"), films can become too dependent on that and that's when the fun drains away."Red Planet" is a film that has solid special effects, but also a strong story and good characterizations.
"Mission to Mars", despite having top stars,master craftsman Brian DePalma directing and phenomenal special effects, was a little too pat and resorted to cliches (Not that I blame DePalma; he did the best he could with the script he had and the film wasn't bad at all)I didn't know anything about the plot and I think that helps with a film like "Red Planet".
There are some flaws (mostly in technological probability and pacing in the first 20 minutes)but writer Chuck Pfarrer and director Antony Hoffman remember that great sci-fi is also about the story and characters and the result is the best sci-fi film in recent years.***1/2 out of 4 stars.
Yet Another Twist On The Trip-To-Mars Idea, But A Good One. This movie was released the same year as "Mission To Mars" and both movies had an interesting twist to them.While "Mission To Mars" dealt humans "visiting" the planet and dealing with the "face on Mars" and a previous civilization living on that planet at one time, "Red Planet" dealt with humans trying to "colonize" the planet but running into a problem they didn't count --- life still being there.
Pros: cinema-photography, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, sci-fi, Cons: Lack of character development, a few sci-fact goofs (the space fire is not a goof); film editing..
For this year, which was the worse movie, Red Planet or Mission to Mars?
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.
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.
The premise is that, by the year 2057, Earth is so badly polluted that we are seeding the sands of Mars with algae to produce oxygen so that humans can colonize the red planet (don't algae need water to live?)-but the algae have suddenly vanished from our telescopes.
I won't give away what they find, but I will say the solution to the mystery is more like something out of a good science fiction novel than a Hollywood sci-fi movie.
This leads to scenes reminiscent of another Val Kilmer film, the underrated "The Ghost and the Darkness." 	The premise may be far-fetched, but I thought the execution and resolution of "Red Planet" were exciting and  satisfying.
Watching it now is to get the sense that in another 13 years it will be looked back as amusedly as It - Terror from Outer Space or any number of those 'guys in a tin can pretend to fly in space' sci-fi films of the 50's.It's truly bad.
Case in point: people who see this movie, all the way through, and think it is a sci-fi film.
Seeing a space ship and technology and yelling "sci-fi" is a poor excuse for thinking.In any case, nothing presented in this film is science fiction.
An A for effort, but the movie is only a 6 or 7 out of 10, depending on how YOU feel about the actors.Unlike, say, "Mission to Mars," which had a great cast working from a script written by drunken chimapanzees..
Red Planet is another science-fiction film exploring the possibilities of life on Mars.
Red Planet may not be sufficient when rated as a science-fiction, but for people who watch the movie for its plot and not with expectations of very high technology and special effects, its not a disappointing one.It starts with a slow tempo, and although the whole movie takes place far from earth, we are not blinded by non-stop special effects.
By staying away from the unnecessary effects, he keeps our attention on the theme.The suspense in the movie is quite good, although not many big surprises occurs.Biggest negative point for me (as a guy not interested in effects but in the way the director tells what he has to say) is Hoffman fails to show us the relationship between the crew and gives us his characters with simple out lines.
I guess he knows his weakness here, and so he makes his captain (Carrie-Anne Moss) describe all her crew members one by one.Finally if you are not especially looking for a science-fiction but say you can watch one, Red Planet will not be a very bad choice.
'Red Planet' had an interesting cast though with Val Kilmer, Carrie Anne Moss, Tom Sizemore, Terence Stamp and Benjamen Bratt.
Either way, the science-fiction part was okay, I'm not bothered that some people don't think maps will be like the ones in 'Red Planet' in the future.
'Red Planet' science-fiction elements were okay, but the suspense part was completely non-existent and the story lacked the engagement and the performances needed to make a good science-fiction thriller!
The diverse but equally talented and intelligent group of astronauts include Robby Gallagher (Val Kilmer, Batman Forever), Kate Bowman (Carrie-Anne Moss, The Matrix) Ted Santen (Benjamin Bratt, Law and Order), Chip Pettengill (Simon Baker, The Mentallist) and Bud Chantillas (Terence Stamp, Superman II), as well a military robot named "AMEE" (Autonomous Mapping Exploration and Evasion) which has been brought along to guide them through Mars which was a clichéd version of HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
Very stylish version, I liked the red tones and the barren landscape.The story does not seem to know where it wants to go - there is the main plot about the oxygene and the algae, then there's the mad robot who seems not really to fit into the main plot and then there's Carrie Anne Moss in the orbit fighting for survival - a not very tough fight obviously, because all she has to do is to kick some control panels and voila, everything is online again...Like the story, the music does have no real focus as well - sometimes it's a classic score, sometimes it's rock music, this simply does not work for a space opera.Still, it's a movie that's okay to see.
"Red Planet," is a great, realistic movie about where things could potentially go in the future.
If you can get over the scientific impossibility of most of the plot, you might enjoy yourself.Carrie Moss and Val Kilmer both do well as, respectively, captain and engineer on the earth's first manned Mars mission.
I remember when these two films came out and wondering what brilliant studio execs made the decision to release two commercial sci-fi thrillers based on our first manned Mars mission within a few weeks of each other.
Eliminating some funny scenes - Russian spacecraft's computer menu and how fast Mr. Kilmer has connected his old radio unit to that computer (the existence of algae on Mars and Marsian bugs seem to me more credible), I would approach this movie as quite a detailed and practical attempt to model future mission to the Red Planet.
Carrie-Anne Moss and Van Kilmer played a good team.Technically, special effects super, the low gravity  fires were good, I thought the video screen map used to navigate the Martian surface was excellent as was poor AMEE a much misunderstood super robot, who through no fault of his own, has had his circuits damaged and gives the crew a little problem.
The RED PLANET came out during a time when two other sci fi movies with Mars as their primary subject matter came out it is with this fascinating opportunity that comparisons abound.
Unlike STRANDED (2001), the RED PLANET takes an average, somewhat predictable script that attempts to retain technical integrity with a stereotypical plot outline of survival on Mars along with some fairly manipulative plot devices and comes up with a decent and engaging movie.
At the same time, RED PLANET strives for psychological and physical action thrills that are found in the more polished and richly produced MISSION TO MARS (2000), released the same year as RED PLANET and contains a more sci fi theme with a stronger alien plot like CONTACT (1997).
Overall, the RED PLANET is true to itself and follows in the mold of other decent survival movies with not much more, but with an above average commitment to serious sci fi science and speculation distinguishing it from the rest of the pack..
And thats the type of movie it is: if u like mars or sci-fi and cant sleep one night, check it out.A bit of action, not terrible cgi, a bit of thought and originality.
Red Planet came out when there was a rush for Mars films(there was also De Palma's Mission to Mars released the same year).
Red Planet came out when there was a rush for Mars films(there was also De Palma's Mission to Mars released the same year).
I'm an avid science-fiction fan and I enjoy movies about space travel, especially if it's about traveling to the Mars.
But actually I don't focus so much on every jot and tittle of the science of a sci-fi.A mission to Mars goes wrong and now the stranded astronauts have to survive.
For those of you out there who like a decent sci-fi flick, which to me should involve a somewhat believable story based on a projection into the future of some aspect of current scientific thinking, plus suspense, this is a good one.
There is little storyline, poor screenplay, and very un-engaging characters - after having been a big fan of the matrix and Carrie Ann Moss I was very disappointed to see her in such a poor film.If I had seen this at the cinema I would have walked out - at one point in the film the crew are in an 'action' sequence where they might die.
...but it didn't.Two actors whose work I enjoy - Terence Stamp and Val Kilmer - couldn't save this rather poor story from its lack of characterization and its many scientific errors.In case anyone thinks "Well, so what?", I'd just like to remind them that this genre is SCIENCE fiction and so it should go without saying that you need to get the science right - or at least believable.
He managed that quite well, I thought, in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (another Oz-based movie).Since the film was shot on location in Coober Pedy in Australia, my guess is that Val Kilmer's red face may have been partly due to the climate, but either way it was a departure from his usual good-looks type roles and an interesting experiment if it was.Carrie-Anne Moss I remember from the Matrix (a movie that merits being seen several times in order to understand everything clearly, which isn't the case for this film) but this was no Matrix role for her.
Somehow her character wasn't quite believable - nothing like Sigourney Weaver's Ripley in Alien et seq.The film also lacked the kind of macho action (not my favorite) that might have been expected from the writers, given their credits - not a patch on Predator or Terminator, although in some respects the elements were there (just not exploited).All in all, not an atrocious movie (not so bad as to be B-A-D), but not a really good piece of entertainment either..
What a boring 106 minutes it was.The Red Planet is a mission mars movie, yet there is no aliens, no mystery, no high profile action, not a huge destruction of any sort.
The entire movie is based on a dog shaped robot which runs berserk and why he did, don't ask me.Man, this is supposed to be a sci-fi, not a documentary film about a misfortuned mars expedition.
It's a throwback to 50's sci-fi films, with a lot more action and violence, but even that doesn't make it any more enjoyable or less bland.The flim's story line is basically a mixture of Mission to mars, Pitch Black, Lost in Space, Armageddon, and even a little of 2001 with its metaphysical and philosophical discussions (that really only adds to the silliness of the whole thing; I mean, my goodness, some character actually states he hopes to fina rock on mars that says "made by God").
The film would have been more interesting had Bowman also landed on mars, thus creating some possible gender tension, but director Antony Hoffman opts to take the easy way out, wiht Kilmer taking command of the crew while Moss sits around trying to communicate with Houston, revealing cleavage in tight-fitting shirts.Red Planet is more action-oriented than its counterpart Mission to Mars, but these scenes are surprisingly dull.
None of that exists in Red Planet, it stays focused on offering the viewer a realistic look at future Sci-Fi. Set around 2050, we see a plausible adventure to Mars.
The story was pretty different from most sci-fi movies and that's what makes it such a treat to watch.Basically, the movie takes place decades in future and follows a group of scientists that is sent to Mars with a special mission: find out why a terraforming process has stopped.
It is the first human mission to Mars and is a desperate one because the Earth is slowly succumbing to overpopulation and pollution.Although a few of the characters are a bit on the extreme side, the story and special effects are great.
I mean, if you want to list Sci-fi cliches, this movie has them all (or pretty darn near)--the robot that goes crazy killing people, the woman saving the guy's life, all the crew members except for the two main characters being killed off one by one...
Red Planet was, like Mission to Mars, a failure.
Although the viewer liked the movie very much, they unfortunately compared it to Mission to Mars, which had I not seen this film before commenting, would have turned me off.
Red Planet is a thriller about the first manned mission to Mars.
On the other hand Red Planet is certainly better than Mission to Mars or Lost in space.
Suspense, good story line, Val Kilmer don't bring this film up to Great but it was a fun movie..
Much better than the Mission to Mars bad film that came out in march, and has anything you would want in a science fiction thriller, but possibly might've been even more classic if in the 50's.
The visual effects are good, but not up to the standard set by `Mission to Mars', though the story here is better and more believable than M2M.The acting is good, particularly Carrie-Anne Moss.