Mission to Mars
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution | Release Date: March 10, 2000 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
34
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
16
Negative:
14
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
One of the most gorgeous science-fiction movies ever - and probably also one of the most realistic in detail and scientific extrapolation Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Earthlings beware: The dialogue and characters have less weight than bodies freed from gravity's grip. Read full review
70
TimeRichard Corliss
This isn't "2001," by a long shot, but for 2000, it'll do nicely. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Here and there an inspired shot makes the film come alive, and at least three of its sequences had me positioned well on the edge of my seat. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
I can't recommend Mission to Mars. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeJay Carr
There are times when it moves into the guilty pleasure zone. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The picture is equally long on eye-dazzling camera work and New Age sentimentality. Read full review
50
USA TodayMike Clark
You can feel the movie going wrong in the first scene. Read full review
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Trying to make sense of this shaggy dog story is like climbing a mountain with glass-smooth sides and quarter-inch toeholds. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
It's a wonderful piece of filmmaking, but once any mouth is opened the magic is immediately tarnished. Read full review
50
SlateDavid Edelstein
He does gorgeous work, but in Mission to Mars he's only going through the motions. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Plot-wise, this is strictly paint-by-numbers stuff. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerGary Thompson
It's low-energy, and it's also depressing to know that people are still listening to Van Halen 20 years from now. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Dazzling to look at but dreadful to listen to, the film is a tug-of-war of coolness and dreck. Read full review
50
Film.comRobert Horton
For a good 40 minutes or so in the middle of this movie, De Palma is in his element. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
In the presence of profound questions, the filmmaker goes profoundly shallow. Read full review
40
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Halfway through, De Palma literally explodes his narrative to orchestrate a superb deep-space float-opera replete with runaway modules, high-tech lassos, dramatic self-sacrifice, and, in the most surprising maneuver, a montage-driven modicum of actual suspense. Read full review
40
Film.comTom Keogh
All such good intentions collapse by the third act, when Mission to Mars becomes a tediously late pastiche of chimerical nonsense from the early 1980s. Read full review
40
NewsweekDavid Ansen
It's a gorgeous bad movie, the folly of a great visual stylist. Read full review
40
Film.comJohn Hartl
The final scenes, which suggest an earnest science lesson presented by a weepy extraterrestrial in an alien planetarium, play like the work of an amateur filmmaker. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The script is heavy on platitudes about friendship, but since there isn't a single fully fleshed character in sight, who cares? Read full review
40
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
There doesn't seem to be an original moment in the entire movie, and the score is so repetitive that it could have been downloaded directly from EnnioMorricone.com. Read full review
38
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
A $100 million production of a 10-cent script, is so clunkily written, so bereft of any engaging ideas or emotions, you'd think De Palma would have sneered at it on first reading and passed Read full review
30
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
One can only assume all the, ah, good stuff landed on the cutting-room floor, because it sure as hell didn't make it to Mars. Read full review
30
Rolling StonePeter Travers
What DePalma has never made is a dull movie. Until now.
30
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
There are a few pretty good design effects en route, but not enough to compensate for all the embarrassments. Read full review
25
New York PostJonathan Foreman
It features well-below-par writing, acting, direction, special effects and music, while oozing a nauseating New Age sentimentality that undermines any tension in the underlying story. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleBob Graham
Something so sappy, no one would believe me if I told them. It has to be seen to be disbelieved. Read full review
20
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
De Palma's film is a mess from its anxious start all the way through to its new-agey end, relying heavily on cribs from Kubrick and Cameron and even the recent "Apollo 13." Read full review
20
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
I'm not sure if it was that or the cloying script, but after a couple of hours of spinning around listening to this drivel I felt like I was going to barf. Read full review
20
TNT RoughCutMarcus Sakey
Even more frightening are the miserable performances elicited from A-list talent, particularly Tim Robbins and Gary Sinise, both Oscar-nominated actors who perform with all the heartfelt conviction of Hawaiian-shirt-clad teenagers in a high school rendition of "South Pacific." Read full review
20
L.A. WeeklyManohla Dargis
Otherwise fine actors such as Don Cheadle and Gary Sinise spend nearly two hours of film time stand-ing around like department-store dummies mouthing dialogue so wooden it's petrified. Read full review
20
VarietyTodd McCarthy
In outer space, no one can hear you scream -- of boredom. Read full review
10
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Startlingly inept from start to finish -- it's atrociously written, poorly shot and edited and fatally unfocused. Read full review
10
Mr. ShowbizKevin Maynard
As intriguing as the premise sounds, Mission to Mars hasn't a single moment of real suspense. Read full review
0
San Francisco ExaminerWesley Morris
It's an experience as frustrating as watching Jeff Gordon drive a stock car through a bowl of oatmeal. Read full review
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