Mission to Mars

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution | Release Date: March 10, 2000

6.4	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 77 Ratings

USER RATING DISTRIBUTION

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Watch Now

Stream On

Buy on

Stream On

Review this movie

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Please sign in or create an account before writing a review.

Check box if your review contains spoilers

0 characters (5000 max)

User Reviews

User score By date Most helpful

SpangleSep 10, 2016

Mission to Mars is an abject disaster. I know Brian De Palma is an incredibly talented director, but this film is wholly derivative of better films dealing with alien encounters (2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind,Mission to Mars is an abject disaster. I know Brian De Palma is an incredibly talented director, but this film is wholly derivative of better films dealing with alien encounters (2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Alien, E.T., and Contact, are ones that come to mind immediately) while being nowhere near as good as any of those films. It is clear that De Palma watched these movies, but it is equally clear that he had no sense as to how they turned out well. What is missing from Mission to Mars is the same sense of wonder and child-like awe at these discoveries, mainly due to the horrific writing.

The film is blessed with good special effects (even if the animals towards the end look as if they are straight out of Zoo Tycoon), mainly the effect of the tornado. That scene is a true wonder, as are most scenes in space from an effects standpoint. The camera work in the film really makes the most of this with big, sweeping shots throughout the space shuttles that are so good, it makes me sit back and wonder, "Was this movie really as bad as I am saying it is?" Unfortunately, these good effects and shots do not make up for the rest of the film.

What is not bad, however, is the general plot outline and De Palma's ambition. Using this film as a footing to try and find where we come from, Mission to Mars is a truly optimistic film about discovery, love, and loss. In these areas, De Palma hits consistently. The plot is compelling and interesting, as well highly inventive. Yes, it is derivative, but the plot pulls all the best parts of previous science fiction films and puts it into one film, which hey, I am not going to argue against it too much.

However, the sentimentality of the film is ultimately too much, namely because it feels as if the film is highly manipulative and lacks any heart of its own. This manipulation of emotions largely derives from the horrific writing. The first half hour is not that poorly written. However, afterwards, the film is a slog to get through because of the horrible dialogue. Around every corner is a terrible line from Phil (Jerry O'Connell) that is only matched by his horrible acting. The rest of the cast also suffers from being given terrible lines, but their performances often slip in and out from being solid to atrocious. Don Cheadle is particular has a scene in which he is supposed to cry, but it physically made me ill to watch him try. Gary Sinise is hard to judge since he is so television nowadays. All I see is the guy from CSI: NY, but even then, his performance is so underwhelming, it hurts.

This bad dialogue is so bad, it makes the rest of the proceedings feel incredibly nonsensical and causes them to fall flat. Now, this is also due to the bad storytelling. I like the plot, but it feels as if the film was chopped up in the editing room or just suffered from horrific editing. Either way. As it stands, Mission to Mars practically skimmed through the story and then looked at you at the end of the film and screamed, "CRY AND FEEL AWE". Sadly, it does not work. The ending is so hokey and so half-baked, it ruins any good will the film had stored up from the very beginning. De Palma's attempt at being an explanatory journey of self-discovery feels like an idea that a stoner come up with while, well, baked.

The final sin committed by Brian De Palma's failed Mission to Mars is the pacing. The pacing is dreadful. Towards the end of the movie, I looked at the progress bar and discovered I was merely an hour in. The pacing is simply that bad. This film feels like it ate up my whole evening, yet it took just under two hours.

Mission to Mars is a film that if it were caught up in a tornado and left to die on Mars, nobody should make an attempt to rescue it. Though it has a truly terrific premise, the film is undone by being a highlight reel of better science fiction films, except if those films had no idea how to tell a story, write dialogue, edit a film, or create any emotion, awe, or wonder. As it stands, Mission to Mars is pretty, but simply does not work on really any level.… Expand

1 of 6 users found this helpful15

All this user's reviews