Roving Mars
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: January 27, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
USA TodayMike Clark
The movie is more compelling than exciting with one exception: the kind of rocket blast-off sequence for which IMAX screens were seemingly invented. Read full review
75
New York PostKyle Smith
A splendidly photographed IMAX 2-D film, takes us breathlessly through the process of designing Spirit and Opportunity, the two plucky Mars rovers that have been sending images 300 million miles since they hit the Red Planet in 2003. Read full review
70
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
A briskly moving, deeply engaging 40-minute documentary. Read full review
70
The New York TimesNathan Lee
If many of the scenes are fake, however, the thrill of the project is not, and what we do see of the surface - hyperclear photographs on the scale of 100-by-180 feet - is out of this world. Read full review
70
VarietyRonnie Scheib
Helmer George Butler correctly gauges his film's strengths, with the search for life in the universe becoming a heartfelt tribute to a couple of robots. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJoshua Katzman
Butler deftly intercuts real footage with CGI, heightening the drama, and the film becomes especially compelling once the robots are launched into space. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyGregory Kirschling
The mission is an impressive coup for NASA - these scientists are smart! - but it doesn't quite slam-dunk as a fully satisfying IMAX experience. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Esposito
The sad thing is, even for NASA/space fans, a snooze isn't out of the question despite the film's scant 40-minute running time. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
Roving Mars is bound to inspire hordes of young science geeks to dream about sending in their resumes. The rest of us may not feel so excited. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
A workmanlike effort -- a precision piece of filmmaking that provides education for children and a refresher course that adults can benefit from as well. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesMark Olsen
Not having a way to capture images of the machines at work means that too much of Butler's film -- his credits include "Pumping Iron" and the Imax film "Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure" -- is disappointingly made up of computer simulations. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Sometimes comes on like a NASA commercial; those logos loom gigantic on the IMAX screen. More troublingly, the film fails to explain how computer animations were combined with actual imagery from the missions.
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