Mission to Mars (2000)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2000
	Director: Brian de Palma (Carrie, Scarface, Mission: Impossible)
	Actors: Gary Sinise (Apollo 13, Forrest Gump), Don Cheadle (Traffic, Iron Man 2), Tim Robbins (Jacob's Ladder, Human Nature)
	Country: USA
	Genre: SF
	Conditions of visioning: 20.08.2012, DVD, Home cinema
Synopsis: The first team of astronauts to land on Mars is attacked and only one survives. A second team is sent to rescue him and solve this mystery.
Review: Out of the three movies about Mars released around the same year, this was my least favorite one. I preferred Red Planet (with Val Kilmer and Carrie-Ann Moss) because of the action, and I liked Ghosts of Mars because I am a big fan of John Carpenter. There is no Blu-ray release planned, so I bought this cheap DVD. In spite of the poor video quality, I reconsidered my opinion about the movie. Actually the three are so different that they can barely be compared. This one has the pretention to be closer to the science ("NASA approved"), and thus shares some similarities with 2001, A Space Odyssey. But the main characteristic of this movie is that it focuses mainly on the characters to the detriment of the action. For example we never see the first footstep of Man on Mars. I remember that in Red Planet this footstep was shown, although without special emphasis because after a catastrophic landing. The second characteristic is the long travelling shots dear to de Palma. Those two elements combined with excellent actors make for a good movie, and implication of the viewer in the story. The Mission to Mars is finally only a framework in which de Palma tells a story of friendship, love and loss. This explains my small disappointment when watching it again.
Rating: 6 /10