Barnes & Noble

Earth's first manned expedition to Mars faces threats both internal and external in Red Planet, a suspenseful sci-fi thriller reminiscent of the sci-fi classic 2001: A Space Odyssey. The story gets underway in the year 2050, as our planet is dying and the colonization of Mars seems to be humanity's only hope for survival. When specialists dispatched to the Red Planet become stranded, barely repressed tensions and underlying human weaknesses come to the surface, jeopardizing the mission's success and putting the entire crew at risk. Val Kilmer plays an insouciant technician whose differences with strait-laced commander Carrie-Anne Moss are set aside once danger threatens. Benjamin Bratt, Tom Sizemore, and Terence Stamp deliver splendidly in supporting roles that are written a notch above the standard space fare. And first-time director Anthony Hoffman effectively employs, but is not subservient to, the film's impressive production design and convincing special effects. He's clearly more interested in the human element, and he establishes that the astronauts themselves might prove more menacing than malfunctioning robots or alien life forms. Hoffman's insight, some elaborate production mounting, and uniformly fine acting makes Red Planet an unusually gripping space opera. The DVD edition includes deleted scenes, cast and crew info, and the theatrical trailer. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

An effort to circumvent global catastrophe becomes a disaster in its own right in this science fiction thriller. In the year 2050, Earth is on the verge of ecological disaster, and the Mars Terraforming Project has been created in hopes of making our neighboring planet habitable so that a colony of Earthlings might begin a new civilization there. But the project goes awry, and Commander Kate Bowman (Carrie-Anne Moss) is put in charge of a rescue mission to set the system back on its feet. Bringing along astronaut Robby Gallagher (Val Kilmer) and scientists Dr. Quinn Burchenal (Tom Sizemore) and Dr. Bud Chantillas (Terrence Stamp), Bowman and her crew set out for Mars, but disaster strikes and the landing craft crashes into the red planet. The crew is stranded without communications as Bowman struggles to find a way to get them home; to make matters worse, the robot that was designed to serve and protect them has gone haywire, and is now attempting to hunt them down as prey. Red Planet was originally to have been released as Mars, but the producers changed the title to avoid confusion with Mission to Mars, released earlier the same year. Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 085391895428
• Source: WARNER HOME VIDEO
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital Surround, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English, Français
• Subtitles: English, Français
• Time: 1:47:00
• Sales Rank: 13,858

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