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Post by Bartwald on Apr 18, 2004 6:02:06 GMT -5
Why is it that Mars movies so often suck? Or even if they don't fully suck - they aren't as good as you would expect them to?
Mission To Mars is my pick as the best post-'85 Mars movie, but it was quite a disappointment, too: after three quarters of a satisfying De Palma movie (at least for me it was!) we're getting one of the most stupid and pretentious endings in the movie history... WHY?!! I still can't believe such a classy director decided to have this ending in his flick.
None of the films in the poll is exactly perfect, probably, but I also liked Red Planet quite a lot (I should be ashamed of it, I know... AND of liking Mission as well...) and Mars Attacks! wasn't bad, either, in my very personal opinion.
Your picks, guys? It doesn't have to be a GOOD movie even; just choose your favourite of the above.
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Post by Heineken Skywalker on Apr 19, 2004 20:33:56 GMT -5
I chose TOTAL RECALL. Not a classic movie, but one of Governor Schwarzenegger's better flicks. Not as good as THE TERMINATOR, but better than JUNIOR.  It had an interesting premise and some very cool f/x and when it's over you're wondering, "Was the ending real or still just part of his memory implant?". Plus it featured a young & sexy Sharon Stone before she started getting on my nerves. And everybody's favorite "go-to" villain, Michael Ironside. Plus some of that trademark Paul Verhoeven social satire. For sheer lunacy & laughs though, MARS ATTACKS! gets my vote. I still think that this is one of the most misunderstood and underrated movies. This was a huge flop and I think the thing that hurt it the most was coming right on the heels of the box office monster, INDEPENDENCE DAY. Which I thought was derivitive & generic sci-fi crap, but people ate it up like those huge tubs of popcorn and the Coke as big as your head that they sell at your local cineplex. For my money, of those two alien invasion flicks, "... ATTACKS!" was the better movie and vastly more entertaining. I still giggle at the Martians trying to convince the humans that everything's okay. "We mean you no harm." BLAM!! "We come in peace." BLAM!! Hilarious. I didn't even make it through GHOSTS OF MARS and wish I hadn't through RED PLANET. |
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Post by Bartwald on Apr 20, 2004 12:25:41 GMT -5
I chose TOTAL RECALL. Not a classic movie, but one of Governor Schwarzenegger's better flicks. Not as good as THE TERMINATOR, but better than JUNIOR. Can't disagree with that! ;D However, Total Recall disappointed me; I guess I expect too much from Philip K. D I C K 's adaptations - only Minority Report stood its ground (Blade Runner was pretty good, too, but I wouldn't call it an adaptation of Do Androids Dream...). And what the hell is wrong with Red Planet?! ;D |
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Post by Heineken Skywalker on Apr 20, 2004 13:01:03 GMT -5
Nothing that a sledgehammer to my head wouldn't fix. ;D
No, honestly, it just didn't do anything for me. I've actually forgotten most of it already. Was that the one with Val Kilmer and some kind of CGI mechanical insect-like creatures terrorising him and his crew?? Just a time waster kind of movie, IMO.
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Post by Bartwald on Apr 20, 2004 13:38:07 GMT -5
All that you remember from it, Heineken? You sure? A hint then: it's the one where Carrie Anne Moss shows here boobs for a split second!!! ...oh, not that I care so much for Carrie but, you know, I just remember your post on Howling II very well... |
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Post by Heineken Skywalker on Apr 20, 2004 14:51:50 GMT -5
it's the one where Carrie Anne Moss shows here boobs for a split second!!! Carrie Anne Moss was in that one? See, I didn't even remember that. Or that obviously important plot point that you just mentioned.  |
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Post by Sybillness on Apr 20, 2004 15:14:02 GMT -5
C'mon guys, you know flashing boobies don't receive that much attention anymore... Anyway, I voted for Total Recall because I haven't seen many of the others and out of the ones I have seen, it's the one I liked the best. |
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Post by Heineken Skywalker on Apr 20, 2004 15:24:09 GMT -5
C'mon guys, you know flashing boobies don't receive that much attention anymore... Unless you're Janet Jackson at the Superbowl, huh? ;D |
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Post by Bartwald on Apr 20, 2004 16:47:50 GMT -5
Oh yeah! ;D
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RIP
Full Member
Posts: 135
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Post by RIP on Apr 22, 2004 17:23:32 GMT -5
Ghosts of Mars by John Carpenter since he's my favorite director. ;D |
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Post by Bartwald on Apr 23, 2004 13:51:27 GMT -5
I enjoyed parts of Ghosts Of Mars, I must admit: pity it doesn't have any more suspense. Some good actors and brilliant soundtrack make it a 'disappointing but fun' film for me.
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Post by spacer on Jun 17, 2004 8:10:32 GMT -5
My vote goes in favour of...Mars Attacks. I agree with Heineken that this movie is hugely underrated, to me it wasn't masterpiece though. But I very rarely enjoy such a genre. The only other representative of that kind of cinema that I liked is Space Balls. But the former was much much better and the irony was more subtle than in Mel Brooks's flick. In Red Planet I liked the scene of landing which was very naturalistic except that such a landing was performed indeed in reality and designed only for robotic missions like Pathfinder or nowadays by Opportunity and Spirit probes. Anyway I enjoy such scenes where the physics, logic and mechanics are not twisted out of shape completely. ;D I haven't seen the Carpenters' movie.  |
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Post by spacer on Mar 29, 2005 15:04:19 GMT -5
I found these on the web: The filmmaker who made Arnold Schwarzenegger a household name in the 1977 film "Pumping Iron" is making an IMAX documentary about NASA's dual rover mission to Mars.
[shadow=red,left,300](Opportunity & Spirit rovers are still trekking Mars. It is almost unbelievable but their mission time has started over a year ago. The rovers landed on Mars in January 2004. These vehicles were designed for 90 days of operations. In February 2005, the Mars rover mission passed the 400-day mark, a far cry from its original three-month plan. This whole mission, the longevity of the two rovers and the flood of data and discoveries has surpassed all NASA expectations.)[/shadow] 
George Butler previewed his project at Flight School 05 and PC Forum, a combined meeting of top space industry officials and entrepreneurs as well as leaders in the tech industry. Several people in the small audience expressed awe at both the mission's scope and the telling of the story in the film, titled "Mars."
The movie is not expected to come out for several months. It won't wallow in the complex science and discoveries of the rovers so much as it will glorify the journey of getting them there.
The story of the robotic Mars mission is "as good as any adventure story ever told," Butler said. He came to the project knowing nothing about space exploration, he freely admits, and now sees the film as a way to inspire and re-invigorate the space program.
"I think this film can really influence a whole generation of high school students," Butler said.
The film treats the rover mission as a story of overcoming obstacles in order to explore an alien world. The 15-minute snippet Butler previewed starts in a clean room at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in April 2003, where engineers were preparing the rovers for launch. Then it shows tests of a landing craft's parachute billowing in a huge wind tunnel.
The video snippet was narrated by a handful of rover project scientists, including the mission's leader, Steve Squyres of Cornell University.
The dramatic launch of one of the two rovers is shown. The clip then relied on NASA animations to show a realistic view of the early moments of the flight as if viewed from several perches along the flight path. The engines fire and separate, and soon the rover drifts silently away, tucked inside its lander. Ultimately the craft makes a beach-ball bouncing landing on the red planet.
Butler told SPACE.com all the animations are being redone by his crew for the final version of the film. It will include images shot on the surface of Mars in IMAX-quality.
Butler said IMAX films can earn more than $100 million by showing in more than 300 theaters around the world.
Some excerpts borrowed and some later edited from the article: 'Pumping Iron' Director Spotlights Mars Mission in IMAX Film By Robert Roy Britt posted: 23 March 2005 on www.space.comI'm waiting anxiously to see it. I'm a real fun of such stuff. |
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Post by Quorthon on Mar 30, 2005 11:16:52 GMT -5
Total Recall!!!
Especially since my brother and I saw it when we were 10 and 11 respectively--without adult supervision--in the theaters!!! Woo-hoo!! Violence for the kiddies!!!
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Post by Heineken Skywalker on Mar 30, 2005 11:57:04 GMT -5
I'm hoping that Spielberg's upcoming WAR OF THE WORLDS is awesome and blows away all these other Mars movies.
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