Red Planet (film)
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- For the unrelated novel by Robert A. Heinlein see Red Planet (novel).
| Red Planet | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical Poster |
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| Directed by | Antony Hoffman |
| Produced by | Bruce Berman Mark Canton |
| Written by | Chuck Pfarrer Jonathan Lemkin |
| Starring | Val Kilmer Carrie-Anne Moss Benjamin Bratt Tom Sizemore |
| Music by | Graeme Revell |
| Cinematography | Peter Suschitzky |
| Editing by | Robert K. Lambert Dallas Puett |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | 6 November 2000 |
| Running time | 106 minutes |
| Language | English, Russian |
| Budget | $80,000,000 |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Red Planet (2000) is a science fiction film directed by Antony Hoffman, featuring Val Kilmer.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
In A.D. 2045, the Earth is in ecologic crisis as a consequence of pollution and overpopulation. Meanwhile, automated interplanetary missions have seeded Mars with atmosphere-producing algae as the first stage in terraforming the planet. Twelve years later, when the oxygen quantity produced by the algae is inexplicably reduced, the crew of Mars-1 must learn why, and continue the mission of terraforming the red planet for human colonization.
Enroute to Mars, the crew get to know one another through discussions about science, spirituality, and religion. Quinn Burchenal, the geneticist (Tom Sizemore), is a staunch atheist. Aging scientist and surgeon Bud Chantillas (Terence Stamp) is philosophical, having understood long ago that "science could not answer any of the really interesting questions." Mechanical systems engineer and "space janitor" Robby Gallagher (Val Kilmer) acts as Chantillas's protégé, and flirts with the spaceship's beautiful, but no-nonsense commander, Kate Bowman (Carrie-Anne Moss).
Soon the ship arrives to Mars orbit, but a solar flare disrupts key systems, complicates their orbit and forces Bowman (Moss) to remain aboard and repair them, while the others land. Their first goal is to locate an automated habitat established earlier on Mars to manufacture food and oxygen in preparation for the crew's arrival.
The landing craft is damaged entering the Martian atmosphere, veers off course, and crash-lands far from their landing zone near the habitat. In the process, they lose track of "AMEE", a military robot that is their "Mars surface navigator." Moreover, Chantillas was critically injured in the crash landing, and they have insufficient air to take him to the habitat where his ruptured spleen could be attended. With limited air, Chantillas tells them to leave him behind and complete the mission.
Meanwhile, in orbit, Bowman deals with several disasters in Mars-1 including a zero-gravity fire and computer and mechanical systems failures.
The disheartened men complete the long walk to the automated habitat only to find it destroyed. With only minutes of air remaining, each man contemplates his impending death by suffocation. Burchenal and Gallagher rest, to conserve air. Pettengill (Simon Baker) and Santen (Benjamin Bratt) wander away to see as much of Mars as they can before dying. They reach a canyon, and discuss their impressions of their situation as they enjoy the view, while awaiting death.
Pettengill despairs his fate and laments the crew's failure. Military pilot Santen, regards the mission a technical success, since everything that went wrong was beyond human control. The men argue, and it becomes a scuffle; Pettengill inadvertently pushes Santen over the cliff and into the canyon. More distraught, Pettengill returns to Burchenal and Gallagher to await death and tells them that Santen jumped off a cliff in suicide. With nothing to lose, Gallagher opens his visor, takes a breath, and discovers to his surprise that Mars's atmosphere is thin but breathable. For the moment, the three survivors are safe, although the guilt-ridden Pettengill becomes dismayed on understanding that Santen would have survived if he had not fallen into the canyon.
Despite unlimited air, they remain stranded on the surface of Mars and are unable to communicate with the orbiting Mars-1 above. AMEE reunites with the crew, and the three astronauts notice the robot is damaged and try removing its power supply . That threat to the robot's survival activates its military programming. Defining the astronauts as enemy, AMEE attacks them. It intentionally wounds Burchenal, following the military tactic that an injured soldier slows an entire unit. From then on, the robot stalks the landing party's trek across the Martian surface.
Eventually, Gallagher is able to construct a make-shift heterodyne crystal radio using parts from the Mars Rover from the Pathfinder mission. Hours pass as they await a reply from Earth. Mission control receives it and tells Cmdr. Bowman aboard Mars-1 — just as she is about to leave Mars orbit. She instructs the men to reach an old Russian Kosmos probe and use its sample-return system to launch themselves to orbit. The only problem is that they must make another long trek across the Martian surface to the site.
The three men begin the trek, occasionally talking with Bowman and reporting strange findings on the surface. There are patches of algae, but little explanation of why it disappeared in some regions. Pettengill's behavior becomes erratic, but that does not stop Gallagher and Burchenal from philosophic discussion; Burchenal remarks that as a genetic designer, saying he is a realist, I write code. He cannot take the easy way out by falling back on religious and spiritual explanations of nature. Gallagher counters, noting that spirituality is neither cop-out nor rejection of science, but a recognition of its limitations regarding to human existential problems, It takes more than just intelligence to live a spiritual life. Gallagher is continuing the thematic thread that Chantillas started aboard ship, before their descent to Mars.
As the three ground crew survivors continue their trek, Bowman tells Gallagher that the Kosmos probe can only hold two of them. An approaching ice storm complicates their survival enroute to the Kosmos spacecraft, but all three find shelter in a small cave. There Gallagher reveals to Burchenal and Pettengill that the Russian probe in which they hope to escape Mars can transport only two men. The guilty Pettengill, worried that he will be abandoned, becomes deranged and runs away with the radio in mid-storm, only to be killed by AMEE. When the storm passes, Burchenal and Gallagher recover the radio and continue to the Kosmos craft, but make a startling discovery: Pettengill's corpse is infested with insect-like creatures feeding on his dead flesh. Burchenal captures two of them, and carries them with him on the trek, later discovering that the insects explode when exposed to heat.
Burchenal and Gallagher resume the trek. Along the way, they reach a large algae-covered field and Burchenal grasps what has been happening: the insects are native Martian life laying dormant until a food source, such as algae, arrived and took root. The insects eat the algae and excrete oxygen creating the new Martian atmosphere and why they explode when burned.
Unfortunately, the insects go into a feeding frenzy and swarm Burchenal when blood drips from an open wound. He passes his pressure suit (with collected data, air, and sample bugs) to Gallagher, and rather than be eaten alive, he ignites the bugs, causing a chain reaction that burns the remaining algae and much of the region's atmosphere. The explosive fire is large enough to be seen from the orbiting Mars-1 space ship.
Gallagher continues to the Kosmos, where he must jury-rig an orbital launch in an unmanned craft, but not before a final, definitive fight with AMEE. Again low on air, Gallagher's only chance getting close enough to Mars-1 to be rescued by Bowman.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Val Kilmer | Robby Gallagher |
| Carrie-Anne Moss | Cmdr. Kate Bowman |
| Tom Sizemore | Dr. Quinn Burchenal |
| Benjamin Bratt | Lt. Ted Santen |
| Simon Baker | Chip Pettengill |
| Terence Stamp | Dr. Bud Chantilas |
[edit] Notable aspects of the film
Red Planet was a box office bomb, grossing $33 million worldwide against an estimated budget of $80 million[1]. It was also the first and only film from director Antony Hoffman.
Carrie-Anne Moss's character, Kate Bowman, shares a surname with the Dave Bowman, the last surviving crewmember of the Discovery One mission to Jupiter in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
"Red Planet" was the second film to be released in 2000 about a manned voyage to Mars, the other being Brian De Palma's Mission to Mars starring Gary Sinise and Tim Robbins.
[edit] Filming locations
The scenes set on the surface of Mars were filmed in Wadi Rum, New South Wales and South Australia.
[edit] Music
The music of Red Planet was composed by French singer Emma Shapplin and Australian composer Graeme Revell.
| Song | Composer |
|---|---|
| Mars Red Planet | Graeme Revell & Emma Shapplin |
| Canto XXX | Emma Shapplin |
| Crash Landing | Graeme Revell & Emma Shapplin |
| The Inferno | Graeme Revell & Emma Shapplin |
