In the year 2020, a small NASA crew is exploring the surface of Mars when three of them are enveloped by a frightening storm; the sole survivor, Graham, Don Cheadle, radios for help. Out in space, the call is heard and a team of four, led by Woody Blake, (Tim Robbins), is sent on a rescue mission. The crew includes veteran Jim McConnell, (Gary Sinise), medic Terri Fisher (Connie Nielsen), Woody`s wife, and Phil Ohlmyer, (Jerry O`Connell). But before Mars is reached, the spacecraft is holed, then crippled by an explosion - the mission is now in deadly danger...Brian De Palma`s new film has been greeted with something close to derision by most reviewers, and there`s no doubt that it`s very flawed, with an excess of flagwaving and sentimentality. But there`s a wonderful vision here: De Palma and his extraordinary technical team convincingly create a world of space exploration, and the astonishing camerawork by Stephen Burum is just one of the film`s pleasures. There are some really memorable sequences: the fatal dust storm, the moment the ship is breached and blood from Phil`s hand drifts into the rarefied atmosphere, the death of a crew member. Maybe the ending doesn`t work as well as it might have, but it`s an exciting concept. The film may not be a complete success, but it`s certainly not a write off. Margaret`s Comments:Brian De Palma is a very good visual stylist but he seems to have lost touch with humanity. The people in mission to mars just aren`t real people, there`s not a millimetre of emotion in what ought to have been a grand saga. So while we can admire the film visually it`s hard to connect with any of the characters who seem to have been cut out of cardboard. I don`t think de Palama is interested in people, I think he`s only interested in the physical challenge of filmmaking and Mission To Mars provides him with that, but it`s a rather cold voyage he takes us on, culminating in ludicrously limp resolution. And so much of the film seems visually and narratively derivative with references to 2001, Close Encounters and other serious space adventures. There are what should have been some great moments in this film but you view them rather distantly, with appreciation rather than great gasping pleasure. It`s not surprising really, It`s hard to think of a de Palma film that didn`t look good but it`s equally hard to find one that really moved you.
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