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MISSION TO MARS
Review by Gordon Justesen
Stars:
Gary Sinise, Don Cheadle, Connie Nielsen, Jerry O’Connell, Tim Robbins
Director: Brian De Palma
Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby
Digital
Video: Widescreen 2.35:1 Anamorphic Transfer
Studio: Touchstone Pictures
Features: See Review
Length: 113 Minutes
Release Date: September 12, 2000
Film
***
Before reviewing Mission
to Mars, I would like to express my admiration for the man who directed the
movie, who is veteran filmmaker Brian De Palma. Mr. De Palma is, perhaps, one of
the greatest directors this world will ever know. The look he gives his movies,
and the way he directs them are illustrations of why I love movies so much. He
is the current master of camera work. In each of is movies, especially those
that are shot with wide lenses, De Palma uses amazing camera tilts, and
maneuvers it in some scenes to reveal something in the stories, sometimes. Carlito’s
Way and The Untouchables are De Palma’s reigning masterpieces, and Carrie,
Blow Out, Scarface, Casualties of War, and Mission: Impossible are great achievements as well. Another aspect
that makes De Palma the master that he is, is his talent for long steady-cam
shots, which for me, is one of the most breathtaking elements of cinema. Take
for example, his opening shot of his 1998 suspense-thriller Snake
Eyes, last for an amazing 15 minutes, as the camera follows Nicolas Cage’s
crooked detective character throughout most of a boxing arena, and the camera
doesn’t not cut until a pivotal moment that sets the story. It was an all
around treat for the eyes, which is one of the main reasons I gave it a ***1/2
review, because it more than made up for the movie’s several flaws.
Mission
to Mars,
while not flawless, is a visually dazzling spectacle. It’s a sci-fi adventure
where even the best parts seemed to be inspired from such other sci-fi
adventures such as Dune, Total Recall, and most notably, Stanley Kubrick’s crowning
achievement 2001: A Space Odyssey. In
some cases, that strategy can make a movie fall flat, but in this case it
doesn’t, thanks to the director at the helm. Brain De Palma uses his masterful
directing skills to make the scenes and atmosphere in his film all his own, and
he succeeds at that flawlessly. And
De Palma’s vision of outer space is awe inspiring, indeed, and the way he uses
his camera to explore certain areas and spaceships is likely to astound you like
it did me. Consider one pivotal scene that remained in my mind long after I saw
it. It’s a steadicam shot that covers just about every inch of the interior of
the Mars Recovery ship, complete with sharp camera tilts that do nothing short
of astound the human eye.
The
central story involves a mission to permanently colonize the red planet of Mars,
led by astronaut Luke Graham (Don Cheadle). The mission goes awry when an
unknown force kills three crewmembers, while Luke’s whereabouts remain unknown
after a brief transmission. A rescue mission is then ordered, commanded by
astronauts Jim McConnell (Gary Sinise) and Woody Blake (Tim Robbins), who are
also longtime friends with the deserted Luke. Also on the mission is Terri Blake
(Connie Nielsen, of Gladiator),
Woody’s wife, and Phil Ohlmyer (Jerry O’Connell, aka “The Great Frank
Cushman”). The crew soon encounters several mishaps, one of which causes them
to abandon the ship, and maneuver behind one another in space, in a truly
stunning sequence. This is one sequence in the film that, as far as I could
tell, hadn’t been inspired from any other movie, then again I could be wrong,
but the scene is stunning nonetheless.
They
do arrive at Mars, locate the survivor, hear his story, and soon have a close
encounter of the historic kind, you could say. This climatic encounter is
another exercise in visual brilliance the De Palma displays in this movie. It
includes a brief animated sequence, that perfectly depicts stages of evolution,
which I found nothing short of remarkable, and unlike anything I had ever seen
from Mr. De Palma.
As
I mentioned earlier, the film isn’t 100% perfect. There are some scenes that
do drag on longer than they, and with sometimes, too much unnecessary dialogue.
The performances are in good quality though, with Gary Sinise confident in the
lead role, though don’t look for his usual mad-dog like intensity here, as in Snake
Eyes. Tim Robbins is always one of our more reliable actors, even in a small
supporting role like this one. Ms. Nielsen, an actress from Denmark, and an up
and rising star in the US, is a strong presence here, and Jerry O’Connell is
very good in what can easily be called the film’s comic relief. But the
movie’s real star is its director, who has always brought a level of
originality in the visual styling of his movies. The sci-fi adventure was a
genre that De Palma hadn’t touched yet, and I’m glad to see he did.
What
can I say, this disc is simply out-of-this-world!!! (Sorry, I couldn’t
resist). All kidding aside, this is a one of a kind anamorphic transfer from the
folks at Disney. Thoroughly clear, and without a scratch of grain, this transfer
helps enhance the look of the
movie’s many visual effects, which I think will result in astounding your
senses much more than even watching it the theaters. It is by far the best
transfer of any of De Palma’s movies, other than Mission:
Impossible, which was another terrific transfer.
Disney’s
audio quality on Mission to Mars is
stellar with a capital S! The 5.1 Dolby Digital presentation is absolutely
superb. One sequence, involving a mysterious whirlwind like force swirls from
side to side, and it did the same sort of thing with my left and right speakers,
and that astounded me. Disney has really done their homework with this release,
and I consider it their best disc to date.
Disney
has done their best to upgrade their features over the years, and the extras
supplied here aren’t many, but more than they usually offer, which is a good
note. There is an in-depth documentary titled Vision of Mars, which focuses mainly on making the visual and
special effects for the film, there is also a commentary, but unfortunately,
it’s not one by De Palma as I had hoped, but by visual effects designers, and
production designers, as well as director of photography Stephen K. Burum, who
did a spectacular job on the film.
Summary:
Mission
to Mars
is so far the most unfairly panned movie of the year. In fact, both this and Snake Eyes received far too many pans than it deserved. It’s true
that if a story could be just as strong as look of the film, it would be
brilliant. While the movie isn’t brilliant, I still cherish it for what it is,
and consider it a very fitting entry in a legacy of filmmaking from one of the
most brilliant of cinematic geniuses, Brian De Palma.