One to avoid unless you're really bored (Red Planet (DVD))

Member Name: whiteroseuk

Product:	Red Planet (DVD)
Date:	11/01/09 (200 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Val Kilmer, the robot called AMEE

Disadvantages: not enough action, no suspense

I have always been a fan of science fiction, so was a little surprised to find I didn't remember a film called Red Planet, when my husband suggested it, I was quite looking forward to seeing it. By the end I realised I had seen it before, and I knew why I had forgotten it. It is anything but memorable.

It is set in 2025 when humans have all but ruined the earth, and so have started to try to terraform the planet Mars, by seeding it with algae which give off oxygen. All looked to be going well, but suddenly the oxygen levels which had begun to build up on the red planet start to drop. So a manned mission, Mars 1, is sent to investigate.

The six month journey to Mars takes up the first part of the film, and we see the characters interacting with one another and get a little bit of character development.

The commander is Kate Bowman, played by Carrie-Anne Moss. The other crew members are Dr Bud Chantilas played by Terence Stamp, Dr Quinn Burchenal played by Tom Sizemore, Lieutenant Ted Santen played by Benjamin Bratt, Chip Pettengill played by Simon Baker, and Robby Gallagher played by Val Kilmer.

Things start to go wrong as they get to Mars, but to be honest by that time I was quite bored, and really wasn't that bothered about what happened to them. I have to say there were some good effects, especially the robot AMEE, and there were couple of interesting twists in the plot, but I didn't find it engaging enough to have me on the edge of my seat, and as I said it wasn't of great importance to me whether they managed to complete their mission or not.

I like Val Kilmer, I've liked him ever since he first came to my notice as Madmartigan in the fantasy film Willow and I've enjoyed a lot of the films he has appeared in. He was for me the only reason I kept watching the film to the end. It seems to me that this could have been a lot better, but I'm not sure what would have improved it. Perhaps if more tension had been built, but things just 'happened' all the way through, there was for me very little suspense. There were holes in the plot too, and questions raised which to me were never answered. I won't tell you about those specifically, as I would have to give away too much of the plot, such as it is, just in case you have nothing better to do, sometime when you've been snowed in for a fortnight and have watched every other DVD you've got twice.

Released 2000
Genre Sci-fi Action Thriller
Run time 106 minutes

Summary: I wouldn't ask for a rerun