Red Planet dvd movie.|
Red Planet buy bestselling dvd movies, videos find reviews, ratings, prices |
 |
List Price: $9.98 Our Price: $9.98 Features • Closed-captioned • Color • Dolby • DVD-Video • Subtitled • Widescreen • NTSC In Theaters : 2000 DVD Release : 27 March, 2001 |
| [ + Zoom ] [ Buy Now ] | DVD : Usually ships in 24 hours |
|
Red Planet description In Red Planet, the only thing thicker than the Martian atmosphere (which is breathable, by the way) is the layer of clichés that nearly smothers a formulaic beat-the-clock plot. Science fiction fans are sure to be forgiving, however, because the film is reasonably intelligent, boasts a few dazzling sequences, and presents fascinating technology in the year 2057. We don't know how the Mars-1 spaceship gets to Mars in only six months (newfangled propulsion, no doubt), but we do get some cool diagnostic readouts on tinfoil scrolls, an abundance of well-designed hardware, and a service-robot-turned-villain that's a high-tech hybrid of RoboCop, Bruce Lee, and a slinky panther with plenty of lethal attitude. The oxygen in the Martian atmosphere has resulted from nascent efforts of terraforming, made necessary by Earth's overpolluted condition. Mars-1 has been dispatched to determine why the terraforming is failing, and upon arrival everything goes inevitably haywire. Nearly two hours, three deaths, and multiple crises later (including the discovery of a Martian life form), "space janitor" Val Kilmer and his ultracompetent commander (Carrie-Anne Moss from The Matrix) have collaborated to set things right, capped off by second dose of the wretched narration that bookends the movie. Hoary material, to be sure, and as a veteran of TV commercials making his feature debut, director Anthony Hoffman is clearly more comfortable with flashy visuals than depth of character. Still, he keeps things humming right along. A perfectly suitable companion to another 2000 sci-fi thriller, Pitch Black, Red Planet is a fine way to kill a couple of hours. --Jeff Shannon |
|
|
| ♥♥♥♥♥ | Solid Sci-Fi....And Relevant, Too |
| It's the year 2057, and Earth isn't as hospitable a planet as it used to be, thanks to increasing problems in the Earth's environment (can you say "global warming"?). So, in an effort to save the Earth's population, a major global project has been launched to make the planet Mars a second home for us humans by making it's atmosphere able to support life. But something has gone wrong with the project, and a five man, one woman crew from the U.S. (with the woman as Commander) have been sent to the red planet to investigate, and tagging along with them is a powerful, four-legged, all-terrain robot named AMEE (i.e. "Amy") that can swiftly run around like a leopard & use guerrilla tactics to defend itself. On finally reaching Mars, the crew's entry into the planet's orbit goes very awry thanks to a dangerous solar flare. With Commander Bowman forced to remain behind on the crippled ship, the five men crash-land on the Mars surface. With no radio contact available & no immediate way to return to Bowman (who has her own problems to deal with up in the spacecraft), AND with the robot AMEE having been damaged in the Mars landing and is now running amok, the crew must fight for survival, solve the mystery of the Mars project, AND find a way to get back to Bowman and the spacecraft.... 2000's "Red Planet," although not a perfect movie---somebody forgot to tell the FX crew to wipe out those white clouds from the Martian sky---is still a great sci-fi flick, with very good acting & direction, a very good story, great visual effects (apart from the goof with the clouds), and is quite exciting. I really like the cast of this film, too. While it's a bit unrealistic to have a lone woman leading a crew of five men in space (especially one who's a total babe), who better a woman to lead the men then the woman from "The Matrix"? Carrie-Anne Moss is perfectly cast as Commander Bowman. Yes, she firmly leads the men, but just firmly enough without being militaristic or macho, and without ever losing touch with her gentle, feminine side. You appreciate her very-obvious beauty, but you also appreciate her. Val Kilmer has never been more appealing in a film before. As the kind-hearted flight engineer Gallagher, he's actually a *really nice* guy here, and he plays the role very well, indeed. You like him, and you root for his survival. Rounding out the cast, the always-reliable Tom Sizemore does an excellent job as the cocky scientist, Benjamin Bratt is suitably oily as the hard-ass co-pilot, Simon Baker is good as the immature & ultimately paranoid agriculturalist, and Terence Stamp lends fine support as Dr. Chantillas, the spiritual, eldest astronaut of the crew. And then, there's the out-of-control killer robot, AMEE. She may be a visual effect of the CGI kind (for the most part), but with her four-legged animal design, menacing presence & physical strength, she's still a pretty scary bucket of bolts that poses a definite threat to the crew & their survival. The look of the film, with it's panoramic shots of the Mars surface and it's canyons, the interiors of the crews' spacecraft, as well as it's top-notch visual effects, is terrific. Antony Hoffman does a fine job with the direction, and the story is engaging & enjoyable. And the film's soundtrack is fabulous, too: Graeme Revell supplies an excellent, haunting score, and there are also first-rate contributions from Peter Gabriel, Sting & The Police, and Italian songstress Emma Shapplin. Although a box-office flop back in 2000, "Red Planet" definitely deserved a much better reception. Also, this movie is now more relevant than it ever was before. Despite being science-fiction, it addresses the global warming issue, as well as the real possibility of transforming---aka "terraforming"---Mars into a second planet for us humans to live on, which could very well happen someday. "Red Planet" is a solid, intelligent, entertaining sci-fi film that deserves another look. | |
|