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Mission to Mars
When the first manned mission to Mars meets with a catastrophic and mysterious disaster after reporting an unidentified structure, a rescue mission is launched to investigate the tragedy and bring back any survivors.
2000 · Directed by Brian De Palma · 114 min · Science Fiction · Adventure · Mystery · Screenplay in the scene database · 18 frames
Tagline
For centuries we've been looking for the origin of life on earth. We've been looking on the wrong planet.
Plot
In 2020, the Mars I mission travels to the planet Mars, commanded by Luke Graham. The team discovers a bright white formation in the Cydonia region, which they suspect is an extrusion from a subsurface geothermal column of water, useful to future human colonization. After reporting this to the Earth-orbiting World Space Station, they investigate the formation and start hearing a low sound on their communications system. Their radar reports the formation is metal, but when they increase its power, a vortex kills everyone except Luke and the formation is revealed to be part of a large humanoid face.
The space station observes an electromagnetic pulse and receives a distress message from Luke. Realizing the pulse damaged the computer system of the Earth Return Vehicle (ERV) they repurpose the Mars II mission into a rescue.
Mars Rescue, consisting of Commander Woody Blake, his wife Terri Fisher, recent widower Jim McConnell and technician Phil Ohlmyer, approaches Mars orbit months later to find all satellite imagery of the formation area covered with static. Micrometeoroids breach the ship, damage the fuel lines, and detonate the engines. The crew abandons their disabled Mars II ship and travel to the Resupply Module in orbit nearby. Woody loses his tether to the module and begins descending into the atmosphere. When Terri risks her own safety to attempt to rescue him, he removes his helmet, killing himself to save her.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: Jim Thomas, Graham Yost, John Thomas
- Cinematography: Stephen H. Burum
- Edited by: Paul Hirsch
- Music: Ennio Morricone
- Produced by: Tom Jacobson
Cast
- Gary Sinise as Jim McConnell
- Tim Robbins as Woody Blake
- Don Cheadle as Luke Graham
- Connie Nielsen as Terri Fisher
- Jerry O'Connell as Phil Ohlmyer
- Peter Outerbridge as Sergei Kirov
- Kavan Smith as Nicholas Willis
- Jill Teed as Renée Coté
- Elise Neal as Debra Graham
- Marilyn Norry as NASA Wive
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: Touchstone Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment, The Jacobson Company
- Budget: $90,000,000
- Box office: $110,983,407
- Themes: spacecraft, planet mars, affectation, space travel, alien, space, astronaut, dismemberment, alien contact, trapped in space
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