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Red Planet
Astronauts search for solutions to save a dying Earth by searching on Mars, only to have the mission go terribly awry.
2000 · Directed by Antony Hoffman · 106 min · Thriller · Action · Science Fiction · Screenplay in the scene database · 17 frames
Tagline
Not a sound. Not a warning. Not a chance. Not alone.
Plot
Due to the 21-century ecological crisis on Earth, for twenty years humankind has been terraforming Mars as its new home by sending algae to its surface. When oxygen levels begin decreasing, Mars-1 is sent to investigate, under Mission Commander Kate Bowman with a crew consisting of egotistical co-pilot Ted Santen, science officer Bud Chantilas, mechanical systems engineer Robby Gallagher, and two civilians: bioengineer Quinn Burchenal, and terraforming expert Chip Pettengill. Rule-breaking Gallagher is not Bowman's first choice, and while the crew nicknames him "space janitor," the two are drawn to each other.
A gamma-ray burst resulting from a massive solar flare damages the ship as it reaches Mars. Bowman launches the crew to the planet's surface, and manages to eject the flames of a ship-wide fire into the vacuum and restore power to communicate with Houston. She learns that Mars-1's orbit will decay in 31 hours, but that they can burn to return to Earth before that occurs. The landing craft tumbles to the wrong location, and AMEE, the military robot navigator, is jettisoned. Chantilas is mortally wounded and tells the others to leave without him to save oxygen.
The landing party finds no algae on the planet's surface, then discover that the HAB 1 has been destroyed, ensuring death when their spacesuit oxygen runs out. Pettengill follows Santen to the edge of a cliff, but when Santen mocks him, Pettingill strikes him, and he falls over the edge. Petengill then tells the others that Santen committed suicide. Gallagher decides to die quickly and opens his helmet, only to discover that Mars's atmosphere contains oxygen, more than the failed terraforming would have produced. Burchenal realizes they are near the Pathfinder rover, which will possibly have a working radio to contact Bowman. The trio set fire to the ruins of HAB 1 to warm them during the night.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: Chuck Pfarrer, Jonathan Lemkin
- Cinematography: Peter Suschitzky
- Edited by: Dallas Puett, Robert K. Lambert
- Music: Graeme Revell
- Production design: Owen Paterson
- Produced by: Bruce Berman, Mark Canton, Jorge Saralegui
Cast
- Val Kilmer as Robby Gallagher
- Carrie-Anne Moss as Cmdr. Kate Bowman
- Benjamin Bratt as Lt. Ted Santen
- Tom Sizemore as Dr. Quinn Burchenal
- Simon Baker as Chip Pettengill
- Terence Stamp as Dr. Bud Chantilas
- Jessica Morton as Website Fan
- Bob Neill as Voice of Houston (voice)
- Caroline Bossi as Website Fan
Production
- Country: Australia, United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: Mars Production, Village Roadshow Pictures, NPV Entertainment, The Canton Company
- Budget: $80,000,000
- Box office: $33,463,969
- Themes: future, planet mars, robot, astronaut, space opera, catastrophe, space adventure
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