To subscribe to the weekly Film Pie newsletter,

send an email with the heading "Film Pie" to Matthew Toomey.

 

CINEMA

Home Page

Currently Showing

Bris Cinema Guide

Coming Soon

Archives (1996-2008)

Matt's Best & Worst

Toomey Awards

VIDEO/DVD

Currently Available

Coming Soon

OTHER

Matt's Weekly Blog

Feature Columns

Links

About The Film Pie


MISSION TO MARS

 

Directed by:  Brian De Palma

Written by:   Jim Thomas

Starring:       Gary Sinese, Don Cheadle, Connie

                      Nielsen, Jerry O’Connell, Kim

  Delaney, Tim Robbins, Armin

  Mueller-Stahl

Released:      April 6, 2000

Grade:         C-  

            This film is an absolute disgrace.  I don’t think I’ve ever been witness to such a shameful waste of time and money.  Totally free of any entertainment, Mission To Mars is an odds-on bet to be the worst film of 2000.

            The story is set in 2020 when a group of international astronauts travel to Mars for exploration and research.  When a group go missing on the surface (led by Don Cheadle), another crew is set out after them (led by Tim Robbins and Gary Sinese).  They have their trials and tribulations along the way and upon reaching the surface, lo and behold, they discover the secret of the universe - in that all life started on Mars.  Wow!

            Brian De Palma is losing all credibility as a director with this film stinking like his previous two - Mission: Impossible and Snake Eyes.  The special effects are ordinary.  In today’s modern age, when seeing films like The Phantom Menace and The Matrix, I can’t understand how the production company could be satisfied with these visual images.  It looks like something from an 80s TV movie.

            No one in the cast is funny or interesting and the dialogue is shocking.  I can’t think what Sinese and Robbins were thinking to sign on to this movie - I thought much better of them.

            I will not waste additional time describing the agony I endured sitting through two hours of total crap.  I would prefer to spend the time having teeth extracted than to sit through Mission To Mars a second time.  I have now witnessed a movie which sets a benchmark for bad movies to come - one that will live long into the history books.  You have been warned...