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...