Mission To Mars (2000)

Editor's Note In 2020, a group of astronauts headed by Luke Graham (Don Cheadle) set out to be the first humans on Mars. After they've landed, they investigate a strange noise near an unusual rock formation, and an unpredicted storm conjures up a living tunnel of sand that wipes out everyone except Graham. His pals back on a space station near Earth spring to his rescue despite the concern of their stodgy Russian captain (Peter Outerbridge) that in the year it will take to reach him, Graham will likely die. Nonetheless, they have to try it. Manning the spacecraft is Jim McConnell (Gary Sinise), a shaky but brilliant space cadet mourning the death of his wife (Kim Delaney); newcomer Phil (Jerry O'Connell); and married astronauts Woody (Tim Robbins) and Terri (Connie Nielsen). After various catastrophic setbacks, they make it to Mars in time to discover some shocking secrets, including the very origin of life in the universe. Highlighted by staggering special effects, this ambitious Brian De Palma film straddles the void between Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and Cameron's THE ABYSS, with imaginative results. The music is by Ennio Morricone.

	Don Cheadle
	Tim Robbins
	Gary Sinise
	Jerry O'Connell
	Brian DePalma - Director
	Stephen H. Burum - Director of Photography
	Ennio Morricone - Musical Score
	David S. Goyer, et al. - Producer
	Jim Thomas, et al. - Screenplay
	Lowell Cannon, et al. - Story By

After the first manned mission to Mars ends in a mysterious catastrophe, a new crew is assembled and sent into space to track down the missing astronaut and find out what really transpired. The crew includes a recently widowed husband, a married couple, and a fresh-faced upstart. Brian De Palma's big-budget thriller is aided greatly by its overflowing star power--in the form of the actors--as well as its spectacular visual effects. USA Today
"...Vivid and highly pleasing..." 05/01/2000 p.54-6

New York Times
"...The visual design is spectacular, and the scenes of the Martian surface look so real that the picture could have been made on location..." 03/10/2000 p.E20

Chicago Sun-Times
"...[With] sequences of real vision, awakening the sense of wonder that is the goal of popular science fiction....It has extraordinary things in it..." 03/10/2000 p.29