When the crew of the first manned exploration to Mars, led by Commander Luke Graham (Don Cheadle), are hit by a mysterious storm on the planet surface that takes out most of their electronic equipment, only Graham manages to transmit a garbled message to Earth Control. A rescue mission, led by co-commanders Jim McConnell (Gary Sinise) and Woodrow "Woody" Blake (Tim Robbins), along with mission specialists Terri Fisher (Connie Nielsen) and Phil Ohlmyer (Jerry O'Connell), is launched to rescue the survivors, if there are any, and to figure out what went wrong.
Mission to Mars is based on an original screenplay by American screenwriting brothers Jim and John Thomas with Canadian screenwriter Graham Yost. Inspiration for the story came from a Disney theme park attraction.
The movie suggests that the Martian alien seeded his/her own DNA on Earth four billion years before life even existed on Earth. The alien's DNA then evolved on its own from fish to land animals, finally evolving into humans. However, Earth's environment may have been different from the alien's environment, causing the evolution of humans to change in order to adapt to the environment. A small change in the DNA can result in a big change to the evolving creature, witnessed by comparing humans to apes, who share 95% of the same DNA. Possibly, the Martian wasn't looking for a specific pattern of DNA but for a creature intelligent enough to recognize DNA and fill in the blank.
Realizing that they're in an Martian spaceship, Terri and Luke return to the E.R.V., but Jim decides to accept the Martian invitation and go with them to their new home. He is encased in a capsule and carried up to a waiting pod. As the Martian pod takes off, Jim flashes back on memories of events and loved ones from Earth. Zipping into outer space, the pod shoots past the ship carrying Terri, Luke, and Phil back to Earth. "Have a great ride, Jim", Luke says.
Mission to Mars leaves the viewer with a good feeling about contact with friendly, benevolent aliens. Other movies that leave viewers with a similar feeling includeClose Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)(1977), in which people from all over the U.S. are drawn to witness the landing of an alien spaceship, andE.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)(1982), in which a young boy helps a friendly extraterrestrial to "phone home" for a ride, as well asFlight of the Navigator (1986)(1986) in which a boy travels eight years into the future and has an adventure with an intelligent, wisecracking alien ship. InCocoon (1985)(1985), several elderly people come in contact with an alien cocoon with an unexpected side effect. InThe Abyss (1989)(1989), a team from a drilling rig encounter water-breathing aliens under the ocean.Contact (1997)(1997) tells the story of a SETI worker who is the first to make contact with life beyond Earth. Mission to Mars is often compared toPrometheus (2012)(2012), in which a group of scientific researchers travel to a distant moon hoping to find the answer to humanity's origins. Other films includeThe Martian (2015)(2015) in which an astronaut, during a mission to Mars, is stranded on the planet after being accidentally left behind during a fierce storm. AsRed Planet (2000),a movie about a mission to Mars, was released the same year as Mission to Mars, it was often cited as a competitor production, despite being darker and about negative contact, like the later Prometheus, with alien lifeforms. In further regard to mostly positive contact between human explorers and other sentient/sapient beings, thrillers such asThe Abyss (1989)(1989) andSphere (1998)(1998), both of which take place underwater, may be of interest.
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- How long is Mission to Mars?1 hour and 54 minutes
- When was Mission to Mars released?March 10, 2000
- What is the IMDb rating of Mission to Mars?5.7 out of 10
- Who stars in Mission to Mars?
- Who wrote Mission to Mars?
- Who directed Mission to Mars?
- Who was the composer for Mission to Mars?
- Who was the producer of Mission to Mars?
- Who was the executive producer of Mission to Mars?
- Who was the cinematographer for Mission to Mars?
- Who was the editor of Mission to Mars?
- Who are the characters in Mission to Mars?Jim McConnell, Woody Blake, Luke Graham, Terri Fisher, Phil Ohlmyer, and Sergei Kirov
- What is the plot of 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.
- What was the budget for Mission to Mars?$100 million
- How much did Mission to Mars earn at the worldwide box office?$111 million
- How much did Mission to Mars earn at the US box office?$60.9 million
- What is Mission to Mars rated?PG
- What genre is Mission to Mars?Adventure, Sci-Fi, and Thriller
- How many awards has Mission to Mars been nominated for?3 nominations
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