From: cwhipple@VantasInc.com
Date: Tue Mar 21 2000 - 08:01:28 MST
I really thought Mission to Mars was grossly over-rated. It got 2 out of 5
stars in one review at IMDB. Regardless, if I see one more sci-fi flick
where there are lines like "i'm sorry Jim, but I won't be coming back with
you this time..." or where they play silly mind-games with themselves......
The acting was really inhuman. That is to say, I don't know any humans that
are like that. And the plot itself... the way each character had their own
"thing"... it didn't leave much to the imagination as to how it would end.
Blah blah, this guy would get to go home and read to his kid again, blah
blah, this guy lost his wife so he'll be zooming off with aliens instead of
coming home. I couldn't get emotionally attached at all. It was
ridiculous.
Although I must say I'm definitely biased. The day before I saw Mission to
Mars I'd seen The Ninth Gate. Now THERE'S a movie! Cinematic, wonderful
plot - with just a hint of mystery here and there.... In a nutshell,
Polanski took a few staples of Hollywood (fast cars, tits-and-ass, fire and
satan) and made a wonderful-looking trailer to draw people in... but then
engaged them in a wonderful movie. Johnny Depp's main character was someone
human. Someone I could get emotionally attached to, and even identify with.
Suffice it to say, I had to go see the Ninth Gate again the day after I'd
seen Mission to Mars... kind of rebooting my etch-a-sketch cinema memory...
-c.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-extropians@extropy.com
> [mailto:owner-extropians@extropy.com]On Behalf Of john grigg
> Sent: Monday, March 20, 2000 5:58 PM
> To: extropians-digest@extropy.org
> Subject: the Kubrick film project _AI_ and _Mission to Mars_
>
>
> John Clark wrote:
> I think Kubrick was the best director who ever lived, I wish
> he'd made it. I
> know he worked on AI for well over 15 years but somehow it never got
> finished, all sorts of rumors why.
> (end)
>
> I was shocked to hear he had died and very sad that he never
> got to film
> _AI_ which will not be the same in Spielburg's hands, though
> he may do an
> excellent job, we will see.
>
> I recently saw, _Mission to Mars_ which was good but not
> great. I could not
> help but compare the ending of it with the final scenes of
> _2001_ which was
> infinitely better. I noticed how in some ways they attempted to copy
> Kubrick's masterpiece but were hopelessly inadequate in doing
> so. The way
> Kubrick shifted the pov and used lighting and set design was
> sheer genius in
> showing Bowman's lifecycle.
>
> SPOILER!!
>
> I was touched when the Martian in _Mission to Mars_ showed a
> holographic
> image of a young Mars being hit by a comet and the planet
> being plunged into
> chaos. As time passed the Martians sent out ships to find
> new homes in the
> galaxy. But somehow the story, writing, alien fx and
> characterization and
> film direction were just not up to the task of achieving the level of
> emotional power needed to do the film right. The cast was
> top-notch (except
> for the Sliders' guy! lol) and so that was not the problem.
> I thought Brian
> DePalma would have been up to the task, oh well.
>
>
> sincerely,
>
> John Grigg
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