Movie Talk: The Greatest Mars Movie EVER? Perhaps! ‘The Last Days on Mars’ Review
Written by: Matt Molgaard
I’ve been waiting for a thought provoking film about Mars since I fell in love with Ray Bradbury’s fiction decades ago. Mars offers a multitude of possibilities. The potential for any genre piece positioned primarily on Mars is so wildly ungraspable. The problem is, most films totally screw it all up, turning Mars into either a ridiculously foolish concept to begin with, or a dull, drab film experience that fans can’t wait to forget.
Mission to Mars was fair at best, falling extremely short of expectations. Red Planet was perfect, if you suffer from insomnia. Total Recall is fun, but pretty dumbed down. Ghost of Mars is awesome, but I’ve been told countless times that that is little more than nostalgia and John Carpenter fanboyism creeping through.
But I’ve discovered something special: The Last Days on Mars – the first legitimately refined production that brings a clean, polished look, stellar performances, impressive effects and primal scares – a flick in which goes above and beyond the norm. Refusing to stumble into the pitfalls so others seem incapable of avoiding. Eager to offer fans something a bit new.
The truth is, the story is a bit like Alien meets The Last Man on Earth meets Night of the Living Dead. A scientific crew is on mars. They’re searching for life forms. Unfortunately for them, the find something, and that something is quick to transform crew members into mindless murdering monsters. As the picture barrels forward all one must truly contemplate is fate… Can anyone survive this appalling ordeal?
The cast is excellent, Liev Schreiber doing a superb job of juggling an assortment of emotions all the while maintaining grip on his wits, finds a way to guide a terrified crew to what they all hope to be safety. Elias Koteas is flawless as the optimistic Cap, but it’s Olivia Williams that totally and completely kills as the moody Kim. Talk about a top notch performer, this is it. In addition to the cast, the editing is excellent and Clive Dawson’s screenplay is riveting from moment one.
This is, in my honest opinion, the greatest Mars movie ever created. Highly, highly recommended!
Rating: 4.5/5
Horror Novel Reviews 
Excellent review , Matt. I had never even heard of this movie and now that I’ve read your write up, I plan on checking it out . I’m a sucker for solid science fiction/horror anyway, but this flick is populated by some of the best character actors working today. Schrieber and Koteas alone are worth the price of admission. I need to see this.
LikeLike
Matt,
I feel the same way as D.S. I’ve been waiting for a great “Mars” movie to come out and have been so disappointed in most of them. I haven’t heard of this film, either. Did you just see it at the theater or is it out on DVD. I have to admit to becoming more and more impressed with Liev Schreiber as an actor over the last several years. Liev’s new TV series, Ray Donovan, finally made me a devout fan of his.
LikeLike
The DVD will be out on March 4th on Amazon. It really got panned there with a lot of one-star reviews. Of course, the same people were putting down The Walking Dead and 28 Days Later, so I tend to think they just don’t like zombies. Their loss. Some didn’t even know the actors in the film and here they are writing a negative review of the movie. I say, “Shame on them.” The movie was supposedly out around December 6th of 2013, but it never hit the theater at the hotel where I work at. I check the new films being shown every Friday when I go to do the mail run. I’ll buy this film when it comes out in another month and judge it for myself. I personally think zombies make wonderful company on a lonely, snowy night, especially if you live back East.
LikeLike
Nice review, I’ll have to check out the movie. I honestly don’t remember hearing about it. When you said Mars movie my first thought was Mission to Mars, that I liked!
LikeLike