Passage to Mars

We are now so much immersed into science fiction and fantasy material that we've lost touch with real space adventure. Passage to Mars gives us a glimpse at it. This NASA expedition is not only how we prepare for our Martian treks. it explores why. Why we must go there. And this is when the movie really takes off for me, playing with jaw-dropping concepts about extraterrestrial life and our own small existence. Out of this Arctic survival trip, jumping from Earth to Mars, the film becomes almost a dream, driving through ethereal Arctic snow and at times drifting Martian sands.

Quinto's narration is right and subtle, reading the original "shiplog" of the Okarian, the experimental Humvee-rover. The film successfully accomplishes the most important thing: capturing our imagination, keeping us intrigued constantly. Brilliant and immersive. Beautiful and inspired!

Surprisingly good. I'm not a fan of documentary genre, but this one is so different. It has guts, depth, vision. It's a journey, and they take you with them from start to finish, with fierce. Quinto is just great.He delivers a a fine, complex performance, reading the original log of the expedition leader. Making the narration quite different from the classic voice over films. This is one of the film's highlights. It creates a solid emotional bound with the viewer. He delivers a very subtle, low key and at times moving performance. We are so far from the Discovery Channel reality show crap when they give you those fake/staged human conflicts. Here it's all more real. As it must be on a NASA journey. Music is great and the Mars and Arctic landscapes are jaw-dropping. Compelling and very original in the directing. A must see!!

Passage to Mars is one of the best documentaries on space exploration matters I have seen in years. Actually, no... It's not a documentary. And here is why...

The film qualities are countless: astonishing cinematography, editing, scoring and innovative narration style (for a documentary, using the voice over as the expedition's leader diaries vs a usual "witness narrator", was a great path).

But beyond a cinematic successful enterprise - or, perhaps, because of it - the film manages to take you to other worlds.

Beyond the "road movie" - a NASA 2,000 mile - never before attempted sea ice crossing - this trek is a fable, almost an allegory, by the poetry blending with ethereal landscapes where our own thoughts get unleashed and free to reflect on our own existence and the very meaning of our destiny. Here, in space, or anywhere.

The way Passage to Mars ventures into unknown territories (the Arctic and Mars), it can barely be categorized in the documentary genre. Just call it a film, that's what it is. An artistic exploration of the unknown and of our deepest soul.

"Why do we Explore?", to quote the film, is what the film is about. And I loved it, beyond the spectacular and entertaining quality of the film. Makes your mind roving.

Passage to Mars is, to me, a Passage between Science (the NASA expedition) and Fiction (our destiny in space and on Mars). So, perhaps, this is the purest science fiction film you can find this month.

Loved the elements in this film, the snow, the ice, the wind, the glittering stars passing by when we travel through space, the Mars sand dunes, the storms, the red dust... The sounds, or the quietness of it all, in space or on the ice. A film calling for our senses. including fear.

Very spectacular and magnetic. It won't please everybody, cause this doc. breaks many rules and might confuse the routine of some viewers. It's nothing like the classic, formatted TV doc. It's a "movie movie" of its own, arty and outside the box.

I loved it. Very sensible and inspirational. Some science, not much, just enough for me. Enough to understand I actually knew very little about Mars (there's is not only water there, but snow, four seasons, and a day last 24 hour like here, a dust storm can cover the entire planet... But above all, there might be life there, and that's what we are looking for).

but the science is not what stays with you for days after. You just don't watch the sky in the same manner. You feel very small. But you feel puzzled to be surrounded by so much life, when there is so little of it all around Earth. Very sensible and inspiring movie.

If you expect the discovery or Nat Geo type of format, this one will confuse you. It's a million light years away in spirit.

It's a tale turned to mystery and beauty, celebrating exploration. More poetic than scientific, the film explores more why we want to go to Mars than how (which has been explained over and over again in many other docs.)

The excitement here comes from the mind-blowing beauty of two worlds, and a tiny crew of humans trying to make a bridge between.

You will learn more about what makes us go out there than what's out there. Despite the lack of the usual human drama we expect to get in these real-life adventure docs, we feel close enough to the crew and confined with them to feel immersed and part of the crew.

What is most striking is the back and forth Arctic/Mars, a journey within the journey. I understand why this film is so praised by space community. As for me, the ethereal feel made it all. Fascinating.