Mars

Oh dear, where do i start? While i was really excited for the premise of a mars colony series, this isn't what i was hoping for.

At first the documentary-style segments give it an authentic feel. Yet after a while it really interferes with the pacing of the story. Whenever the situation gets dramatic, there is a cut to Elon Musk or Neil Degrasse Tyson blue-balling us with another scientific explanation. They should have stopped this after the first episode, as it really comes across as filler after that.

What i also couldn't take was the huge character discrepancy between the real life astronaut and his fictional counterparts. While Scott Kelly is a warm and controlled guy, who takes the one-year- separation from his family in a laid-back "it's my job"-attitude, the protagonists of the series seem to get emotional at the slightest mishaps. Add to that the fact they act more like teenagers than professionals with decades of experience.

And finally this seems like the worst space voyage in human history. A blind and hesitant ground control, hardly any reserves, moronic hiring philosophy... If any real mars trip would be happening like this, they would fire the management and drop the whole project.

I thought this was horrible. I love The National Geographic Channel, they have some amazing programs. This is not one of them. To be fair, I have only seen the premier episode but from slugging through that I am not 1 bit interested in watching another episode.

They tried a new concept of mixing present day education of space travels past, present and possible with a fictional drama of an actual mission to Mars. The show bounces back and forth from documentary or classroom to fiction moving from past present to future, it's very disjointed. I think I would quite enjoy the documentary part on it's own. I would not enjoy the fictional drama on it's own because it's just plain bad. If you want to see a fictional mission to Mars there are several good Hollywood movies that cover this subject and they do a much better job, watch one of those instead.

The dramatic part of the show is incredibly slow moving, things move along so slowly I had trouble keeping my eyes open, it made me want to take a nap. The filming of the dramatic section was weird, the camera was too close to the actors, I suppose the director thought that would impart a feeling of claustrophobia and cramped spaces, I could have gotten the same idea if the camera had been pulled back. Being so close to everything kind of creates a dizzying effect and made me even more uncomfortable watching.

I was so excited to see this series so when I actually saw it and how bad it was it was extra disappointed. I felt like the Drama part was very unrealistic, it seemed like they got a lot of things wrong, I never felt like the actors were actually on Mars, it looked and felt like they were in a desert in Arizona or some such place.

I think it was a very good series, albeit a little slow. As for the "preachyness", if you're going to make a realistic series about Mars colonisation, climate change and corporate greed are topics that are unavoidable. Climate change is not "left wing", it's just a fact. In fact, far too many movies and TV shows tip-toe around the issue, so it's refreshing someone actually having the balls to address the issue. And the politicised science usually are the one trying to disprove man-made climate change, not the other way around. The only thing that bugged me about the show, was the use of lights inside the helmets, which would impair their vision because of all the reflection. But it seems the norm for most Hollywood movies, so I guess it's forgivable. But all in all a good watch, unless you're too sensitive about the reality of climate change.

The new mini-series MARS is not like most science fiction films or TV entries. Instead it is more like "science future" rather than science fiction – an extension of existing knowledge and techniques to the near future. More specifically, the authors envision what it would be like to travel to Mars in 2033. Because it is "science future" and not science fiction, most of what we're watching seems familiar.

Each episode looks like a documentary made in 2033 about the pioneers of the Mars movement. So we see interviews of people like Elon Musk and they talk about the Space X program. Then it switches to real time and we see the trials and tribulations of the first people to land on Mars.

As clever as the science future element is, there is a fictional story here as well, concerned with troubles that happen on the approach to Mars and the landing and the subsequent attempt to colonize the planet. This part of the series is lacking, not merely in character development, but also in action. It is slow going, but probably not unlike what it would be if you were there.

Among the most interesting elements are the decisions that have to be made about the program and comparisons between this future project and major exploratory projects of the past.

This series is definitely worth watching.

I like the comment where someone said this isn't science fiction but science future. It does take relevant clips and interviews from the past and present which provide educational information and sometimes opinions.

Will we go to Mars? Hell yes. Do we need to? No. Should we? Hell yes. Think how much the world benefited by the challenge we faced by going to the moon and how much technology was developed from doing so.

Going to Mars is just a first step and there is so much to learn from taking on the challenge. We may very well learn to solve some of the present or future problems that we will be facing here on earth by looking for solutions to living on Mars.

Now my comments on the story side of the show.

I am a fan of Elon Musk but why do I get the feeling like this is a one big commercial for the SpaceX program? I have to agree with some comments in that the story line is weak in that much of the planning and contingency planning that would normally be done is not represented in the show. So far with two episodes I have given up on questioning why things are happening as they do and just accept it at face value for the entertainment aspect.

The budget for the show may be limited but National Geographic is providing some great links for the show as well from http://natgeotv.com/mars which includes cast information and interviews, recaps, online viewing, and the Before Mars episode to get folks engaged with the actors.