Stranded

Yep," Stranded" (2001) is a standard formula crash on mars. They do not attempt to slowly reveal the plot. It is an in-your-face yep someone's gotta go who gets to pick and where do they go story. But you knew this before you bought this movie.

Even though this film is foreign and some of the acting and reading is stilted we're still fascinated with the interaction of the characters and how they are going to get from point A to point Z. The film does not have to be original or professional; all it has to do is hold our attention and show us their version of the well-known story.

The two points that stand out to me are first how Luca Baglioni (Vincent Gallo) wants to spend his dying moments with Jenny Johnson (Maria de Medeiros.) We could've "made book" on that answer. The second which might've been a little drawn out but I enjoyed it anyway was the reference to Barsoom and Barsoom's characters; I half expect John Carter to pop out from behind the rocks.

Once you get past the first 20 minutes, which contains the worst of the acting and the expository dialogue that invariably that starts with "As you know, Mars/the spaceship/our oxygen supply...," this is an enjoyable and intelligent movie. Actually, with the proviso that this is indeed science fiction with regard to the more fantastic elements, they made a better fist of the science and technology than any of the Hollywood blockbusters about Mars. The production values are surprisingly high, although real space nerds will notice that the interior of the mars landing spaceship bears more than a passing resemblance to a shuttle mock up and Blake's 7 fans will notice the wandering-down-the-same-corridor-with-different-lighting trick.

These days sci-fi tends to be all about action, gleaming spaceships, and aliens with wrinkly tentacles. No fantasy, no mystery, no bizarre unknown. Action flicks or relationship dramas set in space. That's not my idea of sci-fi.

This film takes its time. We spend a good chunk of the film watching the crew crash-landed on Mars without enough supplies, trying to figure out what to do. It takes a long time before we get to the mystery, and for once, we don't get to see the dwarf behind the curtain. If this were a Hollywood film, all of Stranded would be cut down to about 15 minutes, and the rest of the film would be an action film where the surviving crew are being chased by some lame baddie, maybe a crew member gone mad, or some rusty martian janitorial robot with a few screws loose.

I like the film. Make no mistake, it has a lot of BAD things about it. A few awful casting choices, amateurish directing, and absolutely awful voice-over narration. The first five minutes are so awful you wouldn't believe it. But once the film gets underway, there's enough good to it to let you ignore the bad.

If you like Hollywood sci-fi, don't watch this film because you'll absolutely hate it. But if you like films such as 2001, Solaris, and THX-1138, then you might want to give this film a chance. By no means is it up to the standards of such masterpieces, but it's far more memorable and interesting than any other Mars-flick made in recent years.

A seven-man crew of international specialists formed by Commander Andre Vishniac (José Sancho); engineer Luca Baglioni (Vincent Gallo); doctor Jenny Johnson (Maria de Medeiros); astrobiologist Fidel Rodrigo (Joaquim de Almeida); pilot Susana Sánchez (María Lidón); geologist Herbert Sagan (Danel Aser); and pilot Lowell (Johnny Ramone) travels to Mars to explore the planet. On the arrival, Lowell stays in orbit in the mothership while the crew lands on Mars. However their spacecraft crashes on the planet and Vishniac breaks his neck. They learn that they are stranded in Mars and Lowell returns to Earth to bring a rescue team. Soon Luca calculates the oxygen, water and supplies and concludes that there are enough for only two of them survive until an eventual rescue team comes to Mars twenty six months later. They decide that the engineer Luca and doctor Jenny should be the ones to stay in the spacecraft due to their specialties. Susan, Rodrigo and Sagan wear their spacesuits to explore the planet and die. But while there is life, there is hope.

"Stranded" is an anguishing low-budget sci-fi developed in very slow pace that builds up tension. The plot is realistic and the pragmatic Luca is a hateful but coherent character. The beautiful cinematography shows the arid landscape of Mars as a hopeless environment for human life. The surprising conclusion gives hope to the survivors to be rescued one day alive. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

If you dislike slow pace, and needs lots of explosions or adventure in your science-fiction films, avoid Stranded. You won't enjoy it.

But if you like slow, realistic, thought provoking sci-fi (films like 2001 or Solaris) with a twist of psychological drama, then give Stranded a go.

On a tiny budget, I believe the makers of Stranded have achieved a deeper, more interesting Mars film than any other to date.

Six Astronauts aboard the first mission to Mars, crash their ship when landing, and the only hope of rescue is a potential 3 year wait for another ship from Earth. With not enough air, water or energy to last for 3 years, the film asks - what would you do? The settings are believable, the acting a little varied (some accents might even be dubbed), and the special effects merely OK. It looks like a mere BBC TV special. But try not to be distracted by these quibbles.

Apart from an initial space travel shot or two, special effects aren't needed. The film's real strength is the tension between the characters as they sit huddled in the wreckage of their ship, and the harsh reality of their situation.

Even a science fiction twist at the end remains believable, thanks to it's understated nature.

I went into this film expecting a terrible b-grade sci-fi film. Instead, I found myself on the edge of my seat from beginning to end, and was frankly blown away by it's mature effort (on such a tiny budget) to portray a sci-fi scenario on Mars.

Highly recommended for lovers of sincere and realistic sci-fi drama.