O Planeta Vermelho

When watching the trailer I couldn't help but feel intrigued. Although it gave you a basic idea of what the film was about (the title is a massive clue), it didn't give any sign of the problem that would occur. I liked that, normally it is just standard procedure for a newly released movie to throw its cards on the table and show the inquisitive audience what to expect. "The Last Days on Mars" doesn't exactly follow in that tradition and leaves you guessing up until the moment the horror is realised.

Although location and purpose is completely different i couldn't help but associate it with "Sunshine"; of course with a less stellar cast. Just the crew falling apart, and mentality being tested in such environments. Not to take anything away from this, it does have its own display of originality, the location (mostly Jordan) was simplistic but effective; not needing Transformers to take away from the scenery. I thought Liev Schreiber played his part well, he gets a lot of flack, but he produces a solid display of acting. Everyone else just did their job; no-one really stood out.

Now although I enjoyed this film, there where several things that bugged me. Acting left a lot to be desired. The little flashback back-story was very, very anti climatic. Some of the characters where in need of a slap and the story lacked certitude.

If this is the best and brightest Earth has to sent into space we need to defend NASA. If this is how people act after 6 months in isolation we need to train crews better. They argued, made stupid decisions, and disobeyed orders just like normal people, not people who have trained their entire lives for space travel.

THE LAST DAYS ON MARS is a surprisingly well-made film about things we've already seen before. And that's the charm that makes it worth watching. To begin with, the film is brisk (1 1/2 hours) and doesn't waste much time in telling its story. Even the few moments of quiet contemplation of life/death don't overstay their welcome. The characters don't make stupid decisions, but they do make them with little motivation.

The film is essentially a cross between 28 DAYS LATER and THE THING, but the film is aware of its influences and doesn't try to reinvent the wheel. If anything, it strips them down to the foundation and goes with a simple explanation that feels more believable than 28 DAYS LATER. The film takes the technology seriously without turning it into a spectacle. It kind of reminds me of RED PLANET in that sense, but it doesn't depend on CGI spectacle to lend undeserved importance. The film very simply suggests that the characters be taken as real people who are reacting to the situation in front of them, just on a different planet where the rules of survival are equally alien.

TLDOM is worth watching because of the skill and confidence of the people making it. Perhaps the only thing holding it back from the attention it deserves is that in spite of that skill, it doesn't have anything different to say.

This movie had a shot at being quite good, only made it to pretty good. It was a bit of a throwback movie from the 50's with better special effects. Performances were good, but the story went from scientific to space horror a tad too quickly.

Liev Schrieber was adequate but his character had no emotion until the very end of the film. Other performers were sort of character actor types and their length of time on the screen was based much on either who is the prettiest or the most foolish.

There was decent suspense early on and a curiosity as to what happened earlier in their lives, but not in the movie and I guess it had played a part in the plot, but with no explanation, it was kind of oddly placed.

It's a decent watch and only killed about 98 minutes, so you won't find it to be a total waste of time. If you watch it with the thoughts of real early science fiction, you can see how it fit into the genre.

Some people may be surprised by the ending or you'll wonder what happened next.

Take the time, enjoy the ride and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised, but not overwhelmed.

Just my thoughts!

My overall enjoyment of the movie was pretty decent, its nothing something I'd watch numerous times, but it was alright for a one time view.

The acting was pretty good, as were the sets, makeup etc. They also captured the tension in making on the go/tough decisions quite well.

The downside, for me personally to the movie, was that it quickly turned into a 'zombieish' kind of movie: Infected trying to infect non-infected, non-infected trying to survive. Now I like the occasional zombie movie, but I've only read the brief description on IMDb before watching,and I personally expected something different, something a bit more original. There was no real 'reason' the whole movie is based on Mars. You could replace Mars with an island, the infected with zombies, the bacteria with, well, a bacteria and the rescue pod with a rescue ship for example, and basically have the same movie.

All in all, if you're like me, and enjoy watching some low budget sci-fi, this is a movie I'd give a try.