O Planeta Vermelho

I liked it!!! I didn't love it, but I liked it!!! A great sci-fi horror movie. That's all I expected from it and I liked it. One thing, though and this may be a spoiler of sorts so consider yourself warned. All the dialogue that was at the beginning left me wishing that the whole movie could have been like that, not fall to the usual horror genre. The beginning was very intelligent and entertaining. The actors were very good together! The back and fourth worked. Too bad it had to fall to the monster movie thrill pack it ended up being although I liked the ending. Yes, I got what I expected and I liked it. It's just...it had the potential to be so much more.

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.

I am a fan of the space/horror genre, and always try and watch whatever is about, but somehow this passed me by. I was keen to watch it, even more so when I say it had Liev Schreiber in it, what a surprise. I'm assuming this was a box office flop, or simply didn't even make it to the big screen, and that's a shame, as it's a really decent watch. The story isn't particularly original, it's been done to death, but the execution was really rather good. It was atmospheric, beautifully shot, and well acted. Liev Schreiber of course was great, so strange to watch Romola Garai in sci fi, seen her in so many costume dramas, but she was excellent. I liked the imagery of the 'zombies,' and I liked the sense of panic and claustrophobia that was generated. One that got away, I really liked it. 7/10

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.

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.