The Tank

So the only part true is the Mars simulator? No one went crazy? Strange why they would say true story so misleading. If they would have left that off I could have stopped googling if this was true or not.

I really wanted to like this movie. Several actors are recognizable from films and television that I've liked. It's written and directed by women. I enjoy science fiction (if this is based on a true story, the information is lacking). I enjoy isolation and survival stories... The story and the performances falls off the rails at some point. Several plot points are not explained or resolved and there are many questions left unanswered.

Based on a True Story... What "True" Story?

I googled, no such "true" story exists.

Obvious flaws in the crew psychological eval. It was all done on the cheap, that's why failure.

When life must be sustained, don't be cheap.

smh

This movie lacked a plot and had an oddly abrupt ending. Without going into spoilers, it's also pretty clear no one in a medical field was consulted on some of the plot points and I was torn between laughing and grinding my teeth with some utterly unrealistic plot points. Also some vaguely offensive portrayals of both gay and religious people, providing an unpleasant experience for almost any viewer. Avoid at all costs.

A better script would have made this film a lot more bearable. I can believe that incompetence or greed might have made a mission destined to fail. But the whole idea was that they rushed the project through to spend their budget surplus. First of all, there are substantially better way to do that. But second and more importantly, how could you rush a project like this that requires setting up a simulated Martian habitat in one of the most inhospitable places on earth?

Furthermore, a simulated mission of Mars analogue conditions would be under constant surveillance. An important aspect of these missions is learning what kinds of interpersonal issues arise and how to determine if a given person is suitable for this kind of mission.

I'm a big fan of science fiction and want there to be some attempt at having science be part of it.