Red Planet - Film Review

Last night I caught the film ‘Red Planet’ on the Syfy channel and to my knowledge, it has not been on TV for a while so I was very happy to come across it making me a happy viewer. I kind of remembered the plot of the film and was soon reminded as it came flooding back.

Earth is dying. Humankind’s hope turns to Mars. Unmanned probes have been sending a type of algae to the red planet in hopes of raising the oxygen level. All seems to go according to plan, but then all algae disappear and the oxygen level starts to drop.

A team are despatched to the planet to find out what is happening. But as the team approaches the planet, they experience a solar proton event, and the mothership sustains heavy damage. Most of the crew try to evacuate with the landing vehicle, but crashes on Mars. Someone remains on the damage mothership in hopes of making repairs. The senior member of the team is fatally injured. With limited air supply, they head for the pre-built habitat.

They arrive, and find it in ruins. Soon out of air, all hope seem lost. But there is good news and bad news. The good news is that the atmosphere is mysteriously breathable. The bad news is that the team's robot AMEE (on loan from the marines) suffered damage in the landing too, and turns to military mode. And she thinks the ground team is the enemy and begins to hunt them.

The algae as spawned new life a dangerous alien insects’ that could have been dormant in Mars soil. Their respiratory metabolism is capable of producing oxygen far more efficiently than human science is currently able to we find out later. Studying the insects' biochemistry is the key to terraforming Mars, and may even lead to discoveries which will allow the polluted Earth atmosphere to be repaired.

We have here a good sci-fi thriller movie, where there are so few and only minor scientific goofs that it does not annoy or interfere with the story. In fact, in some aspects it is good. Also, a lot of the scenery is beautiful and given just enough time and space in the movie to show it off without making the movie dull. I also think there are some nice special effects and the use of them is just about right. About the actors, all more or less known, they all do what are expected of them without making a star performance.