With the release of Matt Damon's movie The Martian and NASA's big Mars reveal, Dominic Corry takes a look at some of the best and worst films set on Mars.
With it's relatively small stature and orange-bronzed surface, Mars is naturally the most Hollywood-friendly planet in our solar system that isn't Earth. But even that old blue dame is looking a little tired these days.
Mars is once again in the spotlight this week, for two reasons. The first is the release of The Martian, a movie adaptation of Andy Weir's best-selling book about a botanist/engineer stuck on the red planet after a NASA mission goes awry. The second is an actual scientific discovery of some kind that can't help but seem hugely insignificant when placed alongside the release of a Hollywood movie.
A scene from the movie The Martian starring Matt Damon.
To mark these dual points of interest, I will provide a brief survey of Mars' most notable big screen appearances, in chronological order. There are plenty of films that feature martian invaders and very little actual Mars (like The War of the Worlds, Mars Attacks! and Species II) - they are excluded. The films on this list feature Mars front and centre.
I'll also note the earth-bound locations utilised to portray the Martian landscape. All the films mentioned also feature sets and extensive special effects of course...
Santa Claus Conquers The Martians (1964)
...all of them except for this one, that is. A legendarily bad Z-grade movie about some hugely unconvincing Martians abducting Santa Claus from Earth to combat the threat that too much television posed to young Martian's minds, this film's cult reputation was greatly enhanced by being featured on a famously-awesome episode of movie-riffing show Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Mars landscape portrayed by: Some really crummy, barely perceivable indoor sets.
Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964)
1964's other crazy Mars movie, this memorably-titled but little seen Paramount Pictures release cannot help but seem mildly prescient in light of the success of The Martian. That said, I do not believe there is anybody called 'Friday' in the Matt Damon film, which we can all be thankful for.
Mars landscape portrayed by: Death Valley National Park, California.
Total Recall (1990)
A scene from Total Recall (1990) starring Arnold Swarzenegger.
The Mars in this Arnold Swarzenegger classic is presented as a future tourist destination/bounty of natural resources/former home to an ancient civilisation/current home to mutated former Earthlings/some of whom have three breasts. It's a pretty freaky place, and it's only the seventh or eighth freakiest thing in the movie. The 2012 Colin Farrell re-adaptation dropped the Mars element. I missed it.
Mars landscape portrayed by: Valley of Fire State Park, in Nevada.
Mission to Mars (2000)
Not long after 1998's dueling meteor films (Deep Impact and Armageddon), two Mars action thrillers came down the pipe the same year. Neither got much love from critics or audiences, but both are pretty good. Brian De Palma's Kubrick-homagin effort starring Tim Robbins, Connie Nielsen and Gary Sinise, has undergone a mild critical re-appraisal since then, but remains a mostly ridiculed film. It's actually kinda great, and prefigures elements successfully deployed by later hits like Prometheus and Gravity.
Mars landscape portrayed by: Jordan, where The Martian also shot.
2000's other Mars film has not undergone any kind of critical re-appraisal, but remains a pretty entertaining space thriller and is far more fun than its rep would suggest. Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss and Tom Sizemore are the principle martians this time around. Amongst several noteworthy set-pieces, The Mentalist pushes Benjamain Bratt off a cliff.
Mars landscape portrayed by: Coober Pedy, South Australia and Jordan.
John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars (2001)
Arriving lukewarm on the heels of the previous year's double Mars flops, John Carpenter's most recent re-staging of Rio Bravo is also his last widely-released film. It is a huge stinker with nothing exciting, Mars-wise. It's not helped by the legend that it was born of the ashes of an aborted follow-up to Escape From LA called Escape From Mars. That's a Mars film I could get excited about and also a legitimate alternate title for The Martian.
Mars landscape portrayed by: A gypsum mine in New Mexico.
John Carter (2012)
A scene from the movie John Carter (2012).
This long-gestating adaptation was originally announced as John Carter of Mars, but when Sony's grating animated "comedy" Mars Needs Moms flopped hard, the red planet was deemed an unappealing proposition for audiences. Which is kinda crazy. We earthlings love Mars, and we always will. Stanton's loving staging of Edgar Rice Burroughs' incredibly influential story presents a Mars rich with history and civilisation. Say what you will about the film, but Mars looks pretty great.
Mars landscape portrayed by: Southern Utah, as well as locations in Arizona and New Mexico.
The Last Days on Mars (2013)
A scene from the movie The Last Days on Mars (2013).
A minor precursor to The Martian, this barely-released sci-fi thriller is slicker than its low-key fate suggests. Liev Schreiber, Olivia Williams and Elias Koteas are amongst a group of astronauts facing an unforeseen threat at the end of a six-month stay on ol' red'n'dusty. Entertaining as it is though, The Last Days on Mars can't quite escape the clear influence of Ridley Scott's original Alien (with one major difference), and the comparisons don't favour the newer film. Still, worth a gander.
