Rowsdower!
Avenger
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2011
- Messages
- 27,929
- Reaction score
- 7
- Points
- 31
In 2015, the unthinkable happened. A movie about Mars was released and it was financially successful! And more importantly, it was GOOD! So good, in fact, that it won Golden Globes for Best Picture and Actor (in the musical or comedy category... sure, why not?) and received multiple Oscar nominations (Best Picture, Actor, Screenplay, etc.)
Maybe it was because it was based on a book that I haven't read but I've heard is good. Maybe it was Ridley Scott's steady hand at directing. Maybe it was the lack of an alien presence. Maybe it's because we just can't get enough of movies where Matt Damon needs to get rescued. But whatever the reason, this movie really worked after a string of bombs that featured Mars as a key plot point.
There was Mission to Mars, which was a bore up until the last 20 minutes or so, when they finally get to the damned planet. That same year, we had Red Planet, which was easily one of the sh**tiest movies I've ever seen and probably killed any hope Val Kilmer ever had at retaining superstardom. I never bothered to see Ghosts of Mars (which came out the following year) because it looked terrible and after getting burned twice on Mars films, I was done.
A little later on we had Doom (it was based on a video game, so you know it sucked), Mars Needs Moms (a movie I've never seen but I know it was a massive bomb) and John Carter (which would have had to have made $600 million to break even). I know these movies have their fans but I think the overall consensus on them is that they are pretty bad. In fact, Mars became such a toxic plot point that they even changed the title of John Carter from "John Carter of Mars" because they were afraid it might scare people off. It never entered into their minds that a title as boring as "John Carter" was more likely to keep people away.
Anyway, I'm curious to see what people think was the worst Mars movie yet. Out of all the ones I've seen, the only ones I've enjoyed are The Martian, Total Recall and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (MST3K version, anyway). How about you?
Maybe it was because it was based on a book that I haven't read but I've heard is good. Maybe it was Ridley Scott's steady hand at directing. Maybe it was the lack of an alien presence. Maybe it's because we just can't get enough of movies where Matt Damon needs to get rescued. But whatever the reason, this movie really worked after a string of bombs that featured Mars as a key plot point.
There was Mission to Mars, which was a bore up until the last 20 minutes or so, when they finally get to the damned planet. That same year, we had Red Planet, which was easily one of the sh**tiest movies I've ever seen and probably killed any hope Val Kilmer ever had at retaining superstardom. I never bothered to see Ghosts of Mars (which came out the following year) because it looked terrible and after getting burned twice on Mars films, I was done.
A little later on we had Doom (it was based on a video game, so you know it sucked), Mars Needs Moms (a movie I've never seen but I know it was a massive bomb) and John Carter (which would have had to have made $600 million to break even). I know these movies have their fans but I think the overall consensus on them is that they are pretty bad. In fact, Mars became such a toxic plot point that they even changed the title of John Carter from "John Carter of Mars" because they were afraid it might scare people off. It never entered into their minds that a title as boring as "John Carter" was more likely to keep people away.
Anyway, I'm curious to see what people think was the worst Mars movie yet. Out of all the ones I've seen, the only ones I've enjoyed are The Martian, Total Recall and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (MST3K version, anyway). How about you?
Last edited:
