SCREEN IT! PARENTAL REVIEW: RED PLANET

"RED PLANET"
(2000) (Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss) (PG-13)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Mild	Moderate	Moderate	*Moderate	None

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Mild	Minor	Extreme	None	Heavy

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Moderate	None	None	Mild	Heavy

QUICK TAKE:: Sci-fi: A small team of astronauts runs into various problems and difficulties after arriving at Mars on a mission designed to help save Earth from ecological disaster.

PLOT:

It's the 21st century, and as a result of overpopulation and unchecked pollution, mankind has ecologically laid waste to Earth. As a result, the decision to colonize Mars has been made and for the past twenty years, the unmanned Mars Terraforming Project has been in place with oxygen-producing algae generating what will become a breathable atmosphere capable of sustaining life.

Unfortunately, the oxygen levels have recently taken a downturn, so the first manned mission to Mars has been sent off to discover why. Led by Bowman (CARRIE-ANNE MOSS), the pilot and mission commander, the six-month journey takes her and her crew -- Chantilas (TERENCE STAMP), the chief science officer; Santen (BENJAMIN BRATT) the egotistical, hotheaded copilot; Burchenal (TOM SIZEMORE) one of the world's leading bioengineers; Pettengil (SIMON BAKER) a terraforming expert and a last minute replacement on the ship; and Gallagher (VAL KILMER) the mechanical systems engineer -- to the red planet.

When the remnants of a solar flare incapacitate their mother ship, Bowman sends the rest of the crew to the planet while she remains onboard, hoping to repair the ship and thus resurrect their only way home. Crashing on the planet, the landing crew then sets out to discover what's gone wrong on Mars. As they do so, they must contend with an inhospitable environment, unexpected discoveries, and AMEE, the multi-tasking Autonomous Mapping Exploration and Evasion robot on loan from the Marines that's reverted to its self-preserving military mode and thus sees the crew as the enemy it must destroy.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they're fans of anyone in the cast or of space-related, sci-fi films they just might.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13: For sci-fi violence, brief nudity and language.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: VAL KILMER plays the ship's resourceful and brave mechanical systems engineer who briefly uses strong profanity.
CARRIE-ANNE MOSS plays the equally resourceful and resilient mission commander who cusses some and doesn't seem to mind Gallagher seeing her completely nude when she gets out of the shower.
TOM SIZEMORE plays a conceited bioengineer who believes more in science than religion and briefly uses some profanity.
BENJAMIN BRATT plays the ship's egotistical and abrasive co-pilot.
SIMON BAKER plays a crewmember who doesn't take responsibility for somewhat causing another crewmember's death.
TERENCE STAMP plays the chief science officer who's searching for the greater philosophical and religious picture pertaining to their mission and place in the universe.; CARRIE-ANNE MOSS plays the equally resourceful and resilient mission commander who cusses some and doesn't seem to mind Gallagher seeing her completely nude when she gets out of the shower.
TOM SIZEMORE plays a conceited bioengineer who believes more in science than religion and briefly uses some profanity.
BENJAMIN BRATT plays the ship's egotistical and abrasive co-pilot.
SIMON BAKER plays a crewmember who doesn't take responsibility for somewhat causing another crewmember's death.
TERENCE STAMP plays the chief science officer who's searching for the greater philosophical and religious picture pertaining to their mission and place in the universe.; TOM SIZEMORE plays a conceited bioengineer who believes more in science than religion and briefly uses some profanity.
BENJAMIN BRATT plays the ship's egotistical and abrasive co-pilot.
SIMON BAKER plays a crewmember who doesn't take responsibility for somewhat causing another crewmember's death.
TERENCE STAMP plays the chief science officer who's searching for the greater philosophical and religious picture pertaining to their mission and place in the universe.; BENJAMIN BRATT plays the ship's egotistical and abrasive co-pilot.
SIMON BAKER plays a crewmember who doesn't take responsibility for somewhat causing another crewmember's death.
TERENCE STAMP plays the chief science officer who's searching for the greater philosophical and religious picture pertaining to their mission and place in the universe.; SIMON BAKER plays a crewmember who doesn't take responsibility for somewhat causing another crewmember's death.
TERENCE STAMP plays the chief science officer who's searching for the greater philosophical and religious picture pertaining to their mission and place in the universe.; TERENCE STAMP plays the chief science officer who's searching for the greater philosophical and religious picture pertaining to their mission and place in the universe.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

Here's a quick look at the content found in this sci-fi film that's been rated PG-13. Sci-fi related violence consists of several deaths (some partially seen onscreen, others occurring off-screen and some implying death that's suggested but not seen). Some of the violence has bloody results and some of those scenes, as well as others, may be tense or suspenseful to some viewers, with the very young and those with low tolerance levels being affected the most.

Profanity consists of at least 1 use of the "f" word, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also used. Part of a woman's bare breasts are seen both during and after a woman showers (with her not minding that a man gets a full frontal view of her which we don't see) and she's later seen in a somewhat tight and skimpy tank top that obviously shows off her ample bosom.

Beyond that, some bad attitudes are present and several characters drink some outer space moonshine they've made onboard their spaceship. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for anyone in your home, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed content listings for specific examples of what occurs in the film.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Bowman catches Burchenal and Gallagher making some outer space moonshine and then asks if their establishment serves women. Burchenal then pours Bowman a shot of their homemade vodka and she quickly downs it, stating that she learned to drink in the navy. Burchenal and Gallagher then join her in drinking their moonshine.
Later, we see the three of them still drinking, with Pettengil having joined them (with his head on the table briefly appearing to be passed out).

BLOOD/GORE: We see a bloody cut on Bowman's finger (after sweeping some glass from a table with her hand), then see some splatter onto a surface and then drip into a metal sink from that wound.
We see three of the crewmembers urinating and see their exaggerated urine streams in the lower gravity field of Mars.
We see some blood on a crewmember's spacesuit, hand and inside his mask (after he was attacked and killed by AMEE). We then see a small, insect-like creature burrow out of the dead man's face and then quickly crawl into his nose. Moments later, all sorts of little sparks and firework type explosions rip out of that dead man's suit and into the air.
We see some blood come out of a crewmember's mouth and then land on the ground where some small, insect-like creatures race over to lap it up.
We see some blood inside a crewmember's mask and then see some blood on his face.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Santen has a cocky attitude about himself and displays it toward others.
Pettengil pushes a man, accidentally resulting in his death, but then later tells the others that the other man jumped to his death.
Some may see Burchenal's debunking of religion as having a bad attitude.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Scenes listed under "Violence" and "Blood/Gore" may also be tense or unsettling to some viewers, with the very young and those with low tolerance levels probably being affected the most.
The crew's ship runs into the remnants of a solar flare that cause its systems to short out and/or malfunction. With time and air running out, the men of the crew race to don their spacesuits and take off in another smaller ship for the planet, while Bowman remains behind attempting to keep the ship in orbit.
The men's ship then enters Mars' atmosphere, where it starts to burn up. When they finally "land" on the surface (in a bubble-encased pod), they bounce along and then over a cliff, putting the men in danger and ultimately injuring one of them.
Bowman must then contend with a zero gravity fire that races through the larger ship's corridors toward her (and in one scene she's nearly sucked out of an opening only to be saved by a cable attached to her chair).
The men begin to run out of oxygen in their spacesuits while on the surface of Mars with Gallagher being the first to do so (we see him gasping for air and thrashing about).
Two of the men watch a video feed of AMEE's point of view as it approaches and then attacks another crewmember (seen only in brief images of thrashing about, etc.).
The ending of the film, where a crewmember tries to rescue and save another crewmember (in outer space and then via pounding his chest to get him out of cardiac arrest) might be a bit suspenseful to some viewers.

GUNS/WEAPONS: None.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "F*ck this planet," "Oh sh*t," "No sh*t," "Idiot," "Sucks," "Shut up," "Hard ass," "Screw you," "What the hell is going on here?" "Taking a piss" and "Busting your asses."
A crewmember gives "the finger" to the planet as he leaves.

JUMP SCENES: The AMEE robotic "dog" suddenly shows up in front of Gallagher.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): An extreme amount of action-oriented and suspenseful music plays during the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: At least 1 "f" word, 10 "s" words, 1 slang term using female genitals ("p*ssy"), 5 hells, 3 asses, 2 damns, 2 S.O.B.s, 4 uses of "God," 2 each of "G-damn" and "Oh my God" and 1 use each of "Oh God" and "Oh Jesus" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: As Bowman showers we briefly see the side of her bare breast as well as a partially obscured view of her through the glass shower stall door (her back is turned to the camera and steam obscures the sight of her butt). When she gets out of the shower, we briefly see the side of her bare breast again, and Gallagher gets a full frontal view of her (we don't), with her not caring that he's seeing her nude. She tells him to pretend that she's his sister, but he replies that he has two and neither looks like her.
Burchenal jokes that he once had a girlfriend named Faith who cheated on him with a woman named Chastity, and then states that the team could take Mars for themselves where he'd be King and Bowman his Queen so that they could propagate the planet.
We see a flashback to Bowman and Gallagher nearly kissing in a somewhat sensuous scene (set after the above shower scene), but nothing happens.
Bowman is occasionally seen wearing a tight and somewhat skimpy tank top that clearly shows off her large bosom.

SMOKING: None.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: None.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Space missions to Mars and whether man could ever live there.
Whether people will eventually ruin the environment enough that they'll have to search for other places to live.

VIOLENCE: One of the crewmembers is injured during a rough landing on Mars.
Pettengil pushes Santen, causing the latter to loose his balance and then fall off the edge of a cliff to his presumed death (we see him falling, but don't see the impact or any later signs of him).
Upon hearing that they're planning on "killing" it (deactivating it for needed parts) the AMEE robot -- that's now in military mode -- attacks the surviving crewmembers, knocking them backwards, throwing one through the air and purposefully breaking another's ribs, etc.
Two of the men watch a video feed of AMEE's point of view as it approaches and then attacks another crewmember (seen only in brief, blurry images of thrashing about, etc.), killing him.
Many insect-like creatures cover a man and he drops a flare onto them, causing a huge fire to sweep across them (killing them and we presume he's killed by it and/or them).
AMEE tries to kill another crewmember, but he's set up a fuel-laced booby trap that explodes and burns the robot. An autonomous, helicopter like appendage then nearly hits that man as it crashes to the ground.

Reviewed November 7, 2000 / Posted November 10, 2000

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