movies can do the two big es very well : educate and entertain . in the best of all possible worlds , they accomplish both . on the red planet , they fail entirely . in the near future , a manned mission is sent to mars to observe primitive plant growth . this film does a remarkable job of demonstrating exactly how exciting watching algae grow would be . after some mumbo-jumbo about an ecological disaster on earth and an interminable wait to reach the fourth planet , the ship falls apart almost as fast as the movie does . the ground crew of people you couldn't care less about is trapped on the surface without food , water or air and stalked by a deadly rogue cyberdog . the one potentially interesting character ( carrie-anne moss ) spends her time alone in the orbiting ship talking to a computer . attempting to graft " 2001 " esque space mysticism with " terminator " robot horror , first time director antony hoffman can't seem to figure out what's going on . neither can we . didn't he have anyone who could step back from the shooting and make sure there was a coherent story ? couldn't he have used the money saved by only having to pay half a dozen actors to hire a scriptwriter ? there are so many mis-steps . every opportunity to create dynamic tension is thwarted by plot holes and lackluster direction . why introduce the theme of faith vs . science if the crewman who could comment on it disappears early only to die _offscreen_ ? the audience begins the film waiting for something to happen . two hours later , they're still waiting . despite our greatest hopes , there is no life on the red planet . ( michael redman has written this column for a very long time and finds observing mars from the ground much more interesting than anything in this film . email your experiences with the cosmos to <a href= " mailto : redman@bluemarble . net . " >redman@bluemarble . net . </a> ) [this appeared in the 11/16/2000 " bloomington independent " , bloomington , indiana . michael redman can be contacted at <a href= " mailto : redman@bluemarble . net . " >redman@bluemarble . net . </a>] -- <a href= " mailto : mailto : redman@bluemarble . net " >mailto : redman@bluemarble . net</a> film reviews archive : <a href= " http : //us . imdb . com/reviewsby ? michael + redman " >http : //us . imdb . com/reviewsby ? michael + redman</a> 
