On paper, Red Planet looks like a winner. Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss, Tom Sizemore, Benjamin Bratt, Simon Baker, and Terrence Stamp. Science Fiction. Mars. Killer Robot Dog. Aliens. All wrapped up in a pulp post-Matrix package. The results are a bit of a mixed bag.
Since 2025 (ha! if only the 2000s knew), Earth has collectively begun to prepare Mars for colonization after resources on Earth have begun to dwindle (accurate). Twenty years later, the fruits of their labors begin in earnest as the first manned mission to Mars begins the boots on the ground work to make Mars habitable. Led by Lieutenant Commander Kate Bowman (Moss), the group of the best of the best is ready for anything. Anything but a complete disaster that begins with a solar flare and ends with everyone but Bowman crash landing on the Mars surface. That includes the “space janitor” Robby Gallagher (Kilmer) and AMEE, his AI Robot damaged upon landing and now set from “help” to “kill”. As the crew begins to find Mars holds secrets of its own (“Ahhhh, good ole H2O!”), Bowman is trying to figure out a way to rescue them before AMEE gets them all.
Between Red Planet and the other Mars movie of 2000, DePalma’s Mission to Mars (a film itself that is an abject failure because of its terrible score and a host of other goofy choices), there is a truly interesting, fun, and delightfully silly epic sci-fi adventure. Red Planet, directed by Anthony Hoffman, is smaller scale, less goofy, and a bit more “grounded” in its postulations. It should be a wicked little piece of B-movie sci-fi fun, but it feels like something is lacking. From its lackluster CGI FX work to the lack of chemistry between the leads, there are things that just do not work.
Kilmer and Moss, on their own, make for compelling, interesting stars, but together, it just comes up as blanks. In fact, everyone bounces off of Kilmer with a thud, other than Terrence Stamp, whose hippy dippy Chief Science Officer seems to be the only one Kilmer wanted to share screentime with. In those moments, Kilmer is every bit the engaged movie star he could be. It’s a shame, too, because those hints show a film that could have been.
Those hints show a film that could have been a film that had great ideas wrapped in a lower-budget shell. One of those films you discover hidden behind the shelves of bigger, more expensive sci-fi studio event pictures. Instead, Red Planet is an almost film filled with ideas that almost work, action that is executed perfectly without the human touch of its star, and an ensemble that’s trying their hardest but just can’t seem to find that spark because its leading man just isn’t engaged.
The Transfer
The all-new 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative presented in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) is another stunner from Arrow Video. Regardless of what one thinks of the film, the transfer is another reference-quality release from the Boutique Label. The image is sharp and without any issues, defects, scratches, or blemishes. The 35mm shot film’s Dolby Vision encoding brings a subtler nuance to the blacks and contrast level, making the home video iteration look better than even its release prints (I should know, having worked as a projectionist back in 2000 and projected this film multiple times).
The Extras
They include the following;
The Martian Chronicles with Jeffery A. Okun
Suit Up with Steve Johnson
Angry Red Planet with Heath Holland
Deleted scenes
Theatrical trailer
The Martian Chronicles with Jeffery A. Okun (21:51) – is an all-new interview with visual effects supervisor Jeffrey A. Okun. Okun begins with his getting a job with the legendary credit designer Saul Bass, which eventually turned into his Editor, went on to edit his first feature for Suburban Commando. Some of the details include that Okun turned down Red Planet a record number 28 times because of the trouble; what convinced him to take the project; working with Director Anthony Hoffman – troubles and challenges as Okun saw it; the politics of the visual FX vendors and how he had to navigate it; the issues that arose out of the various production decisions – how he navigated it; how the crash landing sequence was developed; the changing of the main lifeforms in the film; the work they put into AMEE that just wasn’t present when he took over the production; the work as a whole that he did which as he describes as “stopping the bleeding” as it was a troubled production – going from 126 to 1400 shots; bringing editor Frank Utorosie to help the production; the story and issues between Tom Sizemore and Val Kilmer; anecdotes of Kilmer’s difficult behavior onset; the credit sequence he created; and much more.
Suit Up with Steve Johnson (10:45) – is an all-new interview with helmet and suits designer Steve Johnson. Johnson begins with how his childhood love of making things and finding Dick Smith’s book on Makeup FX eventually led to meeting Rick Baker at a Convention. Some of the details include opening his own FX/Creature Design; how he got the job on Red Planet through Kym Barrett; a detailed discussion of the work that they did, and how they did it for the suit; the difficulty of maintaining in the desert in Jordan; and more.
Angry Red Planet with Heath Holland (18:42) – is an all-new visual retrospective with film critic Heath Holland. Holland begins his interview with news at the time about Life on other planets and unmanned missions to Mars, that Red Planet was produced. Some of the details include dueling Hollywood productions (Red Planet and Mission to Mars); the various Science Fiction films that were made at the time; a discussion of the cast – where they were in their careers; the production difficulties; the work of screenwriters Chuck Pfarrer and Jonathan Lemkin; the work of cinematographer Peter Suschitzky; a discussion of the story/film’s strength and weaknesses; the box office performance of the film; and much more.
It’s Val Kilmer vs an AI Robot Dog on Mars in the 2000 sci-fi thriller The Red Planet, new to 4K UHD thanks to Arrow Video.
The Film
On paper, Red Planet looks like a winner. Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss, Tom Sizemore, Benjamin Bratt, Simon Baker, and Terrence Stamp. Science Fiction. Mars. Killer Robot Dog. Aliens. All wrapped up in a pulp post-Matrix package. The results are a bit of a mixed bag.
Since 2025 (ha! if only the 2000s knew), Earth has collectively begun to prepare Mars for colonization after resources on Earth have begun to dwindle (accurate). Twenty years later, the fruits of their labors begin in earnest as the first manned mission to Mars begins the boots on the ground work to make Mars habitable. Led by Lieutenant Commander Kate Bowman (Moss), the group of the best of the best is ready for anything. Anything but a complete disaster that begins with a solar flare and ends with everyone but Bowman crash landing on the Mars surface. That includes the “space janitor” Robby Gallagher (Kilmer) and AMEE, his AI Robot damaged upon landing and now set from “help” to “kill”. As the crew begins to find Mars holds secrets of its own (“Ahhhh, good ole H2O!”), Bowman is trying to figure out a way to rescue them before AMEE gets them all.
Between Red Planet and the other Mars movie of 2000, DePalma’s Mission to Mars (a film itself that is an abject failure because of its terrible score and a host of other goofy choices), there is a truly interesting, fun, and delightfully silly epic sci-fi adventure. Red Planet, directed by Anthony Hoffman, is smaller scale, less goofy, and a bit more “grounded” in its postulations. It should be a wicked little piece of B-movie sci-fi fun, but it feels like something is lacking. From its lackluster CGI FX work to the lack of chemistry between the leads, there are things that just do not work.
Kilmer and Moss, on their own, make for compelling, interesting stars, but together, it just comes up as blanks. In fact, everyone bounces off of Kilmer with a thud, other than Terrence Stamp, whose hippy dippy Chief Science Officer seems to be the only one Kilmer wanted to share screentime with. In those moments, Kilmer is every bit the engaged movie star he could be. It’s a shame, too, because those hints show a film that could have been.
Those hints show a film that could have been a film that had great ideas wrapped in a lower-budget shell. One of those films you discover hidden behind the shelves of bigger, more expensive sci-fi studio event pictures. Instead, Red Planet is an almost film filled with ideas that almost work, action that is executed perfectly without the human touch of its star, and an ensemble that’s trying their hardest but just can’t seem to find that spark because its leading man just isn’t engaged.
The Transfer
The all-new 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative presented in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) is another stunner from Arrow Video. Regardless of what one thinks of the film, the transfer is another reference-quality release from the Boutique Label. The image is sharp and without any issues, defects, scratches, or blemishes. The 35mm shot film’s Dolby Vision encoding brings a subtler nuance to the blacks and contrast level, making the home video iteration look better than even its release prints (I should know, having worked as a projectionist back in 2000 and projected this film multiple times).
The Extras
They include the following;
The Martian Chronicles with Jeffery A. Okun (21:51) – is an all-new interview with visual effects supervisor Jeffrey A. Okun. Okun begins with his getting a job with the legendary credit designer Saul Bass, which eventually turned into his Editor, went on to edit his first feature for Suburban Commando. Some of the details include that Okun turned down Red Planet a record number 28 times because of the trouble; what convinced him to take the project; working with Director Anthony Hoffman – troubles and challenges as Okun saw it; the politics of the visual FX vendors and how he had to navigate it; the issues that arose out of the various production decisions – how he navigated it; how the crash landing sequence was developed; the changing of the main lifeforms in the film; the work they put into AMEE that just wasn’t present when he took over the production; the work as a whole that he did which as he describes as “stopping the bleeding” as it was a troubled production – going from 126 to 1400 shots; bringing editor Frank Utorosie to help the production; the story and issues between Tom Sizemore and Val Kilmer; anecdotes of Kilmer’s difficult behavior onset; the credit sequence he created; and much more.
Suit Up with Steve Johnson (10:45) – is an all-new interview with helmet and suits designer Steve Johnson. Johnson begins with how his childhood love of making things and finding Dick Smith’s book on Makeup FX eventually led to meeting Rick Baker at a Convention. Some of the details include opening his own FX/Creature Design; how he got the job on Red Planet through Kym Barrett; a detailed discussion of the work that they did, and how they did it for the suit; the difficulty of maintaining in the desert in Jordan; and more.
Angry Red Planet with Heath Holland (18:42) – is an all-new visual retrospective with film critic Heath Holland. Holland begins his interview with news at the time about Life on other planets and unmanned missions to Mars, that Red Planet was produced. Some of the details include dueling Hollywood productions (Red Planet and Mission to Mars); the various Science Fiction films that were made at the time; a discussion of the cast – where they were in their careers; the production difficulties; the work of screenwriters Chuck Pfarrer and Jonathan Lemkin; the work of cinematographer Peter Suschitzky; a discussion of the story/film’s strength and weaknesses; the box office performance of the film; and much more.
Deleted scenes (14:24) – consists of eight deleted scenes: Santen & Chant; Greenhouse; Bacon & Wife; Fight; Amee Jams H.H.C’s; Kiss Flashback; Potato Scene; Ice Cave
Theatrical trailer (1:35)
The Final Thought
Arrow continues its beautiful 4K UHD upgrades with another cult title in Red Planet. Recommended.
Arrow Video’s 4K UHD Edition of The Red Planet is out November 18th
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