Space Zombies from the Red Planet!
This has been in my Netflix streaming queue for a few weeks and I was finally able to watch it. This follows a crew of astronauts at the end of their 6 month mission on the surface of Mars, exploring and searching for scientific discoveries. The cast consists of lesser knowns led by Elias Koteas and Liev Schreiber, which serves to emerse you into the story a little easier in my opinion. All are capable actors and give a good "we're almost to the finish line and we're ready to go home" vibe.
Chaos of course ensues when one of them makes a discovery of bacterial life in a fissure on Mars - an infection spreads, mysterious things happen, and a fight for survival ensues. There is an obvious, albeit mostly unintentional, link between this and the zombie craze that is currently all the rage in popular culture. There are also some allusions to the best of the genre like the first two Alien films. Still, TLDOM keeps its distance and remains its own little tale. There is a palpable sense of danger and isolation - something that helps us identify with the crew who's time is swiftly running out.
A vast majority of the landscape was filmed in Jordan and it's a convincing backdrop for the surface of Mars. It's long, and barren and full of rocks and canyons in the distance, not unlike all those images we keep seeing sent back from the Mars Rover in real life. It gives the movie a realistic ground to stand on, even though zombie astronauts may be a bit far fetched by definition. We never get a true explanation of what's happening to the infected - they seem to die and reanimate, but at times, they retain their awareness, memories, and advanced motor skills or mental acumen. It's a nice twist on the whole idea and helps keep everything rooted in that mysterious realm that is space exploration. The land rovers, spaceships, living hubs and space suits are all exceptionally well done and on par with anything in a big Hollywood film in my opinion.
This film won't be for everyone. It's a slow burn in many spots but it never completely drags. It tells a compelling story, even if it borrows a bit from stuff we've all seen before. There are no laser guns, no big gore scenes or super CGI eye candy. Also of note is the great soundtrack by Max Richter. It adds that extra dimension and the film would suffer a lot without it.
For Fans of: Alien / Aliens / 2001 / Sunshine / Apollo 18 / Event Horizon / Europa Report
3.5 out of 5 Khans!
1 comment:
Cool man - looks interesting.
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