Mars (1998)

To me, this movie is perfection.

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

It took three sittings to get through, but I made it through this low-budget sci-fi kick-boxing thriller. The two elements that really killed this film are the script and Gabrield Dell Jr's channeling of Rob Schneider (on crack). Mars is so full of clichés that the cast should have been given awards for keeping straight faces throughout the production. And Dell's character is so loud, obnoxious, and unfunny, that the single best line in the film, and perhaps it's most dramatic moment, occurs when Greunier tries to get him to shut up.Shari Belafonte is beautiful and Olivier Greunier looks good too, but good looks don't help a bad script. Some of the acting is poor, but mostly its the absurd script that makes good acting almost inconceivable. Belafonte carries her lines better than the rest of the cast. Greunier is pretty good at looking apathetic, angry and detached, but I have to say that the whole casting non-actors as silent unemotional heroes thing is really wearing thin.Knowing how low budget this film was, and knowing a little about how it was made, I have to say that the production values are really not that bad, and the directing is actually pretty good. The director, a tenth degree black-bekt and Undefeated Florida Full-Contact Heavyweight Karate Champion, has made some absolutely hideous films (The Watchers http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096425/ being the worst example), but Mars is a big improvement over his earlier works. The film keeps a reasonable pace and doesn't try to do very much with what it doesn't have (i.e. a useful script).Though I just finished watching this last night, I am struggling to remember the plot. Greunier is Caution Templer - a "Keeper" - a kind of corporate intelligence officer. His brother, also a keeper, has been murdered on Mars, where the company has a mining interest. Almost as soon as he gets to Mars to investigate, he connects with Belafonte, who has just made a startling and troublesome discovery, and people start trying to kill them both. There really isn't much more too it.I recommend this film for kick-boxing fans, and would give it a very mild recommendation of low budget sci fi fans.

The budget for Mars was about $1 million US. That wasn't much money, and almost all of it went to the film's paltry CGI effects, and one explosion scene. The film was shot by a first time director in an abandoned shopping mall. Most of the places you see in the film are converted retail stores like Gap or Foot Locker. The surface of mars is a truckload of sand that someone dumped in the food court and died red. If you look closely at the costumes, you can see that the futuristic breathing equipment is made from pool toys that were spray-painted black. You just can't make this stuff up.Sharon Belafonte tries to make a comeback in this film... and fails. She looks good for her age though. Grunier does a good Terminator impression, as in, shows little or no emotion for the whole film.

This movie wasn't near as bad as I was expecting. But then again, these futuristic B movies are right down my alley. Lots of decent action, plot twists and intrigue. The only thing I couldn't understand is why they dubbed over the main actor's voice. Couldn't he speak English? and if not, why cast him in an English speaking movie. All in all, a decent movie.

This is one of those low budget affairs that purport to present an alien world or a bleak future whilst looking like they were filmed in a warehouse for about $20,000.... which Mars probably was. Tedious and unexciting.