You're Wrong to Forget "Red Planet" with Carrie-Anne Moss: It Was One of the Most Beautiful Films About Mars

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On August 21st, Carrie-Anne Moss turned 57. For many, she'll forever be Trinity from "The Matrix," but the actress has other notable works in her career as well.

In 2000, "Red Planet" hit theaters — an ambitious sci-fi film about Mars colonization, where Moss played one of the lead roles.

What the film's about

Mid-21st century. Earth is facing ecological disaster, and humanity needs a new home. A spacecraft crew gets tasked with Mars colonization.

Commander Kate Bowman ( ) leads the mission to figure out why signals from the planet's life support systems have gone silent. But the expedition turns into disaster: the ship gets damaged, contact with Earth is lost, and Mars greets humans with hostility.

Critics' reviews and ratings

"Red Planet" came out almost simultaneously with another "Martian" blockbuster — Brian De Palma's "Mission to Mars." Critics gave both films a cold reception: they called the plot derivative and the special effects too "computer-generated" for that era.
Red Planet trailer
On IMDb, the movie only scored 5.7 points, while Rotten Tomatoes gave it 14% fresh.

Audience reactions

Still, "Red Planet" found its fans. On forums and social media, viewers continue praising the film's atmosphere and the actors' charisma.

Sure, there isn't much hard sci-fi, but Mars's visuals still impress today. An IMDb reviewer with the username ma-cortes wrote in their review:
The film has chilling scenes, suspense, intrigue and visual magic. The biggest asset of this space epic is the cast led by Val Kilmer as the mechanical engineer who starts in the background but becomes increasingly significant as the story progresses, and Carrie-Anne Moss as the brave and risk-taking Commander Bowman.
IMDb reviewer ma-cortes

Why it's worth watching

Today, "Red Planet" feels more like a fascinating artifact of its era — a time when Hollywood was seriously trying to tackle Martian themes and searching for new sci-fi blockbusters.
Actress Carrie-Anne Moss in a futuristic spacesuit fires a laser weapon
Scenes from Red Planet
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Yes, the film has weak spots, but you can still feel that spirit of adventure.

"Red Planet" isn't a genre masterpiece, but it'll definitely appeal to those who miss "old-school" sci-fi with straightforward thrills and charismatic actors. Earlier on zoomboola.com, we covered "Sweet Revenge" — the first Friday the 13th universe horror film in 16 years.