PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Mission to Mars (2000)

Mission to Mars (2000)

If you create a user account, you can add your own review of this DVD
Released 29-Nov-2000
Cover Art

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Science Fiction	Audio Commentary-S Burum (DoP), J Knoll (VFx Sup), E Verreaux et al Featurette-Visions Of Mars Featurette-The Vortex Featurette-Leaving The Ship Featurette-Evolution Sequence Featurette-Animatics To Scene Comparisons (2) Gallery-Production Art Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2000
Running Time	108:55
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (75:40)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu	Cast & Crew
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Brian De Palma
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	Gary Sinise Don Cheadle Connie Nielsen Jerry O'Connell Kim Delaney Tim Robbins
Case	Amaray-Transparent	Starring
RPI	$36.95	Music	Ennio Morricone

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.40:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No	Miscellaneous
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired Czech Hungarian Dutch Croatian Slovenian Bulgarian Dutch Audio Commentary French Audio Commentary	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes, at start of credits

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

The year is 2020 and a team of astronauts are about to be sent to explore the surface of Mars. The team reaches Mars and starts their exploration. They notice a strange formation at the top of a rocky outcrop. The team radios back to Earth to inform base camp what they are going to investigate. Shortly thereafter, Earth receives a garbled message that clearly shows the team is in trouble, and then all communication is lost.

A plan for a rescue mission is formulated and another team of astronauts is dispatched to Mars. This team consists of Woody Blake (Tim Robbins), Jim McConnell (Gary Sinise), Terri Fisher (Connie Nielsen) and Phil Ohlmyer (Jerry O'Connell).

The rest of the movie is about the rescue team's journey to Mars and what they find when they get there. It is worth listening out for Phil's classic line at 98:12 and another witty comment at 35:36.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

The words brilliant, phenomenal and magnificent instantly spring to mind when describing the picture detail and sharpness. The foreground detail is just superb and the background detail isn't far behind. This excellent background detail isn't because of the transfer, but because of the split focus lenses that were used during the filming of many scenes which allowed both the foreground and background to stay in focus. The shadow detail is excellent and no low-level-noise or edge bleeding was noticed. The writing in the opening credits appears to have had some minor edge enhancement applied to it, but since it only affects the writing it is inconsequential. No other instances of edge enhancement were noticed.

The colour was exemplary - beautifully saturated, rich and vibrant when required to be. The reds of Mars are superb and skin tones are perfect.

Grain? Grain? Not a single occurrence was seen. I cannot remember the last DVD that was this grain free.

No MPEG artefacts were seen. The superb sharpness of this transfer does, however, lead to some minor aliasing and moiré artefacts. There is a more serious artefact at 5:44 - 5:55 which is very noticeable and does degrade the picture quality. Other examples of minor moiré effects are at 1:47 - 2:21, 13:04 and 25:18 - 25:22. I expect most of the minor artefacts would disappear when a Progressive Scan DVD player is used.

There is a light sprinkling of film artefacts. They were always small and reasonably unobtrusive.

This disc is an RSDL disc, with the layer change placed between Chapters 20 and 21, at 75:40 on a fade to black. The sound also dies away to nothing so the layer change is totally transparent. Layer change placement just doesn't get any better than this.

*Video Ratings Summary*
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

There are three audio tracks on this DVD; a 384Kb/s English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, a 192Kb/s French Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded soundtrack and a 192Kb/s Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo commentary track. I listened to the default Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and then to the commentary soundtrack.

The dialogue was extremely clear and easy to understand and well integrated throughout the entire film. Audio sync was not a problem at all with this transfer, and was completely spot on.

Ennio Morricone's musical score suits the movie well, as it adds to or enhances the on-screen action.

The surround channels were used frequently to create a good sound envelope. Directional effects and precise sound placement within the sound field were the norm rather than the exception...excuse me while I just get out of my space suit.

The subwoofer is used frequently to subtly add bass and is reasonably active during some of the more dramatic sequences.

*Audio Ratings Summary*
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

There is a very good selection of extras present, but what is more impressive is the quality of all the extras. Apart from The Matrix, I cannot remember ever seeing a DVD with the extras all being of this quality.

Audio Commentary-Ed Verreaux (Production Designer), Stephen H. Burum (Director of Photography), John Knoll (Visual Effects Supervisor) and Hoyt Yeatman (Visual Effects Supervisor)

This commentary features Ed Verreaux (Production Designer), Stephen H. Burum (Director of Photography), and the Visual Effects Supervisors John Knoll and Hoyt Yeatman. Each appears in a different location across the front soundstage. There is continual dialogue throughout the entire commentary which concentrates on the technical aspects of making the movie, as opposed to the acting and the actors. A lot of time is spent describing the sets, props, filming, equipment used and integrating the visual effects, all of which is very informative and interesting, but due to the technical nature of the material some may find it a little dry. There are a few short pauses, but none last very long. The signing off of the commentators is by far the best I have ever heard, commencing at 101:25.

Featurette - Original Documentary (20:58)

This is of excellent quality, and is basically an extended promotional piece for the movie, with some behind-the-scenes details. Interviews are presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio, and the movie footage in a non-16x9 enhanced 2.35:1 aspect ratio, with a 192kb/s Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack.

Featurette - Visual Effects Analysis (3 - 5:08 minutes)

There are three scenes, each with an accompanying audio commentary. The picture quality is excellent.

The Vortex (0:35 minutes), audio commentary by Hoyt Yeatman (Visual Effects Supervisor)
Leaving The Ship (2:12 minutes), audio commentary by Hoyt Yeatman (Visual Effects Supervisor)
Evolution Sequence (2:11), audio commentary by John Knoll (Visual Effects Supervisor)

Featurette - Animatics-to-Scene Comparisons (2 - 20:04 minutes)

There are two scenes, Losing Woody and The Planetarium, each having an animatic version (the way the scene was envisaged to look) and how the scene finally looked. The animatic scenes are presented in the non-16x9 enhanced aspect ratio of 2.35:1, with a 192kb/s Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack. The final scenes are presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, but are 16x9 enhanced with a 384Kb/s Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. The quality is again excellent.

Production Art Gallery (120 pictures)

The Production Art Gallery is broken up into six sections; Abandoning Ship (8), In Space (15), Mars Landscape (16), Martian (24), The Face (46) and Vortex (11). The picture shown in the background on the menu depends on which section is highlighted.

Theatrical Trailer (2:15 minutes)

The Theatrical Trailer is of very good quality, presented in the 16x9 enhanced aspect ratio of 2.35:1, with a 192kb/s Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack. There is some minor grain and aliasing present.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;

Bicentennial Man Trailer, which is played before the main menu appears.
Higher bit rate 448kb/s Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack.
Additional Spanish language track
DVD-ROM Extras

I could not confirm if our disc has been encoded for Dolby Digital 5.1 EX playback or not.

The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;

Nothing

There isn't any compelling reason to purchase one disc over the other, so it will come down to your own personal preference. For me, the R4 disc is an easy choice, as I cannot stand the reduced picture resolution and the 3:2 pull-down artefacts associated with the NTSC format.

Summary

In a word, Mission To Mars is excellent. I particularly enjoyed how the emphasis is placed on the characters and not the special effects, not that they weren't spectacular in themselves. The movie is presented on a superb DVD.

The video transfer of this movie is excellent, but is not reference quality because of moiré artefacts that are induced by the superb sharpness.

The audio transfer is excellent.

There is a very good selection of extras, but what is more impressive is the quality of all the extras.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Review Equipment
DVD	Sony DVP-725, using Component output
Display	Sony Projector VPH-G70 (No Line Doubler), Technics Da-Lite matt screen with gain of 1.0 (229cm). This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio Decoder	Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
Amplification	Onkyo TX-SV919THX
Speakers	Fronts: Energy RVS-1 (3), Rears: Energy RVSS-1 (2), Subwoofer: Energy EPS-150 (1)

Other Reviews
The Fourth Region - Roger (Some say he's afraid of the Dutch, and that he's stumped by clouds. All we know, this is his bio.)
DVD Net - Vincent C