What parents need to know
Violence & scariness
Sexy stuff
Language
Consumerism
Drinking, drugs, & smoking
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that characters are in peril and there are a number of tense moments and several deaths, one graphic. Creationists will also be upset by the way the plot develops.
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What's the story?
MISSION TO MARS takes place in 2020. Don Cheadle plays an astronaut who leads a team to Mars to investigate the possibility of colonization. When a huge tunnel-like dust storm kills the rest of the team and communication with the space station is cut off, four of his colleages, played by Tim Robbins, Jerry O'Connell, Gary Sinese, and Connie Nielson, go on a rescue mission.
Is it any good?
QUALITY
Director Brian DePalma is known for movies that have two qualities -- striking visual flair and frustrating narrative incoherence. If you are the kind of person who talks about the plot after seeing a movie, this is not your kind of movie. But if you would enjoy seeing an old-time Flash Gordon-style movie with 21st Century special effects and computer graphics, you just might want to see it twice.
The movie makes Close Encounters of the Third Kind seem like rocket science. It even makes The Day the Earth Stood Still look like rocket science. But the pictures are pretty.
Families can talk about...
Families can talk about the choices made by the characters, including one who commits suicide to save the lives of others, and about the prospects of space exploration and colonization. And it is worth pointing out to kids who watch today that they are the same age as the characters in the movie, who would have been children back in the year 2000. Point out the brief home movie footage showing two of the characters circa 2000, around 11 years old, and already dreaming of going to Mars, and ask kids what their dreams are, and help them think about what they will need in order to get there.
Movie details
| Theatrical release date: | March 10, 2000 |
| DVD release date: | June 4, 2002 |
| Cast: | Don Cheadle, Gary Sinise, Tim Robbins |
| Director: | Brian De Palma |
| Studio: | Walt Disney Pictures |
| Genre: | Comedy |
| Topics: | Adventures, Space and aliens |
| Run time: | 114 minutes |
| MPAA rating: | PG |
| MPAA explanation: | sci-fi violence and mild language |
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QUALITY
I’m pretty surprised they rated this PG. The language was pretty excessive (even for a PG-13), including the “G†word. Two scenes get pretty disturbing. One person literally flies apart in a wind funnel, and another scene shows a frontal view of a person’s face frozen solid. Definitely no less then PG-13 content.
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QUALITY
Mission to Mars
Great movie that your kids will love. As mentioned by Spud, there are 2 scenes that could be disturbing for younger audiences. Other than that, its a film thats definitely worth the watch.
What other families should know
Great role models
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