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RED PLANET:
A struggle for life
Mission
Commander Kate Bowman (Carrie-Anne Moss) is the
pilot and commander of the most important mission
of the 21st century: saving the human race.
It’s 2050, Earth is dying, and colonizing
Mars is the only alternative to obliteration.
Bowman and her crew have made this journey to
investigate what went wrong with the malfunctioning
Mars Terraforming Project and to repair it. But
what happens when they get there is far more terrifying
than anyone could have guessed: a crash-landing
leaves them without scientific, communication
or escape equipment and causes their military
mapping and exploration robot to malfunction into
an enemy, relentlessly dedicated to breaking the
team down.
Defying orders from Houston, Bowman refuses to
leave Gallagher (Val Kilmer), with whom she shares
an intense emotional bond and the rest of the
crew and instead attempts to guide them back from
above.
But as the landing team explores the harsh new
planet desperately seeking a way out, they make
the most terrifying and baffling discovery of
all: Mars may be barren, but it’s not uninhabited.
Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association
with Village Roadshow Pictures and NPV Entertainment,
a Mark Canton production, Red Planet, directed
by Antony Hoffman and produced by Mark Canton.
The talented behind-the-scenes team is led by
director of photography Peter Suschitzky, production
designer Owen Paterson and costume designer Kym
Barrett. The film is edited by Robert K. Lambert,
A.C.E. and Dallas S. Puett.
Red Planet explores the alien landscapes of Mars
as never before.
Realism in all details was key for the filmmakers
and for director Antony Hoffman, who prepared
with extensive technical research about Mars and
about space travel. “I looked at a lot of
photographs from NASA”, says Hoffman, “just
to see how the light behaves in that atmosphere.
I wanted it to be as real and intimmmate as possible,
not a fantasy.”
Bruce Berman, who acquired the project for Village
Roadshow, agrees. “We are trying to create
a whole new experience with this film”, says
Berman.
Red Planet is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
and in select territories, by Village Roadshow
Pictures.
Producer Canton sees the film as ‘as a movie
that crosses genres. It’s science fiction,
but it’s also an adventure with romance.
And the film is unique in that it has a solid
basis in science fact’.
Val Kilmer agrees, “This is the best Mars
movie because it’s science fact. It feels
true even though the circumstances are extraordinary.
It also celebrates man’s ingenuity and asks
the big questions about who we are and what’s
going to happen to us”.
For Kilmer, who has played some of the most prominent
icons in modern film, including Batman, Jim Morrison
and Doc Holliday, the role of Mechanical Systems
Engineer Robby Gallagher was a welcome return
to the character roles on which he built his career.
“Robby is basically the space janitor”,
says Kilmer. “This is a science expedition
but he’s not a scientist; he’s a maintenance
man - for the ship as well as the crew. He doesn’t
have personal ambition. He doesn’t understand
life in any other way. He’s just there to
serve the ship and the others”.
“Val plays the reluctant hero”, explains
producer Saralegui. “Gallagher is content
to remain in the background until he has no choice
but to act”.
Hot off her role as the enigmatic Trinity in the
smash hit The Matrix, Carrie-Anne Moss stars as
Lt. Commander Bowman, the officer in charge of
the mission. “This was a great role for a
woman”, says Moss. “That sounds like
such a cliche, but it’s true. She is a woman
in charge of five men in very difficult circumstances.
She leads the group in a very easygoing way. There
is no bravado. She loves what she does, knows
what she’s doing and is respected by her
crew”.
After the long trip to Mars, a solar flare cripples
the ship, forcing an emergency dispatch of the
shuttle containing Bowman’s crew. “Carrie-Anne
had to be this very tough, tenacious character
who is determined to do whatever it takes to save
this situation, but at the same time she is vulnerable”,
says producer Saralegui. “She has that look
in her eyes that says ‘OK, I’m scared
but, by God, I’m going to do it”.
The shuttle crash-lands on the hostile surface
of Mars and the crew must depend on one another
for survival. “Gallagher assumes responsibility
in a selfless way”, says Kilmer. “Deep
inside him, he’s the right guy for the job
even though he doesn’t feel he deserves the
job. He has to tap into the ingenuity he sees
in his crew and in humanity that has also lain
untapped within himself”.
Commander Bowman attempts to guide them from above.
Moss does not discount the courage and sacrifice
required for space travel. “It gives me goosebumps
and brings tears to my eyes”, she says. “The
mystery and magnitude of it and the bravery that
it must take to be someone who dedicates his or
her life to this”.
Alone on Mars, the astronauts must struggle with
doubts, fears and questions about their fates
as they discover that they are in great danger
and definitely not alone. “Their whole training
is about acting and reacting habitually without
mistakes”, he says, “and also to record
without judgment or even personality. From that
training, the astronaut is taught to see life
with a kind of economy and poise, which Mars just
rips away from each one of them and they just
keep doing the next thing to survive”.
For Saralegui, Red Planet raises timeless questions
about the human spirit. “Will an individual
facing overwhelming adversity rise to the occasion
or give up? Even if he wants to give up trying
to save himself will he go on in order to save
others?”
“Ultimately”, says Hoffman, “it’s
not about the tools or the billion-dollar spaceships
- it’s about the strength of people trying
to save each other and save humankind”.
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