The summary on the back of the movie box contains a sentence that says something like, `a group of astronauts on a mission to mars get stranded on the red planet
' I can't remember what it was that made me rent this movie, but I got pretty much what I expected. Stranded displays a collection of actors famous from relatively obscure parts or films, such as Maria de Medeiros, who played Butch's whiny French girlfriend in Pulp Fiction, Joaquim de Almeida, who was Bucho in Desperado, and of course, Vincent Gallo who, despite an extensive filmography, is probably best known as Billy from the ugly but enormously well-made Buffalo '66.
Unfortunately, Gallo's talents as a hugely sarcastic and dislikable character are pretty much the only redeeming qualities of this film. The inexperience of the other actors, particularly the guy with the bleached hair and eyebrows, is all too obvious, as they deliver some of the worst acting I've seen in YEARS. The beginning of the movie plays like one of those bad educational videos I used to see in seventh grade, as the astronauts discuss the properties of Mars' terrain and atmosphere, as though they are teaching it to people who are hearing of the planet for the first time. I realize that certain information needs to be delivered to the audience who, for the most part, are not familiar with all of this information about the red planet, but these people are ON THE SURFACE OF MARS. You just don't get that far without knowing the exact reasons for why Mars' atmosphere is inhospitable to humans.
So these people go to Mars and crash land (sound familiar?), the older astronaut obligatorily dies on impact, leaving the remaining five to figure out a way to survive. Needless to say, they find that they only have enough supplies remaining on the capsule to support two of the five astronauts (sound familiar?), so three have to walk out onto the planet and face death. It's a pretty emotional scene when they decide who lives and who dies, and the three who wander onto the surface of Mars to see what they can see as death rapidly approaches pack up some oxygen tanks and head outside (sound familiar?).
Unfortunately, the educational video that is the first 25 minutes or so of the film is not the extent of the bad screenwriting. When one of the characters who left to die begins to run out of oxygen, he stumbles to the ground, panting for breath, while another of them runs to him and says, `What's the matter?' Oh, I stepped on a sharp rock, genius. WHAT DO YOU THINK??!?! I'm knocking on heaven's door! Not only is he asked what's wrong, but then he even responds by saying, `I'd like to go with you, I swear!' As though they need convincing that he's not laying down because he'd just prefer to lay down and die than keep walking. Sigh.
(spoilers) The red filter over the lens creates a pretty effective Martian landscape, except for the mildly cloudy day, which should have been enough to reveal to any thinking astronauts that there was something peculiar about the atmosphere on Mars on that particular day. There is the revelation of some sort of ancient Martian culture, with dead bodies laying around and buildings carved out of the rocky cliffs, and yet this seems to have been put into the movie for no other reason than because the astronauts would not have been able to survive long enough for a rescue mission otherwise. They find that there is breathable oxygen in the atmosphere and simply set up camp while the camera pulls out to show the whole planet and close the narrative, I suppose, with the suggestion that they're simply going to stay there and live happily ever after.
But like I said, you get about what you expect. Granted, more emphasis is placed on the human and dramatic aspects of the film, but at the great expense of every other aspect. And when the setting and plot are not believable AND badly acted, any drama has a hard time getting noticed.
Unfortunately, Gallo's talents as a hugely sarcastic and dislikable character are pretty much the only redeeming qualities of this film. The inexperience of the other actors, particularly the guy with the bleached hair and eyebrows, is all too obvious, as they deliver some of the worst acting I've seen in YEARS. The beginning of the movie plays like one of those bad educational videos I used to see in seventh grade, as the astronauts discuss the properties of Mars' terrain and atmosphere, as though they are teaching it to people who are hearing of the planet for the first time. I realize that certain information needs to be delivered to the audience who, for the most part, are not familiar with all of this information about the red planet, but these people are ON THE SURFACE OF MARS. You just don't get that far without knowing the exact reasons for why Mars' atmosphere is inhospitable to humans.
So these people go to Mars and crash land (sound familiar?), the older astronaut obligatorily dies on impact, leaving the remaining five to figure out a way to survive. Needless to say, they find that they only have enough supplies remaining on the capsule to support two of the five astronauts (sound familiar?), so three have to walk out onto the planet and face death. It's a pretty emotional scene when they decide who lives and who dies, and the three who wander onto the surface of Mars to see what they can see as death rapidly approaches pack up some oxygen tanks and head outside (sound familiar?).
Unfortunately, the educational video that is the first 25 minutes or so of the film is not the extent of the bad screenwriting. When one of the characters who left to die begins to run out of oxygen, he stumbles to the ground, panting for breath, while another of them runs to him and says, `What's the matter?' Oh, I stepped on a sharp rock, genius. WHAT DO YOU THINK??!?! I'm knocking on heaven's door! Not only is he asked what's wrong, but then he even responds by saying, `I'd like to go with you, I swear!' As though they need convincing that he's not laying down because he'd just prefer to lay down and die than keep walking. Sigh.
(spoilers) The red filter over the lens creates a pretty effective Martian landscape, except for the mildly cloudy day, which should have been enough to reveal to any thinking astronauts that there was something peculiar about the atmosphere on Mars on that particular day. There is the revelation of some sort of ancient Martian culture, with dead bodies laying around and buildings carved out of the rocky cliffs, and yet this seems to have been put into the movie for no other reason than because the astronauts would not have been able to survive long enough for a rescue mission otherwise. They find that there is breathable oxygen in the atmosphere and simply set up camp while the camera pulls out to show the whole planet and close the narrative, I suppose, with the suggestion that they're simply going to stay there and live happily ever after.
But like I said, you get about what you expect. Granted, more emphasis is placed on the human and dramatic aspects of the film, but at the great expense of every other aspect. And when the setting and plot are not believable AND badly acted, any drama has a hard time getting noticed.