I must be misremembering but the movie I remember with this title didn't feature this character.
I mostly remember the protagonist discovering oxygenated water and choosing not to leave Mars. Also, I think something about using M&Ms as DNA and frozen fuel falling into a rocket engine. That second sentence might be from a separate movie, I'm not sure.
There was a lot of debate on nitpickers.com (no longer a valid site, apparently) about whether the fuel thing was realistic.
i think it was either Mission to Mars or Red Planet. Both movies make Ghosts of Mars look very good in comparison. Like Ghosts of Mars has Jason Statham (with hair) and old man Pam Grier and Sil not fooling anyone and even Ice Cube cosplaying Temu Snake and lots of shooty shooty bang bang bullshit - it's basically a DnD Doom campaign if you think about it.
Mission to Mars is "Brian De Palma does 2001 except the script fucking sucks and no one knows what the movie is supposed to be about because it was supposed to be a different movie altogether but then it wasn't and who the fuck knows what the fuck". It is one of those movies that have all the right ideas but manage to find new and increasingly more baffling ways to fail at realising them.
I vaguely remember liking it, but I was pretty young when I saw it and, as I said, don't really remember much about it. It's entirely possible I'd feel differently if I watched it today.
it is not out and out bad (there's Red Planet for that) but it leaves a lot to be desired. The spacewalk segment is genuinely one of the best of its kind but everything about the movie feels empty - like it wasn't really fleshed out properly and then ancient aliens stuff makes Prometheus look good (it is not).
it was as focused as a blur. It feels like a story was originally written without supernatural elements and then one things led to another and it's supernatural scotch taped on top. Shock Corridor it isn't. In contrast, Ghosts of Mars is "Carpenter doesn't give a shit (again) and plays the hits, killer soundtrack though".
what's baffling is that in-between these two there were Masters of Horror episodes which were actually fine mid-tier Carpenter romps. Cigarette Burns got that wacky lost film premise and Pro-Life is basically Carpenter's take on Rosemary's Baby.
I think The Ward seems worse to me because of the expectation that Carpenter got his mojo back instead of accepting that he is washed and that it happens to your favorites too.
I must be misremembering but the movie I remember with this title didn't feature this character.
I mostly remember the protagonist discovering oxygenated water and choosing not to leave Mars. Also, I think something about using M&Ms as DNA and frozen fuel falling into a rocket engine. That second sentence might be from a separate movie, I'm not sure.
There was a lot of debate on nitpickers.com (no longer a valid site, apparently) about whether the fuel thing was realistic.
i think it was either Mission to Mars or Red Planet. Both movies make Ghosts of Mars look very good in comparison. Like Ghosts of Mars has Jason Statham (with hair) and old man Pam Grier and Sil not fooling anyone and even Ice Cube cosplaying Temu Snake and lots of shooty shooty bang bang bullshit - it's basically a DnD Doom campaign if you think about it.
Sounds like lots of fun! I think I was thinking of Mission to Mars.
Mission to Mars is "Brian De Palma does 2001 except the script fucking sucks and no one knows what the movie is supposed to be about because it was supposed to be a different movie altogether but then it wasn't and who the fuck knows what the fuck". It is one of those movies that have all the right ideas but manage to find new and increasingly more baffling ways to fail at realising them.
I vaguely remember liking it, but I was pretty young when I saw it and, as I said, don't really remember much about it. It's entirely possible I'd feel differently if I watched it today.
it is not out and out bad (there's Red Planet for that) but it leaves a lot to be desired. The spacewalk segment is genuinely one of the best of its kind but everything about the movie feels empty - like it wasn't really fleshed out properly and then ancient aliens stuff makes Prometheus look good (it is not).
It's not out? Maybe I'm missing something?
I mean it is not completely bad - thus out and out. it's been out for like 26 years.
Bil, I'm your biggest fan but I gotta call you on this one. What possible use of the word "classic" allows this career killing movie to fall under it?
it's not a classic. But it's a Carpenter movie. That's about it.
Just an absolutely shit movie. Definitely Carpenter's worst.
The Ward enters chat.
It's a contender, for sure. But I feel like The Ward is better put together, and more focused.
it was as focused as a blur. It feels like a story was originally written without supernatural elements and then one things led to another and it's supernatural scotch taped on top. Shock Corridor it isn't. In contrast, Ghosts of Mars is "Carpenter doesn't give a shit (again) and plays the hits, killer soundtrack though".
I cannot disagree with any of that :) They both make me sad. I'm gonna go watch Prince of Darkness now and make myself feel better.
yeah, that might suffice.
what's baffling is that in-between these two there were Masters of Horror episodes which were actually fine mid-tier Carpenter romps. Cigarette Burns got that wacky lost film premise and Pro-Life is basically Carpenter's take on Rosemary's Baby.
I think The Ward seems worse to me because of the expectation that Carpenter got his mojo back instead of accepting that he is washed and that it happens to your favorites too.
So shit it’s great.
It’s always get me when 2001 got the classic tag
It's a quarter century old - that counts as classic in my book
It's Carpenter.