Another Mission to Mars
During the 2nd decade of the 21st century a mission to Mars called Sagan is commenced with 5 astronauts being the first to attempt to land on the planet. During the take off there is a glitch in the systems which appears to clear itself up and so despite concerns from control the mission continues. But it is not a mission without issue as whilst these astronauts are heading to see if the planet is inhabitable they don't know what they will face once they arrive. As things unfold and one of the astronauts receives bad news from back at home there may be a possibility that they may not be able to return home due to a lack of oxygen aboard the space craft.
Whilst I grew up on the excitement of "Star Wars" I was never a huge fan of space sci-fi when we had a trained crew on a mission through space, basically I never really did the "Star Trek" type of thing. It is probably why or at least part of the reason why "Escape from Mars" didn't wow me as this has that exact same feel and style with are Sagan crew heading to Mars and in to danger. In fact at times "Escape from Mars" feels like it is part of a franchise, a TV series attempting to expand its set up in to a movie.
That is not the only issue as not only is "Escape from Mars" a TV Movie, which means budgetary issues and weaker effects, but it is also one which resorts to a lot of unlikely and coincidence to fill this drama out. I won't go in to specifics but we have one character going through a divorce, another character learning during their mission that their significant other has died back on Earth and when they realise they may not have enough oxygen onboard to get them home well that is when one of the biggest inconvenient conveniences arrives. Basically nothing in "Escape from Mars" sets the mind in to over drive as not only is so much of it typical but the drama is all too conventional.
As for the acting well the characters are as typical as everything else in the movie and so there isn't one which stands out. Peter Outerbridge frequently seems to be trying to appear thoughtful by being quiet and staring off in to the distance whilst Christine Elise delivers the cuteness which her character requires of her. But none of these performances or characters are memorable and in truth this is one of those movies which you will struggle to think of when you see one of the actors in another movie and remember they were in some space, sci-fi thing.
What this all boils down to is that "Escape from Mars" is not completely terrible but it is completely typical and unless you are a huge fan of the "Star Trek" style sci-fi this has little in the way of entertainment. Oh it tries, it even tries for some intentional cheese with the use of a news presenter covering the Mars landing but I doubt you will remember much if anything from "Escape from Mars" a week after you have watched it.
