The
Last Days On Mars (2013/Magnolia/MagNet Blu-ray)
Picture:
A- Sound: B Extras: B Film: B+
A
group of scientists on the last day of their six month tour on Mars
is counting down the hours until the drop ship comes to pick them up
and go home. That is until one of the scientist secretly discovers
possibility of life on Mars, but that is all when it all start to go
wrong... with malfunctioning equipment, it soon becomes mission of
survival when a viral outbreak takes hold of the crew... one by one
they become infected... and become something else...
In
Ruairi Robinson's The Last Days On Mars (2013), Vincent
Campbell (Liev Schreiber) is the chief engineer on the Mars project,
him and the crew are tired, on edge and wants to go home, but unlike
the rest of crew Vincent suffers from claustrophobia. When they
discover fossilized bacteria, little did they know that it would turn
them into zombies as one by one, they become infected they find
themselves fighting their former companions. Their base become
compromised, down to them left only in their space suits racing to
the drop ship site, but do they dare risk bringing such a epidemic
back to Earth?
Zombies
in space.... really. The costuming and props were good, and the
setting was not bad, but it lost me when I realized it was a zombie
film, a lost civilization would have been better. There are a few
rules in zombie survival in a group, while a scientist IS important
(and possibly they'll find a cure) don't let them be the leader,
never spit up or go off alone because the next time you see them they
will be a zombie, never trust the coward that turns brave because
they'll screw you as soon as you give them the chance. Also the
science of the film was a little shaky, a dormant bacteria for
hundred of years does not develop much less have an immune system,
they would have been been wiped out in the presence of any vaccine,
but aside from all that, this was your typical predictable zombie
movie. The only difference with the zombies were that they
intelligent enough to use tools and have problem solving skills.
Romola
Garai (so good on BBC's The Hour series, reviewed elsewhere on
this site), Olivia Williams, Elias Koteas, Johnny Harris, Tom Cullen
and Goran Kostic make up the decent supporting cast.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer might have its
share of CGI digital visual effects, but the film was shot in real
anamorphic 35mm Panavision on a mix of Kodak and Fuji film stocks.
It will be one of the last films ever to shoot with Fuji Film and the
match of the three formats is very impressive. The DTS-HD MA (Master
Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is well recorded, has some nice sound design,
sound editing and usually knows when to be quiet, as space has no
sound. Extras
include BD Live interactivity, a Making Of the film program,
analyzing visual effects featurette, behind the scenes featurette,
and a AXS-TV look on The Last Days on Mars.
-
Ricky Chiang
