The Last Days On Mars

Sci fi horror films is usually a fun combination. The Alien franchise is without a doubt the best in this genre, especially Aliens from 1986. There are plenty of more titles that i could mention, and also those we should try and forget. Does anyone remember Jason X ? If you have not seen this one, be happy, because seeing Jason Voorhees in space was a disaster,in many ways. But with Prometheus we finally got the sci fi film we have been waiting for, when so many releases did not deliver anything unique. Director Ridley Scott showed us a prequel to Alien, that both looked fantastic and had many great perfomances, including from swedish actor Noomi Rapace. The Last Days On Mars is a sci fi horror film, located in Mars, by director Ruariri Robinson.  He is mostly known from directing short films in the past, and this is his feature film debut. Is The Last Days On Mars a nice throwback to classic sci fi motion pictures, or is this a space film that should have been left on a shelf ?

Around the year 2040, a professional team of austronauts are doing research on the Tantslou Base, located on Mars. Scientist Marko Petrovic ( Goran Kostic ) discover while doing research, that a sample he took, show signs of life on Mars. Fascinated by the amazing discovery, Marko decide to keep this a secret. Unfortunately, Marko falls down underneath the surface. Crewmate Richard Harrington ( Tom Cullen ) call in to the science center about what happened, as team members locate the accident area. Captain Charles Brunel ( Elias Koteas ) order science team member Vincent Campbell ( Liev Schreiber ) to go beneath the surface and see what happened to Marko. Beneath the surface, Vincent find some kind of fungus living substance, that seems to find its way into human bodies. Suddenly the whole team is in danger, not knowing what is really out there.

I could easily compare The Last Days On Mars with other sci fi motion pictures from tha past, because the plot have influences from some classics. But here is the good news. We get to see a sci fi horror film that actually looks good, and have some nice surprises along the way. I would not call this an original sci fi film, but considering the budget i would say that director Ruariri Robinson manage to find a nice balance of classic sci fi ingredients. There is nothing original here, but there are many worse choices than The Last Days On Mars to find. One thing i do have a problem with, is the lead actor Liev Schreiber. He was alright as Sabertooth in X-Men: Origins, but here he feels pretty stiff. Thankfully the rest of the cast helps to make this film work. Especially legendary actor Elias Koteas, who tries to make his character interesting. The scenery of Mars looks great, and this is a very important detail to have included, when you make a sci film in space. Remember John Carpenter's Ghosts Of Mars ? That was a big mess. The Last Days Of Mars is actually a good try to do a classic combination of sci fi horror, with some great looking scenes of Mars. No classic, but worth watching for fans of this genre. 

Rating: DDD