Customer Reviews

Red Planet Mars

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

What a strange, strange film this is. One could almost consider this a low-budget, early companion piece to CONTACT...both are first-contact stories, and both have their own political agenda (different though they are). I can't effectively review this without giving away plot elements, so this will have to suffice:

A scientist receives a message perceived to have come from Mars. As if that's not enough to throw the whole world into controlled chaos, the messages later purport to come from the supreme being itself, touching off unprecedented religious fervor among Earth's inhabitants.

A film of reactions and reactionaries, of religion and politics and studies on mob mentality, all rolled into one slightly cheesy fifties sci-fi thriller. It may not be *good*, but it's FASCINATING. For what ultimately is a fairly simple plot, the storyline has enough twists and turns to be a river in Colorado. Its sheer audacity at times is jaw-dropping...slot this one in with a few other B movies and it stands out as being far more ambitious than most. I recommend a viewing.

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Expect a real treat from one of the most intelligent sci-fi films of the 1950s -- although it gets little credit (largely because some people are uncomfortable with the overt Christian message). But first a word of warning: in this movie, nobody goes to Mars and no Martians invade the Earth. It's a moody and intense story about a research project at a mountain-top laboratory where husband and wife scientists (Peter Graves and Andrea King) succeed in making contact with intelligent beings on Mars . Neither the scientists nor the audience actually get to see the Martians. The messages exchanged by Earth and Mars are sent in the form of a complex code, displayed as flickering lines on a video monitor. Graves' transmitter was originally invented by an ex-Nazi scientist -- and unbeknownst to Graves, this same ex-Nazi scientist now occupies a secret Russian lab, located in the Andes mountains. The Russians want him to listen in on the Earth/Mars conversation, hoping to gain advanced scientific knowledge from the Martians.

Oddly enough, the weird manner in which the messages are received is the film's chief strength. The eerie mood created by the blinking monitors enhances the alien nature of the unseen Martians. The scene in which the Martians send their first decoded message is electrifying. After a common language has been established, the Martians describe their highly advanced agricultural methods and energy-producing techniques. As a result, Earth's economy begins to collapse because people think the Martian super-science is going to make their jobs obsolete!

More importantly, the film's Christian message is presented boldly and clearly, through direct references to God and Christ. When the Martians send a message that suggests they are ruled directly by God, the news causes a world-wide religious upheaval. The atheistic government in Russia is overthrown and the Soviet satellite countries are released from communist rule. Several reviewers in past years have criticized the film as being naive for suggesting such possibilities. But the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992 and the slow but steady revival of Christianity in Russia has vindicated RED PLANET MARS to some degree. Reviewers have also been confused by plot twists which lead them to believe the ex-Nazi scientist actually sent the `Martian' messages to trick the Americans. You'll have to pay careful attention to the plot to figure out who actually sent what.

The laboratory set is extremely well designed, filled with intriguing gizmos reminiscent of the Krell lab in `Forbidden Planet'. The scientific terms and concepts used in the story are admirably accurate. The story is set in the `near future', so watch for technological innovations like flat screen TV's and remote controls, years ahead of their time in 1952. The climax is both unexpected and uplifting -- a triumph of good over evil. Give this one a fair chance and it will amaze and inspire you. Graves and King give dynamic performances. Herbert Berghof as the ex-Nazi scientist is excellent. Marvin Miller (voice of Robby the Robot) is a treat as the Russian KGB agent. Morris Ankrum's presence is both mandatory and welcome in any 1950s sci-fi film. Directory Harry Horner was born in Soviet Czechoslovakia, so he knows about communist suppression first hand. The prerecorded tape, available from Amazon.com is of excellent quality. If you like this film, check out `The Space Children" from director Jack Arnold.

I found this movie on Netflix and it is an unusual science fiction story. It's unusual because it has very little to do with Mars or aliens. It had a lot to do with the fall of communism in the USSR, circa 1952, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Harry Horner Vicki (Fox Film Noir) directs this film where in the near future, when they still wore fedora hats and Cold War was at its height, a scientist, Peter Graves [Mission Impossible TV, he looks so young] Biography - Peter Graves: Mission Accomplished and his wide-eyed, emotionally distraught wife, find a way of communicating with the planet Mars.

We first visit a telescope observation place as big as Palomar. They have the photos of Mars taken, which look like matte paintings rather than photographs, and through time-lapse can see the ice mountains at the caps melt into what are "obviously" canals. Holy cow, we gotta talk to these guys.

As Peter Graves' character prepares to turn on his "hydrogen valve radio" his wife Linda, played by Andrea King, Blackenstein (Chk Sen) gets all hysterical, explains how women are naturally frightened and that if he calls up Mars, quote: "You'll send us to oblivion!" So much for a supportive wife.

Lots of technical nonsense too, lots of talking, ho-hum *yawn*. But wait, we get a message!

Mars says they live for 300 years. Insurance premiums rocket.
Mars says they can grow acres of crops. Farm prices crash! Stock market crashes in two weeks. Coal mines close when news comes that Mars doesn't use coal or oil. Western economies all crash, millions unemployed. (Sounds familiar).

Meantime the Russians are laughing at the USA. And the USA is preparing to bomb Russia before the USA is too weak to fight. Does God intervene? Russian church revival? Lots going on here...

Wow, wadda story! We get some propaganda about the Voice of America radio broadcasts, with the Russian Red Guards searching peasants, machine-gunning priests and worshipers, and so on.

Centering around all this is an ex-Nazi scientist who actually invented Peter Graves' transmitter first. He plays both sides (the USA and USSR) for his own benefit.

Did those messages actually come from Mars, or is this a plot?? Hold onto your hats!

The ending got really sappy for me, and was hard to watch, although the ending was especially tough and heartbreaking. Damn.

Not your typical sci-fi, not a lot of cheese.

RED PLANET MARS (1952) is one of those rare "message" science fiction movies in which the underlying subtext of faith versus reason overshadows the "hard" aspect of outer space technology. The film is a post war response by Hollywood to confront the onrushing Soviet menace in a manner that did not involve nuclear weapons. Stalin was still alive and threatening to overwhelm the West with a resurgent Russian tidal wave of communism. Director Harry Horner tried a different tack to suggest that the Soviet menace could be diffused in a way that had less to do with wordly might and more with the power of faith. Peter Graves is a scientist who receives covert messages from Mars, the majority of which are technologically based. The resultant furor over an expected merging of Terran with Martian technology collapses the combined economies of the West. The Russian premier is understandably pleased until some newer messages suggest that the historical Jesus Christ was in fact a Martian who preached the Sermon on the Mount in a manner that applied equally well to both East and West. There is an end of film plot complication over the authenticity of this latter message.

In RED PLANET MARS, the faith of humanity is tested on various levels. The Peter Graves character and his wife (Andrea King) have to face the ultimate question of choosing martyrdom to avoid a wordlwide relapse of barbarism. There are numerous and sympathetic scenes of devout Russian peasants who dig up long buried crucifixes and wear them even as they face machine gun toting KGB guards. And there are several vignettes of ordinary folk who believe in the messages and are willing to adjust their lives for the better. The ending which celebrates the triumph of faith over lack of faith rings of other and similar films (THE NEXT VOICE YOU HEAR, THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, and THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS). Despite the heavy-handed patina of religion, RED PLANET MARS is an enjoyable foray in the rarely visited realm of cinematic ideas and allows the viewer to think of the possibilities of what humanity could accomplish even if the red planet were not listening to us.

Just by chance,I caught most of"RedPlanet Mars" oncable.it was a scary experience, mostly because the portrayalof unreasoniing panic by the societies shown seemed very much the way i elieve people would act. I recall vividly howit was to be a childin the 1950's, when any car backfire or any trash-burning made people think it had happened; the Soviets were attacking,and World War 3 was beginning.

"RedPlanet Mars" accidentally or intentionally anti-Soviet propaganda, and it is effective cinema in that respect. As II watched this film,I was thinking how youngpeter Graves was in thismovie -and at about the same time his brother, James arness, was playing the alien monster in "The Thing."

Great movie, and the dvd is crisp and clear.This is a must for any Science fiction film collection.

An interesting mix of scifi and religion, along the lines of "The next Voice You Hear". I saw this film recently on video. A radio transmission is received from Mars, supposedly being the voice of God. if I remember it correctly, this results in the eastern block getting religion and the overthrow of Communism. This movie is fascinating because it is a reversal of usual scifi fare, even during the 1950s. Usually, these films portray America as the country which needs talking to, and Americans being the people who need to change. This movie is very pro-American and pro-traditional Judeo/Christian values. In essence, the cold war (which was revving up in 1952) is won through the intercession of God him/herself. HEAVY DUTY STUFF, DUDE!!!

Rival scientists from the USSR and the US are engaged in a Contact-the-Martians Race. The scientist from the US makes contact first (or does he?) and those stereotypical 1950s commies (evil vodka swilling atheists all) are upset because the superior Martians with a perfect society are Democratic Christians. So the USSR sets out to prove it is all a hoax being conducted against the world, including against the US government, by the american scientist.

In an extremely interesting twist on the usual 1950s sci-fi movie mindset, the originally thrilled US government also becomes afraid and starts to question its scientist's veracity and motives when the Martians' promises of cheap energy, long life, etc., for all humans on Earth begins to panic big union and corporate interests (fuel companies, pharmaceuticals, etc), and so the scientist also has to fight against his own government trying to put a gag on him (hey, they know where their campaign contributions came from). Even "worse", I'm sure, is the fact that the Martians appear to be Socialists. This all helps make the film far more relevant to today than most 1950s sci-fi since although the "Communist scourge" of the USSR no longer exists, rampant Capitalism is still a threat to Democracy.

At turns, this is a very good sci-fi movie which shows great creativity and insight, or a sugary schlockfest filled with caricatures. In either case, it is entertaining and makes worthwhile viewing.

I first saw this movie when I was in elementary school. Unfortunately I missed about the last 1/4 of it because my mom insisted I go to bed despite my begging and pleading to stay up a little longer to see how it ended. So I never got to see the rest of it until a few days ago when I watched the movie again. It was well worth watching the 2nd time.

Some movies seem great when you are a kid and then stupid when you are an adult (or vice versa). I always liked science fiction and found it fascinating the first time but didn't understand the political or religious implications that were so obvious the 2nd time around. I thought this was a very clever plot - an interesting premise, and one that offered a lot of food for thought. It seems to me that the reviews that slam the movie are people who are violently opposed to religion in any shape or form. So Jesus is mentioned in this movie; Christianity is a large part of it - so what??? That's the plot and it is what it is. The movie offers a point of view, as do most movies, but that isn't any reason to slam it. Those who do act as though the producers of the movie have no right to have a point of view.

The only detracting thing I can say is some of the acting is laughingly overdone but then this does look pretty low budget. As another reviewer stated, it is unfortunate that the movie was distributed by a company called Cheezy Flicks, because aside from the acting, it is definitely not cheezy. It offers a lot to think about and has a lot more intelligence in its plot than most of the fluff being made in the present day.

I had never heard of this peculiar Cold War artifact before. It doesn't feature big names or spectacular effects. This 1952 film doesn't even feature color - B&W was the way they did things. Instead, it has ...

Well, that would be telling. This takes place a few years after WWII, when the disapora of German scientists could be taken for granted. One of those secrets made its way to the West, but the discoverer himself reappeared in Soviet Russia. The power in that balance of power was the ability to communicate by radio with the inhabitants of Mars. After a slow start (using Morse code!), the Martians send wonderful secrets of long life, free power, and an end to hunger. In proper terrestrial style, the people of Earth turn this into catastrophe, rioting to save obsolete jobs, and demanding their slice of the Martian pie before Earth's scientists have a chance to decode the recipe.

It turns out that there is one secret behind all the others, though. Something over-arching, fundamental, flatly unbelievable to many, far too believable to others - and possibly false. There's a message here, one that doesn't work for me, but it doesn't have to. The buildup to it, the Cold War competition down to the final moments, and a little quaint cheesiness make this a real winner.

-- wiredweird

Interesting take on what would happen to society when intelligent life is found and contacted.
After watching this I can see why the government would want to cover up such a discovery.