Last Days On Mars

With 19 hours left before they leave Mars to return to Earth, a team of astronauts and scientists find something nobody expected beneath the surface of the red planet.

Last Days on Mars, a sci-fi thriller directed by Ruarí Robinson, with Liev Schreiber, Elias Koteas, Romola Garai and Tom Cullen, is a zombie action flick set in the vast emptiness of Mars. It plays out quite similarly to the Doctor Who story, Waters of Mars, where the first manned mission to Mars find the astronauts infected with microscopic life and turn into zombie-like monsters. Worryingly, it’s actually almost exactly the same, but is apparently based on The Animators, written in 1975 by Sydney James Bounds. Without reading the original, I cannot comment on the faithfulness to the text or the influence of Doctor Who.

Last Days on Mars has an interesting cast, with a decent mix of nationalities and actors. A particular stand-out is Koteas, playing Captain Brunel, who has to face up to his responsibilities and the tough decisions he has to make to protect his crew. Olivia Williams also impresses as the hard-nosed scientist who is determined to be the best, regardless of what she has to do to get there. The monsters themselves look fantastic, with some great makeup jobs.

The movie could have utilised the Martian setting a bit more, for example using the lesser gravity for one of the chase sequences, so that was a bit of a missed opportunity. As a sci-fi action thriller it will do well in DVD and online viewing circuits.

Donal O’Connor

@LievSchreiber, @maxrichtermusic, @paulRwarren, @EdBruceVFX, @LastDaysOnMars,