The Last Days on Mars

Trotz der Marsumgebung ist dies immer noch ein intimer Science-Fiction-Film. Die Effekte werden sparsam eingesetzt, es gibt noch weniger Charaktere und die Monster sind zum Fürchten... Aber der Film packt leicht zu und lässt einen bis zum Ende nicht los, und das ist in meiner anspruchsvollen Phase wahrscheinlich der wichtigste Faktor. Überraschend ist die Tatsache, dass es sich nicht um eine weitere unterhaltsame Mission auf dem Mars handelt, sondern um ein schweres Überlebensdrama aus der "fernen Exotik". Für diese sieben Millionen Dollar ist es definitiv ein cooler Film. 7/10 (09.11.2013)

I don't want to say that the movie "The Last Days on Mars" is bad, it's not at all, but at the same time it's not a movie that should blow you away. The interesting setting is not as interesting anymore, the special effects sequences that are supposed to impress are quite modest. The movie might still captivate you with its location, but after "Gravity" even that is not really groundbreaking. For me, it's quite nice, a better average, definitely at least better to watch than other similar horror movies. (07.03.2014)

Awesome! Prometheus meets Europa Report meets Event Horizon, all mixed in such way that the resulting cocktail really hits the spot (as seen in the trailer, it takes the basic premise from Prometheus, the pure horror from Event Horizon – i.e. no higher ambitions, philosophical or otherwise – and from Europa Report it takes the efforts to find a scientific and non-stupid solution to various problems). Pure sci-fi horror movies set in space like this are few and far between, and the good ones are even less, basically two a decade (and one of them is connected with the Alien franchise). You won’t hear any complaints from me about the lack of originality, I’m rejoicing that after a long time we have a movie that doesn’t feel the need to pretend it’s discovering something new, and instead delivers pure genre pleasure without any hesitation. The Last Days on Mars is 100% serious horror without any hints of humour or insight. The atmosphere is bleak, oppressive and claustrophobic. The characters are all individuals (meaning that we don’t get the problem many genre movies have, where only one or two protagonists stand out and the rest are part of a homogeneous mass) and, fortunately, they don’t behave like the idiots of Prometheus, but rather like the real scientific team from Europa Report (and the most irrational moments can always be justified by the momentary mental condition of the character). Overall, I’m very pleasantly surprised at how good it is. The story might be from a B-movie, but the way it’s delivered and the tone certainly aren’t. B-movies are supposed to be fun, but Last Days on Mars is an uncompromisingly atmospheric downer. (02.11.2013)