Red Planet (4K UHD Review)
Director
Antony HoffmanRelease Date(s)
2000 (November 18, 2025)Studio(s)
Warner Bros. Pictures/Village Roadshow Pictures (Arrow Video)- Film/Program Grade: B-
- Video Grade: A-
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: B-
Review
[Editor’s Note: The film review below is by Todd Doogan, adapted from his look at the film’s 2001 DVD release. The 4K video, audio, and extras comments are by Bill Hunt.]
What is it about Mars that Hollywood can’t seem to leave it alone? At least this movie is kinda fun—a throwback to classic B-grade sci-fi, if you will. Red Planet takes place about fifty years in the future. As we hear in a bit of clichéd and unnecessary voiceover from Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix), the Earth is on the brink of destruction due to overpopulation and pollution. Our only hope for survival is to colonize Mars, and the first steps in doing so have already been taken. The CO2 ice caps on Mars have been detonated and melted. A layer of algae has been spread over the surface and that alga is turning the CO2 into O2 to create a breathable atmosphere. But something has gone wrong; for some inexplicable reason, the algae has up and disappeared in a six-month period. Not died, not dying—disappeared. How is that possible? A team of scientists and astronauts has been rounded up and sent into space to find out.
The team leader is Commander Bowman (Moss), an ex-Navy, no-bull type of chick who’s more man than most of the actual men on the ship. (But there’s an obligatory shower scene just to make sure you know she’s still all woman.) Next up is her co-pilot, Benjamin Bratt (Law & Order), who’s as hot-headed as they come and is definitely full of himself, among other things. The science crew includes Burchenal (Tom Sizemore, Heat), a world class geneticist who mistakes his Cs for Ps (pay attention to the film and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about) and Pettengil (Simon Baker, The Mentalist), a last minute replacement on the mission. (Which almost automatically spells certain doom, doesn’t it?) Also on board are a veteran scientist/astronaut turned philosopher, Chantilas (Terence Stamp, Superman: The Movie), and the ship’s janitor... er, mechanical engineer… Gallagher (Val Kilmer, Tombstone). And let’s not forget AMEE, a military robot reprogrammed to help the ground crew navigate.
After six months of travel time, the ship is bombarded by solar flare radiation just as it arrives and everyone but Bowman is forced to evacuate and land on Mars early. But the landing craft wasn’t properly shielded and, without its autopilot functioning, it crashes on the surface, thus stranding the crew. Worse yet, whatever it was that removed the algae from the surface has also destroyed their yet-to-be-manned base, which housed a six-month supply of food, water, and oxygen. So with the air in their suits running out, no food, and no way back to their mothership, the Mars-1 crew will likely not survive their first night on the surface. And if the harsh Martian environment doesn’t kill them, a malfunctioning AMEE surely will.
Red Planet is fun because it’s about how people deal with the unexpected problems that get thrown at them. Sure, it’s a little hard to suspend belief in this film at times and there are a few too many plot holes. But come on—nobody watches 1950s-era sci-fi films and says they suck because you can’t believe them, right? They’re just entertaining, nothing more and nothing less. In a lot of ways, Red Planet is a modern day throwback to those types of films. You’ve got smart people trying to fix a problem with technology and save their own asses. Also, the production design is cool, the threats are as real as they need to be (or you, as an audience, let them be), and there are even a few moments that will set you on edge.
Red Planet was shot on 35 mm photochemical film by cinematographer Peter Suschitzky (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Empire Strikes Back) using Panavision Panaflex Gold cameras with Panavision anamorphic lenses. For its release on Ultra HD, the original camera negative was scanned in 16-bit 4K by Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging with digital restoration and grading for high dynamic range (compatible with both HDR10 and Dolby Vision) by Duplitech. It’s presented here in the original 2.39:1 aspect ratio on a 100GB disc. From an image standpoint, the quality is largely excellent. Bitrates are high (frequently in the 80-90 Mbps range), the color palette is rich and vibrant, and—once you get past the title sequence—overall detail in live action footage is excellent. The contrast is pleasing too, and grain is very subtle. The chief problem here is that the film’s CG visual effects are… well, to call them low resolution would be putting it kindly. And much of the film includes visual effects. But again, the live action footage is gorgeous and that’s what really matters.
Audio-wise, the 4K disc includes only one option: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. And the track sounds great in lossless quality. To be fair, this film isn’t really a traditional actioner, so the soundtrack isn’t especially muscular—it’s more about the atmospherics here. But those are solid, with surprisingly good dynamics. Dialogue is clear and clean, there’s a fine sense of environments, and bass is robust when it needs to be. Points also for a solid score by composer Graeme Revell, not to mention a couple of good pop tracks by William Orbit, Different Gear vs The Police, and especially Peter Gabriel. Optional English SDH subs are available.
Arrow Video’s 4K package is a single disc set that includes the film in 2160p on UHD only (a Blu-ray version is available separately). Extras on the disc include:
- The Martian Chronicles (HD – 21:51)
- Suit Up (HD – 10:45)
- Angry Red Planet (HD – 18:42)
- Deleted Scenes (Upsampled SD – 8 scenes – 14:24 in all)
- Theatrical Trailer (HD – 1:35)
The Martian Chronicles is a new interview with the film’s visual effects supervisor, Jeffrey A. Okun, who talks about everything from how he got his start in the film industry to how he was cajoled into being the visual effects supervisor on this film, which he didn’t want to do in the first place. Suit Up is a new interview with Steve Johnson, who designed the film’s helmets and spacesuits. And Angry Red Planet is a newly-produced retrospective featuring film critic Heath Holland of Cereal at Midnight. Meanwhile, the deleted scenes are carried over from the original DVD, while the trailer was added for the 2011 Blu-ray release. The packaging includes an attractive slipcover, the sleeve art is reversible (including both the original poster and newly commissioned art by Matt Griffin), and the booklet offers liner notes and a new essay on the film by Mark A. Altman.
The sole feature directing credit of commercial helmer Antony Hoffman, Red Planet is hardly a great movie, and we’re certainly not saying that it is. The film simply doesn’t know if it wants to be an arthouse film or a summer actioner. But it’s decent enough, it has its charms, and you might be surprised to find that you enjoy it. Arrow Video’s done a nice job with its 4K release, so if you’re a fan of Red Planet, the disc is definitely recommended.
-Todd Doogan and Bill Hunt
(You can follow Bill on social media on Twitter, BlueSky, and Facebook, and also here on Patreon)