Destination Mars

USA • 2006 • 80m •

• Directed by: Richard Lowry. • Starring: T. Henry Amitai, Suzzette Andrea, Fred Arnold, Bryan Bodine, Dan Brinkle, Jeff Corral, Lavale Edwards, Matthew Golden, Bobby Harwell, Sheila Kay, Jeff Lewis, Adrian Marinovich, Blake Marion. • Music by: Richard Lowry.

Sexy Martian women control the fate of Earth, sending a robot army marching through suburbia!

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Trailer

3:08

Review:

'Destination Mars' is a direct to video movie made in 2006. It was made to look like an Ed Wood type BW film from the 1950s. It starts with some modern day interviews with people supposedly related to those involved with the making of the fictional film. It also explains what later happened to the lead actors in the film. The premise is that the film's maker was blacklisted during the Mc Carthy era, His film was confiscated then not released by the government till recently. They then say millions of dollars were spent to restore it to original condition. I can appreciate what they were trying to do here and their attempt at a homage to bad sci-fi films of the 50s and Ed Wood specifically. I also understand that they had an estimated budget, about $10,000 according to the IMDb. To some extent they succeeded with this attempt. With a little more work it could have been much better. It really is pretty funny most of the time. For instance they copy the way the cops in 'Plan 9' would wave their guns around carelessly when they talked like it was an extension of their hand. Also, the imitation 50s special effects were very well done. Sadly at other times it just drags on. Unfortunately they included scenes that didn't belong in what they are mimicking, like two painful Nelson Eddy and Jeanette Macdonald type songs between the two young lovers. That just wasn't 50s sci-fi like. They also had scenes that seemed more 30s Flash Gordon sci-fi than 50s. They should totally remove the opening dialog with the supposed interviews about the films fictional background. That part was dragged out and took away from the overall illusion IMO. It would have been better to just show their work and pretend it was a found film.

I do appreciate the effort they put into this and what they did with their surprisingly low budget. I also share the film makers love of these old films. I'll give them a 4 out of 10 for their almost successful attempt at a tribute.

Review by Mikel3 from the Internet Movie Database.

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