movies can do the two big es very well : educate and entertain . 
in the best of all possible worlds , they accomplish both . 
on the red planet , they fail entirely . 
in the near future , a manned mission is sent to mars to observe primitive plant growth . 
this film does a remarkable job of demonstrating exactly how exciting watching algae grow would be . 
after some mumbo-jumbo about an ecological disaster on earth and an interminable wait to reach the fourth planet , the ship falls apart almost as fast as the movie does . 
the ground crew of people you couldn't care less about is trapped on the surface without food , water or air and stalked by a deadly rogue cyberdog . 
the one potentially interesting character ( carrie-anne moss ) spends her time alone in the orbiting ship talking to a computer . 
attempting to graft " 2001 " esque space mysticism with " terminator " robot horror , first time director antony hoffman can't seem to figure out what's going on . 
neither can we . 
didn't he have anyone who could step back from the shooting and make sure there was a coherent story ? 
couldn't he have used the money saved by only having to pay half a dozen actors to hire a scriptwriter ? 
there are so many mis-steps . 
every opportunity to create dynamic tension is thwarted by plot holes and lackluster direction . 
why introduce the theme of faith vs . science if the crewman who could comment on it disappears early only to die _offscreen_ ? 
the audience begins the film waiting for something to happen . 
two hours later , they're still waiting . 
despite our greatest hopes , there is no life on the red planet .