Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Mars movie review - Red Faction: Origins (2011)

Red Faction Origins movie poster
Red Faction: Origins (2011) is a TV movie set in the universe of Red Faction computer game series. It details the events between Red Faction: Guerrilla and Red Faction: Armageddon on terraformed Mars of mid-22nd century. It's one of the latest movies depicting human colonies on Mars.

Story


The story of Red Faction series is tied around the freedom fights of human colonists on Mars against an oppressive rule of Earth-based corporation - the plot line often used in Mars fiction. The main hero of the movie is Jake Mason - the son of the famous leader of Mars resistance force (called "Red Faction") - Alec Mason - who has led the revolutionists towards the victory against Earth Defense Force (EDF) 25 years ago in Red Faction: Guerrilla. The victory hasn't brought a prosperity to the Mars colonies and colonists are living in quite poor conditions. The inhabited area of Mars is split by colonists and the marauders - a militant group of savage outcasts - and the relations between those two groups are getting more and more tense.


Monday, February 23, 2015

Spaceship in Mars orbit by Tim Flattery

Picture of the Day 23/2/15 - Spaceship in Mars orbit by Tim Flattery from his concept art for Mission to Mars. More of his concept art for movies here.

Mission to Mars

Monday, February 16, 2015

Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets (2004)

Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets movie poster
Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets (2004) is a fictional documentary made by BBC about a manned voyage through the solar system. Five astronauts are traveling with nuclear powered spaceship Pegasus and land on Venus, then on Mars, then they make a close flyby of the Sun for a gravity assist maneuver slingshotting them to Jupiter's system where they visit Io and Europa, then Saturn's icy rings and finally land on Pluto. On their way home they also land on a comet experiencing its destabilization when it closes Sun.

On their voyage they encounter many problems of which the death of one of them (because of a radiation overdose during the flyby of the Sun) is the most depressing one. In all the hardships the landing on Mars where they are delayed only by a sandstorm seems to be one of the easiest one.

There are some scenes from the Mars part of the movie (click to view in full resolution):

Mars landerExploring Mars

Astronauts on MarsMars lander

The Mars part of the movie can be seen here:

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Astronauts exploring Mars by Manchu

Picture of the Day 14/2/15 - "Sunrise on Mars polar cap" by French sci-fi artist Manchu (Philippe Bouchet).

Astronauts and rover on Mars by Manchu

Friday, February 13, 2015

Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue Mars by Peter Elson

A set of paintings for the book covers of Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy by classical space illustrator Peter Elson.
More of his paintings you can find here.

Phase 1. - Red Mars:

Astronauts on Red Mars by Peter Elson

Red Mars by Peter Elson

Phase 2. - Green Mars:

Green Mars by Peter Elson

Phase 3. - Blue Mars:

Blue Mars by Peter Elson

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Mars colony by Robert McCall

Picture of the Day 12/2/15 - "Mars metropolis" (1999) by legendary space artist Robert McCall. More of his space art here.

Mars colony by Robert McCall

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Carl Sagan: Blues for a Red Planet (documentary)

Carl Sagan: Blues for a Red Planet cover
Blues for a Red Planet (1980) is a documentary about the exploration of Mars by Carl Sagan - the famous visionary of space exploration and colonization. It is the 5th episode of Carl Sagan's Cosmos series and follows the humanity's gradually improving perception of the planet Mars - from our first looks at the night sky to Schiaparelli's Martian canals and global myth of intelligent but dying Martian civilization and finally the first Mars probes and two Viking landers (the most recent Mars probes of that time).

You can watch the full documentary here:

Carl Sagan and Viking lander

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Astronauts exploring Mars by Kyle Brown

Picture of the Day 7/2/15 - Astronauts trying to find a lost Mars rover by American concept artist Kyle Brown. More of his art here.
(Open link in new tab to view ⇩ in full resolution)
Astronauts exploring Mars by Kyle Brown

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue Mars by CarlosNCT

A set of artwork by Spanish digital artist CarlosNCT inspired from three phases of terraformation of Mars in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy. Click to view in full resolution:

Phase 1. - Red Mars:

Red Mars by CarlosNCT