Showing posts with label Science Fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Science Fiction. Show all posts

Saturday, March 25, 2023

"For All Mankind" season 4 - concept art for Helios' Mars colony and space transport

In episode 9 of For All Mankind 3rd season Helios' CEO Dev Ayesa presented a vision for company's next generation spaceship, Mars orbital station and colonies on Mars, some of which we will most likely see realized in season 4 of the show which will air this autumn. We obtained high resolution concept images used in Dev's presentation, you can view further ahead.

For All Mankind is an alternate history sci-fi TV series exploring the idea of never ending space race if Soviets would have beaten US in the race for the Moon:
  • In season 1, depicting alternate 1969 to 1974, both Soviets and US start building their separate bases near the lunar South pole;
  • In season 2, depicting the alternate 1983, both bases have been expanded and the superpowers compete for resources on the Lunar surface;
  • In season 3, depicting alternate 1992 to 1995, Soviets and US are joined by a private company Helios and.. North Korea for a four way race to establish the first human base on Mars.
The intention of the show is each season to jump about a decade further into the increasingly diverging reality of the show. The final scene of season 3 hints season 4 will depict alternate 2003 or so.

Concept art for Helios' Mars colony:
'For All Mankind' season 4 - concept art for Helios' Mars colony

'For All Mankind' season 4 - concept art for Helios' Mars colony
Concept art for Helios' spaceship Calypso:
'For All Mankind' season 4 - concept art for Helios' spaceship 'Calypso'
Concept art for Helios' Mars orbital space station Phoenix-T1:
'For All Mankind' season 4 - concept art for Helios' Mars orbital space station 'Phoenix-T1'

Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Lunar colony in Ad Astra (2019) movie

Ad Astra is 2019 science fiction thriller set in mid-21st century when humanity has started to settle the inner Solar System. One of the most memorable parts of the movie is human colony on the Moon with space pirates :) chasing military rover convoy going to the spaceport on the far side of the Moon.

In the movie a son (Brad Pitt), serving in the military, is sent on a mission to uncover the truth about his famous father's (Tommy Lee Jones) long lost mission near Neptune which now threatens the survival of Earth. In his lonesome and dangerous mission he visits several places including a dynamic but wild human colony on the Moon and a desolate relay station on Mars. Here is a collection of HD images from the Lunar part of the movie:

Moon colony in Ad Astra movie

Lunar rover on the Moon in Ad Astra movie

Moon colony in Ad Astra movie

Lunar rovers at solar park on the Moon in Ad Astra movie

Sunday, October 30, 2022

Desolate life at a homestead on Mars in Settlers (2021) movie

Settlers (2021) is a British science fiction thriller set in a Martian frontier. A small family of early settlers live alone at a homestead in a valley protected by a force field bubble that keeps breathable air inside, but soon their lonely existence is disturbed by a group of intruders. I won't spoil the plot twists of the thriller, but it has major Wild West vibes there. Here is a collection of HD screens from the movie:

The settler family is not alone in their lonely Martian valley anymore...

Homestead on Mars in Settlers (2021) movie

Greenhouse on Mars in Settlers (2021) movie

Homestead on Mars in Settlers (2021) movie

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

"For All Mankind" season 3 brings space race to Mars

Soviets and US are joined by a private company Helios for a three way race to Mars in the alternate 1990s of For All Mankind season 3. The alternate history sci-fi TV series are exploring the idea of never ending space race if Soviets would have beaten US in the race for the Moon. In first two seasons of the show the focus was the Moon: in season 1, depicting alternate 1969 to 1974, both Soviets and US start building their separate bases near the lunar South pole; in season 2, depicting the alternate 1983, both bases have been expanded and the superpowers compete for resources on the Lunar surface.

The intention of the show is each season to jump about a decade further into the increasingly diverging reality of the show. Season 3 depicts alternate 1992 to 1995 when a race to establish first human base on Mars is facing various dangers for all of the participants. Here is a large collection of HD images from season 3 of the show. First part of the collection contains images with only minor spoilers, not revealing major story plots besides those already known from season 3 trailer.

Helios lander landing at NASA's base on Mars in season 3 of 'For All Mankind' TV series
The actual race starts with Helio's Phoenix launching from low Earth orbit, NASA's Sojourner from the Moon and Soviet Mars-94 directly from Earth:
Helios spaceship Phoenix leaving Earth in season 3 of 'For All Mankind' TV series

NASA's Sojourner spaceship leaving the Moon in season 3 of 'For All Mankind' TV series

Soviet Mars-94 spaceship on the way to Mars in season 3 of 'For All Mankind' TV series

Tuesday, July 19, 2022

Mars colony in Moonshot (2022) movie

Moonshot is recently released (March 2022) science fiction teen comedy set in 2049 when trips to Mars has become routine for skilled or wealthy people. A rich, skilled girl (Lana Condor) and a poor, "mediocre" boy (Cole Sprouse) travel together to Mars, each for their own reasons, and after arrival they both discover those reasons were wrong. Although the movie by itself is quite silly with childish dialogues and cheap interior sets, the CGI for Mars colony exteriors is really good. Here are some HD images from the movie:

Spaceship on launch platform at Mars spaceport

Astronauts orbiting Mars

Spaceship launch from Mars colony

Fireworks at Mars colony

Friday, December 10, 2021

Lunar colony in season 5 of The Expanse

After the bombardment of Earth Lovell City on Luna (the Moon) became the de facto capital of United Nations, one of the three competing powers in universe of The Expanse TV series - a political sci-fi drama set a few centuries in the future where humans have colonized the entire Solar system. Luna functions as a way station between Earth and the rest of the Solar system, and its spaceport at Lovell City serves as a natural meeting place between residents of the inner planets and Belters. Due to its lower gravity, Luna is the only body in the inner system that Belters can easily visit. UN citizens living on Luna are generally wealthier than most of their counterparts on Earth.

As Mars was one of the major locations in season 4 of the show, Luna is in season 5, coming into spotlight after the bombardment of Earth. Here is a collection with HD images from the Lunar scenes in season 5 of The Expanse. There are a few more from the trailer of the season.

Lunar colony (Aldrin Docks at Lovell City) in season 5 of The Expanse

Lunar colony (Lovell City) in season 5 of The Expanse
Avasarala looking at Lovell City:
Avasarala looking at Lunar colony (Lovell City) in season 5 of The Expanse
Memorial at Lovell City:
Memorial at Lunar colony (Lovell City) in season 5 of The Expanse

Saturday, October 23, 2021

Martian aesthetics of Dune (2021) movie

The most recent adaptation of Frank Herbert's 1965 novel "Dune" – Denis Villeneuve's movie "Dune: Part One" (2021) was one of the most anticipated sci-fi movies of the year. It was released internationally on September 15 and in the US on October 22. The movie is brilliant and without a doubt the best visual adaptation of the famous novel. We are waiting for Part Two.

Dune has always been somewhat Martian. And the most recent movie is not an exception. Granted, planet Dune is a hot desert, not cold as Mars is, has breathable atmosphere, advanced life forms and Earth-like gravity but the scenery is pretty Martian. The landscapes in Villeneuve's movie has even been filmed in the same place where The Martian (2015) has been – Wadi Rum desert in Jordan. And it doesn't stop at landscapes – the Brutalist buildings of Arrakeen has Martian vibes as well.
Arrakeen Palace:
Arrakeen Palace in Dune (2021) movie
Ornithopter flying in Dune's sky:
Ornithopter in Dune (2021) movie
Atreides spaceships and troops arriving on Dune:
Atreides spaceships in Dune (2021) movie
Arrakeen city:
Arrakeen in Dune (2021) movie
Ornithopter leaving research station:
Ornithopter leaving research station in Dune (2021) movie

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Brutalist architecture in Martian science fiction

Brutalism is an architectural style that emerged in the 1950s and grew out of the early-20th century modernist movement. Brutalist buildings are characterized by their massive, monolithic and "blocky" appearance with a rigid geometric style, large-scale use of poured concrete and a predominantly monochrome color palette. The style was popular in 1960s and 1970s in the West and well into 1980s in communist countries and Latin America.

As Brutalism started with an ethos of social utopianism but ended with associations of being cold, inhuman and totalitarian, no wonder it is the most dominant architectural style in dystopian fiction. But it is present also in general science fiction when envisioning a city in future.

One of the flaws of most Brutalist buildings is associated with weather effects on raw concrete, especially in wet and cold climate. Thus, despite being massive and seemingly long-lasting, most of Brutalist buildings are in poor condition today. But it's not a concern on Mars with its dry climate preserving rocks for billions of years. That is one of the reasons movies, TV series, games and art portraying human colonies and bases on Mars is filled with buildings in Brutalist style. Although the truest reason could be that Brutalist architecture with its simple shapes and monochrome colors can be easily reproduced in art, computer graphics and film sets :)

Here are some examples of Brutalist architecture in movies, TV series, video games and art set on Mars:

In movies and TV series

One of the most famous Martian movies - Total Recall (1990) - has some of the purest examples of Brutalist architecture, although most of them in scenes on Earth (filmed in Mexico City):
Brutalist architecture in Total Recall (1990) - Arnold Schwarzenegger

Brutalist architecture in Total Recall (1990)

Brutalist architecture in Total Recall (1990)

Brutalist architecture in Total Recall (1990)

Friday, September 11, 2020

Total Recall (1990) concept art by Ron Cobb

Australian artist Ron Cobb has done concept art for many famous sci-fi movies, as Star Wars, Alien, Back to the Future and countless other. One of the movies he has worked on is a movie known to all Mars fans - Total Recall (1990), stared by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone and Michael Ironside and directed by Paul Verhoeven. Here are some historic concept art images created by Ron Cobb for the famous movie:
Maglev train connecting Martian colonies
Maglev train concept for Total Recall (1990) movie by Ron Cobb.
Mars colony exterior
Colony exterior concept for Total Recall (1990) movie by Ron Cobb.
Mars shuttle
Mars shuttle concept for Total Recall (1990) movie by Ron Cobb.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Incredible miniatures for Total Recall (1990) Martian landscapes

One of the best movies set on Mars ever made - Total Recall (1990), stared by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin and Sharon Stone and directed by Paul Verhoeven (known also for Starship Troopers, RoboCop, Basic Instinct and other movies), was the last major movie to heavily utilize miniature effects before computer graphics took that job. Vast and incredibly detailed miniature Martian landscapes were built for the movie. Unfortunately most of the miniatures were destroyed after the filming was done. Here are some rare photos from the production process of the miniature Martian landscapes before their destruction.

Mars colony:

Miniatures for Total Recall Martian landscapes
⇩ in movie ⇩
View of Mars colony from Cohaagen's office in Total Recall 1990 movie

The spaceport:

Making miniatures for Total Recall Martian landscapes

Thursday, November 15, 2018

NatGeo's MARS TV series: full episodes of season 2

National Geographic's MARS season 2
Watch full season 2 of National Geographic Channel's MARS TV series here. In season 1 the part documentary, part fiction series depicted first human mission to Mars and hardships of building a base on Mars in a lava tube. The six-episode season 2 is digging deeper into the challenges of life on Mars, covering everything from the first Martian-born babies to surviving the common cold to the first commercial efforts by Lukrum Corporation to exploit the planet's resources.

DRAMA PART of full season 2 without documentary cut-ins:


Watch full episodes of season 1 here


More content from season 2:  ► HD images  ► Trailer & images from it  ► Cover art



Episode 1 - We are not alone s02e01

Images from Episode 1
Watch full episode HERE.

Saturday, December 3, 2016

NatGeo's "Mars" TV series: full episodes of season 1

Watch the full season 1 episodes of National Geographic Channel's "Mars" TV series here. The fictional documentary series are depicting the first human mission to Mars, the subsequent building of the first human base on Mars in a lava tube and the further steps for colonization of Mars till the end of 21st century.

Content from season 2:
Full episodes  ► HD images  ► Trailer & images from it  ► Cover art

Images from:Episode 1Episode 2Episode 3Episode 4Episode 5Episode 6


Episode 01 - Novo Mundo ( s01e01 )




Wednesday, September 23, 2015

HD images from Total Recall (1990) movie

By many the Total Recall of 1990, stared by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin and Sharon Stone and directed by Paul Verhoeven (known also for Starship Troopers, RoboCop, Basic Instinct and other movies), is being considered the best Mars movie ever, at least till The Martian will hit cinema screens. Here are some of the best HD images from Total Recall focusing on the Martian landscapes and human colony depicted in the movie (open link in new tab to view in full resolution).

Astronauts on Mars - Total Recall 1990 movie image

Shuttle landing on Mars - Total Recall 1990 movie image

Mars colony - Total Recall 1990 movie image