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In this film, a group of teenagers exit a doomed airliner just before takeoff, escaping death, but soon discover that death is coming for them anyway when freak accidents start claiming their pals. Carole Stewart McDonnell, guest reviewer at Christian Spotlight, says the plot is relevant to "spiritual matters such as fate, premonition and death," but is disappointed that it provides no spiritual answers. The main character "is left alone to figure out the spiritual world all by himself," she says, without "a helpful parent or knowing clergy in sight." But for Holly McClure of Crosswalk.com, the helpful parent turned out to be herself: "My older teens saw this movie and said it terrified them. … [It] gave me a chance to reaffirm with my children what our religious beliefs are about death." She called the movie effective because "it delivers fear and panic wrapped in 'fate,' which keeps it spooky without using a fellow teenager to do the slashing and killing." Other reviewers were not so impressed, saying it "quickly loses momentum with regular, run of the mill horror movie action" (John Adair, Preview) and "vainly seeks to entertain with pointless dialogue and horrific violence" (Jonathan Bartha, Focus on the Family).

After a lucrative liftoff, this space odyssey has plummeted severely at the box office. Christian reviewers have been largely critical of the film, which features astronauts discovering life on Mars, for ignoring God's role in the creation of life. ("That's not to say that God's name isn't mentioned," quips Bob Smithouser of Focus on the Family, referring to the film's profanity.) But this week several reviewers have spoken out in favor of the film's entertainment value. Movie Parables says "we can just go along for the ride and enjoy the old fashioned Saturday matinee feel of the film" rather than "groan and roll our eyes at the increasingly impossible situations our heroes overcome." Crosswalk.com's Holly McClure calls the film a "fascinating, thrilling story that completely captured my imagination" that "both dazzles with special effects and entertains with a unique concept." The U.S. Catholic Conference says it's "intriguing [and] visually alluring, if quite fanciful." Still, the majority remains critical of its theology, storyline, and entertainment value. World magazine calls Mission to Mars "a celebration of crank mysticism and checkout-counter UFOology"; PlanetWisdom says "the plot provided more holes than a paper punch"; WindWords' Gene Breitenbach notes that "the special effects work … looks much like what anyone can do on an Apple G3 computer."

Christian critics were split on this new teenage romance, although audiences united in staying away this weekend. Preview's Mary Draughon found much to like about the film, predicting that "teenagers and parents will find this touching love story worth the admission price. … It is heart-warming to see a family reflect a deep faith in God as they face a loved one's eminent death." Other reviewers saw no such value. The U.S. Catholic Conference says the "manipulative plot is filled with contrived dialogue and few surprises in serving up a sentimental look at first love." Bob Smithouser of Focus on the Family also discourages viewership—probably foremost by revealing the ending three times in his review—but also by calling it a "a painfully desperate heart-tugger loaded with insufferable symbolism, empty emoting, [and] saccharine sentimentality."

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March (Web-only) 2000, Vol. 44