MovieChat Forums > The Last Days on Mars (2013) Discussion > Do producers and directors really think ...

Do producers and directors really think sci-fi viewers are that stupid?

posted 11 years ago by jvs_gringo
26 replies | jump to latest

It seems directors and producers only focus on big names and visuals nowadays.
There are not many good sci-fi films, simulating a visit to another nearby planet.
As much as I appreciated the visuals, the lack of intelligence of these so called ''scientists'' in this film is absurdly condescending to the viewers.

Why would they investigate a possible ''microscopic anomaly'' without telling their superiors, specially knowing the life threatening risks that might be involved?

Why would any scientist, smart enough to have the privilege to go on a mission to Mars, knowing the possibility of finding extremophiles (bacterial/fungal life), be stupid enough to take samples inside their living quarters and labs without having proper sample containment vessels to avoid any kind of contamination?

Seems to me directors don't research this stuff well enough or they just see the viewers as incredibly stupid.

Since we lack really good new sci-fi's I gave it a 6, ok story but the ending shouldn't have been so open. Specially because with a title like that they shouldn't be planning on making a sequel anyways.

[–] michinine 11 years ago

Seems to me directors don't research this stuff well enough or they just see the viewers as incredibly stupid.

This is my disappointment, too. But to be realistic: not everybody has the balls and skills to write a good script, is it an action, a crime or a scifi movie. We see this endless onslaught of independently produced, digitally shot, mediocre direct-to-stream/dvd stuff. The available directors/writers just don't have the level some people expect.

I mean, Prometheus was a 200 million dollars turd, with so many stupidities like putting a human face with a cheap helmet into a "space snake" or waking up a probably hostile superior space alien that clearly hates Earth for some reason AND has the means to destroy it. Yeah why no do that, we are scientist. We like our only home planet to go up in flames as an experiment!

Those movies stretch the disbelieve to the maximum because they don't know how to fill the scenes with good content. Then lets the alien fight the other alien for five minutes, its a fricken circus!

If you find something Alien, just leave it their and return with a onslaught of probes, androids, whatever. Drop some boxes with mice and rats and rabbits into it and watch what happens from a distance.

But I guess then you don't have an slightly annoying scifi movie to sell.

[–] original_spqr 11 years ago

I wholeheartedly agree with you on the point that the writing was pure schlock... Both the dialog and the plot made it seem like candidates for space missions are selected on a "national-lottery" basis : spend 2 dollars on a ticket and stand to win a spot on a scientific mission in a far away land !!!

Now I understand why the writers would want to humanize the characters so that the audience can identify with them, but they really went too far on this one.

What i'm hoping for in future releases :

space pioneers are rigorously trained and have minds sharper than a gillette Mach10...

HOWEVER, all that training is for naught and nothing will save you from the horrors of space. I'd love to see true heroes consistently fail ( George Clooney's character in Gravity comes to mind )despite their best efforts and technology.

If you want emotion, use the support staff back on earth. The time delays and unreliable com systems (helmet cams ! for that sweet sweet shaky footage !) will certainly add all the tension you need. You can even write in a bureaucrat whose wife is an astronaut just to add a bit of sappy feelings.

Finally, for a nice depressing ending : the heroes all die, the support staff goes mad Call of Cthulhu style and all members end up unaccounted for.

[–] wickedobvious 11 years ago

Did you miss where Lane said they'd all been acting weird for a while? Marko was probably infected as soon as he took the samples. Or possibly the bacteria was carried in on the space suits, through the airlock, etc. But they were most likely infected before they started acting that way.

[–] FlyingSaucersAreReal 11 years ago

that makes absolutely no sense. how woyld he become instantly infected while in his spacesuit?

[–] Unicorn-9 11 years ago

how woyld he become instantly infected while in his spacesuit?

If they weren't disinfecting the suits, some of the bacteria would have come into the station on them. Which is why any real mission to a place where microscopic life was considered likely to exist would have prepared for such things.

For example, any such event would almost certainly result in quarantine until it was proven safe, so no-one would be landing to pick them up.

[–] DarkTheater 11 years ago

You didn't pay attention, but then that was probably deliberate so you could come here and try to make yourself look smart by trashing the movie. You failed.

Perfect movie? No. But, offer valid criticisms, rather than fabricating your own.

BLACK BAR

[–] FlyingSaucersAreReal 11 years ago

yeah. and once the infection is really spreading, they never bother to send any kind of message out.

these are the most unprofessional scientists ive seen since prometheuos.

[–] 11 years ago

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