Mission to Mars is directed by Brian DePalma and stars Tim Robbins, Gary Sinise, Don Cheadle, Connie Neilsen, and Jerry O'Connell. This film tells the story of a failed Mars mission which results in the deaths of all but one of the crew members. A new team is sent to rescue the stranded comrade and also to discover what went wrong.

The rescue crew (Robbins, Sinise, Neilsen, and O'Connell) runs into many mishaps during the arduous 9-month journey to the red planet. One of them is killed (I'm not telling who) which makes the trip that much more of a bummer.

The survivors find the lone astronaut from the first mission. After trying to kill the newcomers in his madness, their comrade (Cheadle) comes to his senses and feverishly explains what happened to his team.

He shows the crew some footage of a giant face on the surface, apparently the one that scientists on earth have been speculating about for years. He says that his team was killed by the massive alien structure.

Sinise's character discovers that they need to find a way into the martian "face", where the secrets of the mysterious world will be revealed to them.

Mission to Mars has an interesting premise that could have been something special. Unfortunately, the script degenerates into a poor rehash of 2001:A Space Odyssey. The ending is anti-climactic and certainly disappointing to this sci-fi fanatic. I left the theater feeling like a great opportunity was blown by the makers of this film. However, Mission to Mars had a pretty good beginning and middle. I especially enjoyed the disastrous rescue mission, which kept moviegoers on the edges of their seats.