1 - 17/20 Steve

April 28, 2005

It may have seemed almost impossible to create a decent film based on Ray Bradbury's collection of diverse stories, but this one succeeds pretty well. The script is intelligent and respectful of the original, the acting is good, the settings and the music contribute significantly to the sense of otherworldliness -- not a realistic Mars as we know it today, but a strangely poetic vision that well reflects Bradbury's imagination. There is a kind of gentleness about the film, a sadness about the lost Martian civilization as Earth people arrive and begin colonization. Those looking for Star Wars action and special effects will be disappointed; those looking for an offbeat and intelligent film realization of a classic set of stories may be as surprised as I was at how well it was done.

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