Roving Mars is an amazing production; a must-see for anyone interested in man's exploration of our sister planet.-Robert "Geck0" Perkins, GameVortex.com
I wanted to get that out of the way. If you're interested in the science or the science fiction behind Mars, Earth's closest relative, what could have lived there and our exploration of this mysterious planet, you should stop reading this review and simply pick up Roving Mars now.
Roving Mars follows the group of scientists who worked on the Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, and prepared them for their far-flung destiny on the surface of Mars. The challenges of designs that failed to work as desired, the mad race to finish everything in time to meet a deadline that was imposed, not by a manager or a government, but by the orientation of the very planets themselves. Rescheduling was simply not an option.
What was so great about the footage of the scientists is that it is real. It is not reenactments of the events, but rather actual video of the team of scientists working to get the rovers prepared in time for their launch. The camera crew actually had a (rather large) IMAX camera in the clean room with the actual rovers, filming as the scientists worked. The tension when the team waits for the first transmission from the first rover to land is real, as is their unfettered elation when they receive that transmission that indicated that the rover had made it safely to the planet's surface.
The entire project had its roots in some dealings with Disney and Lockheed Martin. Walt Disney had been interested in the exploration of Mars, as was evident by the creation of Mars And Beyond, (1957) an animated investigation into the mysteries of the universe and space travel, which, by the way, is included on the Roving Mars Blu-ray disc. When it was determined that the rovers would have IMAX quality optics for filming the surface of Mars, it was a no-brainer that Disney would be interested in making a film with the footage, so the IMAX cameras were used to film the team working on the rovers to capture their story, as well as the footage that would be taken on Mars. The entire project was to be fairly straightforward, they knew how the story started and they knew exactly what they expected to happen when the rovers arrived on Mars. Barring any unforeseen catastrophe, they knew just how long the rovers should last. However, there is no accounting for the unforeseen, so their "ending" had to be changed. I won't ruin it for you, but I much prefer this new ending to the one originally intended.
When you watch Roving Mars, if you're paying attention, you will notice that there are parts that are computer generated, simply because there is no way that these shots could have been filmed by anything. Shots on Mars that include the rovers themselves and shots of the later stages of the rocket launch spring to mind. However, in the included featurette, "Mars: Past, Present & Future," the scientists point out that these CG scenes were extremely accurate, using flight data that was transmitted back, to faithfully recreate what actually happened. In fact, I would suggest watching Roving Mars once, then watching this featurette, then watching Roving Mars again to get the full effect. There is a lot of interesting insight revealed in this featurette that will enhance your appreciation of the movie, but I wouldn't want anyone to rob themselves of an unbiased first viewing of the movie itself.
Pitching itself as being, "Beyond High Definition," Roving Mars features both HD picture and HD sound, making it an excellent film for showing off the capabilities of your entertainment system. Besides that, what other movie could you possibly watch that features footage filmed on location - on another planet?
