Mission to Mars (2000)

One of the most gorgeous science-fiction movies ever - and probably also one of the most realistic in detail and scientific extrapolation

The picture is equally long on eye-dazzling camera work and New Age sentimentality.

You can feel the movie going wrong in the first scene.

Trying to make sense of this shaggy dog story is like climbing a mountain with glass-smooth sides and quarter-inch toeholds.

Halfway through, De Palma literally explodes his narrative to orchestrate a superb deep-space float-opera replete with runaway modules, high-tech lassos, dramatic self-sacrifice, and, in the most surprising maneuver, a montage-driven modicum of actual suspense.