Review of Approaching the Unknown (2016) by Bruce G — 06 Oct 2016

I don't know why so many people hate this movie. Maybe because it's not an explosi-ganza with no story or character development like the latest Star Trek movies.

This is the story of Capt. William Stanaford, the first person to attempt a landing on Mars. On the way there, he has a series of technical problems and gradually starts to come unhinged. Even though he could turn back, he decides to carry on.

Some people speculate that he actually dies in the desert and this trip is all a hallucination. The only person who really knows is the writer. I prefer to take it for what it is and not over-analyze things. Sure there are some strange things - like sending two ships, one after another, with just a single crew member aboard each. Doesn't seem very cost effective unless they're hedging their bets on one of the ships making it. There are also some weird astronomical phenomena that occur that wouldn't happen in reality. Then again, maybe the protagonist is hallucinating. Maybe this is what heaven looks like.

At any rate, it's a thinking person's movie. If you're not very smart, you might not get this movie. If you need tons of lame dialog and explosions, you better stick with the latest Star Trek movies. If you like deep sci fi like 2001 A Space Odyssey that you need to analyze later to grok, you might really enjoy this movie.