MISSION TO MARS

 

TWO STARS - Shallow

 

       There is no more fascinating question than that of the origin of life itself.  Though often presented as a battle pitting scientists against Christians, in recent times the arena has shifted to that of scientists taking on their fellow scientists using the latest discoveries in such areas as genetic research.

       Rejecting the title of “Creationists” since they do not take their cues from the Bible, these new scientists call their theory Intelligent Design. 

       They defend their position by explaining that evolutionary theory has been unable to conquer some of the central problems Darwin himself identified as necessary for his theory of evolution to be proven.

        Having identified six such unanswerable objections, this new breed of scientists explains that all six can be answered by their theory that some “Intelligent being” designed life in all its irreducible complexities.

       Accepting this being true, there are two primary sources from which such a designed life could come:  either a transcendent, spiritual intelligence created it, as the Bible explains it, or intelligent aliens from outer space “seeded” it in our world.  It is this later theory that is the basis for Brian De Palma’s film “Mission to Mars.”

       Using many of the familiar shapes and ships of previous science fiction films, “Mission to Mars” explains that all of life comes from a race of aliens who used to inhabit Mars until a major meteor decimated the planet.

       Having to abandon their home, one of the ships carries life to earth and infuses our oceans with an evolutionary seed which eventually reaches its climax in the creation of humankind.  Now, 100 million years later, as human beings have reached the ability to travel in space, the aliens have left behind a Martian connection capable of answering their questions and making contact with the “intelligence” responsible for giving us life.

       The central characters of the film are a close-knit group of astronauts who live in the year 2020.  Having created an orbital space station on Earth, the colonization of Mars is now a possibility.

       The first team to land on the planet are to be there for several months creating a greenhouse and gathering geological data to make colonization possible.

       It is during one of these data-gathering events that the most unexpected thing occurs:  All but one are killed as they attempt to investigate an unexplainable white protrusion at the top of a mountain.  A rescue mission is quickly assembled.

       One of the leaders of this expedition is Jim McConnell (Gary Sinise).  Setting the stage for his eventual willingness to leave behind this world to join the aliens in theirs, McConnell is grieving the loss of his beloved wife Maggie (Kim Delaney)

       An astronaut herself, Maggie had been dreaming of going to Mars because of her intuitive belief that there is something there that could answer her deeper questions, but she dies only months before she would have reached her goal.

       Also on the rescue mission are another husband and wife team, Terri (Connie Nielsen) and Woody Blake (Tim Robbins) .  Though we won’t divulge all the various experiences they have in their rescue attempt, the underlying message within the film is that human beings have great courage and stamina because we are made of the same genetic material as our alien life-givers.

       Though some acknowledge that there is a possibility that we are the genetic offspring of aliens from space, the film doesn’t create a compelling argument.  Not only is the revelation within the inner sanctum of the alien’s structure a disappointment, but also it only begs the question one layer deeper:  who gave the aliens their life?

       At some point in the discussion of origins, the thinking person must look beyond the closed system of physical reality to a transcendent Power capable of causing the physical world to exist.  The belief that matter, let alone life, is self-created defies logic and experience.  That something greater than life and greater than matter caused both to come into being is far more consistent with our experiences and understandings, both spiritual and scientific.

       Films such as “Mission to Mars” prove once again that it is inherent within us to seek to know  the Creator in whose image we are made.  We can try to convince ourselves that we are an accident of nothing, or an offspring of aliens, but such answers leave us empty and alone.

 

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