There is a body of films that are set on the planet

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

. In the late 19th century, people erroneously believed that there were canals on Mars. Into the early 20th century, additional observations of Mars fed people's interest in what was called "Mars fever". One of the earliest films to be set on Mars was the short film ''

A Trip to Mars ''Himmelskibet'', ''Excelsior'' / ''A Trip to Mars'' / ''Das Himmelschiff'' is a 1918 Danish film about a trip to Mars. In 2006, the film was restored and re-released on DVD by the Danish Film Institute. Phil Hardy says it is "the film that mark ...

'' (1910), which was produced by one of

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...

's film companies. In the 1920s through the 1960s, more films featured Mars or extraterrestrial Martians. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Mariner program and the Viking program revealed new scientific details about Mars that showed little prospect for life. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' said, "These disappointing discoveries changed the place of Mars on humanity's mental map. Films began to reflect this." Films such as '' Total Recall'' (1990) and '' Red Planet'' (2000) focused more on the colonization of Mars by humans. ''The Guardian'', reporting on the release of '' John Carter'' (2012), said, since 1995, six films featuring Mars performed poorly at the box office. '' Wired'', reporting on the release of '' The Martian'' (2015), said prior films set on Mars—''Red Planet'', '' Mission to Mars'' (2000), and '' The Last Days on Mars'' (2013)—were "notable flops" that were the most recent in a "dismal track record of Mars movies". ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' called ''The Martian'' "the subgenre's newest and best entry", citing the positive reviews and strong box office returns on opening weekend. It said, "Many films seek to dramatize the Red Planet’s harsh landscape as a romantic frontier, but ''The Martian'' is one that actually succeeds."

List of films

The following films are listed alphabetically.

List of films

See also

Related television

Indirectly related films

References

Further reading