Macgirl Media Pick of the Week: The Martian Chronicles (1980)
Sunday, January 17, 2010 at 8:14AM 
2010 fizzled in for me and my pile of tissues and repeated viewings of The Twilight Zone. As my "winter break" came to an end, my bleary, too-much-TV-watching eyes happened upon a sci-fi movie I had managed to somehow avoid all of these years: Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, starring Rock Hudson. Rock Hudson! I only know him as a trivia answer...now a real Rock Hudson movie, and it's based on a great Bradbury novel...I'm in!
So despite having had my fill of media all weekend, I settled in to watch The Martian Chronicles on the stragely named "THIS" channel. (I've never happened on this channel before- is it new? Does anyone know anything about who's behind it??) Released in 1980, the far future (2007!!) is shown with lots of silver spray painted boards and rooms filled with white plastic furniture. All computers have large banks of blinking lights, and everyone has very large collars. (to better fight the Martians, I suppose)
I found this interpretation of Bradbury to be very compelling. I was sucked in, and even my itchy trigger finger found itself far from the remote. It may have low production values by today's standards, but the effects are fun and creative. It reminded me of playing outer-space as a child. The story is true to the writings, and I really enjoyed the pretty cheesy ending. It may have been the Nyquil, but I highly recommend you add this classic to your sci-fi list if you haven't already. You'll be glad you did. :D