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Celebrating the Mars Encounter with a DVD?
Berend de Boer asks: "To celebrate the upcoming encounter of The Mars Kind, I like to watch a DVD about Mars with my kids. Is there something worthwhile people can recommend? It should be suitable for younger kids (max 10), so Total Recall 2070 is out the question. It does not necessarily have to be an action film...something educational will be fine as well."
Mars Mission Docco
btw: I'm an extra in it ;)
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"we live in a post-ideological world..." - Billy Bragg.
Here's something I found at the PBS store
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0058530 Not exactly a masterpiece, and not even vaguely educational, but a lot of fun.
There are several Mars related documentaries available from the standard movie outlets.
"Mars - The Red Planet Collection" is one that I personally recommend. It has two programs, on one each side of the DVD, and is seemingly suitable for young children. My 12 year old daughter sat through both programs then immediately asked where my old telescope was. Speaking of which, a telescope is a great idea to enhance the Mars experience.
There's also the long forgotten Mars Pathfinder" site with fantastic photos of the surface. CD-ROM's may still be available of the site. The Planetary Society is another good online reference site.
Sure movies are entertaining, but this is an opportunity to educate your youngsters on a facinating subject.
This wouldn't be a proper comment about Mars reference materials without plugging The Case for Mars by Robert Zubrin. It's probably a bit too technical for a 10 year old, but still a facinating argument for settling Mars.
I would definitely recommend the Martian Chronicals by Ray Bradbury (author of Fahrenheit 451). It is a collection of short stories that take place on mars, I remember reading this for the first time in 5th or 6th grade, it is most definitely appropriate for children. It is a great book I think everyone should read, and this is the perfect opportunity.
Amazon.com From "Rocket Summer" to "The Million-Year Picnic," Ray Bradbury's stories of the colonization of Mars form an eerie mesh of past and future. Written in the 1940s, the chronicles drip with nostalgic atmosphere--shady porches with tinkling pitchers of lemonade, grandfather clocks, chintz-covered sofas. But longing for this comfortable past proves dangerous in every way to Bradbury's characters--the golden-eyed Martians as well as the humans. Starting in the far-flung future of 1999, expedition after expedition leaves Earth to investigate Mars. The Martians guard their mysteries well, but they are decimated by the diseases that arrive with the rockets. Colonists appear, most with ideas no more lofty than starting a hot-dog stand, and with no respect for the culture they've displaced.
Bradbury's quiet exploration of a future that looks so much like the past is sprinkled with lighter material. In "The Silent Towns," the last man on Mars hears the phone ring and ends up on a comical blind date. But in most of these stories, Bradbury holds up a mirror to humanity that reflects a shameful treatment of "the other," yielding, time after time, a harvest of loneliness and isolation. Yet the collection ends with hope for renewal, as a colonist family turns away from the demise of the Earth towards a new future on Mars. Bradbury is a master fantasist and The Martian Chronicles are an unforgettable work of art. --Blaise Selby
If you are just looking for something entertaining that involves mars, then I would suggest the anime Nadesico. It is again appropriate for children, a lot of fun, and still manages to deal with some serious themes.
Amazon.com Martian Successor Nadesico (1996) was initially criticized in Japan for making fun of both anime and fan culture, but its unbridled and ultimately good-natured silliness won over critics--and large audiences on both sides of the Pacific. It's 2195 A.D. and the "Jovian Lizards" are attacking Earth. Tired of the inept campaigns of the United Space Force, Nergal Heavy Industries builds a super battleship, the Nadesico, which they staff with top people who have "slight personality problems." Ditsy Captain Yurika nurses a crush on the traumatized Akito--despite his skill as a robot pilot, he signs on as a cook. He's won over by the irrepressible Gai Daigoji, a fanatic admirer of Gekigangar 3, a hilarious spoof of '70s mecha series. The story reaches new heights of absurdity in "Let's Go with Hot-Blooded Anime": the casts of Nadesico and Gekigangar watch each other's programs, borrowing ideas and complaining about the plots.
In another episode, the crew holds a "Geki Fest" that satirizes anime conventions, including booths selling special, "limited edition" merchandise. The war becomes a struggle that pits the crew of the Nadesico against both the Jovians and Nergal Industries. Although the conflict hinges on Akito's mysterious ability to move through space and time in a "boson jump," the path to peace lies in Gekigangar 3 ("the thread that ties humanity together!"). In America, only Rocky and Bullwinkle and The Simpsons have dared such outrageous self-parody. (Rated for ages 12 and older: Brief nudity, mildly risque humor, cartoon violence) --Charles Solomon
They might be a bit young for Stranger in a Strange Land, but you might as well put it on their shelf.