In today’s video, we will go through the events of 2013’s Science Fiction Horror
Film, The Last Days On Mars.
Spoilers ahead! You have been warned. Make sure to give this video a thumbs up, comment
on what your favorite part was, and subscribe to our channel for more.
The movie starts with some information about the space mission. A Martian Research base
called the Tantalus Base was established in the 2040s, and an eight-person crew has been
stationed there for six months. They are only 19 hours from the completion of their research
mission. A spacecraft named Aurora is inbound from Earth and will collect the team via a
lander. Next, we see a rover carrying Vincent Campbell
and Rebecca Lane arriving at the field to pick up scientist Kim Aldrich. Kim is busy
collecting samples and makes the rover wait. She is frustrated that they haven’t made
any substantial discovery on Mars and are soon going back to earth empty-handed.
Back at the base, unlike Kim, scientist Marko Petrovic seems to be in good spirits. He tells
Captain Charles Brunel that he needs to go on an Extravehicular activity on the surface
due to a malfunction. The Gamma sensor on-site nine isn’t responding correctly due to a
storm. Brunel hesitantly gives him permission but asks Petrovic to take Crewmate Richard
Harrington with him. He then tells them to return before dark and be present for the
final briefing. Just as Campbell and Lane return with Kim to the Tantalus base, Harrington
and Petrovic venture out on Rover 2. Tensions are running high at the Tantalus
base. The cooling systems are down. Vince also learns that half of the CO2 scrubbers
on Aurora are down, and the spacecraft is taking a strange approach trajectory. Kim
is upset that she was forced to report back to the base so early while Petrovic, who she
doesn’t see eye to eye, gets to venture out.
Kim, who is curious and competitive by nature, then starts going through Petrovic’s workstation.
Through his workstation, she and the rest of the team quickly learn that Petrovic found
samples that were undergoing bacterial cell division, i.e., evidence pointing to life
on Mars. They then realize that without revealing his discovery, he devised a ruse for a last
Extra Vehicular activity on the surface. Brunel swiftly declares the site off-limits,
but Petrovic reaches the site by then. Petrovic obtains the soil with the biological agent
present. He is amazed and delighted with the discovery and asks Harrington to come out
of the Rover with a camera when the ground that Petrovic is standing on gives way, and
he falls into a sinkhole. A panicking and horrified Harrington then issues a call for
Mayday. Brunel and Crewmate Dalby soon arrive at the
site. Dalby insists on going down inside the sinkhole to rescue Petrovic, but Brunel denies
her request. He isn’t hopeful of Petrovic surviving the fall and not compromising his
spacesuit. As he pronounces Petrovic dead, Dalby breaks down. Brunel then says that they
need to get the lifting gear from the base to descend to the sinkhole and retrieve Petrovic’s
body. He then says that they also need to get approval from Mission control. Dalby insists
that she stays on site as she can’t leave Petrovic alone in the sinkhole. Brunel and
Harrington agree and leave Dalby on-site and return back to the base to collect the lifting
gear and approval from the mission control. Emotions are high at the base because of the
accident. Kim insists on staying focused on the mission and breaking the news about the
groundbreaking discovery, but the other crew members are astonished by Kim’s indifference
to losing one of their colleagues. The crew asks her to show some human decency when Kim,
cold and candid by nature, retorts by indirectly accusing Harrington of getting Petrovic killed.
Harrington loses it, and everyone tries to calm the situation down.
Soon, the mission control grants the team permission to retrieve Petrovic’s body.
Brunel contacts Dalby at the site aboard Rover 2 and lets her know that they are heading
back to her at the site when Dalby suddenly hears the sound of someone entering the Rover.
Brunel then loses contact with Dalby. A team arrives at the fissure site to find
Dalby missing. Brunel and Campbell venture into the sinkhole while Lane and crewmate
Irwin inspect Rover 2 and find it empty. The bottom of the sinkhole isn’t visible as
it is releasing a lot of steam. The team wonders if Dalby fell in the sinkhole. Campbell ties
himself to the Rover through a safety rope and ventures into the sinkhole. After exploring
the pit, Campbell reveals that Dalby and Petrovic are not in the sinkhole. He also reports seeing
fungal organisms at the bottom of the pit when Irwin, who is inspecting the nearby area
on foot, reports two pairs of footsteps heading towards the base. Brunel speculates they might
be the footsteps of Dalby and Petrovic but is puzzled at them choosing to walk all the
way to the base instead of taking the rover. Back at the base, Kim and Harrington prepare
for two possible casualties. Suddenly, Petrovic appears outside the base. Harrington then
swiftly opens the airlock, and Petrovic enters the base, immediately collapsing on the ground.
A worried Harrington then helps Petrovic open his helmet when he is shocked to see a blackened,
zombie-like Petrovic gasping for air. The exposure to the fungal organism has altered
Petrovic into a fast, aggressive, intelligent, zombie-like creature with blackened skin and
no trace of his original personality. Petrovic then picks up an electric drill and bores
a hole in Harrington’s abdomen. A zombie Dalby next arrives and starts chasing
Kim around the base. A severely wounded Harrington manages to drag and lock himself inside the
control. He issues a call for Mayday to Brunel before finally passing away. The two zombies
then gang up on Kim. While fighting off Petrovic, Kim notices Dalby drinking water from the
laboratory floor like an animal. Kim eventually manages to lock herself away from them.
Brunel finally arrives at the base and orders Campbell to wait outside while Lane and Irwin
secure the other side of the base. After reaching Kim, Brunel is alarmed to see a possessed
Dalby and Petrovic frantically attacking the gate. He tells Kim to suit up while he holds
them off at the door. Kim swiftly suits up and exits out of the airlock.
The now possessed Petrovic strikes Brunel with a pickaxe below his collar bone but he
manages to run outside and eventually lock the zombies inside.
The remaining crew outside swiftly carry a fatally injured Brunel into the Hydroponic
dome. They lay him on a table and clean his wound but are surprised to see a lack of blood
coming out from his wound. Brunel then reports suffering memory loss and being thirsty, so
Irwin brings a bottle of water and quenches Brunel’s thirst when he suddenly starts
choking Irwin with his hand. Brunel has been exposed to the organism and is slowly reanimating
into a zombie. The scared crew then ties him up on the table. Meanwhile, Dalby and Petrovic
blow up a part of the dome and manage to break free, shutting down all communication services.
Realizing the importance of contacting the Aurora lander, Campbell decides to go back
to the Tantalus base to fix the communication services using the oxygen feed pipe connecting
the Tantalus base and the hydroponic dome. As Brunel is slowly transforming into a zombie,
Lane takes Brunel’s blood sample and studies the bacteria that turns humans into monsters.
Lane and Kim test a range of antibiotics with them against the bacteria to find a possible
cure. They decide to use the decontamination spray in the airlock to deliver the solution
to the zombie’s body. They then test the antibiotic on a tied-up Brunel. After being
injected with the antibiotic, the bacteria in Brunel’s bloodstream stop multiplying
and shows zero motility. Back at the base, Campbell fixes the communication
services and establishes communication with the Aurora Lander. However, just as he issues
a mayday call, the communication breaks down again. Dalby and Petrovic, tired of unsuccessfully
attempting to break into the hydroponic dome, start returning back to the base. Kim swiftly
opens the airlock to lure the zombies back towards them. Dalby takes the bait and returns
to the hydroponic dome, but Petrovic disappears. Lane then learns that the effect of the antibiotic
is only temporary, and the bacteria is swiftly developing resistance.
Campbell soon finds out that a reanimated Harrington broke down the communication. Harrington
chases Campbell into the oxygen feed pipe. Campbell manages to get into the Hydroponic
dome, but a zombie Harrington tags along, and a struggle follows. Kim then distracts
Harrington and tells the other crew to run to the airlock. Irwin falls to the ground
and struggles to get up, but Campbell and Lane manage to get to the airlock. Harrington
eventually subdues Kim but Irwin wastes on time and traps her with Harrington and closes
the airlock behind him. The remaining crew decides to flee to the Rover, but Dalby manages
to stab Lane’s leg inside the airlock with a scissor before she escapes.
The survivors – Campbell, Irwin, and Lane – start heading towards the Aurora lander
landing site but soon learn that the rover doesn’t have enough power to reach the location.
They then decide to get to the other fully charged rover, which is still at the site
of the fissure. After reaching the site of the sinkhole, afraid of Lane's possible infection,
Irwin steals the second rover under the pretense of a scouting operation. Irwin then gives
a warning to Campbell that if he wants to come with him on Rover 2, he must abandon
Lane. Meanwhile, Irwin himself conceals evidence of his possible infection. Refusing Irwin’s
offer, Campbell sticks with Lane on Rover 1. While waiting for the sun to rise and the
solar-powered batteries to recharge, Campbell and Lane fall asleep.
The next morning, Campbell wakes up alone in the Rover and realizes that Lane has fled
into the desert, afraid that she might attack him because of her infection. He notices her
footsteps on the sand and chases her. Campbell eventually finds her in the desert and pleads
with her to come back. Lane fails to deter him from following her, then commits suicide
by removing her helmet in desperation. A panicking and sobbing Campbell holds Lane in his arms
as she passes away. Bereaved, Campbell mourns his loss when Lane swiftly reanimates and
starts attacking him. Blind in love, he tries to hold her and begs
her to stop. Resisting the zombie inside her, Lane pleads with Campbell to finish her. Finally,
Campbell reluctantly complies by bashing her head in with a rock. Campbell and Irwin then
separately converge on the Aurora lander. As the Aurora lander touches down, the zombies
start racing towards it. Soon the zombies surround the Lander. Campbell tries to warn
the unsuspecting crew to not open the bay doors but with no success. By the time he
reaches the lander, all the crew members are slaughtered. As he gets closer to the lander,
he sees a reanimated Kim feeding on a dead crew while Petrovic and the other zombies
appear void of moisture and inert. Campbell carefully boards the lander anticipating attacks.
He eventually gets to the cockpit and is amazed to find an infected Irwin still wishing to
return to earth. A panting Irwin then tries to remember his daughter’s name. He tells
Campbell that he wants to feel his hands again. Campbell empathizes with him and helps him
remember his daughter’s name but then tells him that they can’t take that bacteria back
to earth. A stubborn Irwin then attacks Campbell with an infected knife but Campbell manages
to stop him and swats the knife from his hand. However, Irwin then slams Campbell into the
ground and picks up his knife, and stabs Campbell’s helmet, slashing his cheek. Irwin then gets
back to the seat and initiates a launch, but Campbell pulls out the knife and again attacks
him. They struggle to take each other out as the Lander flies vertically towards space.
Eventually, Campbell subdues Irwin by continually slamming his helmet on Irwin’s head. The
lander enters the mars’ orbit and their bodies, along with Irwin's virulent tar-esque
blood droplets, start floating on the ship. Campbell then drags Irwin’s body and his
bloodstained helmet into the airlock and opens it, ejecting him and his virulent blood droplets
into the vacuum of space. Later, in a message to mission control, Campbell
says he does not have enough fuel to reach the Aurora, but supplies aboard can last for
months if they want to launch a rescue. He then also warns them that this might not be
advisable as he could be infected. If so he says that he has just enough fuel for re-entry
into the atmosphere and a fast death. Campbell concludes that it will take 15 minutes for
the transmission to be received and will await their reply. He subsequently ends the communication,
still floating alone in space. Thanks for watching! Make sure to like and
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