MovieChat Forums > The Last Days on Mars (2013) Discussion > The Ending

The Ending

posted 10 years ago by peter-m-blair
38 replies | jump to latest

All of this is spoiler. So if you haven't watched it, don't expect much and enjoy it. I did. (And before everyone trolls that I like an English film because I'm from England/UK please know I am a Scot, and live in Scotland. Any film's origin has no effect on whether I like a film or not.)

So the ending. Not many choices on what happens.

1. He is infected and said that he'd move the ship to burn up in atmosphere.
2. He is infected and he doesn't burn ship up in atmosphere.
3. He is infected and mission control help him out.
4. He isn't infected and mission control helps him out.
45 He isn't infected and mission control leaves him.

1. He dies. Simple

2. He doesn't burn ship up in atmosphere and he is infected then he will be a zombie in space. Possible sequel? I doubt it.

3/4/5. Mission Control will refuse to help him. I use Apollo 18 ending as same scenario. They will not risk a zombie bacteria on earth, that is if they believe that side of the story, (doubtful). If they don't believe that then they'll believe he is crazy. Only way to resolve the situation is to way up the risks and leave him for dead. Cheaper for governments.

So either he dies...he dies...or dies into zombie and there is a sequel.

Anyone else got possible ending scenarios?

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] DarkTheater 10 years ago

That's how I took it, too

BLACK BAR

[–] AGreenman19 10 years ago

Yes, but you're completely missing the point OP made.

Even if he isn't infected, do you think mission control is just going to let him stroll aboard? The catastrophic consequences associated with such a disease are far too dangerous to risk a rescue mission. Have you ever seen a zombie flick? If even the slightest hint of bacteria makes the journey back to earth (regardless if Sabretooth is dead or not), it would be the end of civilization as we know it.

Therefore, the most logical course of action is to leave Sabretooth to die, even if he isn't infected, and then abandon the Mars mission completely, leaving all the equipment there and never set foot on that hellscape ever again.

Point is, the man is dead and gone regardless of what happens.

[–] Demarates 10 years ago

Agreed, the risk of going after him is far too great. What is saving one life (maybe) when you risk humanity in the process ?

He might as well drop out of orbit and burn up in the atmosphere right away.

When I'm gone I would like something to be named after me. A psychiatric disorder, for example.

[–] vigyanik-376-619315 10 years ago

There is a very crucial plot element that plays a role here: when he announced that he may be infected, mission control did not acknowledge. It's possible they didn't hear him. By the time mission control finds/communicates with him, he may be infected and he may not want to end his life once the bacteria takes over. That makes for a very interesting sequel.

[–] whitewolf-4 10 years ago

Ah... but here is the thing: note carefully what Campbell sees on the way to the lander (after killing Lane):

- from the ridge, he sees three forms approaching the lander, plus Irwin in the Rover.

After hearing the Lander crew 'attacked', he keeps running, and sees:

- first was Dalby (Infectee #2) in her suit but faceplate cracked;
- then another body, suited with helmet off - looked like Kim (Infectee #5);
- then one in a suit kneeling over another (probably the Lander crew, newly infected);
- then the dessicated body of a suitless man on the way to the lander (Marco or Harrington)

Now Marco was Infectee #1, Dalby was #2; #3 was Harrington (opened the airlock & was 'drilled' by Marco); #4 was Brunel (axe'd by Marco); #5 was Irwin (grabbed by Brunel); #6 was Kim (trapped by dead-Harrington & coward-Irwin); and #7 was Lane (stabbed in the leg by Dalby)

So Campbell knows that Dalby is down, as are Kim and Lane (all three females), Brunel was left strapped to the table in Hydroponics, and with Irwin in the lander (then spaced), the 'dessicant' is either Marco (#1) or Harrington (#3) but it doesn't matter, right?

If Campbell relays that data to Mission Control, they will deduce (as I have) that the 'zombies' probably have limited duration in Mars atmosphere, and the 'threat of infection' will be probably be limited to the corpses, and the excavation site (but because of its opening to 'atmosphere', the organism may die or 'go dormant' there)

If Campbell does not succumb within 20 hours, which is more time than it took for Irwin and Lane to 'turn' after contact, he could be considered 'clean'. The planet would conceivably be 'safe' by the time a rescue ship arrives (with a current delay of 15 minutes, the Earth is 240 million miles away).

But was the inside of the Aurora Lander and/or outside of Campbell's suit contaminated? I wouldn't take the risk - Campbell and Lander are toast. Surely he can see the logic in his death either way. I'm sure Mission Control would say so too.

I liked it despite the stupidity of the 'nauts - incapacitate then decapitate. Its what I'd have done, forget the antibiotic crap. I won't go into the other 'stupid moves'... but the Tech was nice (suits, rovers, and lander...)

WhiteWolf

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jeff-1076 10 years ago

"when he announced that he may be infected, mission control did not acknowledge. "

As he said: you should get this message in 15 minutes. That's about how long it takes for a radio signal to get from Mars to Earth, he was radioing Mission Control back on Earth, that is why he didn't get an immediate answer.

What I found silly though was that there was nobody aboard the Aurora that he could talk to, did they really all go down in the lander and leave nobody up in orbit?

[–] vigyanik-376-619315 10 years ago

Agreed. But it's still possible that mission control never got the message.

[–] polsixe 9 years ago

Or send a Halo type combat squad to eliminate the f**ckers who did this.

[–] rjd1-1 10 years ago

If someone says you like English films, even after pointing out you are a Scot, they know nothing about history. :-) Besides, what's wrong with someone liking English films because they are a Brit? Tons of people swear by Hollywood films, and only Hollywood films, and no one seems to get on their case. I'm an American, and I love all movies, including Janus oldies, so I guess that makes me a movie traitor. :-)

[–] I_Guard_Tanelorn 10 years ago

He's dead either way. He's either infected and dead or floating in space waiting to die.

"I said no camels, that's five camels, can't you count?"

[–] amorbrujo_ar 10 years ago

Sorry for my poor English.

As you ask, another possible scenario is that the greed of military humans belief about the virus and tray to retrieve him for the amazing properties like the movie "aliens".

In these case the possible futures scenarios are infinite, but human race can be erased, for such action. Thinking about how stupid the humans are sometimes.

Thanks.

[–] georgegliddy 10 years ago

WELL I DNT LIKE IT WHEN SUCH HUMANS IS SO BAD.......BCOS THEY TRY 2 KILL ALL HUMANTYS AND THAT WUD B VRY BAD??????

[–] moizmad 10 years ago

Either way, they have to neutralize the bacteria no matter how dangerous it will be. Mars is the only suitable planet for us to colonize and we don't have much time to start terra-forming and terra-farming it post-haste. We are rapidly outgrowing and abusing our home planet and the sooner we get there the better.

[–] georgegliddy 10 years ago

well wut????? ur wrds r very weerd???

[–] flipper33 10 years ago

this film ending is open for people to make up their own mind about what happened next, if i`m not mistaken in this film they were the second group to go to mars, so if he isn`t infected nasa would move heaven and earth to rescue him, after all he knows what happened and they would rather have a live person than a ship log to go by, espically considering that going to mars wouldn`t be the end of it, one failed mission and we wouldn`t abandon our conquest of space, maybe there`s an extra somewhere that shows him surviving and being rescued, after all a sequel would be really boring.

she always did enjoy a good squeeze.

[–] georgegliddy 10 years ago

well ur words is 2 confusing 2 ok.....bcos u wrote on 2 much wich is 2 hard 2 remember wut u mean and ok i just dnt like it 2 b that......

[–] meikido 9 years ago

Is it really an option to colonize Mars?
Mars is pretty dead as a planet, not only on the surface but also it's core.
Earth is super young and fresh compared to Mars.

[–] Dejay 7 years ago

Yeah it's much more likely to colonize the moon first. You can't really colonize the surface of mars, since even if you could create an atmosphere there it would just blow away and you would still get irradiated without a magnetic belt.

And if you are going to live in underground habitats you could do the same on the moon. Closer to earth and less gravity to lift or land materials.

Of course there is more water and oxygen on mars but I'm not sure how much you really need with good recycling.

[–] mickmaxy 9 years ago

WELL I DNT LIKE IT WHEN SUCH HUMANS IS SO BAD.......BCOS THEY TRY 2 KILL ALL HUMANTYS AND THAT WUD B VRY BAD??????

Please do the planet a favour and irradiate yourself so you cannot dilute the human race with your offspring. If you're a troll or just have the IQ of one I dont really care, please don't post on this site again.

[–] georgegliddy 9 years ago

well u cnt tell me wut 2 do???? well ur telling 4 me 2 nuc myself wich is vry bad and prolly h8 speches.....well pls dnt b so mean and try 2 b nice 2 every 1....... ok also ur pix is vr scarey 2 me......

[–] mickmaxy 9 years ago

I would reply to you georgegliddy but I don't speak gibberish so I don't know what you said nor do I actually care, therefore I fear you would not understand anything I say as I speak a language called English. Try it sometime, I hear it's quite popular in a lot of countries.

[–] georgegliddy 9 years ago

well ok.......well i spk AMERCIAN ok not dum dum english bcos those bad englad peeps always h8 on us and prolly want 2 nuc on us and even yell at us???? well so i wud nvr do such........

[–] weird_beard 9 years ago

We Americans h8 peeps who can't write, too.

[–] georgegliddy 9 years ago

well ok so u know wut i mean about such engl peeps???

[–] weird_beard 9 years ago

Nope. Total anglophile here. Maybe if you spent more time learning to write in human, you wouldn't h8 intelligent peeps so much.

[–] NatalieFan 9 years ago

What are you twelve? You have to be a special kind of ignorant to make fun of someone who is speaking/typing English as a second language when they warn you and apologize in advance for their poor English.

He got his points across just fine, despite the language barrier.

[–] georgegliddy 8 years ago

welll ok sir or mam well im prolly so much older then u ok???? well i done my schools and my tchr said im vry specal and i cud do anything even b presdent sumday if i want 2 do it........so mayb i cud even fly 2 the moon and b superman bcos she wud NOT lie 2 me but i dont know how 2 do it so i will try and bcum it......

well ok also i spk on AMERCNA ok NOT dum dum englsih bcos were here in america ok?????

[–] mickmaxy 9 years ago

I'm no rocket scientist, but when he says he will re-enter Mars' atmosphere to burn up his ship, well....isn't his ship designed to enter Mars' atmosphere...? There is no fuel remaining so how will he achieve this in the first place?

Overall I thought this film was pretty lame in most aspects anyway.

[–] meikido 9 years ago

He just said he didn't have enough fuel to get back to the Aurora. I'm guessing he has enough fuel to dip out of the orbit and then fall down on Mars. And burning up in the atmosphere is pretty easy, it's actually super hard not to burn up when entering an atmosphere. The angle and speed are very important so mess with that a little and the lander will start burning and falling apart.

[–] mickmaxy 9 years ago

Good point, trajectory is key to a successful landing.

[–] Flosive 9 years ago

The open ending was just another dose of pointless letdown trying to be something it wasn't. A fitting end to the movie.

*
Last seen: The Last Days on Mars (2013) 5/10

[–] BYellin 8 years ago

No open ending here.
To me, the last shot clearly shows the lander in orbit, traveling away from the camera. It tips nose-down, then you see the engines fire.
Campbell takes 'er on in, as he said he'd do.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Dejay 7 years ago

Just checked again, and you only see blinking lights but no engines fire. He either got infected and forgot to self destruct, or he lives in his flying coffin.

[–] Panpl 8 years ago

I don't know what kind of an astronaut he was supposed to be, but his ship won't "burn up in atmosphere". Mars has an atmosphere with a thickness of about 1/135 of Earth's atmosphere. His ship will fly straight through it and disintegrate upon impact with the surface.

[–] Dejay 7 years ago

I wondered about that too. But apparently you still can burn up in thin atmosphere:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_atmospheric_entry

Mars atmospheric entry is the entry into the atmosphere of Mars. High velocity entry into Martian air creates a CO2-N2 plasma, as opposed to O2-N2 for Earth air.[1] Mars entry is affected by the radiative effects of hot CO2 gas and Martian dust suspended in the air.

Any lander probably wants to make use of aerobreaking and parachutes to bleed of speed in order to conserve fuel. So you only carry enough fuel to keep the lander light. So basically it always gets calculated so that you need to fly smart and always have a heat peak. So if you don't have the right angle you burn up. Just a theory though.