Hollywood has always been a copycat industry, and there are countless instances of two movies of similar natures, settings, and themes being in development at the same time and released in close proximity to each other. Just a quick sampling of this ongoing mirroring effect includes "Deep Star Six" and "Leviathan", "Dante's Peak" and Volcano," and "Deep Impact" and "Armageddon."
So it's not exactly a cosmic coincidence that "Mission to Mars" and "Red Planet," a pair of big-budget Tinseltown sci-fi projects centered around Earth's mysterious neighbor, were both launched eight months apart in 2000 and are now celebrating their 25th anniversaries in 2025. But is one really superior to the other?
