Video Rentals

1 The patriot

$8.8 million 2 weeks in release $18.72 million to date

PLOT A South Carolina planter is drawn into a guerrilla war against the British during the American Revolution.

MESSAGE Liberty is worth fighting and even dying for.

CAUTION Rated R for strong war violence.

$7.98 million 1 week in release $7.98 million to date

PLOT A cop uses an old ham radio to talk to his firefighting father 30 years in the past and warn him of his impending death.

MESSAGE Changing the past changes the future in ways you can't anticipate.

CAUTION Rated PG-13 for violence and disturbing images.

$4.33 million 4 weeks in release $22.2 million to date

PLOT A Marine colonel faces a court-martial when a mission to save an ambassador results in civilian deaths.

MESSAGE A big gray area exists between combat and murder.

CAUTION Rated R for bad language and war violence.

$3.41 million 1 week in release $3.41 million to date

PLOT Romance about a woman who gets a heart transplant and later falls in love with the widower of the organ donor.

MESSAGE Life goes on after someone dies-and death doesn't always leave an unhappy ending.

CAUTION Rated PG for bad language.

$3.35 million 5 weeks in release $25.38 million to date

PLOT WWII submarine drama about an American crew trying to grab a top-secret coding device from a German U-boat.

MESSAGE War makes ordinary men do amazing things.

CAUTION Rated PG-13 for violence and some bad language.

Let's go to Mars! Hollywood took two trips this year, with uneven results. First was the flop Mission To Mars, and now we have Red Planet (Warner Bros.; rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence, brief nudity, and language). This one has Val Kilmer among a crew making the first manned trip to Mars, hoping to pave the way for colonization. It's 2050 and humanity has wrecked Earth and needs a new home. Mr. Kilmer and his companions wind up stuck on Mars, hoping to get out of trouble before they run out of air. Meanwhile, their leader (Carrie-Anne Moss) is back at the ship with her own problems. Red Planet moves along predictable lines, throwing endless nods to 2001: A Space Odyssey, even throwing in a malfunctioning robot. It's about as good (or bad) as most sci-fi adventure movies of its ilk, with an unusual twist being a theistic backdrop. One crew member talks about how "science can't answer all the really interesting questions" and the gang starts pondering God's existence while waiting for an expected doom. It turns out there is life on Mars, a form that offers no easy scientific explanation. Too bad none of this is handled with any depth; Red Planet might have been worth the trip.