re: That's not how I saw Apollo 13
True, from a purely mission-oriented point of view, the mission was certainly a failure. But it also highlighted human ingenuity, especially when scientific intelligence seems to be in short supply in the movies, as well as tremendous courage and persistence. What could have been a tragedy turned out to be a triumph of human skill and bravery.
A Mars mission with some problems would make a much better movie than one without.