We have just received some detailed information about the upcoming DVD Mars, The Red Planet – very detailed actually. Scheduled for a release on September 28, this DVD is an exhaustive exploration of Mars, or what we know about it so far, utilizing some interesting technologies to make the information accessible to viewers.

It has two different modes, one for viewers to sit back, relax and watch 90+ minutes of beautiful video and audio about, you guessed it, Mars. But there’s also an “Interactive Mode” that will give you the chance to explore the disc with its over 1,000 individual media elements.

Another exciting feature of the release is the “Planetary Views” sequence that includes six unique camera angles, each of them showing a full rotation of Mars with a field of view of about 30 degrees. Combined with four Dolby Digital 5.1 channel audio tracks, this should make for a highly entertaining and informative ride through space.

But there’s much more to this disc, like a section that contains 2D and 3D video and still images of Mars“ surface. Is it just me, or are 3D presentations becoming fashionable again? This disc will also include a pair of custom 3D glasses like some other releases to show up soon.

Four different slide shows are also included providing an in depth look at the 200 largest features on Mars, including craters, valleys, volcanoes, mountain ranges, canyons, and rifts. Each slide show includes a Dolby Digital 5.1 channel audio track and an informational subtitle track.

Tired of reading yet? We have more…

The Mars Missions section on the disc provides viewers in depth multimedia
information on all the successful past, present and future (planned)
missions to Mars. This section has video, audio, text and graphics
including four different liftoff sequences, as well as detailed coverage of
the two US missions that will arrive at Mars in late 1999 (Mars Climate
Observer and Mars Polar Lander).

Over 900 chapters of interactive maps that are linked by over 8,000 menu buttons to form a fully interactive map of Mars will also be on the disc. As well as a gallery of art from renowned space artists, complemented with a Dolby Digital 5.1 channel performance of Gustav Holst’s ”The Planets“ (Yesss!) performed by Ryan Shore. Shore also composed three new songs for this title that complete
Holst’s tour of the solar system by adding the songs “Earth”, “Pluto” and
“Sun”.

“Mars, The Red Planet” will supposedly also go down in history as the disc with the most Easter Eggs. Over 200 Easter Eggs are reportedly hidden on the disc, and they will be combined with give-away prizes on the disc’s official web site. Bear in mind however that this site will not go live until the disc’s official release.

Produced by Ralph LaBarge, one of the driving forces behind the DVD technologies, has been able to utilize Microsoft’s new WebDVD specifications on this title for the best possible Internet connectivity. To round the release off, a number of DVD-ROM only features will also be implemented.