Customer Reviews

Ghosts of Mars

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(31)
2 star:		(27)
1 star:		(50)

 

 

It's John Carpenter, so what does everyone expect? I know what I expected, and "Ghosts of Mars" pretty much delivered. Thudding sound track, B-movie dialogue, heads on stakes, "Road Warrior" like zanies with metal sticking out of their faces stalking the "good" guys. Bring on the popcorn. Then there's a humorous twist. The "guys" in this future world live in a Matriarchy. Guys make the coffee, defer to the women, but also are told to deal with mechanical problems when they arise. (Well, at least the "breeder" - Jason Statham as Jericho - does.) Carpenter works all kinds of little jokes into the script on this wrinkle alone. Natasha Henstridge as the tough cop hero, and Ice Cube, as the con hero, are serviceable - and they know when to shoot, kick, and punch. And that's all that's needed here. I don't know who the main Martian is (he looks like Marilyn Manson in Kabuki), but he's perfect! Four stars for operating well within genre.

Just because a movie stinks, is no reason not to watch it. Some movies you watch BECAUSE they stink. This is one of them.

Nothing in this movie makes sense.

No, no - NOTHING!

Mars is ruled by a matriarchy. WHY?

A man cuts off his own thumb. WHY?

The entire movie is told in multiple flashbacks. WHY?

There are flashbacks within flashbacks...WITHIN FLASHBACKS! WHY?

Natasha Henstridge stars - and DOESN'T STRIP! WHY?

Henstridge is a lawman - er, "person" - who allies herself with a notorious criminal...even AFTER the mutual threat they're fighting is over! WHY?

ICE CUBE! ON MARS!! WHY?

Jailbreakers get themselves locked in the same cell as the guy they're trying to bust out! WHY??

Joanna Cassidy in a hot-air balloon - ON MARS!! WHY???

Aeons-old Martian gas makes men into ooga-chaka zombies, who grunt to "I Can't Stop This Feeling, Deep Inside of Me"!! WHY?!?

The Martian zombies dress for a Kiss video - ON MARS!! WHY!?!

The good guys escape, only to rush back into the jaws of certain doom - FOR NO GOOD REASON!!! WHY!!!

You might get the impression I hate this movie. I don't. I actually love it. It's one of my personal favorites. I honestly couldn't stop cat-calling it out loud at the theater - and I NEVER cat-call movies (at least, in public).

But that's exactly why you have to see this movie. It's just UNGODLY fun. This is THE perfect movie, for your own Friday night Mystery Science Theater party. It's as bad as Battlefield Earth, but much more gorgeously produced, and much, MUCH funnier.

Don't sit there, wondering WHY? Buy it, and find out. You'll watch it over and over again, marveling with each new viewing at the unbelievable WHYS??? you missed on your previous viewings.

Hey, if nothing else, Clea Duvall gets her head cut off. If that ain't worth the price of admission, I don't know what is.

John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars has pretty much everything I'm looking for in a Horror film. A barely plausible storyline, Wisconsin-French dialogue (Cheez-ay!), non-stop action, gore, eye candy (Natasha "Shoulda Got Naked Like She Did in Species" Henstridge), and a killer soundtrack.

"Whatever used to live here we woke it up."

The cast is great, Ice Cube as Desolation Williams and Mrs. Henstridge as Melanie Ballard are awesome in their roles. Pam Grier has a head supporting role, and her best line is "Who goes there?" which is a sly nod from Carpenter to his insane masterpiece The Thing (based on the story Who Goes There?).

Decapitations, body mutilations, an angry army of Martian Ghost Zombies and plenty of jolts make this a worthy 98 minute diversion. Watching this you can just tell that everyone was enjoying the hell out of making the film. Which is the best part about seeing a Carpenter movie, you know that big studio tampering was either kept to a minimum or eliminated altogether. A masterful mix of sci-fi and horror that seems destined to become a cult favorite, just like John Carpenter.
Any fan of no brainer popcorn flicks should check this movie out.

I actually liked this movie. It is just simple ridiculous fun. Not too much to think about or analyze but
still enjoyable if you don't go into it with any expectations. As many other reviewers point out, the plot, script, acting and effects are lack luster at best, but if you know that is what they were shooting for, then you can really find a couple hours entertainment. The only disappointing part were the "ghosts" because they didn't look very alien. I guess I shouldn't have had any expectations about that though...

... Carpenter is king, and this movie is a sly, cool homage, send-up to his own style, his influences, and so forth. In a way it has just about every Carpenter motif there is, especially the nods to THE THING and RIO BRAVO. Cube and Syl make a great team, and the red and black color scheme is relaxing and sexy. Just understand that Carpenter has his tongue too deeply in his cheek for any normal man to see. So stop asking why and start asking why not? .... One day, John's name will be among them in the ranks of great filmmakers inspired by Hollywood. ....

In a year of dreary, nonsensical action films (like Tomb Raider, Pearl Harbor and The Mummy Returns...), "John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars" is our salvation: an action-adventure movie that actually works. It's a quasi-remake of "Zulu" set on Mars, with some of "Assault on Precinct 13" and "Rio Bravo" in the mix for good measure. This is a wildly entertaining film with great "attacking horde" action scenes like those not seen since George Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" in 1979. A brilliant siege movie, this film has good (not great) special effects, terrific B-movie performances (especially from the fetching Hentridge...), clever structure, and kick-ass music. There was no better time at the movies this year, and though Ebert and Roeper gave it two thumbs up, most critics really missed the boat! Buy this one and watch it again and again...You don't have to like John Carpenter to enjoy this film: it's just rip-roaring action in the horror-sci-fi tradition.

Despite the basically unexplained absurdity of the whole storyline, Ghosts of Mars is a pretty entertaining film to watch, what with all of the explosions, gun battles, decapitations, and bare-fisted brawls riding the crests of John Carpenter's hard-driving musical score. Sure, it takes a little while to put the characters in place and set the Martian scene for us, but once the gauntlet drops, it's pretty much on. You don't need a lot of character development in an action thriller like this one because you know most of the characters you meet aren't going to survive in the end, anyway. I do have to deduct some points for the whole flashback business, though. It's bad enough that the bulk of the film is presented as a flashback, but when you start putting flashbacks inside your flashbacks, I've got to stop you right there and call Shenanigans. Flashbacks within flashbacks should be the sole province of fifth-year, we've-run-out-of-ideas sit-coms.

It's the year 2176 and man has established a strong presence on Mars, setting up mining colonies all over the increasingly terra-formed planet. Society is set up along matriarchal lines, which should be interesting but isn't because the story just throws that out there and does nothing with it. It certainly does nothing to stop the practice of male sexism because Sgt. Jericho Butler (Jason Statham, who always brings plenty of action to the party) spends most of his time (when he's not fighting for his life, of course), trying to get into the 22nd century knickers of his superior officer Lt. Melanie Ballard (Natasha Henstridge). Ballard and Jericho are part of a quintet of cops dispatched to a remote post to pick up a prisoner and bring him back for trial. This isn't just any prisoner, though; no, this is the formidable Desolation Williams (Ice Cube), a dangerous but as of yet thrice-acquitted murderer now accused of slaughtering six people. When the cops arrive, they are disconcerted to find a virtual ghost town. Williams is still secured in his cell, but most everyone else in town is hanging upside down, sans head, in one building or another. We already know from the early minutes of the film that Ballard is the only person to make it back to base camp (a fact which robs the movie of a great deal of potential suspense); what we don't know is what happened out there - and that doesn't become perfectly clear until the end of the movie.

Natasha Henstridge doesn't really do a lot for me, but she was pretty good in this film (although some of the scenes wherein she shows her authority and general toughness rang a little hollow). She's not your ideal cop, and that makes her character more interesting - especially when everything hits the fan and she's forced to seriously change tactics in an attempt to survive. I thought Ice Cube was great; his is really the most interesting character in the film, and even Jason Statham can't match him in the "one tough hombre" department. For their part, the "ghosts of Mars" aren't impressive at all, and their minions (whom they "possess") look like a huge gang of WWE rejects trying to channel The Crow. They are evil and relentless (not to mention ugly), though, which pretty much guarantees that all of the fight and battle scenes are going to be fiercely waged. Their little flying body slicers are particularly effective at disarming (and sometimes even "dis-heading") their victims.

Basically, Ghosts of Mars is more of an action movie that just so happens to take place on Mars than it is a makes-you-think kind of science fiction offering. If you're not into relatively bloody action movies, you probably won't enjoy this film very much.

That Ebert gave this horrible movie a thumbs-up is court-presentable evidence that he didn't even watch it. This is a horrible movie. Cheap sets, poor lighting, unrealistic costumes, and I just named its "good" points. The acting in this movie was as bad as the dialogue. None of these actors or actresses really should work again ... or at least until they've gone through acting school again. As for the plot, it isn't even laughable. It is just a groan fest. This is Carpenter's first movie after ten years and it just proves that making a good movie isn't like riding a bicycle. You do forget how to do it. John Carpenter definitely did. Do not buy this DVD. Do not rent it. Do not even borrow it from your public library for free. If the rating system could allow negative numbers, I'd give this movie -5. It isn't as bad as Battlefield Earth, but it isn't that far behind either.

If your a Fan of John Carpenters work as I am you will love this BD, I have owned the DVD and directly compared this version for Picture and Sound (Tru-HD vs DD) and there is a noticeable difference in both, eventhough Bluray.com did not give it the greatest review, I can highly recommend it compared to the DVD.

This film may become a classic B movie with the best of worlds, sci-fi & horror. Ghost of Mars is a movie with a cheesy storyline, science fiction (future Mars colony), horror (ghosts) and starring some well known performers.