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The story underpinning Mars Attacks is pretty thin to say the least but perhaps there are reasons for that. I'm not however going to say that what it has story wise is bad though - as it isn't.
The age old questions of what a first encounter with alien life forms would be like, what ... Read review
Stars that shine across the galaxy. Jack Nicholson (in a dual role) Glenn Close Annette ... more
Bening Pierce Brosnan Danny DeVito and a dozen more. And mean green invaders from the angry red planet! Armed with insta-fry ray guns endowed with slimy hu...
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It's enlightening to view Tim Burton'sMars Attacks!as his twisted satire of the ... more
blockbuster filmIndependence Day, which was released earlier the same year, although the movies were in production simultaneously. Burton's eye-popping, schlock tribute to 1950s UFO movies actually plays better on video than it did in cinemas. The idea of invading aliens ray-gunning the big-name movie stars in the cast is a cleverly subversive one, and the bulb-headed, funny-sounding animated Martians are pretty nifty, but it all seemed to be spread thin on the big screen. On video, however, the movie's kooky humour seems a bit more concentrated. The Earth actors (most of whom get zapped or kidnapped for alien science experiments) include Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito, Martin Short, Sarah Jessica Parker, Rod Steiger, Michael J Fox, Lukas Haas, Jim Brown, Tom Jones and Pam Grier.--Jim Emerson
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It's enlightening to view Tim Burton'sMars Attacks!as his twisted satire of the ... more
blockbuster filmIndependence Day, which was released earlier the same year, although the movies were in production simultaneously. Burton's eye-popping, schlock tribute to 1950s UFO movies actually plays better on video than it did in cinemas. The idea of invading aliens ray-gunning the big-name movie stars in the cast is a cleverly subversive one, and the bulb-headed, funny-sounding animated Martians are pretty nifty, but it all seemed to be spread thin on the big screen. On video, however, the movie's kooky humour seems a bit more concentrated. The Earth actors (most of whom get zapped or kidnapped for alien science experiments) include Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito, Martin Short, Sarah Jessica Parker, Rod Steiger, Michael J Fox, Lukas Haas, Jim Brown, Tom Jones and Pam Grier.--Jim Emerson
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Production Year: 2000 - Comedy - Director: David Raynr - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, Shane West, Marla Sokoloff, James Franco, Colin Hanks, Christine Lakin, Aaron Paul
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Comedy - Director: Tony Dow - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: John Challis, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Tessa Peake-Jones, Gwyneth Strong
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Advantages: Looks great Disadvantages: Ultimately shallow
...
The story underpinning Mars Attacks is pretty thin to say the least but perhaps there are reasons for that. I'm not however going to say that what it has story wise is bad though - as it isn't.
The age old questions of what a first encounter with alien life forms would be like, what Martians are like, and how the people of Earth would respond to such things can be handled in several ways. There's the slushy, drippy approach ... ...Mars Attacks most definitely tries for the later. You can forget 'intelligent' contact and life altering swapping of ideas, an instead get ready for a blast of 50's ray guns and wildly overblown characters.
Based on the trading card series of the...err...sometime in the past, Mars Attacks pays homage to the drive in movie generation and does so at the expense of scientific 'fact'. But in all actuality, who actually wants scientific ... more
That some director's can stamp their own distinctive style on a film is unquestionable and possibly the biggest exponent of this in recent years is Tim Burton. Even amidst the production line style that typifies the output of Hollywood these days, Burton still just has that wicked little streak of dark humour, and while other director's battle to make an impact, Timmy (as we may refer to him from here on in, I haven't decide yet) always injects his own look and feel. Even such mediocre efforts as Planet of The Apes just FEEL like a Burton movie (even if they are crap). Is any of this relevant? Do we even care anymore? Oh sod it, let's get on with the review.
When a Martian delegation sends a message to the people of Earth, the whole world gazes skywards and wonders about our nearest neighbours. The scientists are ecstatic, the military nervous, and the President has to weigh up whether or not this meeting will do his popularity rating any good or not. Following several rather disastrous meetings, it becomes obvious that the little green men (for that is what they are) are not the peace loving hyper intelligent species that was hoped for...they just want to trash the Earth.
The story underpinning Mars Attacks is pretty thin to say the least but perhaps there are reasons for that. I'm not however going to say that what it has story wise is bad though - as it isn't.
The age old questions of what a first encounter with alien life forms would be like, what Martians are like, and how the people of Earth would respond to such things can be handled in several ways. There's the slushy, drippy approach used by Star Trek and then there's the entertaining way. Mars Attacks most definitely tries for the later. You can forget 'intelligent' contact and life altering swapping of ideas, an instead get ready for a blast of 50's ray guns and wildly overblown characters.
Based on the trading card series of the...err...sometime in the past, Mars Attacks pays homage to the drive in movie generation and does so at the expense of scientific 'fact'. But in all actuality, who actually wants scientific fact? Mars Attacks sets out to entertain us and that's what it does. The garish colours, cartoon-esque characters and visuals are all hugely reminiscent of the B movie twaddle that flooded the movie market in the 50's and 60's and anyone who's seen such tripe as Earth vs The Flying Saucers or Attack of The Saucermen will know exactly what to expect. It even manages to have a typically 'lucky' ending that is just one more in the long line of 'lucky' endings that started waaaaay back with Wells' The War of The Worlds.
For all it's homage though, Mars Attacks is some what weak in the story department. It's characters never develop and it has an overall sense of the two dimensional. A good thing or a bad thing? Depends on what you're looking for. As to why it has a somewhat weak storyline, then you only have to look at the cast list...if you can ever finish it.
Like so many of the disaster movies of the 70's, Mars Attacks has a gargantuan cast and it's this that trips it up. I'll come back to the individual actors later but the film is simply too full of stars. By being forced to give each 'name' their five minutes of fame and a little scene that they can call their own, the film simply runs out of space to develop it's story - exactly like the 70's efforts. With little stories happening all over the place, the overall thrust of the story is unable to develop and it's this that gives the film an overall feeling of being lost.
Jack Nicholson takes on a dual role as the president and Vegas entrepreneur Art Land and he's good at both actually. Glenn Close is ...actually, I WON'T go through the whole cast as it would be a complete and utter waste of time. Suffice to say that the cast do a good job and there are some great little turns that manage to standout from the crowd. Brosnan and Parker are wonderfully air-headed together, Lisa Marie is deliciously over the top (just as in Ed Wood), and Tom Jones proves that singers aren't movie stars. That sounds cruel but Jones is out of his depth here and it shows.
That this is a Tim Burton film is without question and although it may not be as shadow drenched as Batman it does have that special undercurrent running throughout. The look and feel of the film is overblown and exaggerated and here Mars Attacks scores big time. As a spectacle, Burton creates a great film but it lacks the story and development to make it a great film. There are a few back stabbing lines and scenes that poke fun at various aspects of the (then) news but this is not what Mars Attacks sets out to do.
It's a film that tries to capture the 'kew-l' quality of the original trading cards and it does that well. That there is no story is pretty much by the by. Like a comic book come to life, Mars Attacks is bold, brash and tears along at a frenetic pace. Even if one story does slow though, we switch to another before we can ever get bored. Like channel surfing though that makes it difficult for us to get really involved though and we're right back at the door of the 70's disaster genre again.
The effects are great fun and there's a definite sense of humour that permeates the entire visual look of the film. The Martians are brought to life wonderfully and the CGi wizards were obviously kept very busy bringing this one to life.
Is it worth watching? My instant reaction is to say 'No'. It's not a bad film by any stretch of the imagination but it's certainly not a great film (and you might be pushing it to even say good). You get drawn in by the novelty factor at first but once that's gone, Mars Attacks manages to become dull and boring despite all of the effects and action going on. It becomes somewhat tiresome and after you've seen the Martians nuke one city, then what next? This is ultimately what makes us dislike it as we end up looking for the next 'big' scene only to have it fizzle out or not impress enough. We aren't blown away and although we watch just to try and catch some little inside joke or visual gag, we end up realising that it's not going to happen and we're bored.
Burton has made some great films over the years and will no doubt wow us for years to come but Mars Attacks isn't a great example of the man. If you loved Ed Wood or Batman, you'll be disappointed. Will anyone enjoy it? Hmm, tricky. The Nintendo generation will find that their 2 second attention span is well catered for but anyone who is looking for more than a seemingly endless parade of big guns and flashy explosions will soon find it to be a switch off
Advantages: Tim Burton's comedy alien film Disadvantages: none
This is a film of which I have fond memories, it was the first 12 rated film I ever saw in the cinema and I was taken to see it on my 12th birthday - to this day I dont know why as I never expressed an interest in it but never the less I went and found that I loved the film.
The film itself follows in the traditions of all good B movies, larger than life stereotyped characters, bright colours and ridiculous looking aliens!
It opens with a herd ... ...on fire the effect of which is lost on the small screen. The opening credits are shown over pictures of the Martian craft approaching and surrounding the Earth. Your first view of the Martians is when they take over a TV transmission, the martian is analysed by the scientist (Pierce Brosnan) and like all good B movies it is assumed that the Martians are intelligent. But they aren't in fact they are the Martian equivalent of the British football fan ...
scuba_angel 14.05.2007 (12.05.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Mars Attacks! (DVD)
Advantages: Varied characters, Tom Jones finale, just great fun Disadvantages: If you expect a classic Tim Burton film, you may be disappointed
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INTRO
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If you are like me and are an avid fan of Tim Burton's classics such as Edward Scissorhands (which i have also reviewed), and you are currently looking for another of his films to add to your favourites, this may not be the one. Even though i still love it, it is definitely not what you would expect from Tim Burton....is it weird? yes ...is it dark? I wouldn't say so, and that is why I think this is not typical spooky/dark/sinister ... ...green men from a neighbouring planet send a message to Earth, and us trusting Earthlings believe this to be the start of a beautiful friendship. Unfortunately, friendship does not seem to be what the aliens are thinking of...in fact they're thinking more along the line of killing everyone and taking over the World.
But, oblivious to this, the President of America (Jack Nicholas) goes to meet these aliens, with a huge audience standing by, wanting ...
eslffkjp123 09.07.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Mars Attacks! (DVD)
A UFO crashed lands and little green men with goggle eyes and gigantic, oversized heads greet the nation by saying ‘Ak, Ak, Ak’. Forget about peace and understanding, they want to delete the human race, so they proceed to shoot their laser beam guns and turn everyone into dust or some kind of weird creature. There’s an amazing cast line up to this movie.
Jack Nicholson is not only the President of the U.S. but also as a sleazy ... ...Brosnan as a scientific adviser, Annette Bening as a New Age freak obsessed with meeting the Martians. Danny DeVito as a lawyer who tries to reason with them, Jim Brown as a former heavyweight boxer who tries to takes them on. Sarah Jessica Parker and Michael J. Fox as news reporters, and other star appearances from Lisa Marie, Sylvia Sydney, Tom Jones, Pam Grier and Martin Short.
An example of the kind of antics that the aliens enjoy, is experimenting ...
michellej 31.08.2000 (07.03.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Mars Attacks! (DVD)
Advantages: for all the family Disadvantages: a bit bloody in parts
This film was fantastic,my kind of film.It is stretched to the limits of stupidness>even though it is a comedy it really makes you think that their is something out there and we are very vulnerable if anything did decide to give us a visit.The animation of the aliens were great.The special effects when the humans were in the space ship really made me laugh.This film is for everyone especially if you enjoy a good laugh,there are parts were it is quite ...
rachel1 12.07.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Mars Attacks! (DVD)
I love this movie!!!! It is great: humourous, colourful, just amazing!!!! The storyline, for those of you who haven't yet seen it, is about some aliens who plan to take over the earth by invading the White House. The aliens are so cute and typically green!!!! They make friends with the earthlings, but then attack them with their strange tactics as suspected!!!! You really have to watch it for yourself. It guest stars Tom Jones too!!!! It is a great ...
Roogirl 09.09.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Mars Attacks! (DVD)
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Reviews which might be of interest for "Mars Attacks! (DVD)"
see but a decent effort of a film shot what seems like a life time ago.
You can quite definitely see where Tim Burton got his idea of 'MarsAttacks' many years later.
It's a movie blockbuster of its day and of its era.
Watch it but don't worry if you miss it.
~DVD Features~
Format: Black & White, Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
Language English
Subtitles: Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
Region: Region 2
Number of discs: 1
Classification: U
Run Time: 79 minutes
Extras:
Harryhausen Chronicles: Some of his other works and illustrations of his trick photography.
Earth vs Flying Saucers Featurette
This Is Dynamation Featurette
Photo Gallery
Trailer
ASIN: B00005 ...
Advantages: Old but brilliant film and fab DVD extras Disadvantages: Not noticed much any more
My DVD player is featured and used on my PC itself. I find this really really good, useful and helpful and I find it works like any other DVD player would too but I do have one moan. As you probably all know you can have Region 1 and region 2 DVD's, my PC can only play region 2 DVD's, though it is possible to play both but then I run the risk of damaging my PC. Thats why I'm so impressed with this DVD (MarsAttacks) it's a region 2 DVD and has loads of impressive EXTRAS and is great quality too, during the film and the extras!
THE ACTORS/ACTRESSES
There is a great line-up of brilliant actors and actresses in this film, the film includes:
Jack Nicholson
Glenn Close
Annette Bening
Pierce Brosnan
Danny DeVito
There many many more famous and well known stars in this movie, including the one and only Tom Jones who plays ...
Advantages: some laugh out loud moments Disadvantages: something is missing ..
.
** Julianne moore **
She starred as FBI Agent Clarice Starling in the movie sequel Hannibal.
In Evolution , She plays Government scientist Allison in this film and starts off going head to head with Ira Kane and Harry Block but ends up teaming up with them to help banish the aliens off the planet.
Also stars in this film is Dan Akroyd who has appeared in many of Reitmans films including Ghostbusters 1 and 2.
His acting in this film is slightly over the top and isn't much to write home about. Its certainly not one of his best performances thats for sure.
********** Movie Reviews **************
" If you like your film fun , fast furious and full of fizz this is for you " 9/10 daily star.
Evolution is action packed science fiction that delivers plenty of laughs. If you enjoyed MIB or MARSATTACKS! you'll have a rollicking time ...
super_stevo 19.01.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Evolution (DVD)
Director Tim Burton unleashes MARS ATTACKS!, a vicious, affectionate, brightly-colored homage to 1950s alien invasion movies. When a shiny silver flying saucer lands in the Nevada desert, a group of skull-faced Martians exit the gleaming craft. Although they claim to be peaceful, they promptly "vaporize" a gathering of unfortunate Earthlings, kicking off a bizarre high-tech war with wild special effects. This studiously campy sci-fi spoof, based on a series of Topps bubble-gum cards, gleefully parodies not only schlock B-horror movies, but also overblown blockbusters such as INDEPENDENCE DAY. This subversive film is helped along by an all-star cast including Jack Nicholson in dual roles as both a clueless U.S. President (with First Lady Glenn Close) and a Las Vegas sleazebag. The film follows the wacky WAR OF THE WORLD--like proceedings from the points of view of numerous colorful characters, from the inane U.S. Press Secretary (Martin Short) to a trailer-park family (Lukas Haas and Sylvia Sidney), singer Tom Jones (as himself).
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