Mars Attacks!

1996 "Nice planet. We'll take it!"
6.4| 1h46m| PG-13| en
Details

A fleet of Martian spacecraft surrounds the world's major cities and all of humanity waits to see if the extraterrestrial visitors have, as they claim, "come in peace." U.S. President James Dale receives assurance from science professor Donald Kessler that the Martians' mission is a friendly one. But when a peaceful exchange ends in the total annihilation of the U.S. Congress, military men call for a full-scale nuclear retaliation.

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Reviews

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.
Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional
Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
beetle-259-554148 Okay, so what do you get when you take War of the Worlds, Earth vs the Flying Saucers, Independence Day, and combine that with the mind of the director of Ed Wood, Beetlejuice, and Edward Scissorhands who grew up watching those types of movies? The result is Mars Attacks!, a sci- fi parody with an all-star cast; Jack Nicholson, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Jessica Parker, Danny DeVito, Jack Black, Paul Winfield, Annette Bening, Rod Steiger, Natalie Portman, Lisa Marie, Glenn Close, Martin Short, Michael J. Fox, and Jack Nicholson!!Oh yes, this movie has stars a-plenty! This movie has more stars on Earth than you see in space!This movie is one that you either love or hate. I love it! Though there are reasons why I rated it 9 stars rather than 10. One reason is because a lot of the characters I wanted to see live don't survive. Hell, one of my favourite characters dies very early on.If this was another movie, the dated CG would've made me dock another star. But for the type of movie it is and for the genre it's spoofing, the now-poor CG works. In the '50s and '60s alien invader films that this makes fun of, the effects were dated in 1996 (strings visible that hold up the saucers, aliens obviously people in suits, etc). As a result, the effects in here being dated now unintentionally harks back to the dated effects of the '50s and '60s.One very interesting scene is when one of the buildings in Vegas is destroyed. In real life, that building was actually scheduled to be demolished! Tim Burton got permission to film the demolition of the Landmark Hotel and Casino from multiple angles and it's demolition was used in the film so when you it destroyed in the movie, it was actually destroyed (though no one was actually inside.).My mom told me that she saw this in the theatre and that it was the most terrifying movie she'd ever seen. Goes to show that Mars Attacks! isn't for everyone.So if you like Tim Burton, alien invader films, sci-fi comedies or even all three, definitely give this film a watch.Also, keep an eye out for the meat packing tycoon from Ed Wood, one of Burton's earlier films. He plays an investor in this film too.
FilmBuff1994 Mars Attacks is a mediocre movie with a poorly developed story, despite a top notch cast. For a film with a premise as bizarre as a group of aliens based on trading cards attacking Earth, parodying Science Fiction from the 1950's and featuring a gigantic slew of cameos, it is surprisingly bland. It does not deliver it's promise nearly as much as it could have, the cameos feel very much like they were done for the paycheck and its satire of cheesy disaster films was something we have already seen done, to a much more effective degree, by the Zucker brothers. The lead cast members do a good job, Jack Nicholson is great as the president and throws himself in to this universe effectively, Pierce Brosnan is also very funny in his professor role, proving comedic talent. It surprised me with a set up like this, directed by the versatile imagination of Tim Burton, that Mars Attacks bored me, it is not as bad as it could have been, but it was certainly was not as good either, might be worth the watch if you see it on television and want to form your own opinion, but I would not recommend it. The Government must act fast when the Earth is attacked by powerful aliens. Best Performance: Jack Nicholson/ Worst Performance: Tom Jones
sddavis63 My first impression of this film from director Tim Burton is that it was pretty slow to get started. Indeed, it takes quite a while before Mars attacks anything or anyone. But once things get started (about 30 minutes or so in) this turns into a decent comedy-action movie that's fun to watch. Not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, but fun and witty, including some decent political commentary that seemed to skewer conservative and liberal alike, as the general (Rod Steiger) takes a "nuke 'em" position before there's even contact, while the professor (Pierce Brosnan) is convinced that it's all just a misunderstanding that can just be talked out, even as the Martians are busily incinerating the entire human race! And no one seemed especially upset when the entire Congress was wiped out!This has a truly stellar cast. Aside from Steiger and Brosnan, there's Jack Nicholson as the President, Glenn Close as the First Lady, Martin Short as the press secretary. There's Annette Bening, Michael J. Fox, Danny DeVito, Tom Jones, a young Natalie Portman, Sarah Jessica Parker. There's more. The credits that open the movie go on and on and you know all the names. And they all take this just seriously enough, while also clearly understanding that it's all tongue in cheek stuff.I liked the Martians. They're cartoonish - in a creepy kind of way - which fits Tim Burton perfectly. I also thought that the action (once it got going after that slow start) was pretty well done and the special effects weren't bad either. It's ending is a clear and well done spoof of "War of the Worlds," as the Martians fall before a power they couldn't cope with. (You'll have to watch this to find out what that power is.)It's not great, but there are worse ways to kill a couple of hours on a lazy Saturday afternoon. (6/10)
Python Hyena Mars Attacks (1996): Dir: Tim Burton / Cast: Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Natalie Portman, Pierce Brosnan, Michael J. Fox: Satire of alien invasion films where little green people invade earth. They have ray guns that can fry people into skeletons. The title is a satire onto itself presenting a media frenzy. Great idea with a clever solution that bares resemblance to Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. The structure is such a mess that one must wonder if director Tim Burton allowed everything to run amuck while the cameras run. Burton is a visual genius with such films as Beetlejuice and Batman but here the visuals are plainly the only element of function. The gigantic cast is a waste including Jack Nicholson as the President and Vegas hotel owner. Glenn Close plays the First Lady. Natalie Portman plays their ignored daughter. Pierce Brosnan plays the President's chief of staff who is abducted with Sarah Jessica Parker where the aliens remove their heads and place them on the bodies of dogs. Michael J. Fox plays a reporter or media personality who doesn't last long in the celebrity wasteland that this film becomes. And the list goes on but many of them are nuked before we care. The film seems to be a parody take on old alien invasion films and the spirit is there but the payoff seems to be off target. The visual effects and production are a payoff but the story turns to guck. Score: 5 / 10