Rating: 
Summary: what a ride!
Review: I saw this in theaters 3 times and now I own the dvd. Its one of coolest movies I have seen in a long time.The dvd is only missing one thing(theatrical trailers),and I hate to say it,but the film seems alot like "assault/13".Other than that its the best money Ive ever spent on a movie.
Rating: 
Summary: It wasn't all that bad. I liked it
Review: A better ending would have gotten a 5 star rating from me. The movie itself is not bad. The story has kind of a Total Recall feel to it. Mars, alien something or other uncovered and so forth. Here is a quick review. A team of officers are being sent to a mining town to pick up Desolation Williams, played by Ice Cube. There is never any mention of why he has this nickname and it really does not fit since he has a crew of people that he runs with when free. So there is really no desolation to speak of. The officers are a group that has more issues than an Alabama family on Jerry Springer. In the mix you have at least 1 lesbian (Pam Grier) a drug addict (Natasha Henstridge), who seems to be taking a Mars version of X and a guy who just can't get over the fact that Natasha Henstridge won't have sex with him. When she does appear to be giving in and you are hoping for the gratuitous nudity you are left dissapointed due to a happening outside. There are a few other misfits in their group but they don't really have much of a part in this movie other than they are cannon fodder for the possessed miners. When they arrive at the usually booming miners village there no sign of human life. The adventure begins there. After finding a few people locked up in the jail they eventually discover that one of the people sleeping it off in the drunk tank is actually the scientist who set the "alien life form" free. I personally would have liked more of an explanation of what this lifeform is/was, how it got there, yadda yadda. We are left with nothing more than a red mist that can take over your body and cause you to mutilate yourself. Kinda like uncontrollable body modification. However, if you kill the host (infected human) the organism leaves the body and is invisible. But when Natasha Henstridge vomits her unwanted guest out it is a very visible dense red cloud. Yep, the only thing that gets into Natasha Henstridge makes it's entrance through her ear, just like it does everyone else. Anyway, they spend their time waiting for the train to return to pick them up so that they can return to civilization. Ice Cube does turn out to be the shinning star of this movie followed closely by Natasha Henstridge. She definately comes across very sexual in this movie, and has a ton of sex appeal to boot. Now the story was weak, but not to the point that this movie was unenjoyable or to be considered a bomb. Is it as good as the Escape movies or The Thing? No way, but is it as bad as Vampires. Nope, it is a middle of the road movie for John Carpenter. Now I do recommend watching the Tracking of Ghosts of Mars on the DVD extras. Very cool footage of some guitar gods laying down some serious smack. Footage is of Paul Crook with Anthrax (the band not the disease), Steve Vai and Buckethead. Some smokin guitar playing going on here. Even though I may have come across critical of this movie it was very enjoyable and I watch it probably at least once every week or 2. If you like dark movies and are not overly picky about total perfection in the story then this movie is a winner.
Rating:
Summary: An Extremely Fun Movie!
Review: This movie was the most fun I had in the theatres this whole year. I was smiling the whole way through. It's an incredibly great, low-budget, retro action film. It didn't need millions of dollars for computer effects. This movie's an enjoyable B-movie, action film (a million times more fun than the bigger-budget and absolutely dreadful "Tomb Raider"). Make no mistake, this isn't among John Carpenter's best (that would be "The Thing," "Prince of Darkness," "In the Mouth of Madness," and "Big Trouble in Little China"), but it's a fun ride nonetheless. Watch it and try not to grin.
Rating:
Summary: A gem that shines in it's "B" movie glory! Cult Classic!!
Review: From my initial viewings of the trailer of this movie, I thought "Wow! This movie looks great!" I was excited to see this film. I went in with an open mind, prepared for anything-Realizing that movie trailers are NOT always an accurate scale in which to rate a film. (Being a fan of quite a few John Carpenter movies- my favorites being THEY LIVE & BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, it was good to see him back.)
I was pleasantly suprised and quite happy with the results. This film pulled me in immediately! With it's unique and very contemporary flashback (and flashback within flashback) scenes, you feel compelled to keep watching.
The acting in my opinion was good. Ice Cube was excellent as was Natasha Henstridge. I keep trying to imagine the original choice for the role as Ballard (Courtney Love), but I just can't do it. Henstridge portrays Ballard with a strong, yet quite human & vulnerable side.
The DVD for this film is a very good addition to any sci-fi or J.C. buffs video library. The picture is sharp so you can catch every bloody detail & the sound is very good, putting you on the barren plains of Mars. It contains interesting featurettes documenting the film shoot, Special fx deconstruction, and how the music for the movie came about.
I would call this film a "comic book" type of film with it's larger than life heroes and evil adversaries, but it's much more than that. I would also call it a Cult Classic, paying homage to other great classic movies. Basically an ultra-cool stylized flick, winking at us with it's "B" movie charm :)
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious
Review: If you like cheesy movies with almost non-existant plots here is your film. I have the type of sense of humor where I find cheesy action the highest form of comedy out there. John Carpenter movies are obviously not meant to be taken seriously. This movie is fun to watch and a laugh riot if you find that kind of thing funny. The main "Bad Guy" is a buffed up Marilyn Manson look-alike who does not even utter a single actual word throughout the entire film. He repeatedly throws his arms up in the air and screams "RAAAAGH" constantly. I was entertained and that's what John Carpenter sets out to do. If you're a fan of J. C. (especially Vampires) you will love this. PS: Ice Cube plays a black version of Snake from Escape from New York.
Rating: 
Summary: Good idea.....Washed down the toilet
Review: The idea had promise. Mars is colonized in 2176 and is basically strip mined for it's mineral wealth. A planetary train stops in one of these main colonies and a police officer (played by the fetching Natasha Henstridge) is found handcuffed and on narcotics. Her prisoner (played by Ice Cube) is no where to be found.... The movie moves on to a hearing to find the truth and Officer Ballard (Henstridge) recounts the incidents that caused the death of her squad of 5 officers, except for her of course. The movie does well with it's flashbacks. They go back over the last 24 hours and first 20 or so minutes is actually quite engaging. The town, where they are supposed to pick up the prisoner, Desolation Williams, is abandoned and covered in blood. However, Carpenter, who has done excellent movies in the past, is too quick to expose the truth and the truth's he exposes are laughably bad. One of the worst parts of this movie is the dialogue. It is extremely contrived and wooden and the cast seems to mutter the lines with no conviction. This leads to bad acting, because none of the characters (other than Henstridge) seemed to have faith in the characters and the project in general. Ice Cube, who has definite acting talent, seems to be thinking "cha-ching!" rather than trying to put a spin on his "snake pliskin" wannabee character. This snake pliskin wannabee character also leads to another problem. John Carpenter stole from his semi-protagonist character from Escape From New York, as well as other movies like "Assault on Precinct 13" and "In the Mouth of Madness". Nothing is original here and what is stolen was done better elsewhere. I'm sorry to say, but Carpenter has turned into a "Brian dePalma-esque" director (incredibly talented potential turned cinema hack). This movie has no humor, no social commentary, no dark undertones. Carpenter has become apart of the B-movie machine and has given up on creating one of his atmospherically brillant films from the late 1970's~Early 1980's. Another generic theme is the bad Guys. The main bad guy is a cross between a WWF wrestler and an Insane Clown Posse wannabee. The fact that he just seems to scream throughout the whole movie shows the intelligence level of this drivel. The evil that lies beneath everything is even worse, reminiscient of such bad movies as "House on Haunted Hill" and the new "Haunted" film. If you want to see a sci-fi film with horror aspects, this movie is probably okay...for a video rental, but anyone who pays $8.50+ is wasting their movie (luckily I saw it at a movie premiere)....Rating: C-
Rating:
Summary: More Action Then Any Other Movie
Review: First of all, this movie has non-stop action for the last hour. If you didn't like this movie there is only two reasons, you don't like violence or you don't like action. The Fighting was amazing, it was scary, interesting, they show the movie from different point of views at certain times, the death's are awsome. This movie is great. I strongly suggest for all action/horror fans to see this movie as soon as possible.
Rating:
Summary: What a great movie.....
Review: This movie was lots of fun. Shure it isn't going to win any awards but it should for not being a typical movie. It is very off the wall, a main bad guy who just screams all the time, really, he just screams. You have Ice Cube being Ice Cube, you have Henstridge playing the tuff, drugged out, blonde, cop type role. You know the one:) This movie is a good sit back and be entertained kind of movie. Don't take it too serious when you see it and you are sure to enjoy yourself.
Rating:
Summary: godlike
Review: ...this movie is awesome. i saw it in the theatre and am about 2 buy it now ice cube is awesome in it and has the best tag lines during, before and after the fight scenes. it is one of john carpenters best work asside from vampires (godlike). the action scenes r fantastic and even though the movie is a total pose off of red faction (ps2 video game, also godlike) and also poses predator with the deadly discs that they use very usefully and it adds to the incredibly great movie that already is there....
Rating: 
Summary: Why isn't there a "zero-star" option?
Review: It's bad. Extremely bad. Illogical plot twists even for a survival-horror type movie. "Oh yes, let's give her the drugs and she'll magically become unposessed"! "Sure, shoot the secured possessed guy for no reason even though we know this'll release the deamon thing upon us!" No survival-horror movie would be any good without something bad happening in the story; something that happens with dire consequences. Something to provide a struggle for the hero. In THIS movie the things that lead to the struggles aren't intelligently done at all. Case in point the possessed guy who is behind bars and the rookie cop shots him for no reason at all. They KNEW that when the bad guy dies the deamon thing would be released. This types occurrances that lead to the struggle were poorly thought out and very lame. Also the SOLUTION and the triumph over the struggle has to be intelligent. In this case after the deamon thing was released our hero get's possessed. They give her some drugs and the deamon thing is defeated. LAME! UNINTELLIGENT! The hard-rock soundtrack tried to make this movie seem all bad but all it did was add to the hilarity. And was it just me or did the whole "misunderstood-prisoner-badguy-on-an-alien-planet-turned-good" thing seem amazingly similar to that of Pitch Black? How did Ice Cube go from a masterful performance in a moving movie like Boyz 'N the Hood to THIS? Sure it was dressed up with sexy ladies, violence and explosions but even action movies need some witt and intellgience and this movie has NONE! This is a total B-movie that was painful for every second it lasted. I wish there WAS a 0-stars option.
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