John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars

Rating:
Summary: another carpenter failure
Review: When ever John Carpenter has a new movie out, I usually cross my fingers and pray that this is going to be the film that will restore Carpenter to his days of glory. I mean, has the man done anything half decent since CHRISTINE came out in 1983? Nope. GHOSTS OF MARS is basically VAMPIRES meets ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 relocated on Mars (and that planet must be cursed, since it just doesn't seem possible to make a decent film about it). Natasha Henstridge stars as lieutenant Melanie Ballard, and she's not a very convincing femme fatal, who leads a group of police officers that have been ordered to escort Desolation Williams, a dangerous interplanetary villain (Ice Cube), to a prison in the outpost city of Chryse (on the planet Mars). Sadly, a nearby mining team has been digging a bit too deep in the soil, and they've unearthed an age old Martian defense mechanism that has unleashed the ghosts of the original Martians, and they're now taking over and possessing the bodies of the miners (and everybody else who comes in their way). Phew... Add to this a ridiculous ending and you've got quite a storyline if ever there was one (who needs Federico Fellini?). Pam Grier as Helena Braddock deserves some credit (and is the only reason why I've given this film two stars instead of one), but she doesn't live for very long and after her death most things spiral downwards to movie hell. If you intend to purchase this movie, I would like to inform you that there has actually been made a rather large quantity of very fine films, so there really is no reason why you should waste your money on GHOSTS OF MARS. Just a healthy warning; Stay clear of this one.

Rating:
Summary: "John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars"
Review: Ghosts of Mars (R) ****/5
Ice Cube, Natasha Henstridge, Jason Statham, Clea Duvall, Liam White.
Directed by: John Carpenter.
Synopsis: Mars police officers arrive at a village to pick up a prisoner only to find the villagers possessed. They then must team up with criminals to stay alive.
Special Features: Feature Length Commentary, Video Diary, Special Effects Deconstruction, Scoring Ghosts of Mars Featurette, Filmographies.
Review: Ebert & Roeper gave this baby 2 thumbs up so why didn't the rest of the critics get it? It has long since been a critical game to blast John Carpenter films on arrival. Why you ask? I have no idea. Here John Carpenter offers us a real popcorn flick. I can't imagine anyone sitting down and not having a good time during this film. It is loaded with gunfights, humor, and slick direction. Carpenter has long been known for coming up with excellent concepts for films this is no exception. When Martian spirits are released from there long dormant rest they possess and eliminate the unwanted intruders on their planet, and if you kill one of the possessed the spirit comes out and goes after you. Into this mayhem come a group of Martian police officers who are to pick up a suspected murderer, but when the zombies attack the police and criminals ally to fight their way out of the situation. I have a few minor problems with this film like the characters going back to make a last stand, but I easily let those things go. This film is written more intelligently than most, and it contains one of the most brilliant uses of flashback I've ever seen. As for acting Henstridge and Cube own this flick as the no bull hero/anti-hero, I loved the entire Uno, Dos, Tres gang, White and Duvall got throwaway parts but I loved them anyways. Statham is brilliant as the horny, tough sergeant and last and definitely least Pam Grier as the butch leader was annoying and I couldn't wait for her to die. Directing wise this is Carpenter's slickest film. It's not his best, but his flashback, in your face kills, and repeat montage had me drooling. He is still the man! As for the DVD? Great special features between the Diary, commentary, and scoring sections you really get a since that you made the film right along with these guys/gals. My only problem is where was the trailer???

Rating:
Summary: No wonder they all died.
Review: This has one of the best premises for a horror movie i have ever heard: forget about the aliens, they are all dead, but their ghosts still haunt the planet. get ready to be maimed.

Such a shame then, that "Master of Soiling His Own Name" John Carpenter should ruin it by trying to make Ghosts of Mars "Assault on Precint 13 in Space", and turning out a straight to video clunker instead of the classic this might have been.

Case in point: Ice Cube's Desolation Williams, though watchable, is far too nice for a murderer. and he doesn't even kill anyone, he robs someone, and that's how they catch him. Excuse me? NO!!!

The movie delivers the kind of action you'd expect from Carpenter, but it is too seen it all before. And it does not make use of Jason Statham, who, if you watch the transporter is far from the pussy he is shown to be here. and let's not talk about Pam Grier's pork rib acting. she should probably be given an award for "Most Unconvincing Lesbian Ever", among others.

Admittedly, the thing looks good, and plenty of stuff blows up and gets chopped off, but you would have a better time to just watch a pig being chopped up: it provides both the gore and the ham of this film, and takes less time to endure.

if time travel is ever perfected, they should use it to bring back John Carpenter circa 1979.

Rating:
Summary: Underrated John Carpenter Movie.
Review: Melanie Ballard (Natasha Henstridge), alongside Helena Braddock (Pam Grier) and Jericho Butler (Jason Statham), is a police lieutenant in the Mars Police Force nearly 150 years in the future. Bodies go missing at a mining town in the Mars desert, the missing people are blamed on the notorious criminal James "Desolation" Williams (Ice Cube). When the team reaches the remote outpost, they find that "Desolation" had little to do with the disappearances but something else more horrifying is involved.

When I first saw this movie in theatre, I left the theatre kind of disappointed, I had thought it was a decent action movie but thought it was missing something. When it was released on DVD I was skeptical whether or not I should buy the it. After buying the DVD I am very happy with the movie, after watching it a second time I came to the realization that this movie is one of the most underrated John Carpenter movies ever created, alongside Big Trouble in Little China. The movie does have its short falls though, such as overusing flashback scenes. But, I have gotten over this. One other note, people say the bad guy looks to much like Marilyn Manson, all I have to say to you is that you people have no imagination. What other way would you have portrayed Mars savages? They wear war paint, body piercings, which is exactly like our tribal ancestors here on Earth.

A couple of notes on the special effects and sound track. Some of the special effects could have been a little bit more touched up to make them look more realistic but I love John Carpenter's retro feel to his movies. And the soundtrack really is great, I am not a fan of Anthrax (who performed the music JC wrote), but the music really does set the feeling with a industrial feel.

Overall, this movie is definately worth seeing for any action, sci-fi, or John Carpenter fan. In my oppinion, of the three Mars movies to come out in the last couple years, this is by far the best of them all. If you pick up the DVD, you will be treated by some excellent extras including audio commentary with John Carpenter and Natasha Henstridge and a series of videos about the making of the movie, a very excellent DVD.

Overall : 4/5

Rating:
Summary: Time Warp
Review: Yeah, everyone's whining about Ghosts Of Mars. Everyone's pretty much given up on John Carpenter. I admire Carpenter for making the films he wants to and not succumbing to whatever trendiness is expected of horror directors. Wes may be hip wit da teens, but John does what he wants to, even if you think it's lame. Ghosts Of Mars isn't his finest hour, it's not even all that great, but it's Carpenter. This is the kind of film Carpenter has always made. He's never admitted to being more than a B film director and he chooses to be such. After Starman, he coulda been in the big time, but chose his own independent Prince Of Darkness over the Hollywood machine. Ghosts Of Mars would have had more critical and fan praise if it were released in the mid eighties. It wouldn't have seemed so cliched. Personally I admire him for making such a film, passe as it may seem. If I were you I'd check it out. Just don't be expecting some sci-fi extravaganza(which I think everyone was expecting), expect cheesy B movie thrills.

Rating:
Summary: action packed, unique film
Review: i have to say that the film is very unique. it has an interesting plot. the human race decides to live on mars, and conditions improve in air quality, but when an archeologist opens by accident a secret locked cave then the winds that were locked for ages are let loose. these evil winds are the spirits of martians who invade the bodies of the human race miners on the planet, and this causes chaos. the humans then turn into corpsepainted demon savage warriors who want to slay the remaining humans on the planet. the year is like around 2175 when i saw it in the theatre, and the planet mars is ruled by a women government who is very passive and who represent justice well.

Ice Cube, Natasha Henstridge, Pamela Grier, and the rest of the actors deliver very good performances. John Carpenter is a genius. the music is also wicked that mr. carpenter performs. Also, heavy metal bands bucket head and anthrax deliver crushing metal that adds spice to the film. good heavy metal instrumental music when used in the fight scenes-martian human police vs the corpsepainted possessed dead humans.

highly recommended, movie is very unique, nothing quite like it.

Rating:
Summary: Come on, guys, it ain't THAT bad!
Review: Ghosts of Mars (John Carpenter, 2001)

Man, was everyone down on this movie or what? Come on, folks. This wasn't great art, and it wasn't meant to be. It's simple turn-your-brain-off fun that follows the formula of most of John Carpenter's earlier flicks to every dotted I and crossed T. And while that seems to be exactly what had the fans howling in the aisles, please, folks, help me out here.

Okay, so all the guns exist today even though it's in the future. (Escape from New York, anyone?) The bad guys look a lot more like the guys from GWAR than they do actual bad guys. (Vampires, They Live, erm, the crazies from Escape from New York.) The action runs a very taut line between not gory enough and ludicrously faked. (Escape from New York-- are you sensing a pattern here?) So what? Everyone overlooked it twenty years ago.

The basic idea is that a team of space marines has to go get a prisoner, Desolation Jones (Ice Cube of Trespass and Friday fame), from a remote outpost and take him back to HQ to stand trial. Problem is, when they get there, they found out a whole lot of crimes matching the ones he's supposed to have committed have happened while he was in his holding cell. So the team, headed up by a drug-addled Lieutenant (Natasha McElhone), her commander (Pam Grier), and their new officer, an overly cocky and wildly oversexed Sergeant (Jason Statham, best known for his Guy Ritchie films) figure there's something nasty going on, and have to figure out what it is and how to stop it before the train, which has gone on to make a few more stops, gets back.

No, you're not going to find great acting, the plot's been done before, and, well, it's about as silly as can be. But folks, that's pretty much what John Carpenter has always been about, from Dark Star till the present day. Some of his movies forget to be humorous, some of them forget to be scary, some of them are just sci-fi action pictures. That's what this one is. Things blow up, the bad guys chase the good guys, things blow up, people bond, things blow up, you get the idea. Turn your brain off and enjoy the ride. ** ½

Rating:
Summary: Pandora
Review: I would rate this movie 5 stars.If you like strange,scary movies you would like this movie.It takes place in the future on planet mars.It is about a mining corporation who gets taken over by ghosts.They become possessed and pchycotic.They make their own weapons and cut themselves for decoration.This is a very scary movie.I suggest that you see this movie.In my opinion I think John Carpenter should make a second one.

Rating:
Summary: Could have been great fun.
Review: Ghosts of Mars' opening scenes has a terrific sense of creepiness that the rest of the movie never attains, and it never tries to, either. John Carpenter's latest exercise in the B-movie is certainly superior to his previous attempt (Vampires, anyone?) but he's still a long way from his best works, namely The Thing, which was so good most horror directors would probably never be able to match it with their best efforts. Let's face it, Carpenter isn't the filmmaker he used to be, meaning his movies now aren't the slightest bit frightening, but they're not devoid of entertainment value, either.

That's where Ghosts of Mars comes in. The film has no higher pretension than to work as an "Assault on Precinct 13" style thriller, with an outnumbered group of heroes who have to hold off periodic sieges from savage Martian-possessed colonists. And it's got Jason Statham in it, so I knew I was in it for at least a mildly fun time, which is exactly what I got.

It's still capable to churn out a masterful genre piece with such a premise, Pitch Black is all the proof I need, but Ghosts of Mars has far too many easily-correctable problems to even be uttered in the same breath as that terrific thriller. For one, the actors chosen as the leads simply aren't charismatic or engaging enough. Natasha Henstridge and Ice Cube? This isn't much of a pair, and if IMDB is to be believed, Statham was originally supposed to have the role Ice Cube had, which I would have found much preferable.

Other problems include the awkward flashbacks, which keeps the momentum from building as well as it should, and the fact we know who lives right from the beginning kills any chance of genuine suspense (why do directors insist on flashbacks when it's not needed?)(Carlito's Way would have truly benefited without it). The sets are also pretty cheap-looking, the alien villains aren't the slightest bit frightening or intimidating, and Carpenter's score is a little too repetitive, even for him.

But the film is held together by an interesting supporting cast and several impressive action sequences. Leading the "expendable" people is Jason Statham, who's just about the coolest guy in Hollywood. With his rugged good looks and rogue-ish charisma, he's easily the character with the most personality here. A lot of people question his sexually agressive behavior, but nobody seems to realize he had enough respect to leave the rookie (played by Clea Duvall) alone. Pam Grier has a few scenes here, too, and it's too bad she meets an early demise because her performance was a lot of fun.

The action scenes are well-done for the most part. Aside from the opening to Big Trouble in Little China, I don't recall Carpenter ever helming fight scenes this large, and he pulls it off quite well. Henstridge is convincing at performing basic martial arts and for anyone who's seen The Transporter, you know Statham is going to stand out in these scenes, even if he doesn't get to fight on an oil slick. The film's best moment is a Zulu-style setpiece, with the remaining survivors grouped in pairs as they back down a long corridor, shooting at the approaching Martian army, then going in a rotation as each pair reloads.

Ghosts of Mars is quickly becoming Carpenter's most hated film to date (beating out Village of the Damned and Escape From L.A. for that dubious honor), and as a critic pointed out, his films have often found a divided response among his own fans. Ghosts probably won't endure as a future cult classic, there are too many other recent better B-movies with similar premises (Dog Soldiers, Pitch Black, maybe Resident Evil) out there. But if you like bloody action, Jason Statham, or John Carpenter you probably shouldn't pass it up at the video store.
** 1/2 out of *****

Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Martians...
Review: In the year 2176, Natasha Henstridge (Species, Species 2) is lieutenant Melanie Ballard, a tough-as-iron cop on a colonized Mars. She is sent to a small mining town to take custody of the infamous James "Desolation" Williams (Ice Cube). Once there, Ballard and her team (including the beautiful Pam "Jackie Brown" Grier) encounter a desolate ghost town that should be thriving with night-life. A defiant, uncooperative Williams is found in his jail cell. Aside from a handful of other prisoners, the rest of the town seems to have been slaughtered. Ballard's group soon discovers that an army of self-mutilating crazies have wiped out everyone. This ghoulish bunch were once normal humans, but were possessed by the spirits of ancient martian inhabitants. Now controlled by these ghosts, they are a sadistic tribe of killers, bent on the total annihilation of all who oppose them. Ballard and Williams must join forces and unite their two factions (cops and criminals) into one fighting force in order to survive. This movie combines the better elements of Carpenter's "Assault On Precinct 13" with Wes Craven's "The Hills Have Eyes" and Romero's "Night Of The Living Dead". The result is a last-stand / Alamo scenario that is convincingly creepy and entertaining. I really enjoyed GOM, and recommend it to all horror fanatics...