John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars

Rating:
Summary: disappointing
Review: It had a good cast, namely, Pam Grier, Ice Cream, and the chick from species. I didn't expect there to be a plot and there wasn't, but that's ok because the chick from Species is sure to take her clothes off. Well, the movie dragged on and there was little skin to be seen. I was very disappointed. The saving grace of any stupid sci-fi/horror movie is the hot naked chick. Without the hot naked chick, this movie was a dud.

Rating:
Summary: One of John Carpenter's Worst
Review: There is'nt much to write for this film,other than it was really,really bad.There was nothing scarry in this film,the script,sets&effects were complete S$@!?*&%#!>!.In the end,you had people dressed in S&M gear babbling at the top of their lungs like infants(supposidy it was an ancien martian language)and that was laughable on it's own.This film is so bad,it does'nt even deserve a star,the scale should be going in the negative direction.I don't know what Pam Grier was doing in this film,or Jason Strathom other than to polish up their resumes&make some easy money.If you want to see some great John Carpenter films,see the original Freddy Kruger,or the remake of The Thing.This is one I'm sure John Carpenter is wishing did'nt bear his name,or was ever made.

Rating:
Summary: Marilyn Manson the obvious inspiration
Review: After taking forever and a day, going through 400+ DVDs, trying not to stop Indiana Jones going in the DVD player, and wanting to drag the person off to bed and not to sleep, I decided on this. Why? Simply because it had a reasonably good cast. Natasha Henstridge (now dating UK singer Darius, the lucky girl), Ice Cube, Bruce Willis lookalike Jason Statham, Clea DuVall, and Pam Grier.

The main cast are after the bad murderer played by Ice Cube. On Mars. Of course. In the far off future. For some strange reason, Pam Grier's character is the only one who's qualified for want of a better word to go after this guy. The rest of her crew include a pill-popper, the new guy who fancies his chances with the pill popper, and TweedleDee & TweedleDum rookies.

The movie's told completely in flashback, with flashbacks in flashbacks - confusing? Not really. There are some other strange bits in the movie, like it's never explained why exactly the ghosts are ghosts, who have all previously starred in Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video. And their leader's inspiration is Marilyn Manson. It uses the old cliche that the ghosts can take over people's bodies, except in the cool way you see a red mist going towards them when it wants to take them over.

With so many "zombie" movies around at the moment (Shaun of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead remake etc), it's strange to watch this. There's a whole hooha from other reviewers about how John Carpenter has done better films yadeyadeyada. Have I ever seen John Carpenter movie apart from this? If I have, then I can't remember it. Will I be interested in seeing any others? Will they explain exactly why the 'ghosts' suddenly went mad? Will Clea Duvall actually smile in any of her roles? And why doesn't Jason Stratham get his kit off? This is an OK movie, apart from the lack of explanation about the ghosts. It's not good, and it's not particularly bad either, just incredibly slow at points. See if you want to.

Rating:
Summary: Another Sadly Disappointing New Carpenter
Review: Alas, this is another woefully disappointing recent movie by the once so great Carpenter. What Carpenter was once so good at was narrative rhythm and here it's all gone. The script makes this almost inevitable, constantly bogging down in nested flashbacks to flashbacks, constantly telling us what happened last when we want to know what happens next. And plenty else is wrong. The design for one thing, a particularly uninteresting example of the point-a-camera-at-desert-landscapes-with-a-heavy-red-filter approach to representing Mars. And then there is the casting. Pam Grier is completely miscast as a tough cop. Clea DuVall is given nothing whatever to do except look photogenic. Ice Cube is out of his rather limited depth as `Desolation' Williams, the macho prisoner who echoes the Napoleon Wilson character in `Precinct 13'. And surely surely Carpenter had seen `Species' and noticed that Natasha Henstridge, however striking to look at, couldn't act her way out of a paper bag. The completely silly and not remotely frightening Martians are the final nail in the coffin of this depressingly lacklustre movie.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad, considering...
Review: There were 3 Mars movies that year...Mission to Mars (famous cast); Red Planet (famous cast) and this one. Th others took a long time to tell a simple story. This one had action from beginning to end. It was a bit silly, but I found it more clever and entertaining in the long run. And the performances of Ice Cube and Clea Duvall, as well as Natasha Henstridge, are quite complete. Not bad...

Rating:
Summary: B-movie fun
Review: 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.

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.