Afouotos
Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
AnhartLinkin
This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
Micah Lloyd
Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.
dandbone
The movie is about Martians invading the Earth. The reason is unclear, but as the movie progresses, it turns out they are purging the planet of everything uncool. By uncool I mean redneck soldiers, politicians, generals, fashion, sex addicts, trailer park dwellers, crooks, scientists, journalists and lawyers. In the end, uncoolness becomes a weapon against the aliens.There is a subtext in the movie, that civilization itself is uncool and maybe we should return to simpler times when men used to live in tepees.There are lots of great jokes in the movies, and some of them aren't exactly obvious. My favorite is the one with the hydrogen fusion and the laughing gas.There are lots of characters, most of them being stereotypes. That is actually not a bad thing, and many of the jokes derive from these characters and their perception of the alien invasion. There are lots of A-list actors in the movie and, though they each have little screen time, they make their characters unforgettable.I wish that Hollywood would make more movies like this, instead of sinking hundreds of millions on Avatar and other Muppet shows.
Leofwine_draca
Tim Burton's sci-fi spoof was a massive flop on first release; this was because audiences were expecting a straight science fiction film, when what they got in fact was a comedy. People either love or hate this film, there is no in between, and thankfully I'm in the former camp in this case. As a comedy, Burton's film is wonderful. A star-studded cast of famous faces send themselves up shamelessly, all of those tacky alien invasion pictures of the 1950s are referenced and paid homage too, and on top of all this, we have loads of excellent CGI effects to contend with. The comic book feel of the film comes from the rich, bright colours, everything looks fake and tacky, and it's meant to.Along the way we get take-offs of WAR OF THE WORLDS, EARTH VERSUS THE FLYING SAUCERS, and INDEPENDENCE DAY. The Martians themselves are a delightfully mischievous little bunch who enjoy mass destruction and sadism. Comedy highlights include a scene where one such Martian runs through the burning streets with a tape playing "Do not run. We are your friends!"! The bulging brain and eyeballs of these creatures make them very distinctive and difficult to forget, and as a bonus they're excellently animated too. The UFOs are also wonderful.As with any comedy, things are hit and miss, but as a whole this film is a success. It's difficult to believe the ensemble cast assembled here. Jack Nicholson overacts in not one but two roles as the president and an entrepreneur. Glenn Close appears briefly as his wife before being crushed by a falling chandelier. Annette Bening is an annoying New Ager who sadly doesn't get incinerated by the aliens. Pierce Brosnan plays a clichéd British scientist who ends up minus his body in one of the film's many odd and unique moments. Sarah Jessica Parker is the braindead chat show host who gets her head attached to the body of her dog. Danny DeVito is an obsessive gambler who fails to impress an alien enemy and gets fried. Michael J. Fox loses his hand. Martin Short mistakes an alien in disguise for his newest girlfriend and has his finger chewed off for his troubles. Rod Steiger goes way, way over the top as an antagonistic general ("Annihilate! Destroy! Kill! Kill!) and gets shrunken and then stepped upon. Lukas Haas (all grown up from WITNESS) is a dumb teenage hero. Natalie Portman is the president's daughter. Tom Jones cameos as himself. Jim Brown and Pam Grier come back from the '70s. The list goes on.Everybody sends themselves up and acts appallingly. They seem to be having a really good time and this feeling rubs off. Burton also doesn't skimp on the violence, revelling in burning cattle, destruction (the stone heads on Easter Island turned skittles is a good one), people being ray-gunned and turning into multicoloured skeletons, amputations, and various other gory highlights, all in the spirit of the original sadistic Topps trading cards of the '60s. Ever wished that dog in INDEPENDENCE DAY had bought it? Here's your chance to see a canine fry. As a satire, MARS ATTACKS! has a winning formula and should be seen by any good-natured science fiction addict.
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
Mr. Media
This is one of the most "meh" movies I've seen in my life!First off, the good. The cast is... OUT OF THIS WORLD! But seriously, with names like Danny DeVito, Jack Nicholson, Pierce Brosnan, Michael J. Fox, and Martin Short just to name a few, it's hard for names like this to be wasted. The effects are half-decent, making sure they're not too cartoon-ey. And in regards to this movie being based off of TRADING CARDS, I'd say Tim did pretty good with handling the source material.And now, the bad. As much as I love the cast in this movie, it just kinda seems wasted. I mean, picture Danny DeVito, a football player, and Tom Jones trying to escape an alien-ravaged Vegas. As funny as that sounds, the movie really doesn't do anything with it. The same thing goes for Jack Nicholson's character being the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES! You'd think they make a joke about The Shining or One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, but they don't. You wait for the punchline, but it just never comes! And with all the stars, the movie tends to be a bit all over the place. There's scenes in D.C., Nevada, an alien spaceship, all with about four different story arcs that almost never meet!To sum things up, I'm glad that I saw it, but I think I'd be fine not seeing it again.
