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Comedy, Fantasy, Science Fiction 106 min PG-13
Rotten Tomatoes57%Metacritic52IMDb
Nice planet. We'll take it!
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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Epic, comic, nostalgic and ironic.
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Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Taste Buds's numbers.
**Score: 8/10 — A Gleefully Deranged, One-of-a-Kind Satirical Spectacle** *Mars Attacks!* is the cinematic equivalent of a sugar rush from a radioactive candy bar—bright, chaotic, and utterly unforgettable. It is a film that **goes places only Tim Burton would dare to take a movie**, blending 1950s B-movie kitsch with nuclear-grade satire, all delivered with a straight-faced, ghoulish glee that is uniquely his own. From its all-star cast playing paper-thin archetypes to its gloriously crude, brain-exploding aliens, it is a relentless, hilarious, and **very dark humour** ride from start to finish. **What Makes It a Burtonian Triumph:** - **A Tone of Perfect, Unholy Balance:** Burton walks an impossible tightrope. The film is at once a loving homage to cheesy sci-fi classics and a savage, nihilistic takedown of American imperialism, celebrity culture, military incompetence, and media complacency. The fact that it's also one of the funniest films of the decade is a testament to his singular vision. - **The Aliens as Icons:** The Martians themselves are masterpieces of design. With their exposed brains, staccato "Ack ack ack!" chatter, and gleeful, casual cruelty, they are simultaneous
Read the whole review on TMDB**_Tim Burton’s spoof of ’50s sci-fi flicks with an outstanding cast_** Shot in 1996 and released at the end of that year, Burton used the Mars Attacks trading cards from the ’60s as the template for his extraterrestrials. The film plays like the Mad magazine version of “Independence Day,” which beat this to the theaters by 5.5 months the same year. Yet Burton said he didn’t know anything about that movie and it was purely coincidental. Aside from the trading cards, “Mars Attacks!” spoofs ’50s flicks like “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and “War of the Worlds.” It bombed domestically and didn’t do much better worldwide (although it was a little more popular in Europe). Either audiences had had their fill after the overlong (and disappointing) “Independence Day” or they found the movie silly and boring; perhaps both. Since then, it has gone on to achieve cult status. While the idea is great and you can’t beat the production quality of Burton’s movies, it is somewhat disappointing on first watch and dull in ways, particularly the first half. However, there’s so much zany creative energy augmented by the second-to-none cast that it’s worth checking out and works better on repeat viewi
Read the whole review on TMDB**A film full of black humor, and for that very reason difficult to digest for many people.** Black humor is doomed to be understood by very few, and this film, which is drenched in black humor from beginning to end, paid the price, becoming a minor failure. I believe that, even today, it is one of the less well-appreciated films of director Tim Burton's career, who made films considerably worse than this one. The action takes place in the 90s and portrays a hostile Martian invasion of our planet. The US government (obviously, the other countries have virtually disappeared from the map and only France is mentioned lightly to show the total destruction of the country) is understandably tense: there are military personnel sexually aroused by the idea of using nuclear weapons against the invaders, there are scientists absolutely convinced that Martian technological superiority is reason enough to believe strongly in the good intentions of the visitors, there are politicians worried about the elections. Of course, when it comes time to showdown, the visitors get the upper hand. Perhaps the best thing about this film is the strength and talent of its cast, filled with good actors who wa
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“Does the irony keep it from meaning anything?”
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86 profiled raters. Loved most by The Prestige Hunters; disliked most by The Sinceres.
If you loved this film, the television, the book, the music, the game.
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