Mars Attacks! (1996)
3/4
"Mars Attacks" is a classic alien invasion sci-fi B movie tribute, this time headed by a massive list of recognizable icons. Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito, Martin Short, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael J. Fox, Tom Jones, Rod Steiger, Lukas Haas, Natalie Portman, Sylvia Sidney, Paul Winfield, Pam Grier, Jack Black, Joe Don Baker, Christina Applegate and Barbet Schroeder all star in the film; if that's not a cast, then what is. The story is not quite as good, but the entertainment is undeniable, because Tim Burton has true style.
The film takes a simple premise. Aliens begin to surround earth, and humans begin to panic. The incompetent president, played by Jack Nicholson, and his wife and daughter, played by Glenn Close and Natalie Portman, are fearful, and the rest of the humans are trying to figure a way not to fear. But once the aliens arrive, it's clear that they're just as advanced as us, with a sick, cruel and dark sense of humor and strategic minds.
Based on the Topps carding card series, the film has a little basic plot, but it works because some of the humor works so well. I laughed quite a lot during the film. It's clearly intended as a B sci-fi movie with an A list Hollywood resume. No doubt that Tim Burton is tributing that kind of a movie; the kind of movie Ed Wood (which he also made two years earlier) would have made. But one of the most clever aspects of the film is its satire of human reaction, which at times made me really laugh.
It's probably intended as what it turned out to be: a campy, enjoyable and ridiculous sci-fi fantasy - the kind they used to make in the 50's. It may be over the top, but it's just as fun.
3/4
"Mars Attacks" is a classic alien invasion sci-fi B movie tribute, this time headed by a massive list of recognizable icons. Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito, Martin Short, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael J. Fox, Tom Jones, Rod Steiger, Lukas Haas, Natalie Portman, Sylvia Sidney, Paul Winfield, Pam Grier, Jack Black, Joe Don Baker, Christina Applegate and Barbet Schroeder all star in the film; if that's not a cast, then what is. The story is not quite as good, but the entertainment is undeniable, because Tim Burton has true style.
The film takes a simple premise. Aliens begin to surround earth, and humans begin to panic. The incompetent president, played by Jack Nicholson, and his wife and daughter, played by Glenn Close and Natalie Portman, are fearful, and the rest of the humans are trying to figure a way not to fear. But once the aliens arrive, it's clear that they're just as advanced as us, with a sick, cruel and dark sense of humor and strategic minds.
Based on the Topps carding card series, the film has a little basic plot, but it works because some of the humor works so well. I laughed quite a lot during the film. It's clearly intended as a B sci-fi movie with an A list Hollywood resume. No doubt that Tim Burton is tributing that kind of a movie; the kind of movie Ed Wood (which he also made two years earlier) would have made. But one of the most clever aspects of the film is its satire of human reaction, which at times made me really laugh.
It's probably intended as what it turned out to be: a campy, enjoyable and ridiculous sci-fi fantasy - the kind they used to make in the 50's. It may be over the top, but it's just as fun.