Mars Attacks (1996)

[chainsaw midget]

I just watched this movie again for the first time since ... probabaly the 90s and it was even more fun than I remember it being.  I think part of that has to do with the fact that since then I've seen a lot of the classic Sci-fi this movie was parodying/homaging.  Also, I didn't know who all the actors in it where back then.  It's got a lot more stars than I realized. 

While not as bloody and nasty as the cards, it does a good job not feeling "safe."  Characters you don't expect to se die, do.  I also rfeally love how the effects make everything seem slightly off. 

This was a real fun movie from back before Tim Burton started getting into a rut.

[M.10rda]

I agree that it's worthwhile and the actors deliver the goods (Rod Steiger is a treat) but I think you make a good point about the violence. Granted, bloody action was never Burton's bag (the fight scenes in his BATMANs are rubbish), but there is legitimate suspense and effective use of violence at the end of BEETLEJUICE and SCISSORHANDS. I feel like MARS ATTACKS leans too hard on its script and cast to talk about and react to all the mayhem, which lets Burton off the hook so he doesn't have to stage that mayhem. I realize Jim Brown was getting long in the tooth by the mid-90s but the payoff to his appearance shouldn't have been stepping on one head... the market demands Jim Brown actually defeating that dogpile of martians onscreen!

Anyway, I think MARS ATTACKS does mark a transition from films no one can beef with (PEE WEE, BJ, the two EDs and at least the 2nd BATMAN) to films that are likeable but which underdeliver a bit: this one and then SLEEPY HOLLOW, a horror stew w/ nothing but good ingredients that never quite mixes properly. PLANET OF THE APES followed, and that one really inaugurated the 21st century Burton....... 

[Gabriel Knight]

If I recall correctly, MARS ATTACKS! suffered from some executive meddling regarding the violence. The martians' weapons were supposed to be way gorier, but they had to tone them down to avoid higher ratings. Also, the skeletons are colored green and red because the movie was released during Christmas.

Nevertheless, I think it's a great movie and yes, I did enjoyed it as I grew older, as I realized how much homage it pays to old science fiction.

[Neville]

This is a movie I really want too like, but never felt we were on the same page, so to speak. I get that you're not supposed to like the characters, and that I am expected to cheer when they are dispatched by the aliens, but... somehow I end up in a nowehere's land where I can't enjoy the carnage either. Great visuals and acting, though.