Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageMars Attacks! (1996)
Director: Tim Burton
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Earth's in peril, yet again, and the US President must call the shots. This time, though, we're rooting for the space invaders. Tim Burton's film is the most subversive big-budget Hollywood production in years, a splenetic satire which gleefully trashes contemporary culture - politics, science and religion, the army, TV, food, music, even money. Unfortunately, it's not very good. The tacky design undoubtedly cost a fortune, and there's a real perversity in casting superstars to ham it up in homage to Ed Wood. The anarchy is sometimes inspired (Burton incinerates Congress, movie stars and doves with equal abandon - he loves playing Godzilla), but much of the film is flat and cripplingly indulgent. It feels nearly half an hour too long, and Nicholson, in a double role, is just too much. It's a personal work, but not a mature one. It didn't hit home at the US box-office, but the reviews have been surprisingly accommodating. In that sense, this sour, prefabricated cult movie has the last laugh - and I'm afraid the joke's on us.Author: TCh
User reviews of this film
-
- Godbluff said...
- Posted on Aug 10 2010 12:42 This is a wonderfully psychedelic b-movie toxic-glow-in-the dark dream of a film. The aliens are exactky what they should be - all bug-eyes and ack-ack - and the buffonery of the human race around them all adds to the cartoonishness. Really great fun - with the best alien landing opener ever in a movie. Yes it gets daft - but at least it know it. Much better than Independence Day - which was just daft in the wrong way.
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Leif said...
- Posted on Dec 13 2009 22:28 Unfortunately this film is a bit of a stinker. Most of the time it is deadly dull, with actors playing clown like characters with no depth, and little in the way of acting. They all behave like children, with no sense that they really are generals, or the president, or whatever the role is. Towards the end a few good gags appear, such as an alien using a ray gun to reshape the American rock scuptures of US presidents to show alien faces instead. There are many homages to earlier B movies, such as Dr. Strangelove, but it is all rather limp, and pathetic. If you have just painted your walls, then watch them dry. You'll be in for a treat compared to watching this film.
- Report as inappropriate
-
- James said...
- Posted on Dec 21 2007 22:30 LOL!! Brilliantly funny and another cracking score by Danny Elfman! Those two are the GODS of movie-making!
- Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Tim Burton
Producer: Tim Burton, Larry Franco
Cast: Glenn Close, Michael J Fox, Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito, Annette Bening, Jack Nicholson, Martin Short, Sarah Jessica Parker, Rod Steiger, Tom Jones, Lukas Haas, Sylvia Sidney, Paul Winfield, Pam Grier, Joe Don Baker, Jerzy Skolimowski, Barbet Schroeder full cast
Genre(s): Comedy
Duration: 106 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
The 10 worst date movies
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made
Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films
Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas
10 unlikely badboy biopics
Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects
Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'
The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day
Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing
What do you think?
Post your review now