Mars Attacks!Martians can be real jerks. Mars Attacks! is a black comedy and satire of alien invasion disaster movies like Independence Day, while simultaneously paying homage to vintage B-movie sci-fi cult classics of yesteryear. Mars Attacks! borrows another page from the narrative structure of Independence Day by showcasing a handful of Americans from all walks of life, adapting to the aftermath of a fleet of hubcap-shaped flying saucers descending on their planet, filled with aggressive, bug-eyed voyagers. Can the Earth survive this invasion of bubble-headed punks from the red planet?
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As a satire, virtually all of the human beings in Mars Attacks! are caricatures of Americans--self-serving and unlikable. Directed by Tim Burton, this spoof hosts an embarrassment of riches in its stable of talented actors portraying this spectrum of America. Mars Attacks! borrows from other war satires like Dr. Strangelove, such as how star Jack Nicholson plays multiple parts--including the President of the United States, James Dale--like Peter Sellers did in the earlier film. President Dale is a milquetoast leader of the free world and a spineless demagogue, more interested in satisfying his public image than leading the charge against these obnoxious killer aliens. His wife, Marsha (Glenn Close), is a condescending perfectionist with shades of Martha Stewart, who is not above pushing a colleague out of the way of a photo op. Their daughter, Taffy (Natalie Portman), is more grounded, although she comes across as a bit of a gloomy teen--a nod to Lydia Deetz from Tim Burton's own Beetlejuice. President Dale is spoon-fed flattery by sycophants like smarmy Press Secretary, Jerry Ross (Martin Short)--a sleaze with a predilection for ladies of the night. The White House's feel-good chief science guy, Professor Donald Kessler (Pierce Brosnan), is handsome enough to catch the eye of vapid tabloid reporter, Nathalie Lake (Sarah Jessica Parker)--much to the dismay of her follicle-obsessed boyfriend and fellow newscaster, Jason Stone (Michael J. Fox)--but he is completely ignorant of the Martians' sinister intentions, maintaining a naive point of view that because the aliens have sophisticated technology, they must be peaceful. The only real naysayer of the "peacemongering" is General Decker (Rod Steiger), a doomsayer who is so bombastic and abrasive, that he is consistently ignored by the President.
Other stories of holdouts against this "red menace" take place in Las Vegas and in rural Kansas. There is aspiring hotel builder in "America's Playground" named Art Land (Nicholson again), who's as phony as his toupee. His wife, Barbara (Annette Bening), is a recovering alcoholic and New Age flake, who changes her tune about the Martians being harbingers of peace when they flip out and disintegrate the unfortunate few who attend their landing in Pahrump. Byron Williams (Jim Brown) is an ex-boxer turned casino entertainer who is struggling to support his family back in D.C., including his ex-wife, Louise (Pam Grier), who drives a bus by day while taking care of their two sons. When the aliens push into Sin City, Byron and Barbara form a motley crew with an abrasive lawyer (Danny DeVito) and none other than Tom Jones (himself) in their exodus from Vegas by Beechcraft. In Kansas, young Richie Norris (Lukas Haas) cares for his addled grandmother named Florence (Sylvia Sidney) in between his job at the donut shop. The rest of his family are trailer trash, who shower their affections on Richie's Army grunt elder brother, Billy-Glenn (Jack Black); their idea of a good time is watching Billy-Glenn field stripping a rifle while blindfolded while his father (Joe Don Baker) times him. In each character's respective confrontations with the aliens, the selfish and corrupt are punished by the depraved aliens (in most cases), while the innocent live on to rebuild the world.
Mars Attacks! takes the look of the bizarre Martians from the Topps trading card series from 1962 of the same name, complete with bubble-headed spacesuits, laser rifles, giant robots, and weird science experiments gone wrong. Silly moments like the stampede of fiery cattle which a local farmer mistakes for barbeque set the tone for the absurd insanity of Mars Attacks! The musical score by Danny Elfman is bursting with the eerie sounds, evoking classic scifi drive-in cheapies of yesteryear. Even when the flying saucers make their first landing in the desert, the scene is deliberately staged and scored to recall The Day the Earth Stood Still. As ugly as most of the Americans are in Mars Attacks!, the despicable aliens act like little punks all throughout the film. Their antics do not make any sense, and it is as if they were playing an elaborate and deadly prank on the world, with their strange gadgets and experiments, barking a monosyllabic "Ack! Ack! Ack!" at all us earthlings. The irony of their imperialistic exceptionalism might force self-evaluation from the selfish Americans they vaporize, were they not already dead. Mars Attacks! contains some unusual set pieces that are played for wickedly sharp laughs--consider Florence's pitch perfect response to the fate of Congress. The world kind of gets destroyed in Mars Attacks!, but as Richie stammers when he addresses the survivors--following a rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" by mariachi band--in their chance to rebuild they have the opportunity to reconsider the ways they lived their lives before the invasion and evaluate what they should do to make their world a better place. (To be fair, Richie, no one wants to live in tipis, though.)
Recommended for: Fans of a black comedy that pokes fun at the inevitable ends of people who lead self-absorbed lives, even if it comes at the mottled green hands of an impish little alien. Mars Attacks! also guarantees that you'll never listen to Slim Whitman's "Indian Love Call" the same way ever again.
Other stories of holdouts against this "red menace" take place in Las Vegas and in rural Kansas. There is aspiring hotel builder in "America's Playground" named Art Land (Nicholson again), who's as phony as his toupee. His wife, Barbara (Annette Bening), is a recovering alcoholic and New Age flake, who changes her tune about the Martians being harbingers of peace when they flip out and disintegrate the unfortunate few who attend their landing in Pahrump. Byron Williams (Jim Brown) is an ex-boxer turned casino entertainer who is struggling to support his family back in D.C., including his ex-wife, Louise (Pam Grier), who drives a bus by day while taking care of their two sons. When the aliens push into Sin City, Byron and Barbara form a motley crew with an abrasive lawyer (Danny DeVito) and none other than Tom Jones (himself) in their exodus from Vegas by Beechcraft. In Kansas, young Richie Norris (Lukas Haas) cares for his addled grandmother named Florence (Sylvia Sidney) in between his job at the donut shop. The rest of his family are trailer trash, who shower their affections on Richie's Army grunt elder brother, Billy-Glenn (Jack Black); their idea of a good time is watching Billy-Glenn field stripping a rifle while blindfolded while his father (Joe Don Baker) times him. In each character's respective confrontations with the aliens, the selfish and corrupt are punished by the depraved aliens (in most cases), while the innocent live on to rebuild the world.
Mars Attacks! takes the look of the bizarre Martians from the Topps trading card series from 1962 of the same name, complete with bubble-headed spacesuits, laser rifles, giant robots, and weird science experiments gone wrong. Silly moments like the stampede of fiery cattle which a local farmer mistakes for barbeque set the tone for the absurd insanity of Mars Attacks! The musical score by Danny Elfman is bursting with the eerie sounds, evoking classic scifi drive-in cheapies of yesteryear. Even when the flying saucers make their first landing in the desert, the scene is deliberately staged and scored to recall The Day the Earth Stood Still. As ugly as most of the Americans are in Mars Attacks!, the despicable aliens act like little punks all throughout the film. Their antics do not make any sense, and it is as if they were playing an elaborate and deadly prank on the world, with their strange gadgets and experiments, barking a monosyllabic "Ack! Ack! Ack!" at all us earthlings. The irony of their imperialistic exceptionalism might force self-evaluation from the selfish Americans they vaporize, were they not already dead. Mars Attacks! contains some unusual set pieces that are played for wickedly sharp laughs--consider Florence's pitch perfect response to the fate of Congress. The world kind of gets destroyed in Mars Attacks!, but as Richie stammers when he addresses the survivors--following a rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" by mariachi band--in their chance to rebuild they have the opportunity to reconsider the ways they lived their lives before the invasion and evaluate what they should do to make their world a better place. (To be fair, Richie, no one wants to live in tipis, though.)
Recommended for: Fans of a black comedy that pokes fun at the inevitable ends of people who lead self-absorbed lives, even if it comes at the mottled green hands of an impish little alien. Mars Attacks! also guarantees that you'll never listen to Slim Whitman's "Indian Love Call" the same way ever again.