Ghosts of Mars

[Torgo]

Okay, I'm a pretty big fan of John Carpenter and IMO from 1976's Assault on Precinct 13 to 1988(?)'s They Live, I didn't think that the man could do no wrong.

Then came Memoirs of an Invisible Man, his ill advised re-make of the already perfectly fine Village of the Damned, Escape from L.A. and this atrocity Ghosts of Mars.

BTW, I happen to think that In the Mouth of Madness was a good film so it's the blip  on his otherwise downward spiral of his talents/career as a director. Vampires was good for the 1st half but quickly descended into crap by the end of the film  (I didn't like his 1st Masters of Horror episode Cigarette Burns and have yet to see his 2nd MOH episode Pro-Life.)

The last time I saw Ghosts of Mars was when it was in theaters back in 2001.  I hated it then (actually I DESPISED it then) but since Prince of Darkness took a few viewings to pull me in, I figured that I would re-visit Ghosts of Mars sometime in the future to see if my opinion changed any.

Almost 6 years later (last night as a matter of fact), I watched Ghosts of Mars again and I still think that it's a disaster. You can almost feel Carpenter being bored with making movies at this point.  The whole thing has a general ho-hum feel to it right from the acting on down to the set design and editing.  Not to forget the fact that the main bad guys look like Marilyn Manson rejects and the main baddie is named as Big Daddy Mars in the credits.

I should also mention that it's one of the only films that has a flashback within a flashback within a flashback that I can think of.   (Granted it doesn't top the dog's flashback in the original Hills Have Eyes 2).  Maybe if the movie had been told in a linear fashion it might have worked better.  But upon watching it again last time I kept thinking of Family Guy in the way that everytime a new character popped up screen, the movie would go into some kind of flashback showing what happened to them.

Plus, how can you have Natasha Henstridge (a.k.a. the hot naked chick from Species)  in your film and not have her get naked at some point?!    that seems to be her only true talent judging from the few films I've seen her attempt to act in.

Anyway, I know that Ghosts of Mars has its fans, but these people seem to be the kind of John Carpenter fans who will defend everything that he does as if it is genius even when it's crap.

I would like to think that at some point he'll get his passion for directing back again.   Considering some of the great films that he's given us over the years, I would like to at least see him go out with a bang instead of a whimper when he finally decides to hang up his hat and retire.

Anyway, did anyone like Ghosts of Mars and if so could you explain why?

[Oldskool138]

I watched this movie and fell asleep halfway through...It gave me some funky dreams.  I went back and watched it again and I wasn't impressed.  Carpenter was a great director but not so much any more.

In the Mouth of Madness is still scary as hell.  I wish he'd make more movies like that.   Hell, I wouldn't mind seeing a The Thing sequel as long as they didn't use CGI.

[Snivelly]

I liked this one, not nearly as much as some of his other films, but I'm hard-pressed to think of exactly why.  Like all of his movies, I feel like I came into it a half hour after it started, even though I know I didn't....that sense of walking into the middle of a situation works well in his other movies, but here you really did need more background. 

I liked the sets, and the action sequences were good.  And I did like the soundtrack Carpenter wrote for the film too.  But I honestly don;t know what else it is about this one that kept my interest.

[Jack]

I found it moderately entertaining.  I thought Natasha Henstridge did a fairly descent job, but starring next to a rapper how could she not shine?  I kept thinking here we are on Mars, and this guy from Boyz n the Hood is there?  And he's acting exactly, precisely like he did in Boyz n the Hood?  If someone would just give him a 48 oz. bottle of Schlitz Malt Liquor he'd be fine.  The overall flow of the movie was okay, and some of (though not all) of the action sequences were very nicely done.  I sort of liked the set design.  I thought the Marilyn Manson guys were basically silly, but what I was most disappointed about was that the title is GHOSTS of Mars, yet there really weren't any ghosts.  Just guys who looked like they belonged in a mosh pit.  Some sort of supernatural presence would have been much much cooler.

When I popped the DVD in a second time I found it just about unwatchable due to all the flashback within a flashback crap.  Though it was mildly interesting the first time, the second time I already knew what was going to happen so it was almost agonizing to sit through the non-linear story structure.  Still, Natasha did have that 5 second scene at the end in her panties, so there's that.

[Shadow]

I've only seen it once. I remember liking the idea behind it (the ancient Martian life forces "possessing" the Humans), but I found all the characters somewhat annoying and the story structure a bit uneven. I remember thinking that Carpenter had really fallen a long way from his prime.

[Ash]

What was that saying? 

"The villain can make or break a movie."
or
"A movie is only as good as its villain."


That's the problem with Ghosts of Mars....the villains really aren't all that great.
A red body possessing mist and pointy toothed headbangers with bladed weapons might have sounded good on paper...but it didn't translate well to the screen.

Still, I did like the overall atmosphere of the film.
I give it 2 stars out of 4.

[BoyScoutKevin]

Now don't quote me on this, as I haven't seen it, but as far as I know the only other film with a flashback within a flashback within a flashback is "Passage to Marseille." I think they were trying to recreate "Casablanca" with this film, as both films star Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre.

The only time I have seen a flashback within a flashback within a flashback is in an episode of the British police series "Raising the Dead."

A flashback within a flashback is not too common neither. The only times I can remember seeing it is in "The Enforcer" w/ Humphrey Bogart and Zero Mostel and in "Ride Beyond Vengeance" w/ Chuck Connors and James MacArthur.

[Jack]

One of the things they warn you about as a writer is to never have flashbacks (much less flashbacks within flashbacks) unless they're absolutely vital to the story.  In Ghosts it was just tacked on like a gimmick.

[Scott]

I remember liking GHOST ON MARS, but I also remember expecting a bit more from this Carpenter title, so I was a bit dissappointed.

I'd watch it again if it came on TV.

[Neville]

I sort of like Carpenter's latest films. I enjoyed "Village of the damned", found "Memoirs of an invisible man" flawed but watchable, though "Escape from L.A." has its moments, and decided that "Vampires" is one of his best films ever.

But I don't like this one at all. I like the production design, and the structure is intriguing, but that's it. Acting sucks, dialogue sucks, but the main culprit here is Carpenter himself. I can't remember ever noticing more detached than here from his job. Damn, he doesn't even look like he's trying.

I still admire him, he's one of my favourite directors, but I'll be very disappointed if this turned out to be his last film. It would be a very sad way to end a career, specially after making two of the best episodes of "Masters of horror".