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Movies / On DVD / Mars Attacks!
Mars Attacks!

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Mars Attacks! (1996)

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Reviews Counted:55

Fresh:27

Rotten:28

Average Rating:5.7/10

Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: Director Tim Burton unleashes MARS ATTACKS!, a vicious, affectionate, brightly-colored homage to 1950s alien invasion movies. When a shiny silver flying saucer lands in the Nevada desert, a group... Director Tim Burton unleashes MARS ATTACKS!, a vicious, affectionate, brightly-colored homage to 1950s alien invasion movies. When a shiny silver flying saucer lands in the Nevada desert, a group of skull-faced Martians exit the gleaming craft. Although they claim to be peaceful, they promptly "vaporize" a gathering of unfortunate Earthlings, kicking off a bizarre high-tech war with wild special effects. This studiously campy sci-fi spoof, based on a series of Topps bubble-gum cards, gleefully parodies not only schlock B-horror movies, but also overblown blockbusters such as INDEPENDENCE DAY. This subversive film is helped along by an all-star cast including Jack Nicholson in dual roles as both a clueless U.S. President (with First Lady Glenn Close) and a Las Vegas sleazebag. The film follows the wacky WAR OF THE WORLDS-like proceedings from the points of view of numerous colorful characters, from the inane U.S. Press Secretary (Martin Short) to a trailer-park family (Lukas Haas and Sylvia Sidney), to singer Tom Jones (as himself). [More]

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito, Michael J. Fox, Joe Don Baker, Sarah Jessica Parker, Martin Short, Lisa Marie, Tom Jones, Natalie Portman, Lukas Haas, Christina Applegate

Director: Tim Burton

Director: Tim Burton
Composer: Danny Elfman
Story: Len Brown, Woody Gelman, Wally Wood, Bob Powell, Norm Saunders
Screenwriter: Jonathan Gems
Producer: Larry J. Franco, Tim Burton

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Mars Attacks!

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
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Burton's only failure.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
08/25/08
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Unfortunately, it's not very good.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Mars Attacks! wants to be the Dr Strangelove of alien B-movies, but isn't up to the challenge. Instead it's a paceless, overlong, and campy film partly redeemed by a number of hilarious and gruesome alien invasion skits.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
06/27/01
Tom Coates
Tom Coates
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The pinko commie Independence Day, Burton's film orders an invasion of little green men not to reinvigorate our all-American bloodlust, but to make us look like complete and utter boobs.

Full Review Source: City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul | comment Comment
09/01/09
Rob Nelson
Rob Nelson
City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | comment Comment
10/18/08
Jack Garner
Jack Garner
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
10/18/08
Susan Stark
Susan Stark
Detroit News
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
10/18/08
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Perhaps they don't create quite enough deeply funny earthlings to go around, but a thoroughly meanspirited big-budget movie is always a treasurable rarity.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment Comment
08/25/08
Richard Schickel
Richard Schickel
TIME Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Since the movie is obviously designed to be a larky romp through low-culture cheese, it may seem mean-spirited to complain that in the end Burton's spectacle is a bit hollow.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
08/25/08
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

oaded with wit, nifty little ideas and an extraordinary sense of design, but its allure is of quite a particular nature, much closer to that of Ed Wood than of Burton's earlier, and far more commercially successful, works.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
08/25/08
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Burton is at his funniest when the Martians are zapping away like brats playing a video game.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
09/27/07
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

It has a silly juvenile appeal in its unrelenting and subversive camp satire of the pop culture scene.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
01/06/07
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

This may not be the best or funniest effort by Burton. It is his biggest, and a lot of fun, too.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
04/09/05
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

A most unpleasant surprise to all those who based their expectations on Burton's previous work.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
05/22/03
Dragan Antulov
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Just a parade of scattershot gags, more often weird than funny and most often just flat.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/20/03
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
05/14/03
Jeanne Aufmuth
Jeanne Aufmuth
Palo Alto Weekly

A very disappointing effort by director Tim Burton.

Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
03/16/03
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

A frantic, funny love letter to an era of entertainment gone by, but also a top-notch example of modern comedy.

Full Review Source: Netflix | comment Comment
11/07/02
James Rocchi
James Rocchi
Netflix

Only moderately amusing.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
10/29/02
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post

It's got attitude, goodness knows; it has stars by the fistful; and it certainly was made with technical skill. What it doesn't have is enough of a story to fill an hour and 46 minutes.

Full Review Source: Cincinnati Enquirer | comment Comment
10/15/02
Margaret A. McGurk
Margaret A. McGurk
Cincinnati Enquirer
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
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Latest News for Mars Attacks!

September 22, 2005: Critical Consensus: A Beautiful "Bride," A Bumpy "Flight," And a Bouncy "Bounce"
This week at the movies brings a twisted tale of love from beyond the grave ("Tim Burton's Corpse Bride"), a paranoid thriller at 40,000 feet ("Flightplan")... More...

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