Ghosts of Mars is...

[Mitch Cumstein]

Carpenter's best film since They Live. I don't see how people don'r recognize this film for the genius that it is. This is classic Carpenter.

I walked out of the film, and after watching the DVD, saying to myself that THIS IS CLASSIC CARPENTER!

It sickens me that it did so poorly at the box office.

This film has Carpenter written all over it. Especially the ending. People, give this film another look, it's destined to become a sci- fi classic.

Did anyone else notice the massive simularities between GoM and ALIENS?

Long live JC. He seems to be the only director out there making original and groundbreaking horror/sci-fi films.

GoM is an underrated gem.

[Horror/GoreFanatic]

I lot of people i know didn't like it but i thought it rocked and had kick ass action.

[Mitch Cumstein]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Horror/GoreFanatic:
I lot of people i know didn't like it but i thought it rocked and had kick ass action.</font>

Well, I'm glad someone else liked it. No joking, Ghost's of Mars was the best film of 2001. And I'm not just saying that because I
'm a JC junkie.

[Common Sense Man]

People, people wake up!

This movie blew chunks like a virgin at a toga party! 3/10

Don't get me wrong I do not hate Carpenter, I actually love some of his movies but this is not one of them.

And to say it was his best, well I would be insulted if I was JC. GOM is not even close to the quality or The Thing or even They Live.

It basically has no plot, no history on the aliens, and explains nothing about why they decide to pierce and mutilate themselves.

And come on, what kind of alien language was that? scream as loud as you can after you have cut out your tongue and your now speaking Martian, or whatever alien race they are, we never find out.

Carpenter should have provided at least a short backstory on the aliens, but nope.

And sure there was plenty of killing but that does not make a good movie.

The reason it did not do well at the box office is because it was crap!

You would do yourself a favor if you stuck to the good Carpenter movies such as:

The Thing
Vampires
Escape From New York
They Live

He is in my opinion like Wes Craven, he makes some good flicks and some real stinkers.

Out.....

[Mike]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">The reason it did not do well at the box office is because it was crap!</font>

Actually, the reason why it didn't do good at the Box Office is because of the shitty trailers.

Anyway, I enjoyed it, I thought it was a lot of fun, nowhere close to being a classic but it was entertaining. Check out my review in the Video Capsules section.

[Bomont the Destroyer]

Actually the reason I didn't do too good at the box office is because most people don't like horror or sci fi movies. I mean sure there's a billion of us, but the majority of the population just don't like our kinda movies. Anyway I enjoyed it, nice mindless violent fun. They don't make movies that violent that go to theaters anymore, well unless it's a true story war movie. THen they do. I even found myself enjoying Ice Cube, who I don't really like. Although I wish the main guy wasn't named Big Daddy Mars. That was pretty gay.

[Elgyn]

I thought this movie was AWESOME! True, it`s not one of Carpenter`s best, but it IS the best movie he`s made in the past few years. It`s a helluvalot better than "Escape From LA", "Village Of the Damned", and "Vampires". So no one can say it`s his WORST movie. Hell, I dare say, I liked GoM more than "Prince Of Darkness".
Okay, I`ll admit some things were bad in it. The Martian 'language' had me laughing ("BWAHHGGG!!!'), and it would`ve been cool to learn a little more about the Martians. But I really liked this movie and don`t understand why everyone hates it so much.

[Mike]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Although I wish the main guy wasn't named Big Daddy Mars. That was pretty gay.</font>

I completely agree, I laugh whenever I hear that name, it's so ridiculously stupid, but good for a laugh.

[michael myers 666]

Actually, "Big Daddy Mars" was not the official name for the main villain. That was just a name john Carpenter used while writing the script to determine who the villain was. It was actually never meant to be referred to by that name, but it just happened that way. As in the credits.

[Casbal]

Ok, I'll watch it now and decide for myself. I sure hope Carpenter is not wasting my time again like he did with Vampires.

[andy13]

this film is soooooooo SCARY, and absolutly GREAT.
My fav scene has to be the scene where three of the group go to the nuclear power plant, while the others distract the "Ghosts" with the train... but then slowly the head "Ghost" turns and sees them at the power plant, and stare at them before screaming (the "ghosts language). That scene scared the sh*t out of me!

[Jason Voorhees]

Thought It was a great flick http://www.joblo.com/ubb/smile.gif. I like how the first half sets up the situation and then second delivers lots of action and fighting, Had good amounts of fighting and gore and classic Carpenter style.



[This message has been edited by Jason Voorhees (edited 12-16-2001).]

[AlienClown]

Hey Casbal I don't think you're gonna like GOM much if you felt Vampires wasted your time. I just recently saw GOM and I liked it but not as much as I liked Vampires.

[Casbal]

Just finished watching GOM. And (surprise surprise) I liked it. The start is a bit slow and the whole thing could have been more scary (actually should have). But by the third quarter it had grown on me and I began enjoying it. The sets don't look like they cost a lot of money and neither do the special effects. But that doesn't matter too much, because this flick has some of the old Carpenter spirit! My overall impression was good, and I don't think this movie deserved all those bad reviews. Sure, it probably will never be a classic, and sure, Carpenter has made better films- but he has made worse, too.

AlienClown: The problem with Vampires is that the viewers can not sympathise with the protagonists and that there are way too many boring passages. Not so GOM.

[This message has been edited by Casbal (edited 12-16-2001).]

[Mike]

I didn't really like John Carpenter's VAMPIRES either but I liked Ghost's Of Mars.

[Jason Voorhees]

Didnt much like Vampires myself either.. but GOM i thought was very cool.

[Riddick]

I thought Ghosts of Mars was a fun action/sci-fi movie. I liked Vampires, too. Any movie that has James Woods emptying a full Desert Eagle clip into a vampire's face is OK in my book.

[Headbangerzombie]

well, I liked GOM, but it is not Carpenter's best film by far. It is a good mindless, chessey little movie. The fast pace keeps you from noticing th complete lack of plot. Still, it is a great popcorn ass-kicking film. Vampires is much better, though. I say 3/4.

[izombie]

I watched Ghost of Mars last night and must say I was really disappointed. Why?

++++++++++++ Possible Spoilers ++++++++++++++

1) The re-telling of what happened at the mining colony seemed very disjointed. I found it annoying. (The flashback/different point of view)

2) It took a little to long for the action to get going.

3) It was too obvious most of the characters were nothing more than cannon fodder.

4) Too little background info on the Martians.

5) The ending was so fuckin stupid (except for the underwear shot).

Don't get me wrong I'm not saying this a bad movie, when it was over I didn't wonder why the hell I wasted my money, but it will never make it into my DVD collection. This is no where near J.C.'s best work I would rather watch The Thing, or Big Trouble in Little China for the millionth time before I watched this a second time.

I think the high point for me was Henstridge's fighting, I can't find who did the fight choreography, but her style seemed very fitting for the character it wasn't flashy jumpin around shit but rather very military/police like, two examples: when she took Uno down in the jail cell (the hit to the throat and the arm bar)

When they threw her out back and she fucks up that guys knee very cool.

[Casbal]

Only because you are told at the beginning of 'Frankenstein' how it will end and the whole novel is a flashback, that doesn't make it a bad book. But yes I agree, those flashbacks used later in the movie interrupt its flow, and I think Carpenter should have noticed.

About the martians, I think the "know it all"-charcter (the doctor), Ballard's vision when she is taken over and the way the martians behave tell us all we need to know about them.
Be honest, even after 4 movies we still know next to nothing about the aliens from Alien. Where are they from? Do they have a concience? Are they intelligent (on a human level)? How do they communicate? All of those questions were answered for the martians.
They apparently form a primitive violent society. They seemingly worship some sort of higher being (you can witness their bizarre and brutal rituals). Maybe they consider their tyrant-like leader to be a god. They have developed both language and writing. How, being so primitive, they managed to invent a technology allowing them to preserve their "ghosts" for millions (?) of years is beyond me, but maybe they were a parasitic life-form (which has to take over other creatures in order to live) from the start. This seems most plausible.
Why the parasitic "ghosts" were trapped inside the cavern can only have two explanations:
1. They were left there on purpose to defend mars against invaders from other planets.
2. The "original" martians who were taken over by the parasites found a way to get rid of them and, unable to destroy them banished them inside that mountain.

[AdriaLee]

I really wanted to like this movie but I didn't. It bored me. I'll try again later but I don't think it will matter.

[izombie]

Casbal I thought how he did all of his flashbacks disrupted the whole flow of the movie. I have nothing against flasbacks in movies or books, but in GOM it gave me a choppy impression, I didn't like it.

An honestly your right after 4 Alien movies we really don't know much about them, but for some reason that doesn't bother me. However for some reason I wanted to understand the history of the Martians, what was the purpose of the piercings and self multilation?

Like AdriaLee said, I did want to like this movie, but to me it was just ok.

But as stated before Carpenter directs movies he'd like to see, sometimes other people like them, others not.

[Ed King]

I really loved it too. Dig that soundtrack by the man himself, it makes a great cd.

[Cenobite]

Ghosts of Mars kicked butt. While it wasn't very scary, I was certainly entertained all the way through, from start to finish. Lots of fun and some really cool deaths. And, yes, the soundtrack rocks (naturally). This is Carpenter's best film in years.

[Cannon Fodder]

It was pretty average. An okay B-grade sci-fi action flick, but no more. It had some good stuff in it but it was also lacking in many departments. It had a cool visual look and a nice atmosphere to it. The basic premise was okay, but not particularly original. To have been any good the story would have to have been developed a lot better than it was. The iege was meaty enough and the decision to go back was a weak plot point. The flashback retelling of the story was okay but more than a bit awkward. The action scenes weren't all that good, a bit too muddled and confused. For one thing, too many characters were killed in the background. Admittedly the dlying saw-blade attacks were great, particularly that one decapitation. Probably the biggest weakness was the two leads. Although very attractive, Natasha Henstridge is a pretty wooden actress and Ice Cube, or whichever ex-rapper it was, was awful and badly miscast. Plus, the two lacked any hint of onscreen chemistry. Some of the supporting cast such as Bacon, I mean Jason Stratham, were pretty good though. Overall, very average.

[countchocula]

I assume that the film took its sweet time setting up the premise and building suspense because the viewer isn't supposed to know ahead of time what type of alien or creature is causing havoc on Mars. Not much happens for the first 30-40 minutes. "Big Daddy Mars" doesn't show up in the first scene. He makes his appearance a little later on. I was supposed to be curious as to what was happening on the planet and why the landscape was desolate. Well, I wasn't. Unfortunately, I had already seen pictures of the main villain and read the plot outline in Fangoria. I pretty much knew what was going to happen. The slow-paced set-up didn't peak my interest one bit. That was probably the reason why I didn't enjoy this film as much as I could have. The same thing happened with Jeepers Creepers. I read too much about it and most of the plot twists didn't phase me as they were intended to. I'm gonna have to read more carefully from now on. Anyway, I did enjoy Ghosts of Mars despite the fact that almost all of it was already spoiled for me. The action sequences (once they finally arrived) were cool, the gore was surprisingly pleasant, and Natasha Henstridge kicked ass. As someone already pointed out, the sets did look a little cheap and at times I felt like I was watching a Sci-fi Channel original, but that was easy to overlook. Again, I probably would have liked it more had I not known what to expect, so I'll be nice with my rating.

My rating-3.5/5

[CouchPotato420]

i loved this movie. it was very entertaining. jericho (jason statham) was the man in that movie. it was also cool how unexpected some of the deaths were.

[kombat ki]

Originally posted by Mitch Cumstein
Well, I'm glad someone else liked it. No joking, Ghost's of Mars was the best film of 2001. And I'm not just saying that because I
'm a JC junkie.

yea,it wasn't the greatest but i still dug it alot.also the best film of 2001 is dude wheres my car

[Psychocandy]

I still haven't seen this...mainly because of all the negative reviews. I'm going through a bit of a John Carpenter phase right now. I just bought Assault On Precinct 13, The Fog, They Live, Prince Of Darkness, Starman and Big Trouble In Little China. Perhaps I should give Ghosts Of Mars a chance.

[iDLEWiLD_fan]

god....Ghosts Of Mars sucked balls.....it really did it was SOOOOOOOOOOOO bad i'm shoced that some of you actually prefered this to Vampires.....Vampires is such a great flick....

i really love JC's flicks i just really hope his next ain't nothing like Ghosts Of Mars....god it was awful and shocking how such a great film maker could make this steaming pile of dog shit

[X-Nightcrawler]

Nah, not over Vampires, it's ok.

[TheAxeGrinder]

I don't know. Ghosts Of Mars had some neat stuff in it (namely the cool kills) but I just didn't really gel with the idea of having Ice Cube as a hardened criminal. Plus, Carpenter didn't really explain who the hell the leader of the Martian manhunter guys was or why he was doing this, etc. The ending also bugged me. I know it leaves everything open, but Carpenter has done this before, and the film either gets its sequel (Halloween) or doesn't (The Thing). Overall, Natasha didn't drop her top and there was great gore. You win some and you lose some.

3 Axes Out Of 5

[CarrieCarrie]

I liked this movie but far from loved it. The ending bothered me also leaving the movie as they did. I won't be adding this movie to my dvd or vhs collection despite the fact I liked the movie.

[Draven2277]

Ghosts of Mars was a cool flick. It's strictly a John Carpenter movie - a fun B Movie that he made for his fans, and you have to love him for that. it definitely wasn't one of his greatest, but in a sea of teenie bopper slashers and horror movies overrun with FX, Ghosts of Mars is a welcome sight. thank you, Johnny!!! Keep your movies coming!!! And next time, PLEASE don't cast Ice Cube in your movie.

[Cronos]

....a great film, i saw it at the theatres and loved it, bought the DVD, thought id hate it but loved it even more, Carpenter is a great director and hasnt made a film that disappoints me yet

9/10

[quoth_the_raven]

i am a huge carpenter fan, but i have to admit, i didnt really like GOM all that much. it was ok, it killed 90 minutes perfectly, i just didnt really get into it...

[Jack_Cheze]

I like GOM, it's fun. I wish it wasn't so polished looking. Joanna Cassidy was too cleaned up to be believable as a geologist, everything was just too clean. Natasha Henstridge is ALWAYS nice to look at though, and Jason Stratham is awesome.

Vampires 1 (with James Woods) = good
Vampires 2 (with Bon Jovi) = HORRIBLEWORTHLESSCRAPPYINSULTINGSTEAMING SHITPILE

[Elgyn]

I still say this movie is way underrated.

[ColinM]

The worst horror movie in years. Word cannot express my contempt for this piece of shit. To me, it's like a compilation of the worst of John Carpenter. Even Clea DuVall doesn't save this one.

2/10. And that's fucking generous.

[Tagia_Romero]

I didn't mind this one actually. Sure it was a little stale in places, but I really can't put a nasty word to Carpenter. Though, what was it with "Village of the Damned"?

[deadeye]

SPOILERS......



I like this movie--just finished watching it again on HBO a few minutes ago in fact. The style is what makes it work for me. But even though I like it, the plot bugs me a little more with each viewing because....even when the good guys know killing the buggers only releases the spirit to take over them, they still kill the fuck out of the hosts. Disable them, blow their legs off, just don't kill them immediately. Also, it seems clear in flashback that at some point the spirits, probably while in living flesh, were bottled up in the mountain. Containment worked pretty well then, so it seems to me that the heroes should have tried trapping them in one place, maybe even back in the mine, rather than blow them up and releasing all those spirits to drift around for the next victims.