Mars Attacks! (1996)

Earth is invaded by Martians with unbeatable weapons and a cruel sense of humor.

Director:

Tim Burton

Writers:

Len Brown (trading card series), Woody Gelman (trading card series)

Stars:

Jack Nicholson, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Jessica Parker

3 wins & 19 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jack Nicholson	...	President James Dale / Art Land
Glenn Close	...	First Lady Marsha Dale
Annette Bening	...	Barbara Land
Pierce Brosnan	...	Professor Donald Kessler
Danny DeVito	...	Rude Gambler
Martin Short	...	Press Secretary Jerry Ross
Sarah Jessica Parker	...	Nathalie Lake
Michael J. Fox	...	Jason Stone
Rod Steiger	...	General Decker
Tom Jones	...	Tom Jones
Lukas Haas	...	Richie Norris
Natalie Portman	...	Taffy Dale
Jim Brown	...	Byron Williams
Lisa Marie	...	Martian Girl
Sylvia Sidney	...	Grandma Florence Norris

Storyline

It is a normal day for everyone, until President of the United States James Dale (Jack Nicholson) announces Martians have been spotted circling Earth. The Martians land and a meeting is arranged, but not everything goes to plan, and the Martians seem to have other plans for Earth. Are they just misunderstood beings or do they really want to destroy all of humanity?

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Plot Keywords:

video arcade | parody | b movie | dark comedy | political satire | 

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Taglines:

YIKES! They've Landed!

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Genres:

Comedy | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi fantasy violence and brief sexuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Billy Glenn Norris says goodbye to his grandmother, she calls him Thomas, Jack Black's real first name.

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Goofs

The caption of the president's press conference indicates that it occurs in the afternoon, but the president says "Good Morning".

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Quotes

Art Land: [Repeatedly] Wow!

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Crazy Credits

Special effects: No living animals were barbecued during the production of this film.

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Alternate Versions

A television ad had Marsha Dale saying (over the desicion of what to do about the Martians): "Kick the crud out of them!" which was an edit to what she said in the theatrical version: "Kick the crap out of them!"

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Connections

Referenced in De 9 dagen van de gier: Episode #1.7 (2002)

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Soundtracks

The Star-Spangled Banner
(uncredited)
Written by Francis Scott Key and John Stafford Smith

User Reviews

This is where Independence Day is put to shame.

As someone stated before, with tremendous accuracy, Mars Attacks! is one of those movies in which you rarely encounter a mid term: either you love it or you hate it.

Personally, I have to say that I stand on the "loved it" part. Mars Attacks! is great entertainment at it's best, and Tim Burton did an incredibly good job, as usual. One of the things that seems to bother me the most is that some people may not understand the purpose and the message of the film: it's mission is to spoof all those action and Sci-fi movies that abound on clichés and laughable scenes; in which Independence Day is one clear example. Independence Day is bad, relies too much on SFX, and abuse the audience's sanity, believing us to be fools. This is the idea that Jonathan Gemes (screenwriter) and Tim Burton(director) had in mind.

Also one high point of the movie is it's main attraction to it's cast: Box Office names like Jack Nicholson; Glenn Close; Danny DeVito; Pierce Brosnan; Sarah Jessica Parker; Michael J Fox; (th great) Natalie Portman; Lukas Haas; Jack Black; Pam Grier and Annette Bening, all of them come together, representing a part of society and social status that they spoof themselves. The special effects are also a funny part, because some of them are very well achieved and some of them are really cheesy: that's their purpose.

Anyway, much more shouldn't be said, since Mars Attacks! is one of those films that you have to see for yourself, and ultimately evaluate. 9 ou of 10

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros.

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

13 December 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mars Attacks!

Filming Locations:

Randy's Donuts - 805 W. Manchester Avenue, Inglewood, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$9,384,272, 15 December 1996

Gross USA:

$37,771,017

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$101,371,017

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tim Burton Productions, Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.40 : 1