This film is a homage to sci-fi movies of the 1950s and 60s--even down to the design of the aliens who were taken from the obscure "Mars Attacks" kids trading cards from the 60s. At a gentle send up of the genre, you see many of the expected clichés and dialog--there are not major surprises here.
I heard a lot of very negative comments about this film when it came out and perhaps that is why I was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't bad at all and nearly earned a 7 from me. Despite negative hype, the film is far from dull and quite fun. Sure, there's not a huge amount of depth to it and it won't change your life--but so what!? Some times it's okay just to watch a silly film like this and enjoy it on a superficial level. The only serious negative about the film is that the plot, in part, was actually stolen from ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES if you can believe it (who in their right mind would want to pilfer plot elements from THAT film?!?). The whole Slim Whitman angle is a knock off of the Donny Desmond ending and I can't believe they just lifted the ending from one film and slapped it on MARS ATTACKS!. That's why I ultimately chose to give the film a 6.
I heard a lot of very negative comments about this film when it came out and perhaps that is why I was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't bad at all and nearly earned a 7 from me. Despite negative hype, the film is far from dull and quite fun. Sure, there's not a huge amount of depth to it and it won't change your life--but so what!? Some times it's okay just to watch a silly film like this and enjoy it on a superficial level. The only serious negative about the film is that the plot, in part, was actually stolen from ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES if you can believe it (who in their right mind would want to pilfer plot elements from THAT film?!?). The whole Slim Whitman angle is a knock off of the Donny Desmond ending and I can't believe they just lifted the ending from one film and slapped it on MARS ATTACKS!. That's why I ultimately chose to give the film a 6.