User Reviews

The wild-west inspiration is obvious.

It could just as easily have been made as a "regular" horror-western, and perhaps a remake/reimaging will make it so.

The sets are OK, the CGI is so-so.

The actors are doing a decent job and all in all, the film accomplishes what it sets out to do: A two-fisted action-romp with a splash of horror and gore.

It's not high art but it is silly fun and good enough for an evening along with popcorn and soda.

well i went to see this when it came out in the theatre with some friends and they wanted to leave halfway through the movie because of the absolute dragging on of the set-up of the story.well i left with them always wondering what happened in the second half.i rented the dvd when it was released and wished i had stayed the first time to watch the entire picture.i have since bought the dvd and watched the special features[which has the some behind the scenes footage,special effects,and making of the soundtrack]which include the commentary by mr carpenter himself and his lovely star natasha.carpenter explains that he had a real hard time with the first part of the movie.he wanted to get things moving along but he was also trying to develop the characters and set up the movie as well.the flashback scenes were really wearing me out though and this is not shot like a typical carpenter movie.carpenter has always been a master in creating and building up suspense but,it doesn't quite work in this movie.it would have helped if the dialogue had been a little more interesting but it is pretty straight-forward stuff.when we finally get to the action sequences carpenter himself says in the commentary"FINALLY INTO THE ACTION PHASES".even carpenter was really ready for the action pick up.the fight scenes are top-notch and the special effects get kicked into high gear during this second half of the movie.also there is some pretty funny humor during this time which seems to work.during the commentary carpenter keeps heaping praise on his lovely star ms natasha.she does do a good job and considering the fact that she was a last minute addition to the cast{only one week before filming}her performance is worthy of praise.one thing to keep in mind DO NOT TAKE THIS FILM SO SERIOUSLY.this is something that carpenter told his cast and should be told to viewers.yeh it's a little monotonous during the early stages but the payout later is worth it.not carpenters' best movie or worst.village of the damned i thought was his poorest but i have since changed that because like this movie it grows on you.

Apparently GOM was originally intended to be a 3rd entry of the Escape franchise, with character Snake Plissken (Oh my god, I wish they did that instead, because Ice Cube always was, and still is terrible at acting). Anyways, that info in mind, it made so much more sense. John Carpenter's Escape visual style was right there all along, and I never noticed. The costumes, the train, the future technology, and all the visual effects are exactly the same as the Kurt Russel Escape films, just transported to the Mars location. I think part of the issue with fans is that people didn't understand what this was. It was an old fashioned future (if that makes sense). The story takes place in the future, but using visual techniques and story elements that feel dated in the past. It's actually fun that way, if you don't treat it like the Matrix, or something that actually was progressive at the time.

That's it, no deep dives. This film is Ice Cube playing a dangerous prisoner that was meant to be transferred, when things go amok for all the human survivors. It's Escape from NY/L.A. mixed with Assault on Precinct 13 set on Mars. The bad guys causing all the trouble are the "ghosts"/ weird creepy monsters that self mutilate, and are more or less what happens to people from the Mad Max movies when they have a supply of meth. Oh, I forgot the ghost spirit can travel into people's bodies.

It is fun if you let it be. It's a low budget nothing action. You get a young Jason Statham as a perv, Clea DuVall, Pam Grier in a weird pushy lesbian commander role, and Ice Cube if you are into his wide range of abilities (gangster with a Cali accent on Mars, go figure).

This is the definition of a 4-5 star flick. It is fun, and has people I like long enough to keep watching. I give 5 stars, just because it's been given an unfair wrap over the years. If you treat it like it was made in the 80's you might actually like it a lot!

John Carpenter, together with Brian De Palma, are the only active directors who had created a body of work consisting of the representation of a particular, personal world, forged by the mixture of a number of themes and subjects, reinserted on tracks left by classic directors (Hawks and Hitchcock respectively). They make one single movie over and over again, reaching outstanding levels of accomplishment in style and coherence.

Thus `Ghost of Mars' is full of Carpenter's imaginary. The plot, the characters, the tone, everything can be linked to his previous work, most notably `Assault on Precint 13', that was yet a reworking of Hawks' `Rio Bravo'. And that's a significant point regarding this film: despite the zombies, the gore, the futuristic set-up, the red Martian atmosphere, the heavy metal score, `Ghost of Mars' is essentially a western in the most classic way. There is a train, a lawman (played by an actress), a group of deputies, a gang of bandits, a frontier town surrounded by the desert.

As in Hawks, the individuals work as a group, defined by codes of professional skill in a strictly masculine environment. Interestingly, Capenter portrays the Martian society as a matriarchy, but the elements operate the same way: the good guy and the bad guy differentiate from each other just for the fact that they are in opposite sides of the law, but are nevertheless exchangeable. Also, following Hawks' epic, the vulnerability of the hero is determined by a fault or weakness (Melanie's addiction to drugs is a progression of Dean Martin's alcoholism in Rio Bravo).

Told in a peculiar series of flashbacks from different points of view, and as in `Vampires', with the use of long, continual dissolves, the story introduces some original points, like the ghosts taking possession of human through the ears and Desolation's smart device to save Melanie with the aid of drugs. There are some plot holes, yes, some bad acting and gratuitous -though stylized- violence. But it's Carpenter unpretentious as ever, telling us how dark our future appears, not from a pulpit but from his director's chair. And I'm very grateful for his effort.

John Carpenter has made a pretty decent living out of directing low-budget action-horror flicks in various sub-genres. A couple of his sci-fi efforts are genuinely good fun. This movie isn't one of them.

Natasha Henstridge has visual appeal, but delivers her lines with all the emotion of a lump of granite. Ice Cube proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is no actor, despite a couple of passable earlier efforts in 'Boyz n the Hood' (1991) and 'Friday' (1995). Jason Statham's character Jericho - supposedly attractive due to his breeding prowess - couldn't get a root in a brothel.

The Martians are about as scary as a good bottle of shiraz... three of which may increase your enjoyment of the movie to a tolerable level. No, make it four. Carpenter doesn't even manage a workable soundtrack... usually one of his strengths. I got really familiar with the bits that were saying: "Go to the fridge and find some munchies. Super-boring bit coming up."

If you want some topnotch Carpenter sci-fi, check out cult favourite 'They Live', either of the 'Escape from...' movies, or mega-classic 'The Thing'. This one, however, deserves a swift and permanent burial.

According to all sources, this film was co-written and directed by John Carpenter. The same man who gave birth to the modern slasher genre with the immensely terrifying "Halloween." The same man who scared the hell out of us with his remake "The Thing." The same man who, despite its trashy appearance, still managed to creep us out in his remake of "Village of the Damned." It is nearly impossible to believe that the same man who gave us those movies produced the garbage known as "Ghosts of Mars."

Everything about "Ghosts of Mars" sucks. The acting is wooden, the dialogue is awful, the special effects are terrible, and the action scenes are dull and lifeless. And for someone who once earned the title "Master of Terror," there's not a scare to be found. Okay, fine, there is one mildly (emphasis on "mild") creepy chase sequence.

Melanie Ballard (Natasha Henstridge) is a cop who is assigned to take a crew to a remote Mars outpost and bring back a notorious prisoner, known as James "Desolation" Williams (Ice Cube). Of course, when they get there, they find a nasty surprise waiting for them: everyone has been possessed by a bad special effect that looks like red mist, and it turns everyone into some sort of zombie.

The acting is bad across the board. Natasha Henstridge tries to create another Ellen Ripley, but she fails spectacularly. Ice Cube could have had screen presence here, but his performance is so low-key that he would be forgotten in every scene if the camera didn't always focus on him. Pam Grier gives it her all, but it doesn't help much. Clea Duvall is annoying as the whiny rookie. Jason Statham has a habit of making it hard to understand what he's saying (and it's not because of his accent). Worse are his attempts to seduce Melanie, which are embarrassing. Joanna Cassidy has the role of the survivor who knows what's going on, but calling her performance "bland" is putting it too kindly; she's awful. Richard Cetrone, who is supposed to be the main villain (I think) as "Big Daddy Mars," but he's so underdeveloped that we can't even be sure of that (his name only comes from the credits-no one actually calls him this during the movie). No one else serves any purpose (and a good few of the members of the cast are not even given anything to say).

As a person who respects John Carpenter (his kinds of movies are not my forte), this is more than a huge disappointment coming from him. It's so lazily done that it's almost as if he only did one take on every scene. But the worst is that he gives no set up. And for someone like him, one would expect him to know that shots that set the scene are essential. But the badness of his job doesn't stop there. The transitions from shot to shot are terrible, like something on a PowerPoint presentation. He uses a jumping frame effect for about two minutes, then never again (and he uses it for no good reason). The soundtrack, which is heavy metal, is terrible (this is coming from the man who gave us the chilling and unforgettable theme to "Halloween"). The special effects are so bad that even in the 80's they would have seemed terrible.

Please, do yourself a favor. Avoid "Ghosts of Mars." And Mr. Carpenter, actually put some effort into your work next time.

I really like movies from John Carpenter, they all have something, something unique only that comes from the brain of John Carpenter. Somehow i didn't watched Ghosts of Mars to this day, and how i made a mistake listening to reviews and other people, this is exceptional entertainment, this is not intelligent movie, but it is very action packed and moving film, and still it keeps the atmosphere for which Carpenter is known for. You really have a feeling that it is happening on colony on Mars. Ghosts of Mars is great mixture of action, sci-Fi, horror and even western segments. Cast is very good, Natasha Henstridge has done great job as the main charachter, i will also praise the acting of Jason Statham in this one, on of my favorite charachters in the movie for sure, other part of the cast is also great, Ice Cube is solid in his role of gangsta Desolation Williams, i would also mention performances of veteran actresses Pam Grier and Joanna Cassidy. I also enjoyed the soundtrack which was once again created by Carpenter himself, goes well with the movie. I really enjoyed Ghosts of mars and i recommend anyone who loves action movies and works of John Carpenter. My grade 7/10.

A team of future cops take a bullet train to a Marsian colony to retrieve a murderer played by Ice Cube. Upon arrival they're attacked by colonists possessed by the Ghosts of Mars. John Carpenter's penultimate theatrical feature to date is easily one of his best, considering the odds against it. The film borrows from Total Recall, The Thing and Assault on Precinct 13, but still looks fresh and original. The pace is steady and the mood consistent. The electronic/metal score recorded by Carpenter and Anthrax, while being uncharacteristically modern, still is very much signature Carpenter. The glorious Panavision cinematography is fresh just like it was in the 80s. The (then) young stars Natasha Henstridge, Ice Cube, Jason Statham and Clea DuVall fit their roles perfectly, most notably Henstridge, who effortlessly portrays a woman in command and *not* a tough chick with a chip on her shoulder. The seasoned actresses Pam Grier and Joanna Cassidy add a punch here and there. Ghosts of Mars leans closer to Escape from LA on the fun meter, but retains the quality and edginess of The Thing. A good movie.

Ghosts of Mars is an ensemble of "almost there" genres. It's barely a horror film, there's very little action, and the humor is completely dry. It's almost impossible to determine exactly what John Carpenter intended to do with this movie. It's one confusing emotion after another.

The film has a very weak and almost non-existant plot to begin with. It's 2176 A.D. and humans have inhabited the planet Mars. Lt. Melanie Ballard (Natasha Henstridge) is on a mission to bring back a prisoner, James "Desolation" Williams (Ice Cube), from a mining camp called Shining Canyon. When Ballard's team arrives at the camp though, they soon learn that a strange and unseen force has taken over the community. Carpenter tells the story through one flashback after another, which gives away a majority of the picture right from the start, for you see immediately who survives and who doesn't. Then there's a flashback in a flashback, and flashback within that.

It would be one thing to be a badly done film but parody itself. It's another thing to have a badly done film, with just the worst dialogue with it. With characters such as Ice Cube's and Jason Statham's, so much more potential could have been put in. The weak, one liner jokes are the toppings of an already disturbed picture.

With a multitude of obviously forced and throw-together elements, Ghosts of Mars becomes one of the biggest disappointments of last summer. It's not even going to be one of Carpenter's earlier cheesy bad Friday-night-video-rental. It's unfortunately just cheesy and bad.

Another JOHN CARPENTER movie that is so underrated it's SILLY,like most of his BRILLIANT films they are always underrated & hated on to a ridiculous degree & then like 20 yrs later are rediscovered as lost classic's?

Anyway i liked this AWESOME futuristic sci-fi Thriller from the very beginning in 2001 when i first rented it on video, i absolutely Love the Atmosphere in this just like carpenter does with his films. He creates a scary dread filled atmosphere & here it's lonely setting on mars at an abandoned mining base is really creepy & unsettling. There's actually an interesting side to these B movie characters as you feel a sexual tension between most of them & none come accross as warm people, in fact they all seem so hard & tough & that's probably because of the harshness of their jobs as cops & because of the brutality of their dark future world. Carpenter put interesting little tid bits on display but none actually get fleshed out or explored but that's ok as we just follow these hard cases on a survival ride. In this red west futuristic world it's be tough or be dead. I believe Ghost's will one day get the love it deserves & will become a cult classic, it Already is in my eyes.

The ensemble cast is excellent with the likes of Ice Cube (Friday, Anaconda) & Pam Grier (Jackie Brown, Coffy) & Natasha Henstridge (Species, Maximum Risk) are all solid in their roles. I really liked Jason Statham (The Transporter, The Mechanic) in this early role as a tough police officer before he became a huge Hollywood action hero. Also Clea Duvall (The Faculty, Argo) & Carpenter regular Peter Jason (They Live, Escape from LA) add to the ensemble fun as they're all put in a dangerous situation where they must fight to survive the Alien threat that awaits them.

And what awaits these survivor's are possessed workers from the mining town that are taken over by evil ghosts of the once rulers of the red planet. These ghosts possess the human body & use it as a host to kill & slaughter trespassers & also change their human appearance into like demonic tribesmen with body mutilation & end up looking like a heavy metal Voodoo tribe of warriors & are pretty scary. A very cool & different type of enemy here & a tough one to actually kill as the ghosts simply move onto another human host after their body is killed off.

As for acting all the performances are decent but especially from the excellent Pam Grier & a fantastic lead performance from Natasha Henstridge as Melanie, the main character & She's another strong Carpenter leading lady & she's great. I always think that the excellent Natasha Henstridge is underrated, she's such a strong actress & of Course beautiful but she carries herself like she's strong & in control & not a "damsel in distress" at all. The character of Melanie Ballard, the lieutenant of the police squad, is the heart & strength of the story here. I think that Melanie is one of the strongest women characters out there in the Horror, Sci-fi & Action genre, so well done John Carpenter for giving us her & well done to Natasha Henstridge for portraying her with such smarts & strength. With that being said she does do a big questionable decision near the end that actually does more damage than good with her "Simple Plan" that gets nearly everyone killed!!!! Yes that wasn't a good decision on her part but i get what she was trying to do even if in reality it still was a stupid idea.

Jason Statham is solid as Jericho, the teams Sargent, flirty ladies man & action hero. This guy is way better than Ice Cube's Desolation Williams character & i wish they'd swapped places with who lived & who doesn't. Statham gets to do some cool action with some fights & plenty of shooting up the possessed miners & he comes accross like a guy who's constantly aware of his surroundings & the danger. Statham's Jericho is definitely my 2nd fave character after of Natasha's Melanie.

Ice Cube is just Ice Cube as usual, but he's cool as Desolation Williams the criminal but he's not exactly a great actor but he works fine as the muscled 70's looking & wanted Criminal.

The rest are really only small ensemble roles that don't have an impact like Clea Duvall, she's a fine actress but gets very little to do here as one of the police force & same with their Commander leader Pam Grier but her presence alone is worth it on screen & she still delivers a decent performance but she's not a main character.

There's some other recognisable faces amongst the cast of survivors that have to work together but Henstridge is definitely the best performance of the bunch followed by Statham, both interesting characters.

Ghosts of Mars is a superb piece of sci-fi B-movie Horror action.

This is a relatively low budget movie compared to the main big movies that Hollywood make but it's great quality & has an excellent setting & really scary voodoo type crazy ancient alien spirits that possess people & turn them into crazy warriors who kill anyone, it's great fun & has very good FX & really well made production design & like i said the empty doom filled atmosphere is excellent & you just want them to hide in a room & board it all up because out there is TERRIFYING!!! So yes Carpenter has made another great film like a mix of ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, THE FOG, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK & PRINCE OF DARKNESS, it has that feel & similarities to his older films & i loved that. A team of mixed characters of both good & bad having to work together to survive an outside evil force & usually trapped in an isolated location as here it's a small mining town on Mars. The town is like an old western town that's all red & eerily empty, ya know that creepy isolated atmosphere that Carpenter does perfectly. Ghost's comes off like the greatest hits of Carpenter's classic works & although created on a B-movie budget, he pulls it all off with spectacular action & a cult movie look & feel.

Quick story bit, a team of government security officers are sent to pick up a wanted Criminal called Williams (Ice Cube) & transport him back but find there is something very bad happening at the mining colony!!! A very exciting thrill ride with another excellent carpenter score!!! Also the futuristic train the team ride in is AWESOME looking with a great design & the officers uniforms look great, all excellent production design all round with the big beautiful abandoned sets & different rooms for our team to explore & it's rich with detail & gorgeous Cinematography. A great fun late night sci-fi Thriller with Horror & excitement just good fun entertainment with that creepy Carpenter atmosphere, great Cinematography & cool music.

Natasha Henstridge puts in the best performance in Ghost's & was also excellent in 'Species & Species 2' & 'Adrenalin: Fear the Rush' & 'Maximum Risk' to name a few.

Mars has fascinated humans for years. It's the closest planet to us, and the only one that comes close in terms of livability. Its forbidding landscape and dire red color scheme are magnetic (at least in movies; I can't tell you how disappointed I was when that little NASA toy-car thing sent back pictures and Mars looks like Utah. No red sky, even.)

But Mars has a curse. You just can't make a decent movie about it. Think about all the Mars movies in history (...Attacks!, Mission to..., Red Planet, Angry and otherwise, Santa Claus vs. the Martians, etc.), none of which have been able to rise above the "not bad, not great" category, if even that. The lone exception to the Mars Curse is "Total Recall", which is a fine film, but it can be persuasively argued that it never actually takes place on Mars at all.

Throw "John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars" on the "not bad" pile. Many have argued that it's not really a Mars movie, but a Western with a weird setting, which is indirectly true. It's mostly a re-working of Carpenter's classic "Assault on Precinct 13", which was, itself, based on "Rio Bravo". (I wonder when John Carpenter is just going to give in and make a bonafide Western. You can tell he totally wants to.)

While I'm on the subject, can someone tell me why John Carpenter seems bent on titling all his recent movies with "John Carpenter's", as if we'll forget? It implies, oddly enough, that he didn't actually direct it, the way "Ian Fleming's James Bond" books were published long after Fleming was, technically, dead.

Anyway, the plot involves a squad from the Martian Police Force doing a prisoner transfer from a mining colony. Mars, it seems, is run by the "Matronage", a kind of Lillith-Fair dictatorship, which is a neat twist and gives some original zip to the movie. The transfer is quickly forgotten, as some sort of primal ghostly force is possessing the locals and turning them into a blood-crazed cabal of body-pierced mutilation enthusiasts (the movie often resembles a Slipknot video run amok). The throngs are led by a bulked-up Maximum Leader who looks like Marilyn Manson's steroid-pumped older brother. The cops and criminals join forces with the contents of the Hollywood Gun Shop, and mow down the screaming hordes in an effort to escape. One wonders why Merchant-Ivory didn't pick up this project.

The intriguing setting, the impressive visuals, and some creepy early scenes build up a lot of audience goodwill, which the film then chips away at relentlessly, as if willing itself to mediocrity. The narrative is clumsy,

with way too much reliance on flashback. The story itself is primarily told in flashback, which is understandable even if it does reveal too much about what's about to happen. But do we really need flashbacks within the movie to show us things we've already seen? There are also too many pointless camera tricks, such as time-lapse dissolves in scenes that don't merit them. The characters are needlessly stupid, especially the cops; they too often resort to using their guns in baseball-bat fashion, when they still have plenty of ammunition.

The cast, unfortunately, is not up to the task of raising the movie above the bar. Natasha Henstridge, whose onomastically-pleasing name is inevitably abbreviated in movie criticism as "that chick from 'Species'", is wooden and uncompelling as the pill-popping police lieutenant. She is standing in in the role for an injured Courtney Love, who would have been more effective, if less pleasant to look at. Clea Duvall is wasted as a spaced-out and mostly useless rookie; she seems about as comfortable with a Beretta in each hand as Quaker Grace Kelly in "High Noon". But Duvall is at least more memorable than that other rookie, whatsisname. Pam Grier puts in a good-sport appearance as the commander, but her scenes are brief. And there is the obligatory Smart Person Who Explains It All, whose line deliveries and pseudo-science are such that you will wish the others would feed her to the Manson family outside.

The only standouts in the cast are Jason Statham as the weary (but horny) sergeant, easily the most tactically compentent of the MPF contingent, and Ice Cube as the prisoner whose transfer is in such turmoil. Mr. Cube's unfocused, pinch-faced rage and dumbfounded bravado are pitch-perfect, and he has all the funniest lines. (Ironic that in a movie about a distaff-dominated society, the best performances are by men).

"Ghosts of Mars" will not rank among John Carpenter's best work (and here I am specifically thinking of "Big Trouble in Little China"), but despite its deficiencies I enjoyed it. Carpenter still has it, and when he's good, he's very good. Desperate-survival-against-the-murderous-armies has a primal power as a story archetype, and there's plenty of gun-blazing, head-bashing, flying-buzzsaw-dismemberment fun to be had by all. The music's pretty good, too. And there's something about Henstridge and Duvall in black leather SWAT uniforms that just pushes a button somewhere. Maybe it's just me.

If you fight, you can enjoy this movie in spite of its efforts to the contrary, but you will be a little battle-weary by the time the credits roll. Not everyone will be inclined to put forth the effort. But hey, can you really hate a movie whose villain is billed as "Big Daddy Mars"?

GHOSTS OF MARS / (2001) *1/2 (out of four)

Dear John Carpenter: Now that you've earned the respect of audiences and filmmakers alike, you're beginning to fall prey to pure laziness. Few people will deny that you're a capable filmmaker; who could contradict your ability to invoke fear with a credit like the original "Halloween" up your sleeve. Lately, however, your work has been less than suitable considering your talent. While "Escape from New York" contained entertaining action sequences and "Vampires" had its defenders, "Ghosts of Mars," your latest addition into the world of horror films, results as a complete and utter disaster.

The idea you and Larry Sulkis have here is so similar in concept to Stephen King's gripping 1996 novel "Desperation," that I wonder if royalties were involved. The concept-miners unleashing an inhuman form of evil dormant for many years-does indeed contain potential. There's a variety of different angles to view the material. Unfortunately, you take the easy way out and turn this morally striking story into a special effects action picture.

We have seen this so many times before, Mr. Carpenter, that we can predict the outcome of almost every single scene. Even this might not have completely destroyed your possibilities had you taken the material serious from the green-light. As you know, music contributes a significant effect in horror movies. When the soundtrack plays a threatening, suspenseful music sequence followed by a sudden startling moment, few audience members will sit on dry seats. "Ghosts of Mars" does not produce scary, tense music, but unfitting action oriented and rap music. This aspect of the film should have been masterful. You composed the film for God's sake.

For our readers, "Ghosts of Mars" takes place about a hundred years in the future. Hundreds of thousands of people now inhabit Mars-a setting you, Mr. Carpenter, have wanted to do a movie about since the 80's. Most of the residents mine the red planet in search for resources to ship back to the overpopulated earth. One of those mining operations goes awry when a crew accidentally awakens a long-dormant alien civilization. Presumably enjoying their beauty sleep, the aliens are not happy to be awake. But, what the hell, since they're already up, why not kill everyone in sight, slice their faces off, and ware them as masks.

So far, so good, Mr. Carpenter. This has some horrifying potential. What's with the main story, however, about a Mars Police Force, led by veteran Lt. Melanie Ballard (Natasha Henstridge), who must transport James "Desolation" Williams (Ice Cube), the planet's most notorious criminal, to justice. Clea DuVall, Pam Grier, Jason Statham, and Joanna Cassidy all bring their ill conceived characters to life, but they are not the interesting element in the story. We want to know more about the aliens. Instead, you turn the film into a martial arts spectacular, in which the set designs, make up effects, and costuming works indeed, but the shallowness of the story prevents the movie from becoming anything reasonably appealing.

In the production notes, your cast and crew talk about you with universal praise. Sprinkled throughout the information are phases like "I've never worked with a director quite like him," "he's one of my favorite directors I've worked with," "I'm learning a lot from him," "I've been a fan of his for quite a while," and "he's very supportive." If you're such a great filmmaker, as I know you are, then why do you make trash like "Ghost of Mars." You make clear that you're not trying to tell a theme with this film, stating "I just want the audience to watch ‘Ghosts of Mars' and come away having had a good time." This film bombed at the box office. It's obvious many people did not have a good time.

Covered from head to toe with gruesome make up and an impressively designed costume, the most memorable character in this film is easily the leader of the aliens. But why call this character "Big Daddy"? Are you shooting for laughs here? I know I was laughing during scenes of this production, and I was not the only one in the small theater audience. If you're going to take the time to establish such a technically brilliant character, why not take it seriously? I still have faith in you. Your fans still have faith in you. Keep making movies like this, however, and those fans might start to stray. One thing is for certain, however, we know you can do better than "Ghosts of Mars."

Yours in criticism, Blake French

Carpenter's films tend to age like fine wine. When they're released, they're lamblasted by critics and fans. Ten years later, they're classics; for instance, "The Thing", "Big Trouble in Little China", "They Live", "Prince of Darkness" -- and "Ghost of Mars" is no exception. This is a tremendously entertaining film that shouldn't be viewed as a horror film, but rather, as a tongue-in-cheek western, in the vain of the Spaghetti Westerns. You all have to pull your heads out and watch this film again...in about nine years. I'll bet you'll say, "You know what, that was a hell of a lot of fun." In the meantime, get off Carpenter's ass.

Yeah, "Desolation" Ice Cube "Williams" was by far the most God awful character name EVER in a movie, book, screen play, or 6 year old made up fictional character. Natasha was pretty, but that really doesn't rescue a movie that sinks lower than the water from an Anaconda movie that Ice Cube has also starred in. The "evil" characters in this film are about as hilarious as the "Noid" from the old Dominos pizza commercials. I actually took a girl on a date to see this timeless horror movie. It's sad when you start laughing at a movie, that wasn't intended to be laughed at. I would advise readers to buy this just to dog on it (even without the effects of alcohol), but I don't want people to give this film any more gross because Carpenter might actually make a second one and that would be about as enjoyable as me shaving myself with a brillo pad...they're both painful.

I thought I was in for a real good John Carpenter flick...it was like watching a bad car crash so horrible you can't turn your eyes away from it. Carpenter's direction is over shadowed by the script he himself shared in writing with Larry Sulkis.

A peace officer Melanie Ballard(Natasha Henstridge)tells by way of flashbacks her survival of a gory event on the planet Mars. She is joined by a group of "cops" featuring a lesbian commander(Pam Grier)and a deviate electronics specialist(Jason Statham). The crack unit is to bring back to authorities a fearsome thief and killer 'Desolation' Williams(Ice Cube). When their futuristic train arrives at the prison they find the colonists have gone mad...except for Dr. Whitlock(Joanna Cassidy). The Martian mine workers have become victims of a mysterious wind that turns them into zombies. GHOSTS OF MARS is actually about zombies...not ghosts.

Henstridge is at times very easy on the eyes. Cassidy is pretty bland and wasted. Ice Cube is better than you would think. GHOSTS OF MARS is not one of Carpenter's best, but endurable.

I've been saying for years now that John Carpenter is NOT a good director and this film is proof of that. I'm sorry, but I just think he is very very bad at what he does. Don't get me wrong, I have liked a few of his films here and there, but even in the films I liked he does a number of things where I find myself rolling my eyes thinking "John, WHAT WAS THAT!?!?" Granted, I've only seen the following of his films: "Ghosts of Mars", "Vampires", "Escape From L.A.", "In the Mouth of Madness", "Memoirs of an Invisible Man", "Big Trouble in Little China", "The Thing" and "Escape from New York". I thought the bulk of these films were cool films and had some cool stuff in them, but were pretty badly directed. Maybe it's just me, I don't know.

As far as "Ghosts of Mars" goes, this film is just plain horrible! It really isn't often that I would say that about a film, but this is BAD!!! The story is somewhat interesting, but when you think about it for a while you realize how not-thought-out it really is. The acting isn't anything to get excited about. The script and dialogue are atrocious!!! The cast is nothing great, but there are a few cool people in it. The special effects are ok, but far from great. The make-up effects are done well, but they're pointless and look retarded! Well, if you haven't figured it out yet, I can complain about this film all day.

Did anyone notice the striking similarities between this film and "Pitch Black"? Ok, you've got the prisoner being transported, you've got a bunch of people on a strange planet, a bunch of crazy aliens running around messing things up, the good guys and the bad guys have to team up to win (although this aspect most certainly isn't restricted to these two films) and the film revolves around the relationship of the prisoner and the lead female. Wow! If you have a choice between the two, I'd strongly recommend you choose "Pitch Black".

There is one last thing that I just have to say. What is Ice Cube doing in movies? Especially supposed science fiction films? Seriously, this guy bugs the living heck out of me! Stick to your alleged music or go make another "Friday" sequel. Although, in Ice's defense, the film was already doomed when the script was written and John Carpenter was attached.

Unless you are a die-hard John Carpenter fan, and just can't wait to see this film, then do yourself a favor and watch a REAL science fiction film, and if it's going to involve Mars, watch "Total Recall", "Red Planet", "Mission to Mars", or "Rocket Man", just not this one. Thanks for reading,

-Chris

I'm worried about John Carpenter. He used to make such good movies. The Thing, Christine, Big Trouble in Little China, They Live, the list goes on. I can't understand why he has made the horrible waste of film stock that calls itself Ghosts of Mars. His first mistake was picking Ice Cube. Now I have no problem with Ice Cube except acting was not one of his talents and sci-fi horror movies are not where he should be spending his time. Natasha Henstridge is likewise not a great actress. Of course, most of us know her as the hot alien in Species. Her acting is just as wooden as it was in that picture. A mostly no name supporting cast with the exception of Pam Grier and Jason Statham who brighten up the background for a little bit before being sunk by the bad dialogue. The "ghosts" themselves are humans that have been possessed by ghosts and they look a lot like the fans at a Marilyn Manson concert. John Carpenter, who writes the music on all of his films, has gone for a psuedo-metal kind of sound here. It sucks big time and Anthrax and Steve Vai couldn't make it any better. This movie didn't have much going for it in the first place and with Mr. Carpenter flubbing this one up I don't know what is happening to his once great talents. I'm scared for the future. Bottom Line: Don't see this movie unless you are a diehard Carpenter fan or if you love Ice Cube. Chances are you will still be disappointed.

In 2176, in Mars, Lieutenant Melanie Ballard (Natasha Henstridge) returns alone from a mission, hand-cuffed to a bar in a train in autopilot. Ballard is summoned by a commission and explains that the team formed by Commander Helena Braddock (Pam Grier), Sgt Jericho Butler (Jason Statham), the rookies Bashira Kincaid (Clea DuVall) and Michael Descanso (Liam Waite) and she were assigned to bring the dangerous criminal James "Desolation" Williams (Ice Cube) from a mining outpost to the prison. On the arrival, they note that there is no person in the town and Desolation is locked in a cell with other prisoners. Meanwhile Sgt. Butler meets Commander Braddock beheaded and a group of haywire miners and comes to the jailhouse with three locals that are normal. But soon they learn that the guys are gangsters' friends of Desolation that intend to release him. When they meet the scientist Whitlock (Joanna Cassidy), she discloses that she accidentally released a force from an underground room developed by the former Martian civilization to protect against invaders and now the miners are possessed by this evil ghosts and destroying the humans.

Despite the bad and unfair reviews of the professional critics, "Ghosts of Mars" is another entertaining film by John Carpenter. The original story was supposed to be based on Snake Plissken, but the studio changed the story and forced Ice Cube as the belligerent hero. The cast is great, with young and veteran actors and actresses. The DVD released by Columbia in Brazil has making of and many Extras. The music score by John Carpenter and Anthrax is another plus in this good film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Fantasmas de Marte" ("Ghosts of Mars")

John Carpenter is one of those directors who directed a few good films, and made lots of forgettable junk in between. This is amongst the forgettable stuff.

The plot line is that Mars has a government dominated by radical lesbians. Why? Not sure. Maybe because he wanted to be different. So Schlock veteran Pam Grier leads a team to pick up a criminal named Desolation Williams, played by Ice Cube showing why we need to stop telling Rappers they can be actors when they are barely adequate singers. So after finding the town wiped out by zombies possessed by alien dust or something, the Chick from the Species Movies teams up with Ice Cube to whoop some Zombie behind.

And seriously. that's the plot. The rest is action scenes.

I avoided 'Ghosts of Mars' for years based on all the bad reviews. As soon as I finally committed to watching it, I immediately fell in love.

There are movies like 'Godzilla: Final Wars' or 'Jason X' that throw in all the most outrageous concepts imaginable and say "why the hell not?" There are movies like 'Escape from L.A.' that are like watching well-regarded, established classics through a funhouse mirror. For however ridiculous they may be, the one thing these all have in common is a knowing wink to the audience, a subtle nod that says "Yup. This is what we're doing."

'Ghosts of Mars' isn't much different. A hard-charging rock score (featuring the likes of Steve Vai and Buckethead), gratuitous explosions, cartoonish injuries & deaths, blockheaded dialogue, numerous flashbacks that do more to disrupt the flow of the film than advance the plot. All the hallmarks of a cheesy, over-the-top Hollywood action blockbuster.

Like 'Final Wars,' 'Jason X,' or 'Escape from L.A.,' it's all done very deliberately. Unlike these films, there's no knowing wink, no subtle nod. Just a deadpan stare. And it's absolutely delicious.

I can understand horror fans generally, or Carpenter fans specifically, being taken aback by such a dramatic shift. Even coming from a filmmaker who has given us such less-than-serious classics like 'Big trouble in Little China' or 'They live,' 'Ghosts of Mars' has a vastly different tone. But for all the backlash and bad press, what's ultimately clear is how surprisingly little people understand John Carpenter.

After this movie was received so poorly, Carpenter is on record as saying that it's intentionally over-the-top, a spoof, and people didn't get it. This is either an earnest defense of a misunderstood film, or a desperate defense of a bad one. Personally, I'm unclear how anyone can watch 'Ghosts of Mars' and not see it for what it is.

If you watch this movie expecting genuinely frightful horror, you're going to be disappointed. If you watch it looking for Carpenter's signature emphasis on atmosphere and building suspense, you're going to be disappointed. But if you watch 'Ghosts of Mars' with an open mind, ready to accept whatever may be coming your way, prepare to be pleasantly surprised.

It's not for everyone. But then, not everyone is in on the joke.

Yeah Ghosts of Mars! Liked the movie a lot.Liked the soundtrack, the heavy angst ridden sounds fit real well with the surreal psychedelic imagery and well accent the bleak horror of being in a situation where the force to fight against is super horrific and unseen.There is nowhere to go and no way to survive except to fight in an all out only the strong and fast can survive,shoot,splatter,and chop mode.This is reminiscent of the bleak and inescapable horror of John Carpenters masterful remake of "the Thing".It put me in the space of hopelessness and despairing odds.A tailor-made"B" movie of excellence.This movie reminded me of one of my favorite authors of science fiction and horror,Mick Farren.Specifically his book "Mars-The Red Planet".The storyline and imagery are similar.If you liked "Ghosts",then you might want to check out this Del Ray book,out of print but available in used condition. Anyways Kudo's to Carpenters Ghost's of Mars

I love all of Carpenter's work, even The Ward, but this...

This is just bizarre. It's not like the idea of a cannibal Mars western is bad in itself, but the execution is all over the place.

I remember seeing this as a kid, but now, I just can't hold my laughs. Everything, and I mean it - everything is messed up. The tone is semi-comical, the dialogue is randomly generated, the action is not great, the production feels like a cheap 80ties Italian Mad Max rip-off. The film also strongly reflects the things of the early 2000s - cheap nu-metal-like soundtrack, Marilyn Manson-lookalike villain...Ice Cube as an actor.

And the dissolves, man...the dissolves...

This still could've been a dark comedy or a parody, but the way it's handled...I can't make anything out of it.