Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

adonis98-743-186503 In 2176, a Martian police unit is sent to pick up a highly dangerous criminal at a remote mining post. Upon arrival, the cops find that the post has become a charnel house. If you truly give this film the benefit of a doubt it will truly suprise you alot and i gotta say this movie was pretty damn good. It's not perfect for sure it has it's issues (especially some special effects and all) but it's story was interesting, the acting pretty decent and John Carpenter knows how to make a good and entertain action and sci-fi flick and this one is definitely that. (7.5/10)

freedoman If this movie didn't give us enough looks at Natasha Henstridge, I would give it 1 star, but we do get to look at her so it gets 2.

bowmanblue First off, I'd like to point out that I'm quite a die-hard John Carpenter fan, so I'll watch pretty much anything he does. I first saw 'Ghosts of Mars' back when it was released in 2001 and loved it. Then bought it on DVD and continued to watch it a few times since. However, now, in 2016, not having seen in for a while I decided to give it another go. Sadly, I was actually quite disappointed.It's fair to say that it wasn't a hit with fans or critics on its release and – maybe – I'm starting to see what they saw then. It hasn't really aged well. First of all we're told in a section of opening text that Mars is a 'Matriarchal' society. Why? We don't know. It's an interesting concept of the future, but one that's then abandoned. Perhaps the biggest flaw is the beginning, in that the film chooses to start the film at the end and basically give you one huge spoiler from the start as to what happens in the end. This whole story-telling mechanic is pointless and ruins any real tension.A team of space police officers go to Mars to escort a known prisoner back to Earth for trial. Only, when they arrive, they find the Mars colony deserted and have some pretty nasty surprises in store for them. Natasha (the woman from Species) is in the lead and she does her best and being hard-as-nails, while also flawed due to a futuristic drug addiction, but the script is hardly dynamite. Jason Statham has his first major Hollywood break here and is about the one light that still shines in this film. Ice Cube is supposed to be the male lead, but comes across as bored, wooden and even a little on the overweight side. Rumour has it that Statham auditioned for Cube's role, but wasn't a big enough star at the time. If only what could have been...When the action kicks off between those nasty dark forces on the red planet and our band of (mainly disposable) heroes, it's actually quite fun. This is probably the bit that stuck with me. The set pieces are fun, but it's the direction which lets it down – amazingly when you consider how good Carpenter normally is. I've already mentioned that the film is one big story told by one person all the way through. Then every ten minutes or so, the action cuts off and reminds us that we're witnessing a retelling. This is annoying and breaks the pace, but also we have numerous flashbacks from other characters. Sometimes a scene will be repeated literally minutes later from someone else's point of view. This just feels awkward and totally unnecessary. Then, in one case we're even treated to a flashback within a flashback within the main story (which is technically also a flashback!).Ghosts of Mars could have been at least a cult classic, however its flaws which even I overlooked are now becoming very apparent. I seem to remember at the time I rated this film 8/10 on one internet site. Now, definitely a generous 7.

Python Hyena Ghosts of Mars (2001): Dir: John Carpenter / Cast: Natasha Henstridge, Ice Cube, Jason Statham, Pam Grier, Clea DuVall: Natasha Henstridge plays an officer sent to Mars to transport a dangerous prisoner and she narrates the film because she was the only one to return alive. Bodies litter the prison and Ice Cube is blamed until it is discovered that ghostly beings inhabiting human bodies are responsible. We witness possessed bodies being inflicted with wounds. Eventually Cube and his crew show up and it appears that both forces will have to unite if they are to survive. This leads to a graphic climax where heads detach from torsos and blood splatters the screen. Horror films that are reduced to heavy amounts of gore prove that they lack faith in their delivery. John Carpenter use to make terrific films such as Halloween and Escape From New York. This isn't one of them. In fact, this looks like a variation between his own version of The Thing clashed with Dawn of the Dead. Other than Henstridge and Ice Cube the film features wasted appearances by Jason Statham, Clea DuVall and Pam Grier. They basically spend ninety minutes bickering followed by running and then fighting back where creatures are blasted to pieces and human characters are torn to bits. That is exactly what should be done with the film. The special effects have all the potential of a bag of puke. Score: 0 / 10