John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars Review by Andy (1.5 Stars) | MatchFlick
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MatchFlick Member Reviews
John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars
2 reviews

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Movie Details

All Movie Info

Directed By
John Carpenter

Written By:
John Carpenter, Larry Sulkis

Cast:
Natasha Henstridge, Ice Cube, Clea DuVall, Pam Grier, Jason Statham, Joanna Cassidy, Rosemary Forsyth, Liam Waite, Richard Cetrone, Richard Cetrone

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John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars (2001)
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Movie Review by Andy
November 21st, 2007

Only for Carpenter Fans

I've been kind of on a John Carpenter kick lately. I was amazed that I actually hadn't seen several of his movies. I'd always heard so much bad stuff about this movie that I'd avoided it, but it is John Carpenter none the less. The bashing, unfortunately, is well founded.

The evil miners that Ice Cube and Henstridge fight look like members from Kiss. It really surprised me to see Carpenter go down such a visual road. His best movies always were about the evil you couldn't see. The crazy people weren't scary at all. Quite the opposite.

Ice Cube is one of my main complaints. I don't really care for him as an actor anyway, but he's not remotely close to Snake Plissken. The can call him "Desolation Williams" all they want, but the character is just a poor version of Plissken.

I guess that's what makes Ghosts of Mars so bad. Carpenter has done everything in the movie better somewhere else. The demon-mob was much more imposing in The Fog. His anti-hero leading man was so much cooler in Escape from New York. Mostly, the idea of being trapped in nowhere while an evil force is trying to get at you was a million times more effective in The Thing.

Hey, there's a few moments for Carpenter fans. Some of the score will bring a smile to the face of any fan of the filmmaker, and Henstridge does a good job at being hot. The thing is, I hesitated giving this even 1 1/2 stars. So unless you're a pretty big fan of the director, skip this movie. It's horrible.

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Tim
Nov 21, 2007 5:17 AM
 
Oddly enough, I hate Ice Cube and I think Pam Grier is overrated... but I liked this movie. I was probably one of the only people that did because it crashed in the box office. I don't quite see any resemblance looking at Desolation Williams VS Snake Plissken other then the fact that they are both convicts and good with weapons.

If you go into it knowing that its not the next Escape From New York or Big Trouble in Little China then I think its decent. I have to agree with the "Kiss" zombies.....they were not scary and it was way to visual. I did like the gore though at least that was done right. It was also weird seeing Statham in a role like this....before he became the typecast character that he always plays now.

Also I had not seen Natasha Henstridge in anything since Species and I thought that she was pretty good as a kick ass girl......her tough girl lines weren't delivered with much realism but other then that she looked hot and handled the weapons well enough for it to be believable. The score was great....I enjoyed that.
Andy
Nov 21, 2007 2:07 PM
 
Snake and Williams are the revered outlaw. Almost kind of western movie character.
Tim
Nov 21, 2007 5:46 PM
 
Yeah I guess I can see that but its really a slap in the face to compare ANY Ice Cube character to ANY Kurt Russell character.

They are remaking Escape From New York.....its due for a 2009 release. I hope they don't blow it....
Andy
Nov 22, 2007 12:36 AM
 
I heard that Gerald Butler dropped out. I actually thought he might have been decent. The original's a good flick, but it could be improved upon. We'll see.
Tim
Nov 22, 2007 1:56 AM
 
Gerald Butler either dropped out or was let go because Kurt Russell did not agree that he was not American...as he felt like Snake was suppose to be the ultimate American.
Andy
Nov 22, 2007 3:58 AM
 
You know, I really can't think of anyone who really fits the role. You don't get stars like Kurt Russell anymore. I guess they could go with an unknown.



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