Mars Attack!

Mars Attack! (1996)

Image From IMDB

If I was asked to name the funniest sci-fi of all time, Mars Attack! would have to be in major consideration. From Jack Nicholson’s spineless president (one of two roles he plays) to Glenn Closes’s outrageous First Lady, Annette Benings hilarious hippy character, to Pierce Brosnan and Sarah Jessica Parker unlikely romance, this film is stacked with insane characters, and that’s not even half of them.

Then, there’s the little Green Martians themselves, and their flying saucers. The funny looking critters are hysterical as they destroy the planet and humiliate anyone in their path. The movies take on the typical scene where the invaders blow up the landmarks of Earth has been ingrained in my mind forever––trying to crush the little kids being my favourite part.

Mars Attack! just wants to have fun. It has no intention of telling some greater message, or preaching any profound meaning. It’s about a bunch of weirdo’s reacting to an invasion from Martian who are equally weird themselves (just see their behaviour aboard their ships)… and that’s where its strength lies.

It’s satire, a spoof of the invasion movies from past and present, everything from War of the Worlds to The Day the Earth Stood Still. There’s even some Dr. Strangelove imagery in there, which itself could be considered a spoof. The film pokes friendly fun at these movies, while never really having to tell too much of a story itself, but that’s not to say it’s lazy. Mars Attack! still spends plenty of time in the build up, introducing you to the vast amount of characters, making you at least care a little when they’re hilariously turned into red or green skeletons. No point killing everyone off if you don’t know who they are––quite a few slashers could take note.

Some of my favourite moments included Natalie Portman (The presidents young daughter Taffy in this film) dryly delivering the line ‘I guess it wasn’t the dove,’ after congress had been wiped out. Pierce and SJP confessing their flirtation for one another when Pierce is now just a head and SJP is a head on a dogs body, and the whole invasion blowing up the world sequence.

While I wish Tim Burton could have used stop motion as original planned for the Martians, making the CGI extra janky for them still has its charm. The alternative 60’s setting (From when the Topps trading cards the film is based on where released) looked great, and gave the film a different aesthetic from most modern sci-fi. I loved the ‘Martian Girl’ look with Lisa Marie, and the space ships were perfect.

As mentioned, Mars Attack! is just pure fun. The spiralling budget and the fact that it was considered a box office flop means we’ll probably never get anything like it again, and I think the world is worse off for that. B-Movie vibes in an invasion story just works for me. But, whether we ever get another movie like it or not, we have Mars Attack! A Tim Burton sci-fi B-Movie with a big budget, while he was at his peak, with an all star cast. Perfect.

“Ack, Ack, Ack Ack Ack,” will live on forever.