Mars Attacks! (1996)

The world is taken by surprise when Martians land on Earth and prove not to be goodwill ambassadors, but a wholly malevolent and destructive force. Think of Beavis and Butt-Head but armed, and you’re not far off the computer-generated little green antichrists in Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks!

Burton’s joy is contagious as he uses a $70 million budget to spoof cheapo 1950s alien flicks. When scientist Pierce Brosnan speaks of Martian “advanced technology,” Burton shows us crude flying saucers that would shame Ed Wood.

Although the President of the United States, James Dale (Jack Nicholson), again and again attempts to forge a peace with the alien invaders over the objections of his top General, Decker (Rod Steiger), the Martians persist in their all-out war on humanity.

“Kick the crud out of them,” screams first lady Glenn Close, and finally, it is up to a shy teenage boy in Kansas, Richie Norris (Lukas Haas), to locate the unlikely key to destroying the aliens – his grandmother’s Slim Whitman records!

Once broadcast across the airwaves, the strange Slim Whitman performances pulp Martian brains and end the invasion of Earth once and for all. And any film that ends with Tom Jones breaking into a rendition of It’s Not Unusual is OK by us!

Mars Attacks! was based on Topps’ popular trading card line from 1962, which featured fifty colourful cards depicting Earth’s violent invasion by nefarious, big-brained Martians. The film goes to great lengths to accurately capture the pulpy vibe of the set, even visually aping a few of the more notable, specific cards.

Cards such as “Burning Cattle,” “The Shrink Ray”, and “Robot Terror” are all staged directly as action sequences in the film. The card “Burning Flesh” reveals the full disgusting impact of advanced Martian weaponry on the human body; a perspective which is repeated (on Jack Black) in the film during the Martians’ first landing in Nevada.

The satirical anti-establishment tone of Mars Attacks was not well received in its home country. Americans weren’t so keen to laugh at themselves. Fortunately, the rest of the world was happy to laugh at them, and while the film grossed just under $38 million in the US, it pulled in $64 million in the rest of the world.

President James Dale/Art Land
Jack Nicholson
Marsha Dale
Glenn Close
Barbara Land
Annette Bening
Donald Kessler
Pierce Brosnan
Jerry Ross
Martin Short
Nathalie Lake
Sarah Jessica Parker
Jason Stone
Michael J. Fox
General Decker
Rod Steiger
Richie Norris
Lukas Haas
Taffy Dale
Natalie Portman
Byron Williams
Jim Brown
Martian girl
Lisa Marie
Grandma Norris
Sylvia Sidney
General Casey
Paul Winfield
Louise Williams
Pam Grier
Billy Glenn Norris
Jack Black
Cindy
Janice Rivera
Cedric
Ray J.
Neville
Brandon Hammond
Glenn Norris
Joe Don Baker
Sue Ann Norris
O-Lan Jones
Sharona
Christina Applegate
Mitch
Brian Haley
Doctor Zeigler
Jerzy Skolimowski
French President
Barbet Schroeder
Mr Lee
Chi Hoang Cai
Rude gambler
Danny DeVito
Tom Jones
Himself

Director
Tim Burton

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