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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»1990s Movies»Movies 1996
    Movies 1996 Movies M 3 Mins Read

    Mars Attacks! (1996)

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    The world is taken by surprise when Martians land on Earth and prove not to be good-will 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 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.

    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

    Video

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