Ghosts Of Mars (2001):
Starring:
Ice Cube - Desolation Williams
Natasha Henstridge - Lieutenant Melanie Ballard
Jason Statham - Sgt. Jericho Butler
Clea DuVall - Bashira Kincaid
Pam Grier - Commander Helena Braddock
Joanna Cassidy - Whitlock
Synopsis:
A story of human colonists on Mars who must be rescued after becoming possessed by vengeful Martian ghosts.
Review:
John Carpenter. The man who brought you such legendary films as the original Halloween films, Escape From New York & Escape From L.A. & my personal favourite They Live. This time he gives us.... GHOSTS OF MARS!!!! OK lets get off our high horses here & not act like everything we've ever done, we've been proud of. Now before you jump to any conclusions about this fine film allow me to point out a few fantastic points about it.
#1: ICE CUBE IN SPACE!!! many years before his box office success' Are We There Yet? & Are We Done Yet? you get a masterful role by Cube playing a well known space murderer who has been acquitted of all his past murder accusations due to self defense. This time a group of military police officers (led by Jackie Brown herself Pam Grier) to a distant Mars mining colony to transport Desolation to the main Mars colony to be put on trial for a triple murder of 3 miners. But upon arrival at the distant colony the team discovers it deserted. As they obviously split up to find anyone Team A: consisting of Ballard (Henstridge) & Jericho (Statham) they discover no one except their prisoner Desolation Williams, alone in his cell in the colony jail. While Team B: (everyone else who is not important) discover colonists, slaughtered hanging from the roof of the exercise building, decapitated. Once the teams regroup they decide they need to split up into different teams & look for survivors. As they wander the abandoned mining colony Commander Braddock wanders off after a sound in the distance, the correct response when on Mars after you find a thousand people massacred. Once Team A realize she is missing they of course split up. Jericho goes to look for the commander while Ballard goes back to the jail. As we cut back to the jail, time passes & Jericho reappears with survivors. They flash to what happened to him as he looked for Braddock, he seems someone or thing running off into the distance, so he follows thinking its her. As he gets closer he realizes it is a younger woman carrying something. As he crawls up the hill to see, its THE COMMANDERS DECAPITATED HEAD!!!!! which she then jams onto a pike & leaves it in the ground!!!! (The first hate crime committed in this film, but FAR from the last).
#2: Natasha Henstridge's Oscar worthy acting. I don't mean just this film, I mean in everything she has ever done. Not to mention the fact that you don't get to see her Tata's (which of course is the only reason anyone even knows who she is (Species 1995) but you get to sit through her blank, bland, expressionless face as she leads the team after Grier's head chopping. Also, NO BOOBS!! Just silly, give the people what they want. Or well I guess what teen aged boys wanted in the mid 90's.
#3: You get the very rare, early, non-fist fighting Jason Statham movie. That's right, no generic car driving, fist fighting, kickin'. Just shooting a bunch of guns (futuristic guns that make cool sounds when they go off).
There is so much more to this movie, but it's not something I really want to waste my brain power on.
#4: A territorial, mystical, ancient, EVIL red mist that invades your body, causes you to become a masochist & create weapons out of saw blades, rusty metal & pic axes.
#1: ICE CUBE IN SPACE!!! many years before his box office success' Are We There Yet? & Are We Done Yet? you get a masterful role by Cube playing a well known space murderer who has been acquitted of all his past murder accusations due to self defense. This time a group of military police officers (led by Jackie Brown herself Pam Grier) to a distant Mars mining colony to transport Desolation to the main Mars colony to be put on trial for a triple murder of 3 miners. But upon arrival at the distant colony the team discovers it deserted. As they obviously split up to find anyone Team A: consisting of Ballard (Henstridge) & Jericho (Statham) they discover no one except their prisoner Desolation Williams, alone in his cell in the colony jail. While Team B: (everyone else who is not important) discover colonists, slaughtered hanging from the roof of the exercise building, decapitated. Once the teams regroup they decide they need to split up into different teams & look for survivors. As they wander the abandoned mining colony Commander Braddock wanders off after a sound in the distance, the correct response when on Mars after you find a thousand people massacred. Once Team A realize she is missing they of course split up. Jericho goes to look for the commander while Ballard goes back to the jail. As we cut back to the jail, time passes & Jericho reappears with survivors. They flash to what happened to him as he looked for Braddock, he seems someone or thing running off into the distance, so he follows thinking its her. As he gets closer he realizes it is a younger woman carrying something. As he crawls up the hill to see, its THE COMMANDERS DECAPITATED HEAD!!!!! which she then jams onto a pike & leaves it in the ground!!!! (The first hate crime committed in this film, but FAR from the last).
#2: Natasha Henstridge's Oscar worthy acting. I don't mean just this film, I mean in everything she has ever done. Not to mention the fact that you don't get to see her Tata's (which of course is the only reason anyone even knows who she is (Species 1995) but you get to sit through her blank, bland, expressionless face as she leads the team after Grier's head chopping. Also, NO BOOBS!! Just silly, give the people what they want. Or well I guess what teen aged boys wanted in the mid 90's.
#3: You get the very rare, early, non-fist fighting Jason Statham movie. That's right, no generic car driving, fist fighting, kickin'. Just shooting a bunch of guns (futuristic guns that make cool sounds when they go off).
There is so much more to this movie, but it's not something I really want to waste my brain power on.
#4: A territorial, mystical, ancient, EVIL red mist that invades your body, causes you to become a masochist & create weapons out of saw blades, rusty metal & pic axes.
S.P.R.: C/36
Acting: 6/10
Slot: 5/10
Cinematography: 7/10Intrigue: 8/10
Extra: 6/10
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