This review was originally posted in October 2012, and runs 2m 16s shorter than the original, and has been upscaled to HD. As per usual, there have been extensive cuts to reduce the number of film clips, but also my dragged-out syllables. This is again from when I was starting to really amp up into my "Angry Phase", so this was just barely on the edge of being able to be cut back as opposed to being re-narrated entirely; if you find me grating in this episode, I can only apologize. This was one of my Halloween episodes that year, and speaking of that, as you can obviously guess, this has been re-posted to coincide with the new Halloween movie. Hope you enjoy!
This whole film screamed "Studio Interference" and I believe this is what sparked John Carpenter's disillusionment with film making. This story just feels like stuff was forced in, after they started filming and they never had enough footage at the end for a cinema release so they tacked on rushed reshot scenes, like the framing device, to pad out the film's running time.
Your not wrong sadly the studio messed with this film quite a bit. They reshot some stuff and forced Ice Cube into the film. I don’t blame John Carpenter for wanting to leave the industry after this film
Fun fact: "Desolation" Williams was originally meant to be Snake Plissken from Escape from New York, but the studio said "no" and insisted that it would be a "better choice" to have Ice Cube play a new character. If the "Plissken script" was as bad as the finished product, I think Kurt Russell dodged a bullet here.
@@NebLleb im guessing that ghost of Mars might have been the third plissken movie where snake needs to escape earth from zombies from a black hole experiment
Guillermo del toro told the time he was having lunch with John Carpenter and told he how the thing, when it came out, was underappreciated and now is considered by many as one of the best horror films and John replied "what the @#$& good does that do me". So yeah I kinda believe the statement that he kinda hates movies
@@eviled2925 Vampires and Ghosts both had redeeming features, albeit Vampires was the better of the two. Ghosts is a personal guilty pleasure... and I don't feel the least bit guilty about it. It's bad, but I don't care...
all mars movies are crap because they push the lie that 'space' travel is real. space travel has never been possible. space does not even exist. the surface of the earth is a flat plane covered by an impenetrable dome. outside the dome is not 'space' but water
mars needs moms looks like a cute kids movie but with the creepy uncanny valley animation and some pretty messed up moments with what the Martians do to the mothers after their use are finished is what made me not like the movie
I actually enjoy Ghosts Of Mars too much to hate it. It's very stupid but it's also highly entertaining and incredibly fun to watch. I'd probably say Village Of The Damned, Memoirs Of An Invisible Man, and The Ward are all worse Carpenter films than Ghosts Of Mars because those films are both bad and boring. This movie, however, is on fucking crack, and I love it. According to John Carpenter's biography, he intentionally made this movie very stupid, as he was trying to make a cheesy yet entertaining mindless action romp in the same style as Commando or Rambo: First Blood Part 2, one full of purposely dumb moments that were only meant to heighten the kick-ass "all guns blazing" sort of feel from the 80's. Many people didn't catch onto that and (for whatever reason) though the film was trying to be dead serious, with Carpenter later admitting he should've made the film more self-aware to let people in on the joke. I personally think he did a great job making a fun action film that's silly without being a fully-fledged comedy or spoof. It's certainly worth watching on a bad movie night, and I mean that in the best way.
That expression on decapitated Pam Grier's face "...time to get a new manager". And I thought simply chucking Michelle Yeoh's flopping corpse out into space in "Sunshine" was bad.
I'd say so, as it did make up to $630 million at the box-office and had received very positive receptions. I'd say it did very well mainly because it was just a plain-and-simple survival film, essentially _"Cast Away_ on Mars".
It’s usually the great directors who’ve ended their careers on crap. Hitchcock, Romero, Craven, and Carpernter retired so he counts, unfortunately. Regardless, remember them for their greats.
It was mainly a result of burnout, after a lifelong career of great films and pushing elder age, there usually is a time when a great filmmaker ends up burning out and end up turning out not-go-great films. For example Wes Craven, he has a long history of making horror films, but he had sometimes, albeit unsuccessfully, tried to deviate from the horror genre and dive more into dramatic territory, his notable example being the 1999 musical drama _Music of the Heart_ (it was even his only film to receive an Academy Award nomination). It's mostly Hollywood to blame, as they usually like to run a great idea or filmmaker into the ground until they burn them out from exhaustion.
@bigevilworldwide1 counter argument: The Thing, Escape from New York, They Live, Big Trouble, and Christine. He has flops yeah, but also tons of classics and cult classics.
Oh look the proto Doom movie! because it actually looks like the Doom movie but with outdoors sets + Riddick's Pitch Black. Only think i liked about this movie was Ice Cube sleek camo pants, man those were quite cool back at that day and i really could loved to have one of those.
I've never seen the film but it seems a LOT of the issues with this could be solved in editing. It may be possible to cut this into something halfway decent.
Funnily enough, I was thinking maybe the same thing while re-editing the review. Drop the framing device, and shift most of the flashbacks into a conventional narrative structure. I think Carpenter was maybe going for a varying point of view of the events, but that doesn't really come across, it just seems convoluted and overly nested. Of course, the problem with cutting it linear is that it might actually be a far shorter movie, as they may have padded the run time. It wouldn't solve some of the other logic holes, but it would probably be an improvement.
Film Brain a movie with a framing device close to this I believe kind of worked was vantage point but I do think that movies weak part was Forest Whitaker segment as I retreaded most of the last two segments and set up the kind of weak ending
Good point. The varying point of view idea is much more suited to a novel rather than a film. You can tell the film is padded from the pointless 'run for the train when it's clearly not there and run back again' part amongst other things.
I have heard all the bad things about this movie and accept that it bombed at the box office. But I just love this sci-fi story to bits. It's one of those I get out and watch every now and then. I think it is a good kick arse movie and loved the climatic ending on the train etc. I have to say it is very underrated.
This film hits hard for me, as my hair started to go the same way as Statham's at exactly the same time! I only come here to remember those days when I was transitioning (debating whether to buy a shaver or a baseball cap?).😉🇬🇧
1:35 - "We can safely assume Mars is cursed". Little did we know that when Ridley Scott was watching this review, he thought to himself "You know what, fuck it! I'm gonna completely butcher my own franchise in a few years anyway, so I might as well break this Mars curse so people won't COMPLETELY hate me." 18:04-18:15 - A group of scientists and archaeologists on Mars accidentally unleash an evil force that either kills people on sight or possesses them and transforms them into demons? You know, it's really sad when this of all things is a better Doom movie than the actual Doom movie. Sadly, I doubt even Dwayne Johnson would've been able to save it. 20:00 - You were right to put this disclaimer in, Film Brain, because people today have gotten so stupid that they wouldn't be able to recognize a joke even if the Three Stooges themselves hit them in the face with a pie. 25:34 - Look at that smile. That is the smile of a person who is coked out of their mind. And I can't say I blame her because if I were stuck in this shitty movie I'd also be in dire need of some drugs. 26:07 - That he is. Unfortunately, this movie is no Halloween or The Thing.
Escape from LA also has a lot of bad CGI, something which Carpenter is uncomfortable with. Jason Statham is always watchable for me and would have been much better than Ice Cube in the lead, but it wouldn't have made it much better. 13:19 Lol
I like escape from L.A. , but I thought it was too complicated to understand maybe that’s the reason a forgotten memory in John Carpenters career, still I give my best too him.
So first Ice Cube tried to play a character similar to Riddick in Pitch Black, and then starred in the terrible xXx sequel. Is he envious of Vin Diesel or something? P.S. I know Ghosts of Mars is absolute horseshit from beginning to end, but I'll give it one point for the main theme that plays during the opening credits. Like all the themes Carpenter composes himself, it's quite good; it's just a shame the rest of the film's score is loud, boring noise.
Oh man, Torque was such a ridiculous movie! The gravity-defying motorcycle stunts, the over-the-top "acting", the outrageously blatant product placement (Pepsi vs. Mountain Dew, everybody!) I particularly love how the movie constantly bangs on about cars being awful and bikes kicking ass, as if to say, "Suck it, Fast and Furious fanboys!" Even though those two movies had the same producer...
It's Doom, but better than the Doom movie with the Rock, R-rating, and rapid gunfire. Seriously, this may have flaws, but it still delivers an R-rating, gun fights, gore, and even though it's not demons, marines fighting ghosts possessed corpses is close enough.
6:38 you know... Jason Statham could have made for an interesting Lupin the 3rd if they made a live action movie back when this came out. And Jean Reno as Jigen. 13:12 "Over the hill, Jerico finds a set for a movie being directed by a director that is "over the hill".
Fun fact: "Vampires" was based on a right-leaning series of novels under the umbrella of "Vampire$" and while I'm not going to say THAT'S why it's sexist (because Carpenter could've just...cut that stuff out), it definitely explains why it's there to begin with.
What's really frustrating is that of the typical kinds of organizations for action flicks, law enforcement is the most likely to have nonlethal equipment, and there could be some really distinct fight scenes if you leaned into the narratively established need to incapacitate instead of kill.
@@scottylewis8124 Which basically just proves my point... Okay, here's what you need to know: Shining Time Station was a kids show in the late 80's/early 90's about the titular train station and the people that work there, which include Schemer (the arcade owner who appropriately has several "get rich quick" schemes), Stacy Jones (the station manager played by Frenchie from Grease), and Mr Conductor (a doll-sized man that secretly lives in station's murals). Each episode was structured kinda like a sitcom, with a central conflict, one or two side-plots, songs provided by puppets that live inside of a jukebox (yes, seriously), and Mr Conductor telling some kids and Stacy a Thomas story. Yes, Shining Time Station's biggest claim to fame is bringing *Thomas the Tank Engine* to America, with Mr Conductor being played by the original Thomas narrator, Ringo Starr (at least during Season 1; Seasons 2 and 3 had him replaced with the late great George Carlin). Sadly the series isn't available on DVD, but there plenty of episodes on TH-cam, and I highly recommend checking them out.
It was supposed to be be the third part Carpenter's Escape films, but LA's bombing at the Box Office ended that. He was required by contract though to still make this film and rewrote it removing Snake and making other changes. It was a flawed film from the start and one you can tell carpenter did not want to do.
11:47 Actually, I was thinking this movie feels an awful lot like Carpenter recycled Assault on Precinct 13 by way of a sci-fi knockoff of Horror Express, a vastly superior film about a body-hopping alien killer aboard a train. (EDIT) 15:06 ...Oh. Ha, I should wait until the review is finished before posting. But no, this isn't that different from Carpenter's Vampires; with all the pointless weak misandry-fascism bullshit shoehorned into it (the constant reminders that women are in command yet are also astonishingly incompetent is the cinematic equivalent of a "woman driver" joke) you'd think Convicted Felon Dinesh D'Sousa was behind the camera. You know the movie is truly fucking awful because even the "red pill" clowns don't like it.
Has anyone already pointed out that the air could be safe to breathe and have almost enough oxygen... that would make having well-functioning lungs like having poorly functioning lungs, if you've ever seen someone who has an oxygen tank but only needs to use it after they've exerted themselves instead of all the time sort of thing
The studios _desperately_ wanted Ice Cube to be another Vin Diesel. That's why they attempted to make him Riddick in this one and straight up be the replacement xXx.
This film was bad, not so bad its good but just bad. Pity it had really good soundtrack with Anthrax, Steve Vai, Robin Finck, Buckethead playing together. Goddamn supergroup wasted on a movie like this.
Considering this and The Ward were John Carpenter's last theatrical films, at least he didn't end up directing Darkchylde. That would've been hella bad.
Does the movie ever explain why it took the martian ghosts like a 100 years to emerge, and only in this small town? Or why they cannot just possess our heroes and then the movie would be over? :D
What's funny to me about this review if the fact that a similar framing device was used in Annihilation earlier this year... but there it actually worked, and in doing so, showed the flaws in this movie's misuse of the framing device to be even more glaring. It's a shame this movie is so terrible.
Yes... taking some drugs at some times with certain music playing and certain posters in your line of sight can make things appear. Knowledge Is Power 🤪
@@TommyDeonauthsArchives Oh yes - forgot about that one - very good film. But I suppose we could argue that Quaid was never on Mars in that movie also if we go with the theory he is still at Rekall
I liked Mission To Mars, I haven't yet seen Red Planet but I want to. The ULTIMATE "Going To Mars" movie is the original Total Recall. This is one John Carpenter movie I will avoid!
I like John carpenter sure he started to run out if steam but I don't think his career is over its just sometimes when you wanna improve on perfection you ruin it and you can't win all the crowds if it was like this movie you can't have all masterpieces either so I wish carpenter wouldn't have tried to improve on his ideas most of his movies I like by the way
I just think this is a fun movie. Plus, he didn't end his career on this, he's working with David Gordon Green on that new Halloween trilogy, along with his music career. Speaking of, the soundtrack to this one is awesome.
This movie actually had potential....great atmosphere/setting, Sexy Henstridge/ statham, and I LOVED the appearance of the main villain...BUT the stupid boss fight, plot, plot holes, and ice cube as a tough guy ruined it. They would of been better off making Statham Ice Cubes character.
Forgotten about this film, probably induced amnesia, Prometheus was worse, but only by a whisker. This was truly a clunker, jeez you couldn't have made it this bad, if you actually trying to make a bad film.
2:15 - Vampires was trash. Not only was the misogyny through the roof, it was homophobic, and the main character was insufferable. It was like if you took all the elements of a potentially good movie and then gave it to some utter shitstain to direct. I still can't believe JC's name is on it. As for Ghost of Mars, I saw it once and forgot EVERYTHING about it until I came to your review. The possessed people all look hilariously unscary. Also 18:47 - Yuck.
Late Carpenter just didn't FEEL like Carpenter to me. Every film he made between 76'-88' is distinctly a John Carpenter movie just by the look and sound during that era. After They Live I wouldn't have known I was watching a Carpenter film without looking at the box. Even the best of his during the 90's still doesn't have the voice he brought to his earlier films.
This is a huge farcry from Carpenter's better work like Halloween and The Thing. I actually don't remember that Carpenter made, this is that natural to anyone else?
ghost of mars proves every edgy rock like fps sound track only works in first person explosive linear oo7 like missions, the constant low rock vibe makes it seem like a cheesy b movie so hard
This was not as tedious as "The Da Vinci Code", but it was still very dull. I can remember nothing about it. "The Martian" was a very good film about Mars. Not all Mars films are dross.
I hate the word Terraforming so much, it makes no sense etymologically. Mars is a terrestrial planet, how do you terraform a planet that already has terrain? Not to mention terra means dirt/solid ground, not plants and water. The word should be Floraform, because that's what people mean when they use terraform anyway. It comes from people thinking terra is the word for Earth, while ignoring earth is also the word for ground😭👌
I always wondered just what pills Carpenter was taking while making this film. I'm a fan of his but this movie sucked harder then a super charged Hoover
![What Is Reality? [Official Film]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/w0ztlIAYTCU/mqdefault.jpg)
This review was originally posted in October 2012, and runs 2m 16s shorter than the original, and has been upscaled to HD. As per usual, there have been extensive cuts to reduce the number of film clips, but also my dragged-out syllables. This is again from when I was starting to really amp up into my "Angry Phase", so this was just barely on the edge of being able to be cut back as opposed to being re-narrated entirely; if you find me grating in this episode, I can only apologize. This was one of my Halloween episodes that year, and speaking of that, as you can obviously guess, this has been re-posted to coincide with the new Halloween movie. Hope you enjoy!
Film Brain
Fuck yessssssss!!!
Are new Bad Movie Beatdowns not happening anymore? It seems like Projector has been your only priority for the past three years.
I'm actually editing a new one now. I've posted sporadic new ones, but I've been trying to get the old ones back up, and that's time-consuming too.
Film Brain
Take your time, take your time.
Film Brain oh yeah I remember this review this was funny good times
My friend was in this movie. She has exactly 4 seconds of screen time and because of that I had to see this in theaters
She one of the zombies?
My condolences
At least you saw a John Carpenter film in theaters he is a legend for a reason but i will admit it’s not one of his finest hours as a filmmaker
@@aydenvavra2153And yet this made more money than In The Mouth of Madness
Amazing, huh?
This whole film screamed "Studio Interference" and I believe this is what sparked John Carpenter's disillusionment with film making. This story just feels like stuff was forced in, after they started filming and they never had enough footage at the end for a cinema release so they tacked on rushed reshot scenes, like the framing device, to pad out the film's running time.
Your not wrong sadly the studio messed with this film quite a bit. They reshot some stuff and forced Ice Cube into the film. I don’t blame John Carpenter for wanting to leave the industry after this film
#ReleasetheCarpenterCut
I'm sure the studio had a "make it like Riddick" attitude towards Carpenter and the film. Guy's gotta eat, after all.
Fun fact: "Desolation" Williams was originally meant to be Snake Plissken from Escape from New York, but the studio said "no" and insisted that it would be a "better choice" to have Ice Cube play a new character.
If the "Plissken script" was as bad as the finished product, I think Kurt Russell dodged a bullet here.
Ben Bell well LA failing was the reason they killed the sequel idea
Still makes one wonder if the "Plissken Script" was as bad as the final product...
@@NebLleb im guessing that ghost of Mars might have been the third plissken movie where snake needs to escape earth from zombies from a black hole experiment
Guillermo del toro told the time he was having lunch with John Carpenter and told he how the thing, when it came out, was underappreciated and now is considered by many as one of the best horror films and John replied "what the @#$& good does that do me". So yeah I kinda believe the statement that he kinda hates movies
john carpenter has a great sense of humour. I personally like vampires and ghosts of mars. the ward was a bit shit though.
@@eviled2925 Vampires and Ghosts both had redeeming features, albeit Vampires was the better of the two. Ghosts is a personal guilty pleasure... and I don't feel the least bit guilty about it. It's bad, but I don't care...
You know that's really sad so far this is the closest thing we have had to faithful movie adaptation of Doom
There are a few good Mars movies. Total recall for example. And The Martian.
Scotty Lewis That’s literally the entire list, just those two movies.
all mars movies are crap because they push the lie that 'space' travel is real. space travel has never been possible. space does not even exist. the surface of the earth is a flat plane covered by an impenetrable dome. outside the dome is not 'space' but water
@@dumbcat that is complete incoherent crap and you know it! Space travel is real idiot!
@@dumbcat suffer from a botched lobotomy? or did you just drop out of high school?
@@dumbcat 👉🌀😮
But lets not forget that the best movie about getting your ass to Mars is of course Total Recall
Yes, the best Mars-set film ever. *"Get your ass to Mars."* Never gets old. *;D*
oh and doom has a good plot based around mars the games not the movie
@@marley7868 except the movie reaffirms the "mars is cursed" bit. XD
but hey at least it's not cursed to write stories about
The Martian is also a really good Mars movie.
This movie is like a cross between DOOM and Jason X
This would have been better if The Rock was here.
@@scottylewis8124 and I will say this DOOM wasn't a bad movie but the best part was the FPS scene
Imagine if Snake Plissken had been the dangerous prisoner they had to pick up.
1:31 I think I'm better off forgetting about Mars Needs Moms.
We all are.
Ugh... It made me want to watch toy story 2 instead.
mars needs moms looks like a cute kids movie but with the creepy uncanny valley animation and some pretty messed up moments with what the Martians do to the mothers after their use are finished is what made me not like the movie
I actually enjoy Ghosts Of Mars too much to hate it. It's very stupid but it's also highly entertaining and incredibly fun to watch. I'd probably say Village Of The Damned, Memoirs Of An Invisible Man, and The Ward are all worse Carpenter films than Ghosts Of Mars because those films are both bad and boring. This movie, however, is on fucking crack, and I love it.
According to John Carpenter's biography, he intentionally made this movie very stupid, as he was trying to make a cheesy yet entertaining mindless action romp in the same style as Commando or Rambo: First Blood Part 2, one full of purposely dumb moments that were only meant to heighten the kick-ass "all guns blazing" sort of feel from the 80's. Many people didn't catch onto that and (for whatever reason) though the film was trying to be dead serious, with Carpenter later admitting he should've made the film more self-aware to let people in on the joke. I personally think he did a great job making a fun action film that's silly without being a fully-fledged comedy or spoof. It's certainly worth watching on a bad movie night, and I mean that in the best way.
Me too. I mean it's silly but I definitely like it.
Couldn´t agree more. This movie is like Doom 3, only more exciting and with a compelling female lead.
yeah, it's a brilliant film!
Glad to read the comments that someone likes it I love watching this movie still at 27
That expression on decapitated Pam Grier's face "...time to get a new manager". And I thought simply chucking Michelle Yeoh's flopping corpse out into space in "Sunshine" was bad.
Did “The Martian” break the curse? ( I know at the time this review was posted that movie wasn’t out yet)
I'd say so, as it did make up to $630 million at the box-office and had received very positive receptions. I'd say it did very well mainly because it was just a plain-and-simple survival film, essentially _"Cast Away_ on Mars".
Yeah. That's what I was thinking.
Hell yeah, it did.
No Total Recall broke the curse way back in 1990
Very much so !
It’s usually the great directors who’ve ended their careers on crap. Hitchcock, Romero, Craven, and Carpernter retired so he counts, unfortunately. Regardless, remember them for their greats.
It was mainly a result of burnout, after a lifelong career of great films and pushing elder age, there usually is a time when a great filmmaker ends up burning out and end up turning out not-go-great films. For example Wes Craven, he has a long history of making horror films, but he had sometimes, albeit unsuccessfully, tried to deviate from the horror genre and dive more into dramatic territory, his notable example being the 1999 musical drama _Music of the Heart_ (it was even his only film to receive an Academy Award nomination). It's mostly Hollywood to blame, as they usually like to run a great idea or filmmaker into the ground until they burn them out from exhaustion.
F. N. Lorter You know if Cameron ever picked up the torch for an AVP reboot, that would be an epic way to retire, breaking the trend.
@F. N. Lorter
Sometimes that's not the case.
Kubrick ended with Eyes Wide Shut. Does that count as an alternative?
bigevilworldwide1
Uhhh...
Excuse me, what about other films outside of Halloween?
@bigevilworldwide1 counter argument: The Thing, Escape from New York, They Live, Big Trouble, and Christine. He has flops yeah, but also tons of classics and cult classics.
Oh look the proto Doom movie! because it actually looks like the Doom movie but with outdoors sets + Riddick's Pitch Black.
Only think i liked about this movie was Ice Cube sleek camo pants, man those were quite cool back at that day and i really could loved to have one of those.
Check out Ice Cube's history, he is actually a legit tough guy, even though, I agree, it doesn't really come through in his performances.
I've never seen the film but it seems a LOT of the issues with this could be solved in editing. It may be possible to cut this into something halfway decent.
Funnily enough, I was thinking maybe the same thing while re-editing the review. Drop the framing device, and shift most of the flashbacks into a conventional narrative structure. I think Carpenter was maybe going for a varying point of view of the events, but that doesn't really come across, it just seems convoluted and overly nested. Of course, the problem with cutting it linear is that it might actually be a far shorter movie, as they may have padded the run time. It wouldn't solve some of the other logic holes, but it would probably be an improvement.
Film Brain a movie with a framing device close to this I believe kind of worked was vantage point but I do think that movies weak part was Forest Whitaker segment as I retreaded most of the last two segments and set up the kind of weak ending
Good point. The varying point of view idea is much more suited to a novel rather than a film. You can tell the film is padded from the pointless 'run for the train when it's clearly not there and run back again' part amongst other things.
The movie should've been called "Flashback"
Ironically, that does sound like a decent title.
...don't you mean "Baby Got Flashback"
Which One Are We About? The 1990 Cult Flick with
Dennis Hopper?
13:24 It was one of the great speeches of all time. Concise, stayed on message. His oratory is more electrifying than any politician today
I have heard all the bad things about this movie and accept that it bombed at the box office. But I just love this sci-fi story to bits. It's one of those I get out and watch every now and then. I think it is a good kick arse movie and loved the climatic ending on the train etc. I have to say it is very underrated.
This film hits hard for me, as my hair started to go the same way as Statham's at exactly the same time!
I only come here to remember those days when I was transitioning (debating whether to buy a shaver or a baseball cap?).😉🇬🇧
1:35 - "We can safely assume Mars is cursed". Little did we know that when Ridley Scott was watching this review, he thought to himself "You know what, fuck it! I'm gonna completely butcher my own franchise in a few years anyway, so I might as well break this Mars curse so people won't COMPLETELY hate me."
18:04-18:15 - A group of scientists and archaeologists on Mars accidentally unleash an evil force that either kills people on sight or possesses them and transforms them into demons? You know, it's really sad when this of all things is a better Doom movie than the actual Doom movie. Sadly, I doubt even Dwayne Johnson would've been able to save it.
20:00 - You were right to put this disclaimer in, Film Brain, because people today have gotten so stupid that they wouldn't be able to recognize a joke even if the Three Stooges themselves hit them in the face with a pie.
25:34 - Look at that smile. That is the smile of a person who is coked out of their mind. And I can't say I blame her because if I were stuck in this shitty movie I'd also be in dire need of some drugs.
26:07 - That he is. Unfortunately, this movie is no Halloween or The Thing.
Escape from LA also has a lot of bad CGI, something which Carpenter is uncomfortable with. Jason Statham is always watchable for me and would have been much better than Ice Cube in the lead, but it wouldn't have made it much better. 13:19 Lol
Escape from LA also wasted Bruce Campbell, which is something you should never do.
I like Ice Cube in this movie, actually.
I loved this film, but I do understand it is a cinematic failure, I like it cause I like how it’s a b movie monster flick.
I like escape from L.A. , but I thought it was too complicated to understand maybe that’s the reason a forgotten memory in John Carpenters career, still I give my best too him.
Jesus, the Saw movies had less flashbacks than this!
Scotty Lewis and made more scenes
@@Zombiekilleryamato *sense
"Jesus the Saw"? I'd love to see what kind of movie that is.
@@JanetStarChild no I'm referring to the Saw films.
I've seen less flashbacks in Suicide Squad.
So first Ice Cube tried to play a character similar to Riddick in Pitch Black, and then starred in the terrible xXx sequel. Is he envious of Vin Diesel or something?
P.S. I know Ghosts of Mars is absolute horseshit from beginning to end, but I'll give it one point for the main theme that plays during the opening credits. Like all the themes Carpenter composes himself, it's quite good; it's just a shame the rest of the film's score is loud, boring noise.
I'm surprised he didn't tackle the street racing angle like Diesel did, and try to make his own little car movie.
He did: he was in Torque, which was basically made by the director to be a self-parody of The Fast and the Furious.
Oh man, Torque was such a ridiculous movie! The gravity-defying motorcycle stunts, the over-the-top "acting", the outrageously blatant product placement (Pepsi vs. Mountain Dew, everybody!)
I particularly love how the movie constantly bangs on about cars being awful and bikes kicking ass, as if to say, "Suck it, Fast and Furious fanboys!" Even though those two movies had the same producer...
I actually kinda liked Torque, in spite of its ridiculousness.
Mostly because (ironically) I'm quite a fan of the Fast and Furious movies.
@@nitromagilou597 wow.
This was originally written as Escape from Mars w Snake Plissken but the studio wanted ice cube instead of kurt Russell
......
Ronnie James Dio well it that they didn't want a sequel after LA bomded
It's Doom... it's literally Doom...
It's Doom, but better than the Doom movie with the Rock, R-rating, and rapid gunfire. Seriously, this may have flaws, but it still delivers an R-rating, gun fights, gore, and even though it's not demons, marines fighting ghosts possessed corpses is close enough.
6:38 you know... Jason Statham could have made for an interesting Lupin the 3rd if they made a live action movie back when this came out. And Jean Reno as Jigen.
13:12 "Over the hill, Jerico finds a set for a movie being directed by a director that is "over the hill".
Jason statham was supposed to be the lead but ice cube was a bigger star at that time
If they were going to make a matriarchal society shouldn't the film have been set on Venus?
Yeah! They could have done one of those cities that's basically a glass bubble filled with Earth air so it floats.
Fun fact: "Vampires" was based on a right-leaning series of novels under the umbrella of "Vampire$" and while I'm not going to say THAT'S why it's sexist (because Carpenter could've just...cut that stuff out), it definitely explains why it's there to begin with.
Are you gonna make new BMBDs ?
What's really frustrating is that of the typical kinds of organizations for action flicks, law enforcement is the most likely to have nonlethal equipment, and there could be some really distinct fight scenes if you leaned into the narratively established need to incapacitate instead of kill.
I rented this as a teenager. Even back then I remember the hammy acting and cheap looking sets.
Ice Cube:"There's little green men this big out here?" XD
5:33 I wouldn't worry about that too much, considering that very few people seem to remember Shining Time Station, sadly.....
Woof
@@scottylewis8124 What?
@@otaking3582 I never heard of that show
@@scottylewis8124 Which basically just proves my point...
Okay, here's what you need to know: Shining Time Station was a kids show in the late 80's/early 90's about the titular train station and the people that work there, which include Schemer (the arcade owner who appropriately has several "get rich quick" schemes), Stacy Jones (the station manager played by Frenchie from Grease), and Mr Conductor (a doll-sized man that secretly lives in station's murals).
Each episode was structured kinda like a sitcom, with a central conflict, one or two side-plots, songs provided by puppets that live inside of a jukebox (yes, seriously), and Mr Conductor telling some kids and Stacy a Thomas story.
Yes, Shining Time Station's biggest claim to fame is bringing *Thomas the Tank Engine* to America, with Mr Conductor being played by the original Thomas narrator, Ringo Starr (at least during Season 1; Seasons 2 and 3 had him replaced with the late great George Carlin).
Sadly the series isn't available on DVD, but there plenty of episodes on TH-cam, and I highly recommend checking them out.
It was supposed to be be the third part Carpenter's Escape films, but LA's bombing at the Box Office ended that. He was required by contract though to still make this film and rewrote it removing Snake and making other changes. It was a flawed film from the start and one you can tell carpenter did not want to do.
11:47 Actually, I was thinking this movie feels an awful lot like Carpenter recycled Assault on Precinct 13 by way of a sci-fi knockoff of Horror Express, a vastly superior film about a body-hopping alien killer aboard a train.
(EDIT) 15:06 ...Oh. Ha, I should wait until the review is finished before posting.
But no, this isn't that different from Carpenter's Vampires; with all the pointless weak misandry-fascism bullshit shoehorned into it (the constant reminders that women are in command yet are also astonishingly incompetent is the cinematic equivalent of a "woman driver" joke) you'd think Convicted Felon Dinesh D'Sousa was behind the camera. You know the movie is truly fucking awful because even the "red pill" clowns don't like it.
Has anyone already pointed out that the air could be safe to breathe and have almost enough oxygen... that would make having well-functioning lungs like having poorly functioning lungs, if you've ever seen someone who has an oxygen tank but only needs to use it after they've exerted themselves instead of all the time sort of thing
Will there ever be new BMBs? Just asking for a friend.
You didn't think I started posting the Seagal reviews for no reason, did you?
if Mars becomes livable we have ghost of mars
The studios _desperately_ wanted Ice Cube to be another Vin Diesel. That's why they attempted to make him Riddick in this one and straight up be the replacement xXx.
It's good that you're uploading the old stuff. I wish MikeJ would do the same.
This film was bad, not so bad its good but just bad. Pity it had really good soundtrack with Anthrax, Steve Vai, Robin Finck, Buckethead playing together. Goddamn supergroup wasted on a movie like this.
Soundtrack is better than the film.
"Officer these aren't illicit drugs! I just love pez."
Was that Steve Tyler playing the BIG DADDY VILLIAN. It must be his name even sounds like a song hed write.
How did he hold that can with no thumb? 😄
Considering this and The Ward were John Carpenter's last theatrical films, at least he didn't end up directing Darkchylde. That would've been hella bad.
Does the movie ever explain why it took the martian ghosts like a 100 years to emerge, and only in this small town? Or why they cannot just possess our heroes and then the movie would be over? :D
What's funny to me about this review if the fact that a similar framing device was used in Annihilation earlier this year... but there it actually worked, and in doing so, showed the flaws in this movie's misuse of the framing device to be even more glaring. It's a shame this movie is so terrible.
Yes... taking some drugs at some times with certain music playing and certain posters in your line of sight can make things appear.
Knowledge Is Power 🤪
Ironic that the only good film about Mars is Capricorn One from the seventies whose astronauts don't actually go to the planet.
So the original Total Recall is the true good Mars movie?
@@TommyDeonauthsArchives Oh yes - forgot about that one - very good film. But I suppose we could argue that Quaid was never on Mars in that movie also if we go with the theory he is still at Rekall
Don't forget the Martian. That was a really good movie too.
This is basically a bad space version of the hills have eyes.
I do feel bad for Carpenter though , since his career is officially over with, I say he’s 1 of the directors out there right next to Ridley Scott.
Ghosts of Mars was a good movie .. Was very original
.... so its good for being original? K
She's my President it’s just a space version of Assault on Precinct 13
I liked Mission To Mars, I haven't yet seen Red Planet but I want to. The ULTIMATE "Going To Mars" movie is the original Total Recall. This is one John Carpenter movie I will avoid!
I like John carpenter sure he started to run out if steam but I don't think his career is over its just sometimes when you wanna improve on perfection you ruin it and you can't win all the crowds if it was like this movie you can't have all masterpieces either so I wish carpenter wouldn't have tried to improve on his ideas most of his movies I like by the way
Possession martians is just mysterons and nobody shall convince me otherwise
I just think this is a fun movie. Plus, he didn't end his career on this, he's working with David Gordon Green on that new Halloween trilogy, along with his music career. Speaking of, the soundtrack to this one is awesome.
There is no new Halloween trilogy!
About that Halloween trilogy...
@@jsb6975.ah.crapbaskets What about it? There was two good movies out of it, which is more than the Thorn triology.
“Returned minus their careers” ok folks, that’s a wrap.
Oh yeah I remember this review this was fun
Mr. Film Brain, isn’t it sad that LEGO came up with a better Mars story than the shitty Mars movie you reviewed in this video?
I was confused on why people hated this when I was younger. Now I understand because it's stupid.
This movie actually had potential....great atmosphere/setting, Sexy Henstridge/ statham, and I LOVED the appearance of the main villain...BUT the stupid boss fight, plot, plot holes, and ice cube as a tough guy ruined it. They would of been better off making Statham Ice Cubes character.
Yeah stahmam was originally supposed to be but he wasn't a big star at the time
Forgotten about this film, probably induced amnesia, Prometheus was worse, but only by a whisker. This was truly a clunker, jeez you couldn't have made it this bad, if you actually trying to make a bad film.
This is one of those films that i know is terrible, but i can not help but like it.
I’m surprised Jason Statham was in a horror film.
Love the Rap Critic cameo!
Ice cube as the Desolation Man hahaha!
How in hell could you mention Henstridge and NOT refer to her as “That chick from ‘Species’” at the beginning?!
I did do that joke in the review of Steal, which she was also in.
2:15 - Vampires was trash. Not only was the misogyny through the roof, it was homophobic, and the main character was insufferable. It was like if you took all the elements of a potentially good movie and then gave it to some utter shitstain to direct. I still can't believe JC's name is on it. As for Ghost of Mars, I saw it once and forgot EVERYTHING about it until I came to your review. The possessed people all look hilariously unscary. Also 18:47 - Yuck.
Apparently James Woods was given free reign to ad-lib, and... yeah, it shows. It is an unpleasant film.
It was a reworking of an escape from Mars, a snake plisskin since escape from la was a bomb he rewrote it to this crap
Late Carpenter just didn't FEEL like Carpenter to me. Every film he made between 76'-88' is distinctly a John Carpenter movie just by the look and sound during that era. After They Live I wouldn't have known I was watching a Carpenter film without looking at the box. Even the best of his during the 90's still doesn't have the voice he brought to his earlier films.
The mutants are pretty funny to watch though in this.
I ain't afraid of no Ghosts of Mars! The just make me very angry.
Poor Natasha Henstridge, either she's in crappy movies or someone like Brett Ratner is making her uncomfortable.
"Species" was great fun because I saw Natasha in the 1995 sci fi hit film under Roger Donaldson's deft direction skills.
Review they live and species.
This is a huge farcry from Carpenter's better work like Halloween and The Thing. I actually don't remember that Carpenter made, this is that natural to anyone else?
I feel sorry for him.
Not for me.
ghost of mars proves every edgy rock like fps sound track only works in first person explosive linear oo7 like missions, the constant low rock vibe makes it seem like a cheesy b movie so hard
Ghost of mars sounds like a bad slipknot music video
The movie "The Angry Red Planet" might be the only good one of mars , dunno.
This was not as tedious as "The Da Vinci Code", but it was still very dull. I can remember nothing about it.
"The Martian" was a very good film about Mars. Not all Mars films are dross.
This review was made a few years before The Martian, which is indeed very good.
Don’t forget DOOM....that was also a shitty Mars movie.
I appreciate the disclaimer. I might otherwise have made some bitterly brutal accusations. /sarcasm. Love your show(s)!
I hate the word Terraforming so much, it makes no sense etymologically. Mars is a terrestrial planet, how do you terraform a planet that already has terrain? Not to mention terra means dirt/solid ground, not plants and water. The word should be Floraform, because that's what people mean when they use terraform anyway. It comes from people thinking terra is the word for Earth, while ignoring earth is also the word for ground😭👌
Can you look at Godzilla Planet of the Monsters???????
Was this Marilyn Manson’s movie debut?
I liked this movie actually.
I always wondered just what pills Carpenter was taking while making this film. I'm a fan of his but this movie sucked harder then a super charged Hoover
Just watched this movie and it feels like wasted potential but no ones acting in this movie is all too good anyways.
I watched this when I was a young teenager. It was too badass for me to dislike it. 😂
19:59 Unexpected Rap Critic!
Ghost of mars I Called It Ghost of Shit.
Ebert and roper give it 👍👍
"Mars is cursed" lol. What are the odds?
Rap Critic voice cameo FTW!
The Martian was pretty good.
Fuck! Statham with hair! Wwwwoaw!