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"John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars"
Ghosts of Mars (R) ****/5
Ice Cube, Natasha Henstridge, Jason Statham, Clea Duvall, Liam White.
Directed by: John Carpenter.
Synopsis: Mars police officers arrive at a village to pick up a prisoner only to find the villagers possessed. They then must team up with criminals to stay alive.
Special Features: Feature Length Commentary, Video Diary, Special Effects Deconstruction, Scoring Ghosts of Mars Featurette, Filmographies.
Review: Ebert & Roeper gave this baby 2 thumbs up so why didn't the rest of the critics get it? It has long since been a critical game to blast John Carpenter films on arrival. Why you ask? I have no idea. Here John Carpenter offers us a real popcorn flick. I can't imagine anyone sitting down and not having a good time during this film. It is loaded with gunfights, humor, and slick direction. Carpenter has long been known for coming up with excellent concepts for films this is no exception. When Martian spirits are released from there long dormant rest they possess and eliminate the unwanted intruders on their planet, and if you kill one of the possessed the spirit comes out and goes after you. Into this mayhem come a group of Martian police officers who are to pick up a suspected murderer, but when the zombies attack the police and criminals ally to fight their way out of the situation. I have a few minor problems with this film like the characters going back to make a last stand, but I easily let those things go. This film is written more intelligently than most, and it contains one of the most brilliant uses of flashback I've ever seen. As for acting Henstridge and Cube own this flick as the no bull hero/anti-hero, I loved the entire Uno, Dos, Tres gang, White and Duvall got throwaway parts but I loved them anyways. Statham is brilliant as the horny, tough sergeant and last and definitely least Pam Grier as the butch leader was annoying and I couldn't wait for her to die. Directing wise this is Carpenter's slickest film. It's not his best, but his flashback, in your face kills, and repeat montage had me drooling. He is still the man! As for the DVD? Great special features between the Diary, commentary, and scoring sections you really get a since that you made the film right along with these guys/gals. My only problem is where was the trailer???

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Carpenter back in top form
Thank God someone is preserving the spirit of the American B Movie. John Carpenter's "Ghosts of Mars" has no delusions of grandeur, no desire to be 'great'--but is a raucous and exciting ride all the same, much like "Escape from L.A." crossed with "They Live." Sexy Natasha Henstridge leads a motley crew of space cops (including Clea DuVall and Pam Grier, among others) to pick up buff criminal Ice Cube to take him back to a Mars colony to stand trial for murder. But the humans quickly find themselves at war with a gang of "possessed" colonists who enjoy decapitating intruders. Carpenter's polished action scenes commence with a crackling intensity, and bear resemblance to the classic westerns he speaks so highly of. The storyline--while often unbelievable and absurd--contains many well-done twists and turns. And Carpenter outdoes himself with the scoring--heavy, thumping techno that fits the action perfectly.

For the genre fan who's sick of the self-aware, teen-driven, and profit-hungry slashers infecting the multiplexes, "Ghosts of Mars" will transport you back to a time when there was nothing greater than straightforward, traditional horror.

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What a clunker
I've read some of the reviews already posted here, and a lot of folks either flat-out loved this film or thought it stunk. Unfortunately, I find myself more aligned with the latter group, although "stunk" may be too strong a word. I'm actually more disappointed than anything else.

I'm a big fan of John Carpenter and B-movie schlock in general. My favorite Carpenter film is "The Thing." To this day, I think it's a barf-bag/gross-out masterpiece. I've watched it an embarrassing number of times and I have yet to grow tired of it.

I've just seen "Ghosts of Mars" after having rented the DVD. I really, really wanted to like this film, but I just couldn't do it -- even after having watched it a second time to see if maybe I'd missed something.

If only there had been decent plot development, meaningful dialog, competent acting (the best of the lot is Ice Cube, as "Desolation" Williams) or good special effects, it might have stood a chance at the box office. No such luck. For me, its most noteworthy feature is the fact that Natasha Henstridge actually manages to keep her clothes on during the entire movie.

The train visuals and music that accompany the opening credits aren't too bad, but things go rapidly downhill from there. I won't rehash the plot, as it's already been discussed at length in other reviews. Suffice it to say that when the movie ended, I was still waiting for something halfway believable to happen.

I do want to address one aspect of the film's premise that I haven't seen mentioned in any of the reviews I've read here. "Desolation" Williams is supposed to be this big, bad, ultra-nasty murderer, right? So who is sent to transport him from one location to another? Competent people, maybe? Nope. We get a known pill-popper (Henstridge, as Ballard), two rookies (Clea Duvall and Liam Waite), and a "new guy" (Jason Statham) no one seems to know too much about, but whose main activity is trying to put the make on Ballard.

A fifth member of the transport team (Commander Helena Braddock, played by Pam Grier) is the only one who seems even remotely qualified for the assignment, although she apparently has the hots for Ballard as well (oh, the problems of being drop-dead gorgeous). Braddock isn't around very long, though. After her depature, we're left with Drug-Taking Cop, Sex Fiend Cop, and Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum Cops to successfully transport Nasty Murderer to Intended Destination. Does this make sense? Nope, not to me.

Throughout the film, the main characters act so illogically that I just couldn't bring myself to care about them. The plot is riddled with holes and continuity problems. Most of the dialog is so ridiculous that I don't know how the actors kept straight faces while delivering their lines. ("Maybe I'd sleep with you if you were the last man on Earth, but we're not on Earth." Groan.)

Even the scenes without dialog are silly. The worst offender is the interminable sequence during which Henstridge demonstrates how adept she's become at rolling her eyes up so only the whites are visible. This is something she didn't do nearly as well in "Species." I guess the intervening six years gave her plenty of time to practice.

After seeing "Ghosts of Mars," I'm left with one question: What could John Carpenter possibly have been thinking? Whatever it was, I hope it moves on -- much as the ghosts in the film vacate bodies they occupy once those bodies are killed -- and lets John Carpenter be himself once again.

Meanwhile, I intend to keep the faith and remain a fan. That having been said, I think I'll go watch "The Thing" for the 1,734th time.