Ghosts of Mars

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=80 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="04000500dvldtc.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>Reel Movie Critic.com</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reel Movie Critic.com"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>Ghosts of Mars</B>   |   <A HREF="id536.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Five Senses, The"><U>Five Senses, The</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1124.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ghost World"><U>Ghost World</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id74.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Frequency"><U>Frequency</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id612.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Get Carter"><U>Get Carter</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id957.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Gift"><U>The Gift</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1192.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Glass House"><U>The Glass House</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id221.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ghost Dog"><U>Ghost Dog</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1001.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Gleaners and I"><U>The Gleaners and I</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id97.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Gladiator"><U>Gladiator</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1147.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Glitter"><U>Glitter</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id611.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Girlfight"><U>Girlfight</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1243.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Go Tigers!"><U>Go Tigers!</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id478.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Girl On The Bridge"><U>Girl On The Bridge</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1222.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Gosford Park"><U>Gosford Park</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id540.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Godzilla"><U>Godzilla</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1118.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Godfather Collection"><U>The Godfather Collection</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id119.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Gone in 60 Seconds"><U>Gone in 60 Seconds</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id905.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Golden Bowl"><U>The Golden Bowl</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id187.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Grass"><U>Grass</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1233.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hit and Runway"><U>Hit and Runway</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id220.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg"><U>The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1115.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Homocide: The Movie"><U>Homocide: The Movie</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id250.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Legacy"><U>Legacy</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id904.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="In the Bedroom"><U>In the Bedroom</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id164.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Legend of Bagger Vance"><U>The Legend of Bagger Vance</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id615.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lost Souls"><U>Lost Souls</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id110.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Love Basketball"><U>Love & Basketball</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1269.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Intimacy"><U>Intimacy</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id316.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Love Beat The Hell Outta of Me"><U>Love Beat The Hell Outta of Me</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="041d2c00dvldtc.png"> <div> <B>Home Pages For</B></div> <div> <B>                </B><A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/"><U><B>Movies</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>                    </B><A HREF="http://www.newbookdiscounts.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.newbookdiscounts.com/"><U><B>Books</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>                       </B><A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelforless/id364.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelfor"><U><B>Travel</B></U></A></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelforless/id361.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelfor"><U><B>Great Web Sites</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=400 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> Ghosts of Mars</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="501" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 95 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="db594590.jpg" border=0 width="148" height="89" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/b00005o54f/reelmoviecriticc">Buy Soundtrack from Amazon.com</A>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="640" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="636"><div> <B>GHOSTS OF MARS ** (R)</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="636"><div> Reviewed by Brenda Sexton</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="636"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="636" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="636"><div> Whatever You Do--Don't Blow The Bums Up!</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div>                          </div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="641" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> James "Desolation" Williams:  Ice Cube     </div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Commander Braddock:  Pam Grier</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Lt. Ballard:  Natasha Henstridge     </div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="317"><div> Bashira Kincaid:  Clea Duvall</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Jericho Butler:  Jason Statham     </div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Prof. Whitlock:  Joanna Cassidy</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="317"><div> Director:  John Carpenter</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="317"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="317" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <B>     </B></div> <div>      </div> <div> <B>30 Second Bottom Line:</B> It's 2176 AD and humans are living in a bleak city on Mars.  A police squad is sent out to a remote mining camp on the planet to transport a dangerous criminal back to the one developed town on Mars for his trial.  At the outpost the cops encounter mass murder and monsters whose evil spreads by gaseous clouds, released when the human bodies they inhabit are destroyed.  The battle of good humans versus evil Martian spirits is long, bloody and unresolved.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Story Line: Lt</B>. Melanie Ballard (Natasha Henstridge) is brought before a tribunal to explain the failed police mission she has just returned from--alone.  She and three other cops were sent from the Martian City of Chryse (pronounced cry-see) to a mining outpost, Shining Canyon, to escort a notorious and dangerous criminal James "Desolation" Williams (Ice Cube) back to Chryse for his trial. </div> <bR> <div> When they arrive in Shining Canyon, this rough, western-looking Mars' mining camp seems completely deserted.  It's not.  The team soon discovers decapitated bodies hung from the rafters, from the reck room to the mess hall.  It's a human slaughterhouse.</div> <bR> <div> The team finally finds a handful of survivors in the prison, James "Desolation" Williams among them.  He is a prime suspect for this mass murder.  Another inmate is a scientist Professor Whitlock (Joanna Cassidy) who seems to be hiding something.  As the squad further searches the mining camp, they ultimately discover "ghouls" who are extremely violent and specialize in decapitation.  These ghouls are miners who have been invaded by an evil Martian spirit transforming them into vampire-like monsters bent on destroying all humans on the planet.</div> <bR> <div> Finally as the group barricades themselves in the prison and becomes a unified human force to combat the evil Martian vampire monsters, Professor Whitlock confesses it was she who released the evil spirit unwittingly while on an archeological dig at another outpost.  The spirit destroyed that town, followed the railroad tracks to this town and is continuing its' mission to destroy all humans.  It turns out the spirit enters human bodies, often through the ear canal, converts them into monsters who then kill all humans.  Unfortunately the police/criminal team use conventional weapons; machine guns, grenades and martial arts to destroy the monsters.  It kills their bodies, but not their evil spirits, which simply enter the air and waft over to an uninfected human being.  </div> <bR> <div> Lt. Ballard is the sole officer to return to Chryse, the only survivor in her squad. After recounting her story, the evil spirit enters that city.  The movie ends with the continuation of the ineffective machine gun/Kung Fu attack on the Martian spirit.  James "Desperation" Williams, the only other survivor from Shining Canyon (he escaped from Lt. Ballard on the train ride back to Chryse) returns to help her further battle this invincible evil spirit.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Tell Me More About It:</B> The movie and actors suffer under a marginal story with minimal dialogue, providing merely a vehicle for monsters, slaughter and bloody violence.  The pervasive violence specializes in severed limbs with great gushes of blood flowing from the stump of the dismembered body part.  If excessive, dramatic John Carpenter violence (found in "Halloween" and "The Thing") is your thing than you might enjoy the film, but its ability to scare us is hindered by too many unexplained disjointed elements.  For instance, Lt. Ballard acts resentful and unorthodox, yet we never know why.  She takes mystical pills to get high which her teammates seem to resentfully accept, and without any attempt at explaining how, one of these pills saves her from being taken over by the evil spirit.  No one else ever gets high.  Why doesn't she even think of sharing her pills with the others since they seem to be the antidote to that bad Martian spirit.</div> <bR> <div> James "Desolation" Williams (Ice Cube), powerful on the screen, is known as the most notorious criminal on the planet, yet he seems like an awfully nice guy with more heart than violent tendencies.</div> <bR> <div> Commander Braddock (Pam Grier) seems less a strategic powerful leader and more a cop who'd rather be sitting in a coffee shop back in Chryse eating donuts.  Bashira (Clea Duvall), the rookie cop, has essentially no dialogue, but makes many penetrating, meaningful looks, with little discernible message attached.</div> <bR> <div> The sets are fantastic with a Martian other-worldliness look to them combined with the worn-out Wild West ruggedness of a mining town.  The music, also by John carpenter, is dramatic and enticing.</div> <bR> <div> The worst offense the picture makes is that our heroes resort only to Kung Fu and explosions to destroy the evil Martian spirit--which they know does not work.  When you blow up the infected humans the evil spirit just gets into the air and can then enter your ear!!!  Maybe the sequel will feature a more effective anti-spirit strategy.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="592" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> Brenda Sexton © 2001</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> <A HREF="mailto:brendasext.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:brendasext.com"><U><U>Brenda@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>Mini Filmography</B></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="640" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="636"><div> John Carpenter:  Halloween, Village of the Damned</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="636"><div> Ice Cube:  Boyz `n the Hood</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="636"><div> Natasha Henstridge:  Species</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="636"><div> Jason Statham:  Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="636"><div> Joanna Cassidy:  Under Fire</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="636"><div> Clea Duvall:  The Faculty</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="636"><div> Pam Grier:  Jackie Brown</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>