MovieChat Forums > Ghosts of Mars (2001) Discussion > After a re-watch,,,

After a re-watch,,,

posted 15 years ago by DeuceWild_77
15 replies | jump to latest

...i find myself enjoying this movie a lot. I saw it on cinema when the movie came out and i confess being a fan of Carpenter i had bashed the movie a lot. Almost 10 years after that i found this movie in a video store and i bought it in a impulse,and i gave another chance, and i really LIKED IT. It isn't a Carpenter's masterpiece, but is a good movie on his own, a futuristic western w/elements from Carpenter's previous movies such as "Assault on Precint 13" and even "The Thing". The cast is good, but i would have prefer the first choice of Jason Statham playing "Desolation" Williams, and simply NO Ice Cube. Natasha Henstridge is a sweetheart that can be a tough bitch, i love her in the movie, and the supporting cast of Clea DuVall,Liam Waite,Duane Davis,cult actresses Pam Grier & Joanna Cassidy and the usual Carpenter's collaborators Robert Carradine ("Body Bags","Escape from LA"), Peter Jason ("Prince of Darkness","They Live!","Village of the Damned") and Keith David ("The Thing","They Live!") they all delivered effective performances. "Ghosts of Mars" it's a solid 7.5/10 in my book!

[–] johnnymonsarrat 15 years ago

I'm watching it for the first time. I think it would be better with subtitles turned on and the sound off. The music is so bad that it's really distracting!

Actually, I'm going to try that right now. :)

20 minutes later... the dialogue is pretty bad... I'm switching the subtitles to French. I only know a bit of French from grade school but I'm using an Internet synopsis to follow the story.

... another 20 minutes later... the cinematography's pretty bad, with those angular scene cuts, but it helps if I resize the video on my screen from full size to about 25% size.

... and then I stopped watching when the protagonist says, Let's wipe 'em out, this is about dominion.

The movie's hero wants to exterminate all life, eh? Awesome.

Johnny Monsarrat Consulting. All content by Jon Monsarrat!

[–] kick4gwar 14 years ago

jonmon,

I want you to know that you sound like an egocentric, pompous, bastard with no vision or ideal range for versatility.

Judging by everything you just wrote, I really don't like you.

[–] johnnymonsarrat 14 years ago

Hi!

Given an opportunity to explain your point of view, and show a sense of humor, instead you chose to be insulting.

I don't think you realize how that undermines your position. It is the opposite of good debate.

The thing is that a huge show of emotion makes people feel that you don't have your act together. And if you're out of control emotionally, we're less likely to take your opinions seriously, because you may not be thinking clearly.

It's true that I didn't enjoy this movie. So what? Why don't you remove your previous post and try posting something like, "Perhaps you didn't notice the things that make me love this movie, such as..."

-Johnny

Johnny Monsarrat Consulting. All content by Jon Monsarrat!

[–] kick4gwar 14 years ago

On the contrary, I don't think that my statements undermine my position at all. All I had to do is re-read your first post in order to be reminded of just how relevant my statements were.

For a person who claims that he couldn't even finish the movie, you sure do have a high negative opinion of it.
Carpenter is, as always, a masterful director. As a fan and composer of music in general, Carpenter doesn't have the bias toward rock music that you seem to have, as stated in your post that, according to you, the music is loud and distracting.

I would say that, if you had to turn the movie off because you were so offended at what the main character said about dominion, maybe you should go hug a tree, or something like that.

You come off, to me, as a very closed minded, self-righteous person. Okay, so it's only a movie, but sometimes, what people can handle in a movie says something about who they are as a person. If you don't like movies that push the envelope, stay away from Carpenter flicks and stick to Avatar.

[–] zimmyis 14 years ago

You display a startling lack of intellect in your arguments... Straw man after straw man, insult after insult... Whether I agree with you or not, I'm inclined to dislike you based on the drivel you spawn.

[–] Morson 13 years ago

In my opinion just one man stands between this movie being hated or considered a cult classic. And that man is Ice Cube.

If the producers didn't dick with Carpenter, Statham would have had Ice Cube's role. This would have been his first big leading action movie, many years before he really got popular.

Think about the entire movie with Ice Cube and Statham swapped in roles, or Ice Cube recast entirely: It goes up a lot. Everything about the unique style of this film is great, but every single time Ice Cube opens his mouth he kicks the movie in the shins.

He just doesn't have the charisma of the much better actors from Escape or Assault. I think Statham does, though; he even stands out in the lesser role. In short I can't blame John Carpenter for this one, but rather, the producers that forced decisions like this on him.

The long and short of it is Ice Cube comes off like a mellow stoner and every attempt to sound like a badass falls on it's face. I can't buy him for a second as the character built up around him.

[–] zimmyis 14 years ago

I think you sound funny... It makes me smile. There really is no excusing this film.

[–] BoKnows105 15 years ago

I wish Keith David was in this. Unfortunately, he's not.

It is a hell of a fun movie for sure.

[–] DeuceWild_77 15 years ago

He's the narrator, that's why i had included him in my post. He's also a Carpenter's regular and even he was doing only voice, he's kinda in the movie.

[–] andrenolan 15 years ago

After re-watch it...It is still the worst Carpenter's movie

[–] DeuceWild_77 14 years ago

"Vampires","Memoirs of an Invisible Man","Body Bags" & "Village of the Damned" are worst.

[–] patton98 14 years ago

I think more and more people start to realize what a masterpiece he accomplished with this film, theres a reason why people put it up there with Escape From New York, Halloween and The Thing, in many ways its much superior film to some of those indeed. Personally I regarded Ghosts Of Mars as Carpenters visionary triumph at its release at the time and I still do, its a remarkable stylized visceral film.

[–] TheyLive208 14 years ago

Ghosts Of Mars of much more about story, plot, setting and atmosphere and, finally, the characters. That's my take on it.

Most people seem to not get Carpenter and what he creates. It's unfortunate 'cause he's unique and talented.

Oh well.

"Beware, the children..."

[–] JosephCurwenJr 14 years ago

The whole story isn't bad, some bloodthirsty dormant ETs wanting to get back their world. But the intersting thing is that all is told in flashbacks, and of course they dexcribe what's happening with their own vision and words that can be far from the truth. Lt Ballard takes drugs to forget the world she lives in, which makes what she tells not reliable.

[–] sebaser 10 years ago

Watched it years ago on tv, found it meh but finally rewatched the whole thing today.

Its much much worse than i remeber, hands down teh worst movie i saw in a while.
My biggest gripe with it are the extremly low production values and idiotic script.
A 30mln$ movie, so a high budget for 2001 that looks like a movie made by students for 10k$, i just dont get it. Where did the money go?