# Ghosts of Mars

Ghosts of Mars is a 2001 American American science fiction weird western horror film about a Martian police unit in 2176 that is tasked with being sent to pick up a highly dangerous convict at a remote mining post. Upon arrival, the cops find that the post has become the stronghold of a rampaging marauding blood thirsty barbarian horde of the former miners possessed by malevolent spirits of an extinct ancient extraterrestrial civilisation.
    Directed by John Carpenter and co-written with Larry Sulkis.

## Melanie Ballard

* [To Jericho] Let me put it this way. Maybe I'd sleep with you if you were the last man on Earth. But we're not on Earth.

## Desolation Williams

* [Melanie strikes him in face and frees herself from his clutch] Damn, girl, I like you already. [He punches her out]
* [To Big Daddy Mars on uncoupled train section] See you later, you big motherfucker! [Big Daddy Mars roars ferociously and train explodes]

## Dialogue

    Helena: Rookies, use breathers. We won't have air like Earth for 10 years. Let's go.
    Bashira: God, I hate this thing.
    Helena: You'll get used to it. Two years ago we were wearing full-face breathers. Takes a month to get over the headaches out here.
    Bashira: So this is Shining Canyon? God, what a dump.
    Melanie: First time in the boonies?
    Michael: Standard layout. A boomtown like all the others. Seen one, you can go home. It's cold, and they don't tell you a one-year contract here equals two years Earth time. Gotta read the fine print.
    Melanie: Where is everybody? Friday night, the place should be packed. Twelve hours to sunup with money to burn, whores to fuck and drugs to take. Instead, we got a graveyard.
    Helena: Maybe they're inside spending their money.
    Desolation: That's the second time I've saved your life.
    Melanie: Yeah, run a tab.
    Melanie: Well, introduce us to your friends.
    Desolation: These are my compadres, Uno, Dos and Tres.
    Melanie: Uno must be the nice one.
    Uno: You got that right, butchy. I'm not as nice as Desolation. And I'll cut your fucking titties off.
    [Dos accidentally cuts off his left thumb when the team is preparing explosives]
    Desolation: That's beautiful!
    [Dos passes out]
    Desolation: That's what you get, dumb ass.
    Melanie: Look, if we even get back to Chryse, those things will just keep coming. We've got a chance here. We got a chance to stop this thing before it goes any further. This is about one thing: dominion. It's not their planet anymore.
    Bashira: What about him? Isn't it our job to take him back?
    Jericho: Is he still a prisoner, or is he one of us?
    Desolation: I can give a damn about saving this planet. Seems like it was after me since the day I was born. If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die fighting, not running.
    Uno: So, you're just gonna stand there and watch her break my shit?
    Dos: Yeah, and now you're done mopping the floor, why don't you get me a beer, killer?
    Jericho: Eutopia, the ass end of the universe. A penal camp for thieving cutthroats.
    Melanie: Sounds nasty. But you seem to be holding up pretty well.
    Jericho: Yeah, well, I have many hidden talents.
    Desolation: [The train has not arrived] Where the hell's the train?
    Melanie: I don't know.
    Uno: You don't know? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?
    Melanie: [On radio] Lieutenant to the train!
    Desolation: Plan A is fucked up! You got a Plan B?
    Melanie: Yeah, it's the same as Plan A. You got any fresh ideas?
    Desolation: Yeah, what we should of done in the first place.
    [Cocks his H&K MP5K's and walks forward]
    Melanie: Shit!
    [Does the same]
    Desolation: COME ON YOU MINDLESS MOTHER FUCKERS!
    [Fires both H&K MP5Ks at the possessed with his team following suit and a vicious gunfight ensues]
    Tres: Where's your brother?
    Desolation: He didn't make it.
    Tres: Oh God. [He dies]
    Melanie: Here's the plan. Short and simple. Descanso and Jericho take the lead, everybody else follows. It's about fifty meters from here to the station. Bashira and I are in the rear. Any questions?
    [Uno raises his hand]
    Desolation: Hey! Put your hand down!
    Jericho: It's pretty solid. One way in, back door out, leading to rear entrance. [Shuts door] A good, sturdy door.
    Melanie: So, what's your point?
    Jericho: It's rather cozy. Don't you think?
    Melanie: I don't believe this. You lured me back here to seduce me?
    Jericho: Yeah, well, the way things are going, I thought this might be our last chance to, uh, to dance.
    Melanie: Yeah.
    Tribunal head: And what happened to Williams?
    Melanie: I don't know, but I woke up and he was gone.
    Tribunal head: And you were handcuffed?
    Melanie: He must have done it while I slept. By then, I trusted him.
    Tribunal head: That's all you have to say?
    Melanie: That's all I know.
    Tribunal head: Lt. Ballard, I suggest you get some rest. You're dismissed. [To tribunal] Is our statement going to be that Mars is being overrun by ghosts?
    [Melanie wakes in her quarters to PA]
    PA announcer: Attention all police report to your nearest station for weapon assignment. A security breach has occurred. This is a level 10 emergency. Police personnel, report to your division for assignment. All civilians evacuate the streets immediately. Please remain indoors until further instructed.
    [Desolation bursts in room with two LF-57 submachine guns]
    Desolation: Come on! [Throws her a gun and winks at her] Tide's up. Time to stay alive. [They're walking in the hall] If you ever want to come to the other side, you'd make a hell of a crook.
    Melanie: You'd make a hell of a cop.
    [They both glance at each other]
    Desolation and Melanie: Nah...
    Desolation: Let's just kick some ass.
    Melanie: It's what we do best.

## Cast

* Natasha Henstridge as Lieutenant Melanie Ballard
* Ice Cube as Desolation Williams
* Jason Statham as Sgt. Jericho Butler
* Clea DuVall as Bashira Kincaid
* Pam Grier as Commander Helena Braddock
* Joanna Cassidy as Whitlock
* Richard Cetrone as Big Daddy Mars
* Rosemary Forsyth as Inquisitor
* Liam Waite as Michael Descanso
* Duane Davis as Uno
* Lobo Sebastian as Dos
* Rodney A. Grant as Tres

## External links

* Ghosts of Mars quotes at the Internet Movie Database
* Ghosts of Mars at Rotten Tomatoes