Ghosts of Mars

Plot synopsis:
Set in the second half of the 22nd century, Mars has been 84% terraformed, allowing humans to walk on the surface without pressure suits. Martian society has become matriarchal, with women in most positions of authority. The story concerns police officer Melanie Ballard (Natasha Henstridge), who is sent to a remote mining outpost to transport prisoner Desolation Williams (Ice Cube). Arriving at the remote mining town, Ballard finds all of the people missing. She learns that they had discovered an underground doorway created by an ancient Martian civilization. When the door was opened it released disembodied spirits or "ghosts", which took possession of the miners.
The possessed miners commit horrific acts of death and destruction, along with self-mutilation. When team leader Helena Bradock (Pam Grier) is murdered, Ballard must assume command, fight off the possessed miners, escape the town and hopefully destroy the ghosts. Unfortunately, killing a possessed human merely releases the Martian spirit to possess another human. The team eventually decides to blow up a nuclear reactor to vaporize all of the ghosts.
Ballard's crew, along with survivors who gathered in the jail, are eventually wiped out by the miners. At one point, Ballard is nearly possessed, but resists when she is given a drug and discovers that the spirits are attacking them as they believe that the humans are invaders and plan to exterminate the humans on Mars (as it is presumed that the spirits are unaware of the fact that the humans believed that life on Mars died out). Only Ballard and Williams are left after Sergeant Jericho and the other officers, along with the two train operators, are killed when they try to finish the fight by causing the settlement's nuclear powerplant to go critical, turning it into a small atomic bomb. Not wanting to be blamed for the massacre, Williams handcuffs Ballard to her cot and escapes from the train. Returning home, Ballard delivers her report, which her superiors refuse to believe. While Ballard recuperates in the hospital, the released spirits, unharmed from the nuclear explosion, attack the city. Ballard and Williams are going to fight to stay alive.

Tags: insanity, violence, murder, flashback

Review:
Firstly, if I see another review labelling Ghosts of Mars, Vampires or Escape from L.A 'Carpenter attempting to have another hit movie' my head will explode like Snake Plissken's would have done.
And that's a significant point regarding this film: despite the zombies, the gore, the futuristic set-up, the red Martian atmosphere, the heavy metal score, `Ghost of Mars' is essentially a western in the most classic way.
Told in a peculiar series of flashbacks from different points of view, and as in `Vampires', with the use of long, continual dissolves, the story introduces some original points, like the ghosts taking possession of human through the ears and Desolation's smart device to save Melanie with the aid of drugs.
(Ironic that in a movie about a distaff-dominated society, the best performances are by men)."Ghosts of Mars" will not rank among John Carpenter's best work (and here I am specifically thinking of "Big Trouble in Little China"), but despite its deficiencies I enjoyed it.
This film is very essential: it represents every directorial aspect what John Carpenter uses in other films(hardy women equal to men, defiance against authority etc..), but it's not just a hotch-potch of his early works it has its own low-key style and Forbidden Planet-like feel, it combines genres Sci-fi, Horror, Western, Action, Comedy, it has a message(perhaps Carpenter's biggest at all) that beautifully reflects us.
i've been watching Carpenter films since the early 80's and still like them all so i'm deadly serious when i'm rating Ghosts Of Mars as a masterpiece and one of his best that will certainly stand the test of time especially for its form and uniqueness.
Somewhere i read a review where one guy as if justifying himself likes this movie only because he's a Carpenter fan but on the top of that i have to tell you that's what it's all about, only his fan can recognize his masterful touches, that he's a true author and that's why he has more cult films(which most of them were then supposed to be a failure) than any other director..
well i went to see this when it came out  in the theatre with some friends and they wanted to leave halfway through the movie because of the absolute dragging on of the set-up of the story.well i left with them always wondering what happened in the second half.i rented the dvd when it was released and wished i had stayed the first time to watch the entire picture.i have since bought the dvd and watched the special features[which has the some behind the scenes footage,special effects,and making of the soundtrack]which include the commentary by mr carpenter himself and his lovely star natasha.carpenter explains that he had a real hard time with the first part of the movie.he wanted to get things moving along but he was also trying to develop the characters and set up the movie as well.the flashback scenes were really wearing me out though and this is not shot like a typical carpenter movie.carpenter has always been a master in creating and building up suspense but,it doesn't quite work in this movie.it would have helped if the dialogue had been a little more interesting but it is pretty straight-forward stuff.when we finally get to the action sequences carpenter himself says in the commentary"FINALLY INTO THE ACTION PHASES".even carpenter was really ready for the action pick up.the fight scenes are top-notch and the special effects get kicked into high gear during this second half of the movie.also there is some pretty funny humor during this time which seems to work.during the commentary carpenter keeps heaping praise on his lovely star ms natasha.she does do a good job and considering the fact that she was a last minute addition to the cast{only one week before filming}her performance is worthy of praise.one thing to keep in mind DO NOT TAKE THIS FILM SO SERIOUSLY.this is  something that carpenter told his cast and should be told to viewers.yeh it's a little monotonous during the early stages but the payout later is worth it.not carpenters' best movie or worst.village of the damned i thought was his poorest but i have since changed that because like this movie it grows on you..
John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars never appeared in the theaters of Turkey,have seen the movie on DVD about two years ago.As a big John Carpenter fan,enjoyed the movie from beginning to end.The movie has all the basic elements which we look for in a Carpenter movie;a cool anti-hero,a beauty in the lead,raw action,some effective scares and of course great Carpenter dialogs.(cheesy but very smart)Also the movie has a strong and effective Carpenter score like most of his movies.As you can guess from the headline,the movie is a brief summary of his earlier works.The plot reminds us one of his very best movies;Assault on precinct 13 which is now considered as a cult classic and which caught a minor attention before Halloween.Like his masterpiece about human nature and paranoia;The Thing,the story is set in a resurrected area where the characters are all by themselves.Carpenter created almost the same atmosphere just like he did in Assault on precinct 13 by making the criminals and the police squad fight against the enemy together.Finally,Ghosts of Mars can be considered as a weak chain in Carpenter's career by some of his fans but if you sit on the couch just to have a good time without thinking much,the movie gives plenty of excitement.Remember,it's a Carpenter flick from beginning to end.It's the Assault on Mars.It's the Rio Bravo of science fiction..
Anyway i liked this AWESOME sci-fi Thriller from the very beginning in 2001 when i first rented it on video, i absolutely Love the Atmosphere in this just like carpenter does with his films he creates a scary dread filled atmosphere & here it's lonely setting on mars at an abandoned mining base is really creepy & unsettling.
This is a relatively low budget movie compared to the main big movies that Hollywood make but it's great quality & has an excellent setting & really scary voodoo type crazy ancient alien spirits that possess people & turn them into crazy warriors who kill anyone, it's great fun & has very good FX & really well made production design & like i said the empty doom filled atmosphere is excellent & you just want them to hide in a room & board it all up because out there is TERRIFYING!!!
Liked the movie a lot.Liked the soundtrack, the heavy angst ridden sounds fit real well with the surreal psychedelic imagery and well accent the bleak horror of being in a situation where the force to fight against is super horrific and unseen.There is nowhere to go and no way to survive except to fight in an all out only the strong and fast can survive,shoot,splatter,and chop mode.This is reminiscent of the bleak and inescapable horror of John Carpenters masterful remake of "the Thing".It put me in the space of hopelessness and despairing odds.A tailor-made"B" movie of excellence.This movie reminded me of one of my favorite authors of science fiction and horror,Mick Farren.Specifically his book "Mars-The Red Planet".The storyline and imagery are similar.If you liked "Ghosts",then you might want to check out this Del Ray book,out of print but available in used condition.
John Carpenter knows exactly how to set a mood, and, as proved by this film, also knows how to direct good action.
I love this movie , one of the best I´ve ever seen , if you like suspense , action and science-fiction , you'll like this one.The story , I found it very interesting , the acting is very good and the action scenes , very exciting.I hope they make a second part (Ghosts of Mars 2).
Given this, _Ghosts of Mars_ is really a pretty decent film and John Carpenter's best in some time.I really wanted to like _Vampires_ and much of that was pretty good, but the small budget really hurt.
After his awful "Vampire$"-flick I digged all hopes to see a good John Carpenter movie ever again, the more I was surprised how great this one was!
you're just amazing.Why I liked this movie?It was humorous to observe a great director who had directed many films such as, "Mouth of madness," and "Thing." However, in a way I feel sorry for John Carpenter for having such terrible actors....
John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars has Natasha Henstrige (the Species babe) as a Lieutenant of a police force on mars that is assigned to transport a prisoner (Ice Cube in good leading form) from a city compound, but they find that is the least of they're problems as they encounter a whole army of zombie monster types that are really just possessed ghosts.The film has surprisingly not much originality outside of it's action and style (and choice of Mars as a planet).
It steals plots from Pitch Black, Assault on Precinct 13 (some people might like Carpenter going back to the plot of his first film, I'm not sure) and George Romero zombie movies (people get possessed with a sort of disease and then start to attack other humans).
Ghosts Of Mars is not John Carpenter's best film however it has to be one of his most visually interesting and action packed.
All you need to know is the story takes place on Mars, there are ghosts and plenty of Carpenter action and fun..
While "Escape from New York" contained entertaining action sequences and "Vampires" had its defenders, "Ghosts of Mars," your latest addition into the world of horror films, results as a complete and utter disaster.
Sprinkled throughout the information are phases like "I've never worked with a director quite like him," "he's one of my favorite directors I've worked with,"  "I'm learning a lot from him," "I've been a fan of his for quite a while," and "he's very supportive." If you're such a great filmmaker, as I know you are, then why do you make trash like "Ghost of Mars." You make clear that you're not trying to tell a theme with this film, stating "I just want the audience to watch Ghosts of Mars' and come away having had a good time." This film bombed at the box office.
After the commercial failure of 'The Thing' and 'Big Trouble In Little China' (one the biggest injustices ever) he made very low budget movies, which were still pretty good.Since 'Vampires', Carpenter feels he must compete with the new directors (a wrong idea, as his early work still remains classic) so he started copying from Robert Rodriguez like crazy.
He still copies from R.R. by using extended slow motion while cross fading with another shot and the funny thing is that he once said that he is completely against the use of slo mo in movies (which in my opinion is right).Apart from the direction, the story is bad, there is absolutely no interest in what happens here and there is no horror.J.C. always managed to work with decent actors, but not here.
I don't like seeing someone called 'Ice Cube' star in a John Carpenter movie, really.
Granted, it's low budget, looking a lot like a made for Sci-Fi channel movie and it's plot borrows from The Thing, Alien and Aliens, but it's still a pretty good time..
Carpenter's films have always been almost Brechtian in simplicity in order to tell us the story, and the film works by setting up a hokey premise and then pouring on the action towards the end in some great (if almost TV movie styled) set pieces.
It's action packed, (some fantastic shootouts- especially the retreat from the prison where they act like British soldiers circa the Boer War!) it's full of one-liners, some great set pieces, and it has Natasha Henstridge in leather!Personally, I laughed out loud more than I have in years- simply out of the delight of being entertained by a film and not sitting there wishing I was back home!
Ballard and her team are forced to band together with Williams and his men in the hopes of surviving the impending waves of possessed zombie-like people.The plot has "B-movie" written all over it and Carpenter has no qualms in directing it that way.
That metal hard rock sound that accompanied the action scenes was pretty generic and it would have been better if Carpenter used music similar to his minimalistic score in earlier movies (such as for example the already mentioned "Assault On Precinct 13" or Escape From New York).
Now this was a cool,action-pack,horror movie I ever saw from John Carpenter.He had every single piece that can make a awesome ghost people movie for all to love.The place was cool,acting perfect,music to here over and over.I really loved that they are just not zombies that kill people,he gave them life.Instead of them running to eat them,he gave them weapons that are very unbelievable.They are also smart as us because they know the place more than the humans.And the parts were everyone starts to shoot and kill is were the fun really begins to happen.It was just beyond be-life imagination,he took it 3 steps ahead of these kinds of movie.I loved you other movies such as The Thing,Vanpires,and Body Bags.All movies like this I shall thank you for being alive and treasure you forever.I will be routing for you till you can not make any more movies.But still thank you so much for this movie and great characters.Ice Cube,Natasha Henstridge,Clea Dulvall,Jason Statham,Pam Gries,and Joanna Cassidy.All I know ed were great in this movie..
Melaine tells a story to her superiors about herself and her team of officers (Jason Statham, Clea DuVall, Pam Grier, Robert Carradine, Peter Jason & Liam Waite) arrived in a isolated colony to pick up an dangerous thief by the name of James "Desolation" Williams (Ice Cube) in the Red Planet-Mars.
This is a thoroughly entertaining film mix of Action, Sci-Fi and Horror that recalls from Carpenter's earlier films like Assault on Precient 13, The Thing-1982 and They Live.
First of all, I expected a good John Carpenter when I watched Ghosts of Mars and I wasn't deceived.
They say legends never die, but in Ghosts of Mars, John Carpenter shows signs of gross deterioration like many of the characters in his films..
Ghosts of Mars brings plenty of action and horror to the screen, and John Carpenter directs the film greatly.
While Ghosts of Mars isn't among Carpenter's best films,it's still a wonderful,Action-packed thrill ride.Set on the planet Mars in 2176,Ghosts Of Mars tells the story of group of cops including Lieutenant Melanie Ballard(Natasha Henstridge)that have been brought into a mining town to transport Mars criminal James 'Desolation' Williams(Ice Cube)to another prison.
Now Melanie,her fellow officers,Desolation Williams have to team up and battle the Martian ghosts and stay alive.I don't understand why Ghosts Of Mars gets so much hatred from lots of John Carpenter's fans because the film is a fast paced,Action-packed SCI-FI,Horror-Thriller that's entertaining from start to finish.
One of the reasons I like Ghosts Of Mars is because I have always seen this film as a best of Carpenter or a Carpenter film that is a mixture of The Thing,Escape From New York/Escape From L.A,Big Trouble In Little China,They Live,The Fog,Assault On Precinct 13,Vampires and Prince Of Darkness.
Great make-up effects by K.N.B.In final word,if you love John Carpenter,Horror,SCI-FI,or Action-Thrillers,I highly suggest you see Ghosts Of Mars,an entertaining and underrated SCI-FI/Horror/Action-Thriller that deserves a second chance.
I wouldn't go on to call John Carpenter's "Ghosts of Mars" one of his best pieces of work, but still it isn't a bad little b-grade macho under siege feature that resembles that of his earliest work in "Assault on Precinct 13" but this time the action is futuristic based on Mars with that western touch that Carpenter loves.
A big-budget b-movie, 2001's "Ghosts of Mars" was such a critical and commercial disappointment that director John Carpenter went M.I.A. for the remainder of the decade.
Stocked full of wild special effects, amusing characters and over-the-top action, "Ghosts to Mars" is certainly worth a revisit for the Carpenter faithful.Set 200 years in the future, "Ghosts of Mars" stars Natasha Henstridge as she leads an intergalactic police force to Mars on a seemingly routine trip to transfer a dangerous prisoner (Ice Cube).
Thankfully, the film doesn't have an overly glossy big-budget look, retaining the grit of the likes of "Escape from New York" and "The Thing." The story is also told in flashbacks, which gives it a unique twist not often seen in sci-fi or horror.
Instead, the lack of strong supporting characters only adds to the good times when the blood-splatter starts and the film reveals itself as the little guilty pleasure treat it truly is.If "Ghosts of Mars" falls victim to anything, though, it would be an extremely lagging pace that makes the first half a bit difficult to sit through.
I had the opportunity to view "Ghosts of Mars" during its 2-week theatrical run (right around the time the Twin Towers were falling), and I'm really glad I did--this is easily one of John Carpenter's best films, a postmodern recycling bin of his best ideas, humor, and characters from films past, mashed into a tasty B-movie smörgåsbord.
I watch Anaconda for the terrible acting, dialogue, and laughs and Ghosts of Mars for the laughs, action, and most of all, the generic, repetitive thrash music.I'm a huge fan of most of Carpenter's other works, most of all Big Trouble in Little China, They Live, and the under-appreciated Prince of Darkness ("Father!").
John Carpenter's latest exercise in the B-movie is certainly superior to his previous attempt (Vampires, anyone?) but he's still a long way from his best works, namely The Thing, which was so good most horror directors would probably never be able to match it with their best efforts.
I think the guy who played Big Daddy Mars was really scary.I think this movie is for fans of action, horror, or John Carpenter.