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John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars
Screen Gems Inc.


4.9

based on 26 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 20 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: R for strong violence/gore, language and some drug content

Starring Ice Cube, Natasha Henstridge, Jason Statham, Clea DuVall, Pam Grier, and Joanna Cassidy

A harrowing tale of rescue and escape from a colonized Mars 175 years into the future. (Columbia Tristar)

GENRE(S):	Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Larry Sulkis John Carpenter
DIRECTED BY:	John Carpenter
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: December 4, 2001 Video: December 4, 2001 Theatrical: August 24, 2001
RUNNING TIME:	98 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

LA Weekly Paul Malcolm

It's cheap thrills all the way, served up with the kind of situational purity that only Carpenter seems to care for these days. It's that simple and that much fun.

New Times (L.A.) Gregory Weinkauf

Rife with silliness, such as the flashbacks within flashbacks of characters who were not with one another at the time, and occasional unintentional laughs -- but it's also a good, raucous kick in the behind, which is literally all it aspires to be

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A brawny space opera, transplanting the conventions of Western, cop and martial arts films to the Red Planet.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Carpenter writes his own scripts -- here with past collaborator Larry Sulkis -- and their "Ghosts" screenplay lacks the density, character and humor of a Hollywood genre classic.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

It might be nice if Ghosts of Mars had more to offer than snappy repartee and shameless gore, or if it could borrow a little narrative tension from its Alien Chain Saw forebears.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

For those so inclined, it's nice to see the girl and the gangsta -- not the gunslinger -- save the day.

Entertainment Weekly Bruce Fretts

Borderline-incoherent.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

A redundancy, and a bore. The characters are harrowingly unsympathetic, the action sequences are by-the-numbers, and Carpenter's usual saving grace -- his sense of humor -- is nowhere in evidence.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Carpenter's heart doesn't seem to be in this lackluster space adventure set in 2176. What's more, his stars -- Natasha Henstridge and Ice Cube -- don't exactly energize the proceedings.

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

Written, directed, and edited with the offhand shoddiness of a day worker thinking about his evening beer.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Bad enough that the plot is shopworn, but the tough-gal talk is unintentionally hilarious, and the complicated narrative structure is annoying and pointless.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

It starts as enjoyable B-movie pulp, degenerates to camp, then turns into laughable lunacy.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

While this cheesy, heavy-metal melange of horror, space hooey and cowboy shoot-'em-ups isn't exactly dull, it isn't anything to write home about either.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

Like a zombie picture directed by one of the undead.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

A turgid recycling of Mr. Carpenter's remake of "The Thing."

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

A deep disappointment to fans of sci-fi and the once great John Carpenter.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

Slides instantly into the realm of the forgettable.

Portland Oregonian Barry Johnson

It's not confusing, it's just slow. Very slow. Glacial.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

I have an idea for a Mars movie. When our first astronauts step onto the Red Planet, they discover that Martians not only exist but that they've hired Johnnie Cochran to represent them in a massive defamation suit against American filmmakers.

San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham

A tired and dispiriting affair that takes forever to get going.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

A horror/sci-fi/action mishmash that aims to be the kind of brainless timekiller once used to round out the bottom of a double bill at the drive-in.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Carpenter pulls out all the action-adventure stops, but he and coscripter Larry Sulkis forgot to write dialogue the audience could listen to without howling in disbelief.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

It keeps you off balance, all right, but not enough to obscure the sad fact that Ghosts of Mars is a muddled, derivative disaster straight on through.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

Schlocky, sluggish shoot-'em-up.

Mr. Showbiz Cody Clark

So wretched that it practically defies description.

Variety Robert Koehler

This deliberately pre-'90s slice of rock 'n' roll-tinged sci-fi horror, decorated with anything but the latest in special effects, seems particularly grungy and marginal.

The average user rating for this movie is 4.9 (out of 10) based on 20 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

William W gave it a0:
Everything about this movie sucks, bad script, bad acting, bad direction, bad photography, bad makeup, total and utter drivel from start to finish. Worst of all it's boring! If you like action then there are hundreds of better action films out there, so don't waste your time with this miserable mess. John Carpenter should be ashamed, but at least he takes the blame by adding his once proud name to the title. Anyone that defends this tripe needs to go back to school and probably needs house training too.

Jon S gave it a1:
Worst movie I've ever seen.

Kyle M gave it a0:
The worst film John Carpenter ever made. So bad it nearly ruins movies that it has nothing to do with. It's hard to enjoy other John Carpenter movies while burdened with the knowledge that the same guy also made this one.

Gino E. gave it a 2:
There was once a great moviemaker, John Carpenter was his name. What happend to him?

Chris K. gave it a 0:
MY god, this was the worst movie ever made. It looks like they tried to make a movie but totally failed while filming and the editor and director had no choice but to make use of what they had in footage - the result - is flashbacks within flashbacks - the worst acting, editing, directing, cinemetography ever. It does have some use though - show it to students as a means of letting them know how lack of caring can make a horrible movie.

Blanco A. gave it a 9:
A pretty good time. I has a lot of the same whimsically fun spirit as a "Night of the Living Dead" installment. Ice Cube rocks the house, too.

Luke A. gave it a 9:
I tell u wot..if u want an action film....fully action...heart racin music an absolutely fantastic action...this is the one to c....a mindless action....easily forgivable bad plot because of the fight scenes...a film for blokes.....EXCELLENT.

John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars Screen Gems Inc.

John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars
Screen Gems Inc.