Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

lgtaylor22 I'm mystified by the glowing reviews of this movie. I can't see any redeeming qualities about it. It's both boring and nonsensical. And it's not even scary.

garethrleyshon Another foray into the science fiction horror genre for Horror maestro John Carpenter, sees a group of 22nd Century police officers lead by Helena Braddock (Pam Grier) and Melanie Ballard (Natasha Henstridge) head to Shining Canyon, a mining town on Mars, to collect and transport a dangerous criminal to stand trial. Upon their arrival, they find Shining Canyon deserted, aside from a group of self mutilated, homicidal beings, who turn out to be the townsfolk who have been taken over by the titular ghosts. Cue lots of guns, running and decapitation.There is no two ways about it, Ghosts of Mars is a mixed bag. On the whole it is very entertaining, but has moments of pure ridiculousness and stupidity.A lot is crammed into the 94 minute run time, and it is a lot considering the action takes place over a relatively short space of time. Told in flashback, and containing flashbacks within said flashback, the story is kept sharp and simple, never feeling over complicated and nothing is superfluous. The action is fast and furious; the fight sequences are compelling and the deaths of our police officers are thoroughly enjoyable. Decapitation and dismemberment agogo; a little extra gore wouldn't have gone amiss though.However good the fight sequences are, one does wonder our heroes keep shooting at our ghost hosts? The deaths of the hosts releases the spirits so they can go find another host to inhabit. Truly moronic. And their solution to the destroying the alien race? Blowing up the town. Which would release all the ghosts. Um, slightly flawed...Anyway, the production of Ghosts of Mars is great. The planetary aspects are done well, everything is steeped in red and the barren, dust filled landscapes around Shining Canyon only add to the isolation. It feel like the Mars one would expect. Also, the town of Shining Canyon itself seems plausibly tiny, giving a wonderfully claustrophobic feel to the main body of the film. Perhaps the best thing about the film is the make up and costumes of the mutilated hosts; they are grotesque, interesting, creative and a lot fun. The heavy metal soundtrack compliments our pierced, painted and sliced monsters beautifully.Our other characters, despite being developed well enough, are a mixture of stereotypes and extremes. Jericho Butler (Jason Statham), the womanising alpha male; Arlene Whitlock (Joanna Cassidy) the bumbling scientist; Desolation Williams (Ice Cube), the no nonsense serial killer criminal type; Bashira Kinkaid (Clea DuVall), the naive rookie... There is nothing new here in terms of disposable characters. Sadly our two female leads are the most disappointing. Pam Grier is unconvincing as the tough, lesbian commanding officer; a role which apparently just requires an ample cleavage and no acting skills whatsoever. Thankfully she is dispatched relatively quickly. Even Henstridge falls a little flat most of the time as our drug fueled Lieutenant, bordering on dull and wooden. Perhaps the vacant look that occupies her face for the majority is a side effect of the hallucinogenic pills she pops at frequent intervals. The disappointing female characters are a surprise seeing as Carpenters forte is the slasher genre, a genre where female characters are usually strong, engaging and sympathetic. Not so much here...BOTTOM LINE: An extra star for Pam Griers head on a stick. Fabulous.

sykespj John Carpenter has made a pretty decent living out of directing low-budget action-horror flicks in various sub-genres. A couple of his sci-fi efforts are genuinely good fun. This movie isn't one of them.Natasha Henstridge has visual appeal, but delivers her lines with all the emotion of a lump of granite. Ice Cube proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is no actor, despite a couple of passable earlier efforts in 'Boyz n the Hood' (1991) and 'Friday' (1995). Jason Statham's character Jericho - supposedly attractive due to his breeding prowess - couldn't get a root in a brothel.The Martians are about as scary as a good bottle of shiraz... three of which may increase your enjoyment of the movie to a tolerable level. No, make it four. Carpenter doesn't even manage a workable soundtrack... usually one of his strengths. I got really familiar with the bits that were saying: "Go to the fridge and find some munchies. Super-boring bit coming up."If you want some topnotch Carpenter sci-fi, check out cult favourite 'They Live', either of the 'Escape from...' movies, or mega-classic 'The Thing'. This one, however, deserves a swift and permanent burial.

Python Hyena Ghosts of Mars (2001): Dir: John Carpenter / Cast: Natasha Henstridge, Ice Cube, Jason Statham, Pam Grier, Clea DuVall: Natasha Henstridge plays an officer sent to Mars to transport a dangerous prisoner and she narrates the film because she was the only one to return alive. Bodies litter the prison and Ice Cube is blamed until it is discovered that ghostly beings inhabiting human bodies are responsible. We witness possessed bodies being inflicted with wounds. Eventually Cube and his crew show up and it appears that both forces will have to unite if they are to survive. This leads to a graphic climax where heads detach from torsos and blood splatters the screen. Horror films that are reduced to heavy amounts of gore prove that they lack faith in their delivery. John Carpenter use to make terrific films such as Halloween and Escape From New York. This isn't one of them. In fact, this looks like a variation between his own version of The Thing clashed with Dawn of the Dead. Other than Henstridge and Ice Cube the film features wasted appearances by Jason Statham, Clea DuVall and Pam Grier. They basically spend ninety minutes bickering followed by running and then fighting back where creatures are blasted to pieces and human characters are torn to bits. That is exactly what should be done with the film. The special effects have all the potential of a bag of puke. Score: 0 / 10