DVD Review

Details

Mars Attacks (R2)

1 Hour 42 Minutes

Cast

Jack Nicholson President James Dale and Art Land
Glenn Close Marsha Dale
Annette Benning Barbara Land
Pierce Brosnan Donald Kessler
Danny DeVito Rude Gambler
Martin Short Jerry Ross
Sarah Jessica Parker Nathalie Lake
Michael J. Fox Jason Stone
Rod Steiger General Decker
Tom Jones Tom Jones
Luke Haas Richie Norris
Natalie Portman Taffy Dale
Jim Brown Byron Williams
Lisa Marie Martian Girl
Sylvia Sidney Grandma Norris

Synopsis

Aliens from Mars come to visit Earth, but decide "Nice planet, we'll take it".

Film

Due to an unfortunate mix-up during the welcoming ceremony involving a dove and a hippy, the aliens decide to wage war on Earth and its population. This involves killing people, knocking down the statues on Easter Island like a giant game of ten-pin-bowling, experimenting on people and generally being annoying pests in upside-down goldfish bowls.

This film didn't do too well at the box office, some say it was because it takes a sideways swipe at the Americans, odd since its an American film. It has some genuinely funny moments though, like the general being called on the field telephone by his wife during the trip to meet the aliens (involving kissy kissy and other nauseating things) and the unfortunate experiments on Nathalie and Donald.
Picture quality is variable, the colours are quite vibrant but the bitrate is only average producing an okay picture but nothing special. The special effects are excellent, with the CGI aliens themselves looking superb and stealing the show, something difficult considering the enormous array of stars on offer here!

The sound is excellent with good booming bass during the music which is also in surround, clear dialogue, and excellent use of surround in general during the film, especially in the battle scene at the beginning.

Extras are fairly poor though. I certainly don't count trailers as "extras" since 99% of the time they are for the film you have probably just watched (or are about to), which applies here. The cast list however is fairly comprehensive and the menu system is quite pretty too.

So all in all, not a bad film with some excellent use of surround. Buy it if you have an interest in one of the cast or like your films a bit on the mad side.

Extras

  • Production Notes
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Cast List
Reviewed by: Paul
DD
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