(2001)

Reviewed By-Paul Cooke

Director : John Carpenter
Scripted : Larry Sulkis & John Carpenter
Starring : Natashia Henstridge , Ice Cube , Pam Grier ,
Jason Statham , Clea DuVall & Richard Cetrone

The arrival of John Carpenter’s polished ‘B’ movie release , from the Howard Hawke’s old school of Action direction , met with the usual antipathy from the critical entourage lobby of political correctness for his big budget sci fi escapist entry ‘Ghosts Of Mars’. Fans of John Carpenter , and loyalists of the genre astute enough to ignore the witch hunt , will actually be rewarded in seeing through the inert veil of propaganda as the very red mists of mars themselves lift to reveal a highly enjoyable romp. ‘Ghosts Of Mars’ harkens back to the very best action movies that Carpenter was directing in his heyday , and on this outing the prefix of his name to the films title is a most deserving billing. The casting of Natashia Henstridge in the Action lead role as Mars police force lieutenant Melanie Ballard is an excellent one , as she applies her natural screen beauty with both fitness and bravado in equal proportions. Assigned under the leadership of the experienced Commander Braddock , played in typical stoic fashion by Pam Grier , she has to collect criminal Ice Cube from a remote mining colony on the terra forming surface of Mars. With a small entourage of fellow officers Braddock and Ballard arrive at mining outpost Chryse by futuristic train , applicable to the films setting of the year 2176 AD , to collect the wonderfully named Desolation Williams. Held in custody for robbery and the apparent murders at the scene by manner of decapitation , leaving the victims strung up by their feet from the ceiling. It’s not too long before it becomes apparent that all is not well at the outpost with only a few residents appearing to remain , survivors from the multitudes of workers who have fallen victim to a madness that has taken over their bodies and minds. This presence turning them into self deprecating mutants , attacking all those unaffected with a bloodied perimeters they discover , along with  Desolation Williams , a female doctor who reveals that she was with those responsible for unwittingly releasing the Martian spirits from their Egyptian like tomb. Freed to be born again through inhabiting the horde of Human hosts and reinvoking their primal barbaric life style. The Martian militia are organised by the ghoulish leadership of Big Daddy Mars who’s very presence is not dissimilair to that of the Humungus from the comparative crowd pleaser ‘Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior’ bellowing out his tyrannical demands with foreboding alien dialect.

  

Pam Grier goes off exploring alone and very soon Braddock is missing in action , but unlike the Chuck Norris character she doesn't manage to keep her head !. The movie is generously littered with juicy smatterings of decapitations and severing of limbs as the alien spirits arm their zombified human hosts with an array of sharp flesh cutting weapons. Amongst the carnage cutlery is a devastatingly accurate multitude of razor discs that are used as flying guillotines , hitting their human targets with copious amounts of arterial vino soon flowing. Natashia Henstridge partners up with the very cool on screen persona of Ice Cube who’s in a ‘glass’ of his own as the personification of alien antagonist. Together they combine with the rag tag band of fellow freedom fighters striking out with an all out assaulting act of survival as they make a stand to stay the Martian threat before it’s invidious affects are far greater reaching !.

  

The movie in its most simplistic form is pure ‘B’ movie entertainment with all the accoutrements normally associated with a so called Blockbuster , yet still delivering the idealistic swagger of an unearthed future classic all of its own. The movie is perhaps best self expressed in the exchange of dialogue come the finale with , ‘let’s just kick some ass !’ , ‘It’s what we do best !’. What Director Carpenter has surreptitiously done , in the delightful interests of all self respecting followers of the ilk , is thrown together many fantastical elements of his own successful movies to create such an all Action overload. The likes of ‘Assault On Precinct 13' , ‘The Thing’ and ‘Escape From New York’ all get thrown in amongst the Apocalyptic back ground scenario of ‘Mad Max’. Deliberately infusing a volatile environment with his usual eclectic blend of self preserving anti heroes , all deliriously contributing to the most enjoyable of intergalactic westerns.

Presentation : Widescreen Ratio 2:35:1
Release : Screen Gems
Coding : NTSC Region 1
Sound : Dolby Digital 5.1
Extras : Film available in both Wide screen Anamorphic & Full Screen /
Audio commentary track with both John Carpenter & Natashia
Henstridge / Behind the scenes video diary / Special effects
feature / Soundtrack scoring feature / Filmographies / Interactive
menus / Scene selections

Film: 4.0 BITCH SLAPS
Picture: 4.5 BITCH SLAPS
Sound: 4.5 BITCH SLAPS
Extras: 3.5 BITCH SLAPS
Overall: 4.0 BITCH SLAPS