Ghosts of Mars

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2:01

Ghosts of Mars

R

2001

1h 37m

Sci-Fi

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

23%

Tomatometer

119 Reviews

25%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

Long inhabited by human settlers, the Red Planet has become the manifest destiny of an over-populated Earth. Nearly 640,000 people now live and work all over Mars, mining the planet for its abundant natural resources. But one of those mining operations has uncovered a deadly mother lode: a long-dormant Martian civilization whose warriors are systematically taking over the bodies of human intruders.

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Critics Consensus

John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars is not one of Carpenter's better movies, filled as it is with bad dialogue, bad acting, confusing flashbacks, and scenes that are more campy than scary.

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Nick Schager

Lessons of Darkness

04/14/2011

B-

With propulsive momentum and surprisingly deft aesthetics, it’s a rather sturdy modernized mash-up of Assault on Precinct 13 and Escape from New York.

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Clark Collis

Empire Magazine

12/30/2006

2/5

Ghosts Of Mars is told in a weary flashback-within-a-flashback-within-a-flashback stylee whose only real purpose appears to be papering over the chasm-sized cracks in the script.

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Time Out Staff

Time Out

02/09/2006

To take it seriously would be to miss the point: the crazily complicated flashback structure and hilarious hardboiled dialogue are all the more amusing for being played dead-on straight.

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Adrian Martin

Film Critic: Adrian Martin

07/30/2025

1.5/5

In a movie that bizarrely seems to be comprised of nothing but slow dissolves and laborious flashbacks-within-flashbacks, even the action scenes are lacklustre.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

02/18/2025

1/4

Steven Spielberg’s Ghosts of Mars might have been a blast, and I would have paid top dollar to check out Merchant-Ivory’s Ghosts of Mars. But John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars? Atrocious.

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Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

02/02/2024

It's hard to make a case for this pretty brainless perpetual-motion machine getting the critical reevaluation merited by some of the director's other commercial failures.

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Thomas O

@RT13315613 3d

It helps to get really, really high before you watch this.

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Victor B

@RT02647486 Jul 16

It's a fun film for a evening of rubbish film watching.

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AMIGABLUEBIRD T

@RT77297102 Jul 14

Verstehe denn Hate nicht, ich habe denn Streifen beim ersten mal sehen gefeiert und finde in immer noch unterhaltsam und bei dem was heute so gedreht wird wo gar nicht so schlecht wie erwartet oft 6-9 Punkte wert sind ist das allemal eine 9

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Peter L

@AlbinoRino Jun 22

Durch meine Nostalgie Brille gesehen ein Unterhaltsamer Sci-fi Horror Trash film. Es wird geballert und es Rollen Köpfe. Damit ist meinen geringen Ansprüchen genüge getan. Die Struktur des Films ist allerdings nicht so toll. Trotzdem für Menschen mit Speziellen Geschmack ein Sehenswertes Machwerk.

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Alfred L.

@rambo712 Apr 27

very could have been much better thought out a little entertaining

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Chip S

@ChipSkylarkOpe Mar 23

What should be a fun concept just turns into a poorly executed mess. When you have flashbacks within flashbacks within flashbacks, you start losing the plot. Despite a couple big names in the cast, no one really shines. The fact the villain can't talk because of the prosthetics is almost as laughable as his name being "Big Daddy Mars" in the credits. PHOBE.

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Synopsis

Long inhabited by human settlers, the Red Planet has become the manifest destiny of an over-populated Earth. Nearly 640,000 people now live and work all over Mars, mining the planet for its abundant natural resources. But one of those mining operations has uncovered a deadly mother lode: a long-dormant Martian civilization whose warriors are systematically taking over the bodies of human intruders.

Director: John Carpenter
Producer: Sandy King
Screenwriter: John Carpenter, Larry Sulkis
Distributor: Screen Gems
Production Co: Screen Gems, Storm King Productions
Rating: R (Some Drug Content|Language|Strong Gore|Strong Violence)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 24, 2001, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 27, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $8.4M
Runtime: 1h 37m
Sound Mix: Dolby SR, DTS, Dolby Stereo, Surround, SDDS, Dolby A, Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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