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John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars

Play trailer 2:01 Poster for John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars R Released Aug 24, 2001 1h 37m Sci-Fi Horror Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
23% Tomatometer 111 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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John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars

John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars

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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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Critics Reviews

View All (111) Critics Reviews
Nick Schager Lessons of Darkness A rather sturdy modernized mash-up of Assault on Precinct 13 and Escape from New York. Rated: B- Apr 14, 2011 Full Review Empire Magazine Rated: 2/5 Dec 30, 2006 Full Review Neil Smith BBC.com Rated: 2/5 Nov 19, 2001 Full Review Dennis Harvey 48 Hills 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... Feb 2, 2024 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review A fun and underrated movie deserving of any Carpenter fan’s affection. Rated: 3/4 Mar 9, 2023 Full Review Eddie Harrison film-authority.com ...the public didn't get it, but Ghosts of Mars has great action scenes, some cool tension, and funny dialogue... Rated: 3/5 Oct 23, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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paul I have read many reviews on this movie and think people are tools. The movies is a fun movie, good story, cool effects and a good watch. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 10/13/24 Full Review Markus L Its a fun bad Movie Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 09/17/24 Full Review Gaming U This movie wants to be resident evil so badly but is just an awful movie. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/24 Full Review Tracy K Although the acting wasn't the best, I thought the concept of the story was fantastic! I would love to see one of the streaming services remake it into a series. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 11/13/23 Full Review Valerii Ege D Even though Ice Cube reduces the movie's seriousness, it's a pretty good popcorn horror. Carpenter always delivers. I guess it is time for the sequel, right? After all, it's a Resident Evil but on Mars. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/22/23 Full Review David W I am a huge fan of John Carpenter. His movies and music are essential to my enjoyment of cinema over the years. This, however, is simply terrible. Lousy special effects and almost wilfully bad acting by the majority of the cast utterly sink this derivative nonsense. It is also, sorry John, badly directed and that's a phrase I thought I'd never use in relation to the great man. A bad day at the office for all concerned. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 04/04/23 Full Review Read all reviews
John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars

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John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars

John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - Let's Kick Some Ass John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - Let's Kick Some Ass 2:18 John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - Drugs vs Ghosts John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - Drugs vs Ghosts 2:53 John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - War Ready John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - War Ready 2:16 John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - Battling the Possessed John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - Battling the Possessed 3:13 John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - Party Time John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - Party Time 2:54 John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - I Like You Already John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - I Like You Already 1:30 John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - Catching the Train Outta Hell John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - Catching the Train Outta Hell 2:57 John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - The Horrors Behind the Hill John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - The Horrors Behind the Hill 2:29 John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - Desolation Takes On Big Daddy John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - Desolation Takes On Big Daddy 3:16 John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - I Saved Your Life John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - I Saved Your Life 3:02 View more videos
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Movie Info

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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