John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars

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John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars

R

Released Aug 24, 2001

1h 37m

Sci-Fi

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

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Popcornmeter

23%

Tomatometer

112 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

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

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Neil Smith

BBC.com

Rated: 2/5

Nov 19, 2001

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

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.

Rated: 1/4

Feb 18, 2025

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

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

A fun and underrated movie deserving of any Carpenter fan’s affection.

Rated: 3/4

Mar 9, 2023

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Stephen C

Failure in 1 hour and 37 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

06/18/25

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Audience Member

Personally, after many space movies..... I found this movie very slow and boring. Story line was good, but it could have been elevated so much more. Personally I am surprised ICE T and Jason even took the role. If you want to talk about, just Mars.... The Martian is by far a better movie. As far as space, Armageddon, Passengers, The Martian, Pitch Black, Apollo 13.... Etc.... hands down are better movies. If you have not seen Ghosts of Mars... Well, you ain't missing anything except the time you took to watch it.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

05/31/25

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Robin W

It's a movie of it's time, early 2000's was a very different time for action flicks. The movie lacks depth, the action is not exactly well choreographed or believable, the acting, meh but Henstridge is always captivating, it's worth a watch if you missed this one and want a Nostalgia boost.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

05/24/25

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Brad S. R

What the hell am I looking at?

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

04/03/25

Full Review

Andy D

It's a dumb action flick, but it's at least not a bad dumb action flick

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/19/24

Full Review

Shawn R

Not sure why the backlash. I actually enjoyed the movie.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/10/24

Full Review

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John Carpenter

Director

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James "Desolation" Williams

Natasha Henstridge

Melanie Ballard

Jason Statham

Jericho Butler

Clea Duvall

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Helena Braddock

John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - Let's Kick Some Ass

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John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - Drugs vs Ghosts

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John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - War Ready

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John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - Battling the Possessed

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John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - Party Time

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John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - I Like You Already

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John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - Catching the Train Outta Hell

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John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - The Horrors Behind the Hill

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John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - Desolation Takes On Big Daddy

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John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars: Official Clip - I Saved Your Life

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Ghosts of Mars: Trailer 1

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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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