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Mars Attacks!

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Mars Attacks!

PG-13

Released Dec 12, 1996

1h 43m

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

55%

Tomatometer

87 Reviews

53%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

A fleet of Martian spacecraft surrounds the world's major cities and all of humanity waits to see if the extraterrestrial visitors have, as they claim, "come in peace." U.S. President James Dale (Jack Nicholson) receives assurance from science professor Donald Kessler (Pierce Brosnan) that the Martians' mission is a friendly one. But when a peaceful exchange ends in the total annihilation of the U.S. Congress, military men call for a full-scale nuclear retaliation.

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Critics Consensus

Tim Burton's alien invasion spoof faithfully recreates the wooden characters and schlocky story of cheesy '50s sci-fi and Ed Wood movies -- perhaps a little too faithfully for audiences.

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Mark Salisbury

Empire Magazine

A giddily madcap, surreal, sardonic satire that sets out to be deliberately cheesy.

Rated: 4/5

Dec 7, 2018

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Gene Siskel

Chicago Tribune

Oh, those Martians! They are funny, mean little buggers, and they're worthing checking out.

Rated: 3/4

Dec 7, 2018

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Peter Rainer

New Times

It's a destructo orgy without any phony-baloney sanctimony about the fellowship of man -- or spaceman.

Dec 7, 2018

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Even with a few decent laughs and unforgettable antagonists, the end result isn’t spectacular; it’s a unique sci-fi genre blend, recalling productions from a bygone era of schlockier monster movies, but it’s only moderately entertaining.

Rated: 4/10

Nov 8, 2024

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Cory Woodroof

615 Film

It’s such a wonderful lampoon of the establishment and hammers in Burton’s disdain for those in charge. It’s also got the frenetic spirit of a PG-13 Tex Avery/Chuck Jones/Bob Clampett cartoon.

Jun 25, 2022

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Stephen Silver

Tilt Magazine

It's not the funniest, saddest, or most poignant film in Tim Burton's filmography, but it is a great deal of fun. (25th anniversary)

Rated: 4/5

Dec 15, 2021

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Frank B

I enjoy 'camp' films done well. I enjoyed it enough to buy it and watch it over & over again. It was done with fun & humour & I like that...the cast did a great job especially the Martians...hah

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/10/25

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Estevan G

A very silly and fun movie ! A homage to B movies of a time long gone.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/16/25

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Zachary L

I enjoyed this movie as a fun time to watch and it has a spot in my heart but by know means is it a 10/10 but still worth your time as a movi

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/20/25

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Gareth D

Really stupid, hasn't aged particularly well - I'm just glad it's short.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/15/25

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Audience Member

Hilarious movie, pretty shocked by the ratings being in the 50's, this is THE alien invasion movie.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/05/25

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Kevin P

I wanted to like this movie, but sadly it’s a pretty mixed bag. My biggest issue is a simple one. It just isn’t very funny. The ensemble vast is huge, but many of them feel wasted with the typical cartoonishly hokey Tim Burton style of acting, subpar dialogue and lack of proper punchlines beyond the thinnest surface level (even if it’s intentionally cheesy with its obvious homages to 1950’s alien invasion flicks and satirizing of 1990’s patronizing neoliberalism). The jokes are pretty shallow and repetitive. But the aliens are pretty entertaining with good expressive designs that still hold up and the way they talk legit cracks me up as some of the only funny jokes in the movie. As for other positives, the sci-fi action scenes were actually pretty well done and I liked the ending solution with the aliens getting defeated by Grandma’s terrible music. I can’t say it’s good, but I can’t say it’s bad either. Just a giant saucer with missed potential blowing through the wind.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/27/25

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Tim Burton

Director

Jack Nicholson

President James Dale

Glenn Close

First Lady Marsha Dale

Annette Bening

Barbara Land

Pierce Brosnan

Professor Donald Kessler

Danny DeVito

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Synopsis

A fleet of Martian spacecraft surrounds the world's major cities and all of humanity waits to see if the extraterrestrial visitors have, as they claim, "come in peace." U.S. President James Dale (Jack Nicholson) receives assurance from science professor Donald Kessler (Pierce Brosnan) that the Martians' mission is a friendly one. But when a peaceful exchange ends in the total annihilation of the U.S. Congress, military men call for a full-scale nuclear retaliation.

Director: Tim Burton
Producer: Tim Burton, Larry J. Franco, Laurie Parker
Screenwriter: Woody Gelman, Bob Powell, Norman Saunders
Production Co: Warner Brothers
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 12, 1996, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 15, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA): $37.8M
Runtime: 1h 43m
Sound Mix: Surround

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