Based on a subversive set of trading cards, I was intrigued when I learned that Tim Burton had agreed to direct Mars Attacks! Each card graphically depicted a Martian invasion of Earth with lots of gory detail. Knowing that, I thought Tim burton would deliver something unique. While the film maintains some of the gratuitous violence found on the cards, Burton presents the story in a decidedly tongue-in-cheek fashion.
Mars Attacks! opens with opens with a stampeding herd of burning cattle, incinerated by a small Martian scouting team. The Earth has proven to be a suitable playground, so the Martians send out a mighty armada of spaceships for invasion. Meanwhile, the President of the United States and his staff prepare a welcome committee for the arriving spaceships in the Nevada desert, not knowing if the aliens come in peace. Things seem fine at first, when the Martians announce they come in peace. Soon enough, it becomes clear that they’ve come to create havoc. They disintegrate the welcome party, leaving behind only their colored bones. From there onward, the Martians start destroying everything in their path.
Written by Jonathan Gems (who rewrote the script a dozen times), the result is a satiric riot. Every character is over the top; clearly meant to be unbelievable. There’s a doofus president (Jack Nicholson), unworldly military advisors (Rod Steiger), competing sensation-seeking reporters (Michael J. Fox and Sarah Jessica Parker), scientists (Pierce Brosnan), obnoxious gamblers (Danny DeVito), an undersexed press advisor (Martin Short), rednecks, heroic kids, and weird experiments on aliens – only this time we are the aliens.
Despite the all-star cast, Tim Burton and Jonathan Gems, aren’t particularly concerned with character development. It’s not necessary, as many of the characters are introduced and killed off within minutes. Personally, I enjoyed seeing some of my favorite actors taken out quickly, and in unique ways.
Presented in the 2.39:1 aspect ratio, Warner Bros. new 4K release offers an obvious uptick in quality. While it hasn’t been confirmed, the transfer appears to be based on a 4K scan of the original camera negative, graded for HDR in Dolby Vision and HDR 10. The image is crisp throughout, offering a finer level of detail than the 2010 Blu-ray release. The digital effects look surprisingly good, with a nice level of film grain adding to the sense of detail. Colors are deep and well saturated, while blacks are appropriately inky. The digital manipulation, obvious in the earlier Blu-ray release has been eliminated.
The newly remastered Dolby Atmos track expands the soundfield throughout. Effects are appropriately placed; be it helicopter flybys or simpler directional effects. Danny Elfman’s score sounds full throughout. Dialogue is clean, clear, and concise .
English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles are available.
Both extras include interviews with cast and crew:
- Looking Back at Mars Attacks! (7:26)
- Ack! Ack! Aesthetic (10:50)
