Today I dissect Tim Burton's black comedy bomb Mars Attacks!
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There are three kinds of bombs, in my opinion. The first is the "obviously a bad idea from the jump" bomb. A great example is 2024's remake of The Crow, a movie based on an original film so of its time and so tied to the original performer, who tragically died while making the film, that you'd have to be some kind of bankrupt to greenlit it. Everyone should've known this was a terrible idea. Turns out it was. And the more money you pump into this bad idea, the bigger the bomb is.
The second is the "semi-successful, but nowhere near successful enough," bomb which is more or less a studio failing. You put too much money into a single project that had limited mass appeal so even if it makes a lot of money, there's no way it can make all of the money it needed to. 2012's John Carter applies here. A film so expensive to make that even a $250+ million box office haul was deemed a small dent in the gigantic budgetary hole Disney put itself in.
And the third are the ones that were undermined by the release schedule/promotion. Either the studio didn't put the proper weight behind it, or they released the movie at the exact wrong time. For instance, releasing after Olympus Has Fallen, after being made for much more money, more or less killed White House Down before it hit theaters. Now the Fallen franchise has three films to its name and Channing Tatum cracks jokes about said movie in the Jump Street movies.
I bring all of this up because Tim Burton's Mars Attacks, at least in my opinion, sits firmly in the third category.
The Setup
Taking place in the present day, the film follows the American government and a number of its citizens as they prepare for the arrival of alien life on earth. Specifically Martians. But while scientists initially believe the Martians come in peace, it quickly becomes clear that their goal isn't peace. It's domination.
So cards on the table, this is a movie I more or less refused to rewatch for years. I watched it when I was young and slid off its casual approach to mass destruction and death all played for laughs. There's also a lot about it that I couldn't/didn't appreciate at the time, which I'll get into.
I'm saying all of that to say that, even now, the movie was on a back foot with me.
But given some time, and because my wife desired to watch it, I can see why it's become something of a cult favorite. So let's get into the good, the bad and the "why did this movie bomb?" of it all.
The Good: A Faithful Send-Up/Recreation of the 50s-60s Sci-Fi Aesthetic
While the film technically takes place in the present day, everything about the look and feel of this movie is from eras past. Specifically the 50s and 60s science fiction B-movie aesthetic complete with aliens coming out of silver flying saucers with giant brains and helmets and sporting ray guns that turn humans into skeletons. Likewise, our main locations all feel removed from time including a young hero with his family in the country outside Vegas, Vegas itself (with the primary celebrity sighting being Tom Jones), and the White House.
And that displaced look and feel leans into the movie's unreality and generally silly approach to the subject of a hostile alien invasion.
It also means that despite poorly aged effects, it's still in keeping with a genre where the spectacle is more important than how convincing the effects are. That all works.
And that displaced look and feel leans into the movie's unreality and generally silly approach to the subject of a hostile alien invasion.
It also means that despite poorly aged effects, it's still in keeping with a genre where the spectacle is more important than how convincing the effects are. That all works.
The Good: Some Solid Bits of Dark Comedy
It doesn't surprise me that Tim Burton has solid instincts when it comes to dark comedy. His sense of humor has always drifted into macabre places (i.e. Large Marge in Pee-Wee's Big Adventure might've terrified me as a child, but it's clearly meant as a joke) and enjoys crafting cartoonish and exaggerated visuals.
It means that the movies best moments are the silliest and most exaggerated. The entire White House siege sequence, where Jack Nicholson's president is eventually bailed out by two kids wielding ray guns that they know how to use because of their affection for arcade games? Fantastic chaotic fun.
Jim Brown getting into a giant punching war with a gaggle of aliens? Also great. The ultimate pay-off being so stupid and so gross (a song that makes their brains explode?). Very silly. Thoroughly enjoyable.
It means that the movies best moments are the silliest and most exaggerated. The entire White House siege sequence, where Jack Nicholson's president is eventually bailed out by two kids wielding ray guns that they know how to use because of their affection for arcade games? Fantastic chaotic fun.
Jim Brown getting into a giant punching war with a gaggle of aliens? Also great. The ultimate pay-off being so stupid and so gross (a song that makes their brains explode?). Very silly. Thoroughly enjoyable.
The movie also relishes punishing a lot of the most despicable human characters in over-the-top ways. See all of the build-up for Jack Black's military brother who then fails and dies unceremoniously. And it's basically a cheat code if you can turn to something awful happening in one place and then cut to Jack Nicholson dejectedly reacting like "oof this is a bad day at the office," over here.
But now let's get into the places the movie stumbles/doesn't work.
But now let's get into the places the movie stumbles/doesn't work.
The Bad: A Lot of the Jokes Miss
It's fair to say that a lot of comedies have entire segments that age poorly or aren't as funny as the rest of the movie. But Mars Attacks! has a bunch of scenes and sequences that kill the movie's energy and tone.
Which is bad enough in a regular movie, but even worse in a 90 minute comedy.
The entire sequence with Pierce Brosnan and Sarah Jessica Parker getting their heads popped onto other bodies? Not particularly funny. Nothing added to the plot. Could've cut the whole thing out and just offed these two characters with everyone else. Clearly meant as a send-up of doomed lovers in this genre. Still doesn't work.
Almost all of the Vegas stuff feels superfluous as well, for reasons that become more obvious considering the overlap with another movie released the same year, with at least half of Jim Brown's group being plot unessential or killed off in ways that's meant to be a one off joke.
It feels like 20% of the movie could have been cut out without almost any laughs missing. But because some of said scenes involve named actors like Danny DeVito, we're going to keep them in.
Which is bad enough in a regular movie, but even worse in a 90 minute comedy.
The entire sequence with Pierce Brosnan and Sarah Jessica Parker getting their heads popped onto other bodies? Not particularly funny. Nothing added to the plot. Could've cut the whole thing out and just offed these two characters with everyone else. Clearly meant as a send-up of doomed lovers in this genre. Still doesn't work.
Almost all of the Vegas stuff feels superfluous as well, for reasons that become more obvious considering the overlap with another movie released the same year, with at least half of Jim Brown's group being plot unessential or killed off in ways that's meant to be a one off joke.
It feels like 20% of the movie could have been cut out without almost any laughs missing. But because some of said scenes involve named actors like Danny DeVito, we're going to keep them in.
Also...what is this movie making fun of?
Mixed: Commentary? Satire?
Something I think a lot of people forget about Cold War era science fiction films is that the ones that have stuck around were loaded with very direct political commentary. And they typically fall into one of two categories. The first are the aspirational movies where the film is using the genre to highlight the foibles and missteps or our current human society to encourage everyone to do better. This is the message behind a lot of The Twilight Zone's most impactful episodes and classic films like The Day the Earth Stood Still.
The second are the cynical paranoid movies that feel entirely fueled by Red Scare era thinking, whether that's what they intended or not. This is Invasion of the Body Snatchers where average folks are being replaced by "pod people" who look and sound exactly like the person they're replacing...just like a commie would.
Mars Attacks! is clearly recreating the second category to send it up....but what is it sending up exactly?
I'd argue the movie has two main things it's sending up, that are direct conflict with one another and the film's ultimate payoff.
The first target, and the one I think is the film's most effective is a general send-up of American power, leadership and ingenuity. And the attitude a lot of these old movies took towards "the threat."
A lot of this movie's most memorable deaths are anti-payoffs to moments that a lot of other movies would revel in and celebrate. Jack Black's soldier, who has spent most of his screen time talking about how great a soldier he would be, not only fails to fire a shot after mishandling his weapon and an extended sequence getting him to the rifle but is subsequently killed after attempting to wield the American flag against the alien in front of him.
That's a great bit of black comedy and a great way to undermine the bulletproof image of the American soldier movies of this era.
Just as it is very funny that the solution that ends up solving the alien problem isn't a feat of engineering and bravery, but a dumb yodeling country song going over airwaves that makes alien brains explode, and the kid who figured it out is awarded by the President's daughter, because he and the First Lady were killed. Hell nukes are basically turned into a fart of a weapon that the Martian leader ingests like laughing gas.
That's solid.
But the second target is...pacifism?
Up until the Martians start blasting, the movie treats the aliens arrival as potentially unifying moment for human kind. Honestly like a giant refutation of the suspcious McCarthy-era mindset that all of your friends and neighbors could secretly be working against you. And everyone who advocates for peace in this movie is treated like an idiot who were fools for believing that the Martians came in peace in the first place.
At least three separate times the movie builds to the traditional, "can't we just be friends" moment you might expect in a more upbeat movie, only to be rudely upended by a series of violent deaths with everyone in a nearby radius turned in a different colored skeleton.
The second are the cynical paranoid movies that feel entirely fueled by Red Scare era thinking, whether that's what they intended or not. This is Invasion of the Body Snatchers where average folks are being replaced by "pod people" who look and sound exactly like the person they're replacing...just like a commie would.
Mars Attacks! is clearly recreating the second category to send it up....but what is it sending up exactly?
I'd argue the movie has two main things it's sending up, that are direct conflict with one another and the film's ultimate payoff.
The first target, and the one I think is the film's most effective is a general send-up of American power, leadership and ingenuity. And the attitude a lot of these old movies took towards "the threat."
A lot of this movie's most memorable deaths are anti-payoffs to moments that a lot of other movies would revel in and celebrate. Jack Black's soldier, who has spent most of his screen time talking about how great a soldier he would be, not only fails to fire a shot after mishandling his weapon and an extended sequence getting him to the rifle but is subsequently killed after attempting to wield the American flag against the alien in front of him.
That's a great bit of black comedy and a great way to undermine the bulletproof image of the American soldier movies of this era.
Just as it is very funny that the solution that ends up solving the alien problem isn't a feat of engineering and bravery, but a dumb yodeling country song going over airwaves that makes alien brains explode, and the kid who figured it out is awarded by the President's daughter, because he and the First Lady were killed. Hell nukes are basically turned into a fart of a weapon that the Martian leader ingests like laughing gas.
That's solid.
But the second target is...pacifism?
Up until the Martians start blasting, the movie treats the aliens arrival as potentially unifying moment for human kind. Honestly like a giant refutation of the suspcious McCarthy-era mindset that all of your friends and neighbors could secretly be working against you. And everyone who advocates for peace in this movie is treated like an idiot who were fools for believing that the Martians came in peace in the first place.
At least three separate times the movie builds to the traditional, "can't we just be friends" moment you might expect in a more upbeat movie, only to be rudely upended by a series of violent deaths with everyone in a nearby radius turned in a different colored skeleton.
Like it's so stupid to assume a being you've never seen before comes in peace. You should've been assuming they were bastards the whole time. Insert joke about Neville Chamberlin here.
I also think there's a way this could have worked. Instead of our Martians just being deceptive dicks, I think the easy fix. Just make our human translators wrong.
I also think there's a way this could have worked. Instead of our Martians just being deceptive dicks, I think the easy fix. Just make our human translators wrong.
The entire reason that humanity believes the Martians come in peace, isn't out of naiveite. They've successfully translated the alien language that gives a "greetings Earthlings, we look forward to hanging with y'all kind of message."
But if our cocky scientists are rejecting an alternate voice that says "based on my findings, it actually looks like they might be saying, prepare for deletion," then we can chalk up everything to hubris versus working together or compassion.
But if our cocky scientists are rejecting an alternate voice that says "based on my findings, it actually looks like they might be saying, prepare for deletion," then we can chalk up everything to hubris versus working together or compassion.
It also means you don't undermine the idea of co-operation, since a worldwide threat inherently requires a concerted global effort tackle it.
And honestly, it wouldn't be so egregious if another movie, that came out earlier the same year, hadn't made human solidarity its core message.
The Elephant in the Room: Independence Day
Way back when I started this piece I alluded to the idea that Mars Attacks! was failed by bad timing. And I can't think of worse timing that making a darkly sarcastic edition of an alien invasion movie the same year Independence Day came out. Well after Independence Day became the movie of the year.
Independence Day was an-instant hit summer blockbuster that turned Will Smith from sitcom rapper into a movie star and became on those movies that an entire generation knows backwards and forwards and can quote at the ready.
It's also a big satisfying action movie where the destructive spectacle is bigger and more explosive and the movie hinges on unity and collaboration as its primary ideas.
So you're already pushing a boulder uphill, even with this movie's star power, trying to get the movie-going public to pivot to a movie that instead of using its spectacle to inspire or terrify, uses it as a series of punchlines...while also following a lot of the same plot beats as Independence Day...during the holiday season.
And while neither movie in question is deep, Independence Day fills in a lot of the gaps and weaknesses Mars Attacks! has. Instead of awkwardly bumbling into a massacre, Jeff Goldblum's character figures out what's going on and tries to warn humanity and even saves the life of the president. The ultimate solution to the alien problem is a novel idea combined with some bravery, sacrifices, ingenuity, and a lot of people doing their best for the greater good.
Independence Day was an-instant hit summer blockbuster that turned Will Smith from sitcom rapper into a movie star and became on those movies that an entire generation knows backwards and forwards and can quote at the ready.
It's also a big satisfying action movie where the destructive spectacle is bigger and more explosive and the movie hinges on unity and collaboration as its primary ideas.
So you're already pushing a boulder uphill, even with this movie's star power, trying to get the movie-going public to pivot to a movie that instead of using its spectacle to inspire or terrify, uses it as a series of punchlines...while also following a lot of the same plot beats as Independence Day...during the holiday season.
And while neither movie in question is deep, Independence Day fills in a lot of the gaps and weaknesses Mars Attacks! has. Instead of awkwardly bumbling into a massacre, Jeff Goldblum's character figures out what's going on and tries to warn humanity and even saves the life of the president. The ultimate solution to the alien problem is a novel idea combined with some bravery, sacrifices, ingenuity, and a lot of people doing their best for the greater good.
Including a charismatic black lead who managed to take on an alien vessel and creature solo before one-shotting him with a bunch of quotable moments.
It's to the point, that if you didn't know anything about movie production schedules, you'd assume that Mars Attacks! is making fun of Independence Day while also trying to be like it. See how Glenn Close's First Lady is killed for comedic effect via chandelier, whereas the First Lady in Independence Day dies a martyr's death that inspires the President to hop in a jet plane and blow up aliens himself. But that's just a coincidence right?
At least that's what I thought but according to screenwriter Jonathan Gems...they kinda were. They made major changes to the script to make it feel more like Independence Day including the inclusion of the military and basically a rewrite of the third act.
Which is death for a movie, if I'm being honest. Third acts are where everything in your movie comes together. You hammer your themes and moments home so that the third act, whether it's a character living up to their potential or giant bout with aliens feels big and satisfying as hell.
It's to the point, that if you didn't know anything about movie production schedules, you'd assume that Mars Attacks! is making fun of Independence Day while also trying to be like it. See how Glenn Close's First Lady is killed for comedic effect via chandelier, whereas the First Lady in Independence Day dies a martyr's death that inspires the President to hop in a jet plane and blow up aliens himself. But that's just a coincidence right?
At least that's what I thought but according to screenwriter Jonathan Gems...they kinda were. They made major changes to the script to make it feel more like Independence Day including the inclusion of the military and basically a rewrite of the third act.
Which is death for a movie, if I'm being honest. Third acts are where everything in your movie comes together. You hammer your themes and moments home so that the third act, whether it's a character living up to their potential or giant bout with aliens feels big and satisfying as hell.
But because the first two of Mars Attacks! aren't building to a happy resolution...it feels rushed, falls flat, and cuts out what could've made this movie distinctive.
Cult Classic Or Crap?
Judging this movie on its own, dark comedy merits, I think there's a lot to like here. There's something inherently fun about watching an All Star cast play a collection of bumbling idiots failing to handle a major crisis. And if you hated Independence Day you get to watch a lot of the tropes you may have hated in that movie get upended via something more cynical.
Does it congeal into great satisfying final product? Maybe not. But it definitely fits the bill of a cult classic and it's send-up of B-movie sci-fi is plenty of fun.
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