Do you want to see ‘Ghosts of Mars’?

Ghosts of Mars (2001)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 3.7/10
Reviews Counted: 102
Fresh: 21 | Rotten: 81

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.

Average Rating: 3.4/10
Critic Reviews: 22
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 18

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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Average Rating: 2.4/5
User Ratings: 43,165

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Movie Info

Writer and director John Carpenter returns to the mixture of science fiction and horror that made The Thing (1982) a success. Natasha Henstridge stars as Lt. Melanie Ballard of the Martian Police Force, a member of a law enforcement team two centuries in the future, dispatched to the remote colony of Shining Canyon. There, the most notorious criminal on Mars, James "Desolation" Williams (Ice Cube), awaits transport to a more secure jail. Besides Ballard, the other cops include the rookie Bashira

R, 1 hr. 34 min.

Action & Adventure, Horror, Science Fiction & Fantasy

Directed By: John Carpenter

Written By: John Carpenter, Larry Sulkis

In Theaters: Aug 24, 2001 Wide

On DVD: Dec 4, 2001

Box Office:$7.3M

Sony

Ghosts of Mars Trailer & Photos

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Cast

Ice Cube
James "Desolation" Will...
Natasha Henstridge
Lt. Melanie Ballard
Jason Statham
Jericho Butler
Pam Grier
Commander Helena Braddo...
Joanna Cassidy
Professor Whitlock
Clea DuVall
Bashira Kincaid
Richard Cetrone
Big Daddy Mars
Rosemary Forsyth
Inquisitor
Duane Davis
Uno
Robert Carradine
Rodale
Liam Waite
Descanso

Critic Reviews for Ghosts of Mars

All Critics (117) | Top Critics (25) | Fresh (23) | Rotten (84) | DVD (31)

Written, directed, and edited with the offhand shoddiness of a day worker thinking about his evening beer.

August 28, 2001 Full Review Source: Village Voice

| Comment

Michael Atkinson

Village Voice

Top Critic

Someday we're all going to look back on this one and l-a-a-a-augh.

August 27, 2001 Comment

Cody Clark

Mr. Showbiz

Top Critic

The acting is so pallid that you're never sure the cast members quite get the jokes.

August 27, 2001 Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly

| Comment

Bruce Fretts

Entertainment Weekly

Top Critic

Schlocky, sluggish shoot-'em-up.

August 24, 2001 Comment

Rita Kempley

Washington Post

Top Critic

A tired and dispiriting affair that takes forever to get going.

August 24, 2001 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle

| Comment

Bob Graham

San Francisco Chronicle

Top Critic

I guess John Carpenter the careless purveyor of slime and hokum is the only John Carpenter we've got, and that's better than none at all.

August 24, 2001 Full Review Source: Salon.com

| Comment

Andrew O'Hehir

Salon.com

Top Critic

A rather sturdy modernized mash-up of Assault on Precinct 13 and Escape from New York.

April 14, 2011 Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness

| Comment

Nick Schager

Lessons of Darkness

...mostly dull, formulaic gore, which high definition does nothing to improve. (Blu-ray Edition)

March 27, 2009 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis

| Comment

John J. Puccio

Movie Metropolis

Mad Max Heads for the Angry Red Planet on a Pitch Black Night of the Living Dead.

March 27, 2009 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis

| Comment

John J. Puccio

Movie Metropolis

Ghosts of Mars is not Carpenter at his best. It may very well be Carpenter at rock bottom.

February 14, 2008 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com

| Comment

Rob Gonsalves

eFilmCritic.com

A turd wrapped up in a nice bow is still a turd.

December 31, 2005 Full Review Source: Supercala.com

| Comment

John Venable

Supercala.com

More Mars lacks than Mars attacks and an outing for Carpenter die-hards only.

March 4, 2003 Full Review Source: RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland)

| Comment

Harry Guerin

RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland) Source: RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland)

Original movies on the Sci-Fi Channel have better production values.

June 20, 2002 Full Review | Comment (1)

Jeffrey Westhoff

Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Ghosts of Mars

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I really enjoyed this movie, i may of enjoyed this movie for al the worng reasons because as storys go this isnt that great as it doesnt explain an awful lot and ends with so many unanswered questions, and speical effects were ok but apart from that this movie is enjoyable and exciting with great action fighting scenes

November 3, 2007

Film Crazy

Super Reviewer

Ghosts of Mars is a decent John Carpenter outing, but it's clear that Carpenter has run out of ideas for something original in the horror genre. The best way to describe this film is as a guilty pleasure. As a whole, this is one of Carpenter's most disappointing efforts, still there's something amusing about watching

January 19, 2012