Mars Attacks!

On Mars, a spaceship gathers hundreds of other Martian ships and travels to Earth. President of the United States James Dale, along with his aides, addresses the United States concerning the historic event. Several days later, the President's science aides set up a first contact meeting with the Martians in Pahrump, Nevada, as Dale watches the development on television with his wife Marsha and his daughter Taffy.

Using a translation machine, the Martian Ambassador announces that they "come in peace". When a hippie releases a dove as a symbol of peace, the Ambassador shoots it before he and the other Martians massacre most of the people at the event, including General Casey, news reporter Jason Stone, and young private Billy-Glenn Norris, before capturing chat-show host and Stone's co-worker and girlfriend Nathalie Lake and her pet chihuahua, Poppy.

Thinking that the Martians assumed that the dove was a symbol of war, Dale tells Professor Donald Kessler to renegotiate with the Martians, whose ambassador later requests to address the United States Congress. At this meeting, the Martians massacre most of Congress. Kessler begs the Martian ambassador to stop, but is knocked unconscious and taken aboard their ship, where he is later shown with his body parts dismembered and his disembodied head remaining animated. General Decker fails to persuade Dale to retaliate with nuclear warfare.

After a failed attempt to assassinate Dale in which a disguised Martian is killed, the Martians invade Earth in droves, starting with Washington, D.C. and quickly spreading around the globe. As they attack the White House, the U.S. Secret Service evacuates Dale, but Marsha is crushed to death by the Nancy Reagan chandelier and Taffy is separated from them during the chaos. After the President of France is assassinated by the Martians that night, the U.S. government attempts a nuclear attack on the Martian mothership, but that proves futile and the Martians continue destroying Earth and start defacing and vandalizing world landmarks. Eventually, the Martian leader and two other Martians breach the bunker where Dale has been taken and reduce Decker to the size of an insect before killing him. The Martians kill everyone else in the bunker except for Dale, who makes an impassioned speech in an attempt to plead for peace and his life. The Martian leader appears to be moved by the speech and seemingly agrees to a truce with Dale, but then uses a gadget disguised as a hand to kill him.

As the Martians ravage Las Vegas, Byron Williams, a former world champion boxer turned casino employee, leads a small group of survivors consisting of Barbara Land, singer Tom Jones and Byron's co-worker waitress Cindy to escape the city with a small jet. As soon as they enter the jet, they discover a large group of Martians (along with the ambassador) stationed there as they are preparing to take off. Byron creates a diversion by challenging them to a fistfight. While he succeeds in killing the ambassador, he is outnumbered and overwhelmed by the other Martians, but Tom, Barbara and Cindy escape.

While going to rescue his grandmother, Florence, Billy-Glenn's brother Richie discovers that the Martians' heads explode when they hear Slim Whitman's "Indian Love Call". Richie and Florence then drive around town, using the song to kill Martians, and broadcast the song on a local radio station. Thereafter, armed forces broadcast the song around the globe, killing the Martian leader and most, if not all, of the other Martians. Nathalie and Kessler's disembodied heads kiss while the Martian spaceship they are on crashes into the ocean, killing both of them.

In the aftermath, Barbara, Cindy, and Jones emerge from a cave with some wild animals to see dozens of crashed Martian ships in Lake Tahoe. Taffy awards Richie and Florence the Medal of Honor. Byron, who survived the Martian brawl, arrives in Washington, D.C. to reunite with his former wife Louise and their two sons Cedric and Neville as the devastation is being cleaned up.

• Jack Nicholson as US President James Dale and Art Land (Galaxy Casino owner)
• Glenn Close as First Lady Marsha Dale, James's wife
• Annette Bening as Barbara Land, Art's wife
• Pierce Brosnan as Professor Donald Kessler
• Danny DeVito as a Rude Gambler
• Martin Short as White House Press Secretary Jerry Ross
• Sarah Jessica Parker as Nathalie Lake, Donald's love interest and talk show presenter
• Michael J. Fox as Jason Stone, Nathalie's boyfriend and a reporter for GNN
• Rod Steiger as General Decker
• Tom Jones as himself
• Lukas Haas as Richie Norris, Taffy's love interest
• Natalie Portman as First Daughter Taffy Dale, James and Marsha's daughter and Richie's love interest
• Jim Brown as Byron Williams, a retired boxer
• Lisa Marie as a Martian girl
• Sylvia Sidney as Florence Norris, Richie's paternal grandmother

The cast also includes Joe Don Baker and O-Lan Jones as Richie's parents Glenn Norris and Sue-Ann Norris, and Jack Black as his older brother Billy-Glenn Norris.{{cite web|url=https://ew.com/movies/jack-black-best-roles/|last=Adams|first=Erik|title=The 15 best Jack Black movies and TV shows, ranked|work=Entertainment Weekly|date=July 18, 2023|access-date=March 8, 2025}} Christina Applegate appears as Sharona, Billy-Glenn's girlfriend and trailer-park lover. Pam Grier plays Byron's ex-wife Louise Williams, while Janice Rivera plays his assistant Cindy, and Ray J and Brandon Hammond play his children Cedric Williams and Neville Williams. Jerzy Skolimowski plays Doctor Zeigler, the developer of a Martian-language translator. John Roselius plays Stone's supervisor at GNN while Michael Reilly Burke and Valerie Wildman play fellow reporters. Steve Valentine plays the television director for Nathalie's talk show. Paul Winfield and Enrique Castillo respectively play General Casey and the Hispanic Colonel who greet the aliens in Nevada. Frank Welker voices the Martians.{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/tim-burton-every-single-film-ranked-critics-photos|title=Every single Tim Burton movie, ranked|last=Cook|first=Meghan|date=October 30, 2023|work=Business Insider|access-date=March 8, 2025}}

In 1985, Alex Cox pitched the idea of a film based on the Mars Attacks trading card series as a joint production to Orion and TriStar Pictures. He wrote three drafts over the next four years but was replaced by Martin Amis before Orion and TriStar placed Mars Attacks in turnaround.{{cite web|url=http://www.alexcox.com/writing.htm |author=Alex Cox |title=Writing |access-date=September 17, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223181817/http://www.alexcox.com/writing.htm |archive-date=February 23, 2014}}

In 1993, Jonathan Gems, a screenwriter who had previously written multiple unproduced screenplays for director Tim Burton, approached the director and pitched the idea of turning both Mars Attacks and Dinosaurs Attack! into films. While both Gems and Burton realized that a Dinosaurs Attack! film would be too similar to Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park (1993),{{Cite book |last=Gems |first=Jonathan |title=Mars Attacks Memoirs |date=April 5, 2021 |publisher=Quota Books |isbn=9781916246041 |location=London, Great Britain |pages=12 |language=English}} Burton believed that a Mars Attacks! adaptation could function like a 1970s disaster picture with an ensemble cast; he and Gems consequently rented a copy of the film The Towering Inferno (1974) and watched it for inspiration. In a later interview, Gems explained: "After seeing that [movie] it all came to me fairly quickly. And, in about a week, I had it roughed out: the story and the characters. And when I finished it, I realized it was inevitably going to be – it couldn't help being – a portrait of America because, following the Irwin Allen formula, I'd sketched out a range of different characters from different walks of life and placed the action in different locations – in this case: California, Nevada, Kansas, New York, Mount Rushmore in Washington D.C."{{Cite book |last=Gems |first=Jonathan |title=Mars Attacks Memoirs |date=April 5, 2021 |publisher=Quota Books |isbn=9781916246041 |location=London, Great Britain |pages=13 |language=English}}

Burton, who was busy preparing Ed Wood (1994), believed that Mars Attacks! would be a perfect opportunity to pay homage to the films of Edward D. Wood Jr., especially Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959), and other 1950s science fiction B movies, such as Invaders from Mars (1953), It Came from Outer Space (1953), The War of the Worlds (1953), Target Earth (1954), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) and Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956).{{cite book | author = Mark Salisbury; Tim Burton | title = Burton on Burton | publisher =Faber and Faber | year = 2006 | pages = 145–163 | chapter = James and the Giant Peach, Mars Attacks!, Superman Lives and The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy | isbn = 0-571-22926-3 | location = London}}

Burton set Mars Attacks! up with Warner Bros. and the studio purchased the film rights to the trading card series on his behalf.{{cite news | author = Cindy Pearlman | title = Today, Vegas: Tomorrow, The World! Mean Little Green Guys Attack Earth | date = December 8, 1996| work = Chicago Sun-Times }} The original theatrical release date was planned for the summer of 1996. Gems completed his original script in 1994, which was budgeted by Warner Bros. at $260 million. The studio wanted to make the film for no more than $60 million. After turning in numerous drafts, the studio grew frustrated with Gems after insisting he remove the film's cold open, specifically "the cows on fire"; they demanded there be no burning cows, but Gems contends he couldn't devise another sequence (albeit anything he and Burton could agree improved on his initial "barbecue bovines" prologue). When Gems' latest script revision still included burning cows the studio dismissed him; prior to leaving the project Gems recommended the writing-duo behind{{Cite book |last=Gems |first=Jonathan |title=Mars Attacks Memoirs |date=April 5, 2021 |publisher=Quota Books |isbn=9781916246041 |location=London, Great Britain |pages=41–44 |language=English}} Ed Wood, Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, as his replacement(s).{{Cite book |last=Gems |first=Jonathan |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1338306930 |title=Mars Attacks Memoirs |date=April 5, 2021 |publisher=Quota Books |isbn=9781916246041 |location=London, Great Britain |pages=86–87 |language=English |oclc=1338306930}} Alexander and Karaszewski worked on the film through July 1995, focusing the characters and making the tone less satirical – they re-wrote the third act, incorporating the military and a finale that mirrored Independence Day (1996), according to Gems.{{Cite book |last=Gems |first=Jonathan |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1338306930 |title=Mars Attacks Memoirs |date=April 5, 2021 |publisher=Quota Books |isbn=978-1-9162460-4-1 |location=London, Great Britain |pages=55 |language=English |oclc=1338306930}}

Gems eventually returned to the project, writing a total of 12 drafts of the script (well over 90% of the finished shooting script).{{Cite book |last=Gems |first=Jonathan |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1338306930 |title=Mars Attacks Memoirs |date=April 5, 2021 |publisher=Quota Books |isbn=9781916246041 |location=London, Great. Britain |pages=86 |language=English |oclc=1338306930}} Although he is credited with both the screen story and screenplay of Mars Attacks!, Gems dedicates his novelization of the movie to Burton, who "co-wrote the screenplay and didn't ask for a credit". Warner Bros. was dubious of the Martian dialogue and wanted Burton to add subtitles, but he resisted.{{cite news |author=Sheehan |first=Henry |date=December 17, 1996 |title=MOVIES - In this business, 'yak-yak' is Martians talking back |work=The Orange County Register |pages=F02}} Working with Burton, Gems pared the film's 60 leading characters down to 23 and the worldwide destruction planned for the film was isolated to three major cities. Scenes featuring Martians attacking China, the Philippines, Japan, Europe, Africa, India, and Russia were deleted from the screenplay, leaving only Paris, London, and the Taj Mahal. "Bear in mind this was way before Independence Day (1996) was written," Gems commented. "We had things like Manhattan being destroyed building by building, the White House went and so did the Empire State Building. Warner Bros. figured all this would be too expensive, so we cut most of that out to reduce the cost."{{cite news | author = Anthony C. Ferrante | title = Hidden Gems | work = Fangoria |date=March 1997}} Further discussing the differences between Mars Attacks! and Independence Day, Gems stated, "Independence Day is more like a movie called Fail-Safe and Mars Attacks is like Dr. Strangelove", in that both films had a similar story, but with different tones.{{Cite journal|last=Ferrante|first=Anthony C.|date=January 1997|title=Duck for Cover when Mars Attacks|url=https://archive.org/details/Fangoria_159_1997_Mars_Attacks_C2Cgangsters-BONES_c2c|journal=Fangoria|issue=159|pages=[https://archive.org/details/Fangoria_159_1997_Mars_Attacks_C2Cgangsters-BONES_c2c/page/n29 30]–35, 79}}

The decision to hire an A-list ensemble cast for Mars Attacks! parallels the strategy Irwin Allen used for his disaster films, notably The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and The Towering Inferno (1974). Jack Nicholson, approached for the role of the President, jokingly remarked that he wanted to play all the roles. Burton agreed to cast Nicholson as both Art Land and President Dale, specifically remembering his positive working relationship with the actor on Batman.

Susan Sarandon was originally set to play Barbara Land before Annette Bening was cast. Bening modeled the character after Ann-Margret's performance in Viva Las Vegas (1964).{{cite news | author = Christine Spines | title = Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus | work = Premiere |date=January 1997}} Hugh Grant was the first choice for Professor Donald Kessler, a role which eventually went to Pierce Brosnan.{{cite magazine | author = Staff | url = https://ew.com/article/1995/07/28/aliens-hit-hollywood-this-summer/ | title = Target Hollywood | magazine = Entertainment Weekly | date = 1995-07-28 | access-date = May 30, 2008 | archive-date = 2012-03-01 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120301111258/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,298129,00.html | url-status = live }} Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton and Stockard Channing were considered for First Lady Marsha Dale, but Glenn Close won the role.{{cite magazine | author = Jeff Gordinier | url = https://ew.com/article/1996/02/23/jacks-back/ | title = Jack's Back | magazine = Entertainment Weekly | date = February 23, 1996 | access-date = May 30, 2008 | archive-date = April 27, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090427111558/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,291486,00.html | url-status = live }} In addition to Nicholson, other actors who reunited with Burton on Mars Attacks! include Sylvia Sidney from Beetlejuice (1988), O-Lan Jones from Edward Scissorhands (1990) and Danny DeVito from Batman Returns (1992), continuing Burton's trend of recasting actors several times from his previous works.

Roger L. Jackson, best known as the voice of Ghostface in the Scream film franchise, makes an uncredited appearance as the voice of the Martian translator device. His performance in Mars Attacks! helped him get the audition for Scream.{{cite web |title='I Knew It Had to Be Sexy' – The Voice of Scream's Ghostface Speaks |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/scream-ghostface-voice-actor-roger-l-jackson/ |website=Vice.com|date=29 October 2019 }}

The originally scheduled start date was mid-August 1995, but filming was delayed until February 26, 1996. Director Tim Burton hired Peter Suschitzky as the cinematographer because he was a fan of his work in David Cronenberg's films. Production designer Wynn Thomas (A Beautiful Mind, Malcolm X) intended to have the war room pay tribute to Dr. Strangelove (1964).{{cite book | author = Ken Hanke | title = Tim Burton: An Unauthorized Biography of the Filmmaker | publisher = Renaissance Books | year = 1999 | pages = 183–92 | chapter = A Plan 9 of His Own | isbn = 1-58063-162-2 | location = Los Angeles}} During production, Burton insisted that the art direction, cinematography and costume design of Mars Attacks! incorporate the look of the 1960s trading cards.{{cite news | author = Susan Stark | title = Director Tim Burton Rebels in His New Space Comedy | date = December 7, 1996 | work = The Detroit News }}

On designing the Martian (played by Burton's girlfriend Lisa Marie Smith) who seduces and kills Jerry Ross (Martin Short), costume designer Colleen Atwood took combined inspiration from the playing cards, Marilyn Monroe, the work of Alberto Vargas and Jane Fonda in Barbarella (1968).{{cite news | author = Richard Natale | url = https://variety.com/1997/film/news/art-of-fantasy-1116675270/ | title = Art of fantasy | date = November 21, 1997 | work = Variety | access-date = April 13, 2009 | archive-date = October 26, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121026030549/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1116675270 | url-status = live }} Filming for Mars Attacks! ended on June 1, 1996. The film score was composed by Burton's regular composer Danny Elfman, to whom Burton was reconciled after a quarrel that occurred during The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), for which they did not co-operate in producing Ed Wood (1994). Elfman enlisted the help of Oingo Boingo lead guitarist Steve Bartek to help arrange the compositions for the orchestra.

File:MartianVFX.jpg from Industrial Light & Magic.]]

Tim Burton initially intended to use stop-motion animation to feature the Martians, viewing it as a homage to the work of Ray Harryhausen, primarily Jason and the Argonauts. Similar to his own Beetlejuice, Burton "wanted to make [the special effects] look cheap and purposely fake-looking as possible." He first approached Henry Selick, director of The Nightmare Before Christmas, to supervise the stop-motion work, but Selick was busy directing James and the Giant Peach, also produced by Burton. Even though Warner Bros. was skeptical of the escalating budget and had not yet greenlit the film for production, Burton hired Barry Purves to shepherd the stop-motion work. Purves created an international team of about 70 animators, who worked on Mars Attacks! for eight months and began compiling test footage in Burbank, California. The department workers studied Gloria Swanson's choreography and movement as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard for inspiration on the Martians' movement.

When the budget was projected at $100 million{{cite magazine | author = Staff | url = https://ew.com/article/1996/08/23/fall-movie-preview-december/ | title = Fall Movie Preview: December | magazine = Entertainment Weekly | date = August 23, 1996 | access-date = May 30, 2008 | archive-date = April 27, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090427105058/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,293903,00.html | url-status = live }} (Warner Bros. wanted it for no more than $75 million), producer Larry J. Franco commissioned a test reel from Industrial Light & Magic, the visual effects company he worked with on Jumanji. Burton was persuaded to change his mind to employ computer animation, which brought the final production budget to $80 million. Although Purves was uncredited for his work, stop-motion supervisors Ian Mackinnon and Peter Saunders, who would later collaborate with Burton on Corpse Bride, received character design credit. Warner Digital Studios was responsible for the scenes of global destruction, airborne flying saucer sequences, the Martian landing in Nevada and the robot that pursues Richie Norris in his pickup truck. Warner Digital also used practical effects, such as building scale models of Big Ben and other landmarks. The destruction of Art Land's hotel was footage of the real-life nighttime demolition of the Landmark Hotel and Casino, a building Burton wished to immortalize.{{cite web|url=http://marsattacks.warnerbros.com/cmp/5-prodnotes2.html |title=About the Production . . . |work=Warner Bros |access-date = April 14, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210092309/http://marsattacks.warnerbros.com/cmp/5-prodnotes2.html|archive-date=December 10, 2008|url-status=dead}}

{{Infobox album

| name = Mars Attacks!

| type = Soundtrack

| artist = Danny Elfman

| cover =

| alt =

| released = March 4, 1997

| recorded = 1996

| venue =

| studio =

| genre = Soundtrack

| length = 46:44

| label = Atlantic Records

| producer = Danny Elfman

| chronology = Danny Elfman

| prev_title = Extreme Measures

| prev_year = 1996

| next_title = Men in Black

| next_year = 1997

}}

The film's music was composed and produced by Danny Elfman, conducted by Artie Kane and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony. The soundtrack was released on March 4, 1997, by Atlantic Records.

{{Track listing

| all_music = Danny Elfman (except "Indian Love Call", written by Otto A. Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II and Rudolf Friml, performed by Slim Whitman and "It's Not Unusual", written by Les Reed and Gordon Mills, performed by Tom Jones)

| title_width = 100

| total_length = 46:44

| title1 = Introduction

| length1 = 1:40

| title2 = Main Titles

| length2 = 2:22

| title3 = First Sighting

| length3 = 1:26

| title4 = The Landing

| length4 = 6:01

| title5 = Ungodly Experiments

| length5 = 0:53

| title6 = State Address

| length6 = 3:06

| title7 = Martian Madame

| length7 = 3:02

| title8 = Martian Lounge

| length8 = 2:54

| title9 = Return Message

| length9 = 2:17

| title10 = Destructo X

| length10 = 1:17

| title11 = Loving Heads

| length11 = 1:20

| title12 = Pursuit

| length12 = 2:55

| title13 = The War Room

| length13 = 1:31

| title14 = Airfield Dilemma

| length14 = 2:05

| title15 = New World

| length15 = 1:45

| title16 = Ritchie's Speech

| length16 = 3:09

| title17 = End Credits

| length17 = 3:53

| title18 = Indian Love Call

| length18 = 3:08

| title19 = It's Not Unusual

| length19 = 2:00

}}

Warner Bros. spent $20 million on the movie's marketing campaign; together with $80 million spent during production, the final combined budget came to $100 million.{{cite news | author = Bernard Weinraub | title = Season of Many Movies, but Not Many Hits | date = January 2, 1997 | work = The New York Times }} A novelization, written by screenwriter Jonathan Gems, was published by Puffin Books in January 1997.{{cite book | url = https://www.amazon.com/Mars-Attacks-Fontes-Justine-Jonathan/dp/B001KRSJBE | title = Mars Attacks! : A Novelization (Paperback) | date = January 1996 | publisher = Puffin Books | isbn = 9780140385878 | access-date = April 14, 2009 | archive-date = July 1, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130701014328/http://www.amazon.com/Mars-Attacks-Fontes-Justine-Jonathan/dp/B001KRSJBE | url-status = live }} The film was released in the United States on December 13, 1996, earning $9.38 million in its opening weekend and ranking in second place at the box office below Jerry Maguire.{{cite news |last=Elber |first=Lynn |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-berkshire-eagle-sony-cruises-to-box/134614273/ |title=Sony Cruises to box office top

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231104171000/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-berkshire-eagle-sony-cruises-to-box/134614273/ |date=December 18, 1996 |access-date=November 4, 2023 |archive-date=November 4, 2023 |page=29 |agency=Associated Press |publisher=The Berkshire Eagle |via=Newspapers.com |url-status=live}} {{Open access}} Mars Attacks! eventually made $37.77 million in U.S. totals and $63.6 million elsewhere, coming to a worldwide total of $101.37 million.{{cite web | url = https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=marsattacks.htm | title = Mars Attacks! | work = Box Office Mojo | access-date = April 14, 2009 | archive-date = May 14, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090514094012/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=marsattacks.htm | url-status = live }}

The film was considered to be a box-office bomb in the U.S. but generally achieved greater success both critically and commercially in Europe.{{cite book | author = Edwin Page | title = Gothic Fantasy: The Films of Tim Burton | publisher = Marion Boyars Publishers | year = 2007 | pages = 143–158 | chapter = Mars Attacks! | isbn = 978-0-7145-3132-8 | location = London}} Many observers found similarities with Independence Day, which also came out in 1996. "It was just a coincidence. Nobody told me about it. I was surprised how close it was," director Tim Burton continued, "but then it's a pretty basic genre I guess. Independence Day was different in tone – it was different in everything. It almost seemed like we had done kind of a Mad magazine version of Independence Day." During the film's theatrical run in January 1997, TBS purchased the broadcasting rights of the film.{{cite news | author = John Dempsey | url = https://variety.com/1997/tv/news/usa-network-trumps-net-window-for-six-features-1117433207/ | title = USA Network trumps net window for six features | date = January 22, 1997 | work = Variety | access-date = April 13, 2009 | archive-date = October 26, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121026030622/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117433207 | url-status = live }}

The film received mixed responses from critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 56% based on 86 reviews, with an average rating of 6.00/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "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."{{cite web | url = https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mars_attacks/ | title = Mars Attacks! | work = Rotten Tomatoes | access-date = 4 August 2022 | archive-date = February 27, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090227004921/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mars_attacks/ | url-status = live }} On Metacritic, the film received a score of 52 based on 19 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".{{cite web | url = https://www.metacritic.com/movie/mars-attacks! | title = Mars Attacks! (1996): Reviews | work = Metacritic | access-date = April 14, 2009 | archive-date = December 8, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101208054932/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/mars-attacks! | url-status = live }}

Roger Ebert observed the homages to the 1950s science fiction B movies: "Ed Wood himself could have told us what's wrong with this movie: the makers felt superior to the material. To be funny, even schlock has to believe in itself. Look for Infra-Man (1975) or Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973) and you will find movies that lack stars and big budgets and fancy special effects but are funny and fun in a way that Burton's mega production never really understands."{{cite news | author = Roger Ebert | author-link = Roger Ebert | url = http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19961213/REVIEWS/612130302/1023 | title = Mars Attacks! | work = Chicago Sun-Times | date = December 13, 1996 | access-date = April 15, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050415211326/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19961213%2FREVIEWS%2F612130302%2F1023 | archive-date = April 15, 2005 | url-status = dead }}

Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "Mars Attacks! is all 1990s cynicism and disbelief, mocking the conventions that Independence Day takes seriously. This all sounds clever enough but in truth, Mars Attacks! is not as much fun as it should be. Few of its numerous actors make a lasting impression and Burton's heart and soul is not in the humor".{{cite news | author = Kenneth Turan | author-link = Kenneth Turan | url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-12-13-ca-8507-story.html | title = Mars Attacks! Tim Burton's Plan 9 | work = Los Angeles Times | date = December 13, 1996 | access-date = April 15, 2009 | archive-date = October 23, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121023092125/http://articles.latimes.com/1996-12-13/entertainment/ca-8507_1_mars-attacks | url-status = live }} Desson Thomson from The Washington Post said "Mars Attacks! evokes plenty of sci-fi classics, from The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) to Dr. Strangelove (1964), but it doesn't do much beyond that superficial exercise. Except for Burton's jolting sight gags (I may never recover from the vision of Sarah Jessica Parker's head grafted onto the body of a chihuahua), the comedy is half-developed, pedestrian material. And the climactic battle between Earthlings and Martians is dull and overextended."{{cite news | author = Desson Thomson | author-link = Desson Thomson | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/review96/marsattackshowe.htm | title = Mars Attacks! We Lose | date = December 13, 1996 | newspaper = The Washington Post | access-date = April 15, 2009 | archive-date = October 6, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081006053443/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/review96/marsattackshowe.htm | url-status = live }}

Richard Schickel, writing in Time magazine, gave a positive review. "You have to admire everyone's chutzpah: the breadth of Burton's (and writer Jonathan Gems') movie references, which range from Kurosawa to Kubrick; and above all their refusal to offer us a single likable character. Perhaps they don't create quite enough deeply funny earthlings to go around, but a thoroughly mean-spirited big-budget movie is always a treasurable rarity."{{cite magazine | author1 = Richard Schickel | author-link = Richard Schickel | author2 = Richard Corliss | author2-link = Richard Corliss | url = http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985779-1,00.html | title = A Rich Film Feast | magazine = Time | date = December 30, 1996 | access-date = April 15, 2009 | archive-date = October 1, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151001165542/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985779-1,00.html | url-status = live }}{{subscription required|s}} Jonathan Rosenbaum from the Chicago Reader praised the surreal humor and black comedy, which he found to be in the vein of Dr. Strangelove and Gremlins (1984). He said it was far from clear whether the movie was a satire, although critics were describing it as one.{{cite news | author = Jonathan Rosenbaum | author-link = Jonathan Rosenbaum | url = https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/flirting-with-disaster/Content?oid=892272 | title = Flirting With Disaster | work = Chicago Reader | date = December 12, 1996 | access-date = April 15, 2009 | archive-date = December 9, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111209162147/http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/flirting-with-disaster/Content?oid=892272 | url-status = live }} Todd McCarthy of Variety called Mars Attacks! "a cult sci-fi comedy miscast as an elaborate, all-star studio extravaganza."{{cite news | author = Todd McCarthy | url = https://variety.com/1996/film/reviews/mars-attacks-1117436916/ | title = Mars Attacks! | work = Variety | date = December 2, 1996 | access-date = April 16, 2009 | archive-date = February 3, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160203030122/http://variety.com/1996/film/reviews/mars-attacks-1117436916/ | url-status = live }}

Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "B" on a scale of A+ to F.{{cite web |url= https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |title= Cinemascore |url-status = dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181220122629/https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |archive-date= 2018-12-20 }}

Mars Attacks! was on the shortlist for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects nominations, but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences selected Independence Day, Dragonheart, and Twister instead.{{cite news | author = Andrew Hindes | url = https://variety.com/1997/scene/vpage/7-pix-set-to-vie-for-3-oscar-f-x-noms-1117434268/ | title = 7 pix set to vie for 3 Oscar f/x noms | date = January 9, 1997 | work = Variety | access-date = April 12, 2009 | archive-date = July 4, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110704182053/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117434268 | url-status = live }} The film was nominated for seven categories at the Saturn Awards. Danny Elfman won Best Music, while director Tim Burton, writer Jonathan Gems, actor Lukas Haas, costume designer Colleen Atwood and the visual effects department at Industrial Light & Magic received nominations. Mars Attacks! was nominated for both the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film (which went to Independence Day){{cite web|title=Past Saturn Awards |work=Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films |url=http://www.saturnawards.org/past.html#film |access-date=April 14, 2007|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512032708/http://www.saturnawards.org/past.html |archive-date=2011-05-12}} and the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.{{cite web | title = 1997 Hugo Awards | work = The Hugo Awards Organization | date = 26 July 2007 | url = http://www.thehugoawards.org/?page_id=23 | access-date = April 13, 2009 | archive-date = March 2, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090302094228/http://www.thehugoawards.org/?page_id=23 | url-status = live }}

A park management video game based on the series titled Mars Attracts will release in 2025.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.ign.com/videos/mars-attracts-official-announcement-trailer-gamescom-2024 |title=Mars Attracts - Official Announcement Trailer {{!}} gamescom 2024 - IGN |date=2024-08-21 |language=en |access-date=2024-08-22 |via=www.ign.com}}

• Hocus-Pocus and Frisby. Unable to overpower his alien abductors or persuade them to release him, the protagonist decides to relax by playing his harmonica. The sound causes unbearable pain to the aliens and renders some of them unconscious.

{{Portal|Film|1990s}}

• List of films featuring miniature people
• List of films featuring extraterrestrials
• List of films set in Las Vegas
• Mars in fiction

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book | author = Jonathan Gems | author-link = Jonathan Gems | title = Mars Attacks! | publisher = Puffin Books |date=January 1997 | isbn = 978-0-14-038587-8 | others = Novelization of the film | location = London}}
• {{cite book | author = Karen Jones | title = Mars Attacks! The Art of the Movie | publisher = Del Rey Books |date=November 1996 | isbn = 978-0-345-40998-0 }}
• Thomas Kent Miller. Mars in the Movies: A History. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2016. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-9914-4}}.
• Ron Magid. "Attack Formation" in Cinescape, Volume 3, Number 4. Lombard, IL: MVP Entertainment, Inc., January/February 1997.

{{Commons category}}

• {{Official website}}
• {{IMDb title}}
• {{Mojo title}}
• {{Rotten Tomatoes}}
• [http://www.trading-cards.org/Cards-M/Mars-Attacks/index.php Mars Attacks (complete card set)] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20151215181335/http://www.trading-cards.org:80/Cards-M/Mars-Attacks/index.php archive]) – from trading-cards.org
• [http://toonopedia.com/mattacks.htm Mars Attacks] (Don Markstein's Toonopedia) ([https://archive.today/20240525210256/https://www.webcitation.org/66jnzbNnu?url=http://toonopedia.com/mattacks.htm archive]) – from the 2012 original

{{Tim Burton}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1996 films

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