Review of Ghosts of Mars (2001) by Kai82 — 17 Jun 2022

Normally I like B movies, cheesiness and the „So bad it is good“ category. This movie however could not win me over even with John Carpenter as director. To be fair it has it moments, good ideas and is enjoyable enough to be no failure.

It is set approx 150 years in the future. Earth is overpopulated and the resources are spread thin, The Mars was colonized as solution and is terraformed enough to have a breathable atmosphere (No small feat!).

The story starts with Lieutenant Melanie Ballard answering to a trial about her mission to transfer the criminal James Williams from a small mining outpost. This seams like a routine job first but went horrible wrong as the miners did find or awakened something unexpected which will be show in flashbacks.

I think this is not even a spoiler what happened as the title should give things away. The story and ideas are really good but not used that well in the movie. I expected more especially with someone as remarkable as John Carpenter who made so many great movies.

However the ending is excellent. The actors are good and deliver a performance I wont criticize. Ice Cube as James Williams and Natasha Henstridge as Melanie Ballard work well together and I think improve my rating.

With Jason Statham, Pam Grier and Clea DuVall you can do not much wrong. The special effects and consumes are decent but other movies far outclass this. I think with a budget of approx 28 million it can be forgiven.

A main criticism I agree with is that it is not that scary. Overall I think this is the worst John Carpenter movie I watched. While no total failure it is forgettable except the ending scene. If you want a good John Carpenter movie I recommend “Big Trouble in little China”, “Starman” or “The Thing” to name a few.