One morning, a fleet of spaceships from Mars takes up orbit around Earth. The president of the United States, James Dale (Jack Nicholson), calls a special meeting to discuss the issue. With him are Press Secretary Jerry Ross (Martin Short), General Decker (Rod Steiger), General Casey (Paul Winfield) and Professor Donald Kessler (Pierce Brosnan). General Decker wants to keep the news top secret and prepare for attack, but General Casey is a little more reserved. Professor Kessler thinks they are peaceful. President Dale decides to address the public on air and informs the U.S. about the Martians.
Nathalie Lake (Sarah Jessica Parker) is a reporter for a fashion television program. She manages to scoop everyone and gets an interview with Professor Kessler. During the broadcast the air waves are taken over and the Martian leader addresses the world. Since he is speaking Martian, no one knows what he is saying.
One of the spaceships lands in the Nevada desert. The president sends General Casey to act as the world’s emissary. The Martian ambassador and his guards exit the saucer. Some words are exchanged through a translation device. A dove flies overhead. The ambassador kills it. Then the Martians open fire on the crowd. Everyone scatters. Most of the observers and military are slaughtered. Nathalie and her Chihuahua, Poppy, are taken aboard the ship. Professor Kessler thinks that there was a miscommunication with the Martians. The president agrees and welcomes the aliens to speak to congress. The aliens massacre congress and kidnap Professor Kessler. Kessler, Nathalie and Poppy are used for medical experiments.
A Martian disguised as a beautiful woman (Lisa Marie) seduces Jerry, the press secretary, and infiltrates the White House. After killing Jerry, he tries to assassinate the president but fails and is killed. The Martian emperor is furious and launches an all-out attack on the Earth and it looks like the Earth is on the losing end.
“Mars Attacks!” was released in 1996 and was directed by Tim Burton. It is an American science fiction black comedy. The movie was based on a series of trading cards produced by Topps.
The spaceships were modeled after the ones from “Earth vs the Flying Saucers” 1956. The entire Martian language consists of the word Ack! The voice of the Martians was done by Frank Welker. The movie has a similar vibe to “Men in Black” 1997. Most likely because the music scores on both films were done by Danny Elfman.
Jack Nicholson plays two characters in the movie, the President of the United States and James Dale, a cowboy entrepreneur in Las Vegas. Director Burton was told that Jack Nicholson’s character was not allowed to die in the film, so he gave Nicholson two characters and killed them both.
Two of the Martian eyes were acquired by ventriloquist Jeff Dunham. He used them as eyes for his puppet "Achmed the Dead Terrorist".
There are a lot of subplots woven through the story that add a lot of color to the plot. The movie also boasts dozens of stars, most of them dead by the end of it. Despite the carnage, it was a lot of fun.