Ghosts of Mars (2001)
Precinct 13: The Movies and Music of John Carpenter
English - May 26, 2021 00:13 - 1 hour - 89.6 MB - ★★★★★ - 5 ratingsFilm Reviews TV & Film Film History filmmakers horror science fiction auteur cult cinema halloween movie reviews b-movies carpenter cinema Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
On our latest episode, it's finally time to take a look at John Carpenter's post-millennial moviemaking career, beginning with his 2001 effort Ghosts of Mars. This sci-fi/action/horror romp marks Carpenter's last foray into directing (relatively) big-budget studio movies to date, and while the film didn't set the world on fire critically or commercially, it did receive a memorable thumbs-up review from Roger Ebert. The film stars Ice Cube and Natasha Henstridge alongside a stacked cast of B-movie favorites -- from Pam Grier to Carpenter regular Peter Jason -- and it puts a high-concept sci-fi spin on a lot of familiar Carpenter ideas: outlaw antiheroes, western movie tropes, Alamo-esque siege situations, and more! At first glance, Ghosts of Mars looks a lot like classic Carpenter -- but, is the final product an unheralded late-career masterpiece, a misfire of epic proportions, a hyper-violent Scooby Doo episode set in space, or something else entirely? Chris and Nick attempt to tackle those questions, and many, many others that this film leaves unanswered, in a discussion that, love the film or hate it, we at least hope gives it its due!