"People told me I couldn't kill Nicholson, so I cast him in two roles and killed him off twice."-Tim Burton, Reflecting on Jack Nicholson's deadly dual role in Mars Attacks
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Come one, come all to a midway of the most bizarre in pictures! Journey into the unknown through the deepest depths of celluloid film! Bear witness to some of the most unique and peculiar stories and characters! Dive into a rabbit hole a leave behind your mundane world for a glimpse into the upside-down world...of Stranger Sinema!
Welcome back, Young and Young-at-Heart explorers, to Stranger Sinema! The show on Something Niche where we take a deep dive into the strange world of cult cinema, discovering the most madcap, bizarre, or just strangely obscure parts of the film world!
Today, we have a real treat in store for you today, as we will be looking at the filmography of a man who's been known to make a career out of being a complete weirdo! That man is none other than Tim Burton, who since the 1980s has been gracing popular culture with an entire portfolio of works that can become future topics for this show! And his works have become some of my personal favorites in spite of-or perhaps because of- his inability to show anything resembling normalcy on screen.
Indeed, from Beetlejuice to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Tim Burton's flair for combining Gothic visuals with quirky characters and stories have made him a cult favorite among the film world, even if some of his later work may have arguably dipped somewhat in quality. Today however, we will be taking a gander at a film within a genre he's rarely touched; Science Fiction!
Specifically, we will be taking a look at Mars Attacks, Mr. Burton's 1996 sendup of 50s alien invasion schlock. A film that for years, was initially considered to be among the lesser of Mr. Burton's works, and was initially one of his lowest grossing films. However, time has since been kind to this strange little gem, which, if nothing else, is definitely the only film where you'll see an alien race bowl with the Easter Island Heads, crash a Tom Jones concert, and get defeated by the power of old-timey country music. And as noted above, it's probably the only place where you will see the great Jack Nicholson play two completely different characters in one movie, and then die in both roles!
But old Jack isn't the only one who falls victim to these quirky little green men, as everybody in this ensemble cast gets transformed into multi-colored skeletons, from Danny DeVito to a young Jack Black to Michael J. Fox in one of his final major theatrical roles.
So, don't forget to bring some donuts and dust off those old Slim Whitman albums, as we invade the quirky classic that is Mars Attacks!
We Come in Peace(?)
Mars Attacks begins in a way that immediately catches plenty of people off guard (which included distributor Warner Bros themselves, but more on that later); with a group of cows that have been mysteriously set on fire blazing past a rural farmhouse! From there, we immediately head into outer space to witness an opening credits sequence depicting several funky-looking UFOs setting off from Mars to its next-door neighbor of Earth.
Almost immediately afterwards, news of the incident reaches the desk of U.S. President James Dale (Jack Nicholson) and First Lady Marsha Dale (Glenn Close). The two then release the historic news to the public, catching the attention of Science Professor Donald Kessler (Pierce Brosnan), talk show presenter Nathalie Lake (Sarah Jessica Parker), reporter Jason Stone (Stranger Sinema alum Michael J. Fox), General Decker (Rod Steiger), Casino Owner Art Land (also Nicholson), an unnamed Rude Gambler, as the film credits (Danny DeVito) slacker donut shop worker Richie Norris (Lukas Haas), his military brother Billy-Glenn (Jack Black), and many, many others.
Eventually the big day comes, and the Martians touch down upon the big Blue Planet, with a translator officially claiming that the Martians "come in peace". However, everything takes a one-eighty after a single dove is released into the Martian crowd, causing the group to go full guns blazing on the entire public, killing several, including Jason and Billy. Things only escalate when the Martian ambassador shows up at congress and vaporizes everybody.
From there, the Martians continue their blazing conquest against the Earth, taking out several worldwide monuments along the way. It's up to a group of ragtag survivors across the United States to fight back against these strange, quacking Martians. And spoilers, they eventually do so with none other than the power of song! And that's just a small sampling of what this over-the-top Burton offering has in store!
Although Mars Attacks sounds like something that truly could have only been the idea of a filmmaking madman, the IP itself actually had a very different origin; as a trading card series!
Indeed, the story of the Mars Attacks IP can be traced back to over 30 years before Burton's take on the series came to fruition. Initially created in 1962 by the Topps Trading Card company, the Mars Attacks trading card game was primarily designed by pulp novel cover artist Norman Saunders. The cards depicted a narrative story of an alien invasion, much like the movie, starting with the Martians' initial invasion and leading up to humanity fighting back and defeating them, much like any cult sci-fi movie of the time.
These cards proved to be rather popular amongst the youth, but they came at a horrific cost. Each card, like the one pictured above, depicted very graphic scenes of violence and women in peril, which caused an uproar from moral guardians everywhere. Topps attempted to appease the outcry by toning down the illustrations, but after a complaint from a Connecticut district attorney, production was eventually halted completely. However, a couple of decades later, a sister series called Dinosaurs Attack was produced as a nostalgic throwback to the original cards.
It was around this time when Jonathan Gems, the screenwriter of the eventual film adaptation, first came across both sets of cards in a gift shop. He gave them to Burton as a birthday present, and the duo were instantly fascinated by the illustrations. They attempted to pitch the idea of either film during the late 1980s to Orion Pictures, but a combination of that studio's financial difficulties and Burton getting too busy with other projects caused production to be delayed for years.
Initially, Dinosaurs Attack was the higher-priority work to get adapted, but after Jurassic Park hit theaters, and a sequel was fast-tracked, both Burton and Gems agreed that Dinosaurs Attack would draw too many comparisons with the Spielberg-directed mega-blockbuster. And with that, the decision was clear; Mars Attacks would be the one who would be getting the movie treatment. And Burton had already been interested in making that particular film anyway as a tribute to cult filmmaker Ed Wood, who's story he had just previous explored in a self-titled biopic at the time.
Making Martians
In order to get into the proper mindset for writing Mars Attacks, Burton and Gems rented the 1974 disaster film The Towering Inferno for inspiration...and allegedly watch it while under the influence of certain things! "Tim and I actually watched Towering Inferno probably about a year before, and we were stoned." Gems explains "And if you watch Towering Inferno when your stoned, it's hilariously funny."
This mindset ultimately inspired Burton to have a large, ensemble cast that replicated those of films like The Towering Inferno. And with that, he set out to cast as many big names as possible. Before ultimately casting Jack Nicholson as the President, owing to his positive working relationship with him on Batman, Harrison Ford and Michael Douglass were considered but were ultimately unavailable. Michael Keaton, with whom Burton worked on with Beetlejuice and the Batman films, was set to play Art Land, before Nicholson agreed to play that role as well after jokingly stating he wanted to play all the parts.
As for the other roles, Meryl Streep, Stockard Channing and the late Diane Keaton were considered to play the first lady, but Glenn Close ultimately won out. Hugh Grant was Burton's first choice for Donald Kessler, but Pierce Brosnan was ultimately cast, fresh off his debut in the James Bond franchise. Several other cast members were returning cast members from previous Burton productions, including O-Lan Jones of Edward Scissorhands, and Danny DeVito of Batman Returns. On returning to working with Burton, DeVito said "I don't like to miss anything Tim's doing if he has a part for me. I think he's an incredible artist. He has an incredible command of what he wants."
While writing the script, Gems ended up coming into a strange squabble with the studio over the film's aforementioned opening. Not wanted to depict animal cruelty, the studio threatened to fire Gems if he kept the scene in his drafts. Gems didn't back down, and was ultimately fired temporarily, with Larry Karaszewski and Scott Alexander ultimately being hired to do re-writes on the film. It was them that came up with the Martians' "Ack Ack Ack" way of speaking in the film, doing so simply because they had no idea how to make the Martians' language in the film. Surprisingly, it stuck, as did the burning cows under Burton's insistence.
In another attempt to closely replicate the style of Ed Wood, Burton had initially planned to depict the Martians via stop-motion. However, he found difficulty trying to make things look authentic, particularly on account of the Martians' glass helmets, which would frequently pick up fingerprints. He reluctantly decided to use CGI after some test footage was put together by Industrial Light and Magic. They still attempted to add a stop-motion "quality" to the effects via purposefully-chintzy frame animation.
Filming was due to start in August of 1995, but got delayed until that fall, presumably to give more time to the changing visual style. After the movie was finished, it was released in time for the holiday season in 1996. However, something was about to unfortunately go wrong with the film.
A Failed Invasion
After spending much of 1996 in post-production, Mars Attacks officially invaded the box office just in time for the holiday season on December 13th of that year. Many people sighted it as an unofficial parody of that year's biggest flick, Independence Day, a more serious alien invasion movie. Burton noted these comparisons in his 2006 autobiography Burton on Burton, but asserts that most of this was a mere coincidence. "Nobody told me about it." he said. "I was surprised at how close it was. 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 had done kind of a Mad Magazine version of Independence Day."
It almost seemed like Mars Attacks was destined to be a surprise hit; it had an all-star cast, an established director at its helm, and was even riding the coattails of that year's biggest trend. Unfortunately, upon its initial release, everything blew up in its face.
It opened on the same day as the critically acclaimed Jerry Maguire and was demolished at the box office by it. The next weekend only provided further trouble, as it faced even more competition from the likes of Scream and Beavis and Butthead Do America. Ultimately, the film was declared a financial disappointment despite making its $100 Million in costs back with a $101 Million gross. Much of this profit came from overseas, where it was much more popular, but it was ultimately still not the hit Warner Bros had hoped it would be.
Critically, reviews for the film were all over the place. Much of the reviewing public lauded the film's homages to 50s B-Movies, as well as the general look of the film and ensemble cast. However, much of the humor proved divisive. Time Magazine praised the film's mean-spiritedness, noting that films of this nature are a "treasurable rarity." However, other outlets criticized it, such as The Washington Post, who called the humor "half-developed, pedestrian material" and the climactic battle "dull and overextended".
The film's initial failure also took a huge toll on Burton himself. Jonathan Gems noted in an interview that by the film's release Burton was beside himself. "He was a wreck." Gems described. "I think he went to India with his girlfriend for about a month. I think I remember him telling me at that time that he didn't want to make another movie again."
Personally, in my opinion, one thing that may have killed the film's initial success was the fact that by the mid-1990s, 50s nostalgia was starting to fade from the public consciousness after being a dominant part of the 70s and 80s. Younger audiences had mostly moved on to nostalgic commodities from the 60s and 70s at this point, as seen with the mainstream popularity of works like Dazed and Confused and adaptations of properties from these eras, such as The Addams Family and The Flintstones.
With this in mind, it would seem that Mars Attacks' 50s-based novelty had started to fade in the eyes of younger generations and had become too niche among the general public. Perhaps had the film been released a decade earlier as planned, things would have turned out much better for its initial gross (though the effects probably wouldn't have been as impressive).
However, not all news involving Mars Attacks was negative. In spite of its initially divisive reviews, the film still received several nominations within the film industry, including the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, an award given out to exceptional works in science fiction and fantasy film. It was also on the shortlist for Best Visual Effects at that year's Academy Awards, though it ultimately wasn't nominated.
An Out of This World Comeback
And so, the years passed, and Mars Attacks seemed to be a forgotten relic of the past. However, it would seem that wouldn't last much longer, as during the era of nostalgia, a new generation of curious individuals-likely already familiar with Burton's more well-known works-would come across it. And many of these individuals would praise it as a fun, surreal comedy that's actually aged well, especially in today's modern political landscape.
The past few years in particular home been very kind to this film, as there have been several different new spins on this old IP. This past year, a park simulation game dubbed Mars Attracts was released to Steam, focusing on building a park within the IP's universe. In 2020, the Martians made a cameo in a Super Bowl Commercial for Walmart's Online Grocery pickup, appearing alongside other well-known space travelers like Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvin the Martian, and even the aliens from Arrival. Multiple comics have been made of the IP, with some of them even including crossovers with other IPs, like The Real Ghostbusters and even Popeye!
One company that's made their love for the Martians obvious in particular appears to be none other than Spirit Halloween. In the past few years, the seasonal retail staple has added Mars Attacks to their growing list of IP-based offerings, with everything from costumes to animatronics to snow globes being produced in its honor. Kendall Jenner even dressed as one of the film's most memorable characters-a human disguise played by Burton's then-girlfriend Lisa Marie-for the Halloween season.
All in all, Mars Attacks seems to have gone from niche cult classic to beloved pop cultural darling in recent years, and it shouldn't be hard to see why! While the film may not exactly be the highest form of art, it's still a movie that's not afraid to have fun with its kooky characters and sets. This movie just has so many memorable moments that always leave me grinning ear-to-ear, and even the effects look strangely beautiful in spite of their intentional cheese.
Mars Attacks is ultimately a fun experience akin to a live-action Saturday Morning Cartoon, and it's a movie that'll keep just about anybody in high spirits. Ok, maybe it's not for everybody, but if you're that weird guy in your friend group that just loves showing strange things to your buddies, you honestly couldn't get much worse than Mars Attacks, as it's a silly movie that was made with heart!
And perhaps most importantly, it's a movie that's proud of what it is and where it came from. Not only does it bring the old sci-fi alien invasion movies of the Cold War era to newer generations, but it also isn't afraid to poke fun at their absurdity. It moves from joke to joke at a rapid pace, embracing its status as a film that knows it's weird and just wants to entertain!
And despite his initial trepidation with the final project, Burton has come around on the film in recent years, saying that it was ultimately a "strange and fun" movie to make.
Freakish Fun Facts
And now that all of the basics have been conquered, it is time for us to move to the metaphorical final phase of our metaphorical invasion; Freakish Fun Facts! That's right, it is once again time for us to dive into several strange behind-the-scenes factoids about today's topic of discussion here on Stranger Sinema!
Here are some of the most freakish fun facts about Mars Attacks! Ack, Ack, Ack!
- A few scenes in the movie involve a universal translator device that translates the Martian's speech into human language. The translator's voice was provided by veteran voice actor Roger L. Jackson, who that same year rose to prominence as the voice of the Ghostface killer in the Scream franchise.
- English singer Tom Jones gets caught up in the action during the film's climax, and this wouldn't be the last time he would be involved in a Warner Bros-produced sci-fi comedy! Several years later, he would sing the theme tune for the Looney Tunes spin-off show Duck Dodgers.
- Whenever the Martians vaporize a human in the film, the resulting skeletons turn either red or green in one of the film's many visual signatures. Tim Burton intentionally chose these colors not only to match the colors of the death rays, but also as a reference to the fact that the movie was planned to be released so close to Christmas!
- The film is notable for being one of the few post-Edward Scissorhands films to not have Johnny Depp in a major role. Depp had been offered to play Jason Stone, but turned it down, likely due to the role being so small. Michael J. Fox was ultimately cast in what would ultimately turn out to be one of his last major film roles for a while, alongside our previous Stranger Sinema episode The Frighteners. As we discussed in that episode, Fox semi-retired from acting during the late 90s due to dealing with the effects of early-onset Parkinson's disease.
- The place where the Martians first land in the film is Pahrump, Nevada. Pahrump is known as the hometown of radio host Art Bell, who would famously feature guests who claimed to have come in contact with extraterrestrial activity.
- One of the film's most memorable scenes comes in the form of a montage where the Martians destroy several worldwide monuments and cities, including Mount Rushmore, The Eastern Island Heads, and London. This scene had several scenes of destruction that were cut for time, with the Martians destroying other places like Japan and several countries in Africa. These scenes were still referenced in the final version of the film, where you can see these places getting blown off a world map when the Martians confront President Dale.
- When Press Secretary Jerry Ross (Martin Short) courts the Martian in a human girl disguise, he takes it to a secret room in the White House dubbed the "Kennedy Room". This is a reference to a real-life conspiracy theory where John F. Kennedy was stated to have extramarital affairs while in office.
- The real-life references don't end there! At one point President Dale asks the Martians "Little people, why can't we all just get along?" This is a reference to the then-recent 1992 L.A. Riots, where a similar line was said by police brutality victim Rodney King.
Nice Movie! We'll Take It!
In the end, Mars Attacks is a film experience that very few can compare themselves to. Not only is it a film that brings a dead genre back to life for a new audience, but it's a movie that's not afraid to have fun!
It not only pokes fun at the more ridiculous parts of Cold War science fiction cinema, but also at how inept a lot of people can be at handling a crisis. Much of the figures in heroic positions are wiped out easily, and it's ultimately the duty of the underdogs to set things right. With this in mind, you can call the movie another great audition to the pantheon of the unlikely hero story!
It also manages to become a movie with spectacle to spare. And the addition of Tim Burton's usual quirks allows a distinctive style to make itself known on screen. It also adds even more uniqueness thanks to the presence of psychedelic costumes and colors that add a layer of odd beauty to this bizarre work of art.
But above all, Mars Attacks is a movie that was made with one purpose in mind: to entertain. And with its unique brand of mean-spiritedness and spaced-out visuals, it does so in a strangely artistic way. In an era where a lot of movies seem to be made with the sole purpose of trying to push some kind of agenda, Mars Attacks stands out as a film that's a break from our negative world that just wants to make audiences laugh for a couple of hours; even if it's a little mean-spirited in its delivery. And perhaps that is the reason why it has become such a beloved staple amongst mainstream audiences in recent years.
But what about you? Have you ever seen Mars Attacks? What did you think about it? Do you want to watch it after hearing my thoughts? Do you feel that this film's recent resurgence is well-deserved. Share you thoughts in the comments below, and don't be scared to share this article and my blog as a whole with your friends and family! And above all else...
Sources:
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