Film

Mars Attacks!

Name: Mars Attacks!
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Science Fiction
Released: 1996
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito

Tim Burton's gleefully anarchic alien-invasion comedy treats first contact as an excuse for spectacular chaos. It's a B-movie sensibility filtered through Burton's expressionist eye: big laughs, bigger violence, and a genuine love of the ridiculous. For anyone who enjoys genre pastiche, '50s sci-fi kitsch, and comedy that doesn't beg your permission to be silly.

TMDb rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you adore deadpan spoofs of tacky 1950s B-movies, where a starry cast plays cheerful absurdity straight and the satire has a gleefully mean streak.

Skip it if its jokes are broad and frequently rowdy, and if you want restraint or a tight, consistent tone, the scattershot pace may wear thin.

What it asks of you: It runs 106 minutes and moves in bursts of slapstick and sight gags, so you must keep up with quick, scattered visual jokes rather than settle into one story.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Independence Day1996

The other '96 alien blockbuster, but played straight: humanity rallies, nations unite, and we punch back. It's earnest where Mars Attacks! is gleeful, giving you the flip side of the same summer.

But Two and a half hours of speeches and patriotic sentiment. If you came to Mars Attacks! for the snark, this might feel overly sincere.

World War Z2013

Ensemble disaster film with the same structure—humanity faces extinction, governments panic, chaos erupts across the globe—but the tone is dread instead of carnival. Brad Pitt anchors something genuinely urgent.

But Plodding third act. It starts smart but runs out of ideas, and the zombie premise wears thin faster than the Martian invasion does.

The Fifth Element1997

Luc Besson's maximalist sci-fi farce: gaudy, operatic, stuffed with colour and invention. It swings for the same comedic-spectacular balance, and lands it with style.

But The manic energy exhausts some people. It's all throttle and no downshift—not a flaw, but it's relentless.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Mars Attacks!

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Barbarella1968

Both treat sci-fi tropes as playground equipment: the rules exist to be twisted, the universe is visual spectacle first, and the pleasure is in how strange and artificial it can get.

Jane Fonda as a space-age sex symbol on a campy intergalactic adventure. It's pure plastic-and-pastiche fun—the ur-text for sci-fi comedy. Burton clearly learned here.

But The sexual politics are of its era and cannot be excused. It's treated as lighthearted, which lands wrong now.

Galaxy Quest1999

Loving parody of Star Trek with genuine warmth underneath the jokes. Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, and Alan Rickman in a space-adventure comedy that respects its own absurdity.

But The plot is predictable if you've seen any of the films it's riffing on. It coasts on charm and casting rather than surprising you.

Gremlins1984

Spielberg-produced mayhem about cute creatures that turn monstrous. It nails the tonal whiplash between cuteness and carnage, and invests real emotion in the damage.

But The pacing dips in the middle. It's episodic, which gives each set-piece room to breathe, but the plot sags between attacks.

This Is the End2013

Ensemble comedy about a group of celebrities facing literal apocalypse. It's funny without winking—the jokes land because the actors commit—and it's surprisingly generous to its cast.

But Heavy on in-jokes and celebrity cameos. If you don't care who Seth Rogen and James Franco are, the humour evaporates fast.

The Poseidon Adventure1972

The grandaddy of disaster films: a ship capsizes, trapped passengers claw upward. It's earnest, gorgeously shot, and every setpiece is earned. Shows where the entire genre came from.

But Paced for 1972. It moves slowly by modern standards, and the character beats eat screen time the action sequences could use.

Innerspace1987

Joe Dante's shrink-down comedy with Dennis Quaid and Martin Short. It's tactile, colourful, and understands that the best sci-fi comedies take their own logic seriously.

But The human-body-as-landscape gags wear out before the film does. The novelty fades and the plot has to carry it alone, which it doesn't quite manage.

Evolution2016

Tiny, weird indie about a young girl and a mysterious boy in an isolated seaside house. Unsettling, tender, visually inventive, and it refuses easy answers about what it all means.

But Slow and cryptic. If you need plot clarity and forward momentum, this will frustrate you. It's more mood than narrative, and you have to meet it halfway.

Repo Man1984

Both films treat big spectacle—invasion, flying saucers, chaos—as a canvas for formal play rather than stakes. The joke is the *form*, not the situation.

Alex Cox's punk-art sci-fi about a repo man and a glowing UFO. Deadpan, visually bold, with a low budget that becomes a style. It's comedy-adjacent, deeply weird, and utterly its own thing.

But The humour is abstract and cold. It's funny if you're in the right headspace; if you want warm laughs, it will feel hostile and opaque.

Flash Gordon1980

Both films achieve their comedy through *sincerity about the ridiculous*—they don't nudge you about how silly this is, they just present it fully realized. The humour comes from commitment, not irony.

Mike Hodges' adaptation stars Sam J. Jones in a movie that plays everything straight while dressed in impossible colour and camp. Queen on the soundtrack. It's gorgeous, absurd, and completely committed to its own ridiculousness.

But The earnestness is very dated. Some audiences find it charming; others find it tries too hard and lands nowhere.