In a Nutshell. Mini reviews of movies old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. And often no sleep.

Thursday 27 October 2011

Ghosts of Mars (2001)

Taken as a whole, GoM isn't very good. The illuminated nights make everything look set-bound even though all exteriors were shot on location. Stath’s single-note action hero style doesn't fit well in the Carpenter world, and Ice Cube lacks any kind of menace. The SFX budget was small and it really shows. The generic, metal chugga-chug guitar stuff is awful.
Conversly, the ambient music is good, Pam Grier is cool and Natasha Henstridge is a perfect fit. There’s a strange, recurring use of a flashback within a flashback, having one character tell the tale of a different character.
The real saving grace is the commentary; I love a Carpenter commentary.

2 bottled teeth out of 5

2 comments:

budarc said...

This is the only Carpenter film I still haven't seen. The subject matter just never interested me.

Dr Faustus said...

I'd seen it before but I was in the mood for a cheese-fest last night, it still managed to disappoint. Not good cheese. Bad smelly cheese.