Mars Attacks! Review

Mars Attacks!

Release Date: 20th February 1997 - Australia

Production Companies

Warner Bros. Pictures (presents)

Tim Burton Productions

Genre: Sci-Fi/Comedy

Rating: M

Runtime: 106 minutes

Budget: $70,000,000

Box Office Gross: $101,371,017 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary

A Martian fleet encircles the world's major cities as the human race waits to see if the alien visitors have, as they say, "come in peace." The President of the United States, James Dale, is convinced by the professor of science, Donald Kessler, that the mission of the Martians is a friendly one. But when a peaceful exchange ends in the total obliteration of the U.S. Congress, the military calls for a massive nuclear strike.

Cast

Jack Nicholson - President
James Dale/Art Land

Glenn Close - First Lady Marsha Dale

Annette Bening - Barbara Land

Pierce Brosnan - Prof. Donald Kessler

Danny DeVito - Rude Gambler

Martin Short - Press Secretary
Jerry Ross

Sarah Jessica Parker -

Nathalie Lake

Michael J. Fox - Jason Stone

Rod Steiger - General Decker

Tom Jones - Himself

Lukas Hass - Richie Norris

Natalie Portman - Taffy Dale

Jim Brown - Byron Williams

Lisa Marie - Martian Girl

Sylvia Sidney - Grandma Florence Jenkins

Paul Winfield - General Casey

Pam Grier - Louise Williams

Jack Black - Billy Glenn Norris

Janice Rivera - Cindy, Bryon's Co-Worker

Ray J - Cedric Williams

Brandon Hammond - Neville Williams

Joe Don Baker - Richie's Dad

O-Lan Jones - Sue Ann Norris

Christina Applegate - Sharona

Brian Haley - Mitch, Secret Service Agent

Jerzy Skolimowski - Dr. Zeigler

Timi Prulheire - Tour Guide

Barbet Schroeder - Maurice,
the French President

Chi Hoang Cai - Mr. Lee

Tommy Bush - Hilbilly

Joseph Maher - White House Decorator

Vinny Argiro - Mr. Brian,
Casino Manager

Willie Garson - Corporate Guy

John Roselius - GNN Boss

Michael Reilly Burke - GNN Reporter

Valerie Wildman - GNN Reporter

Rebecca Broussard - Hooker #2

Steve Valentine - TV Director

Enrique Castillo - Hispanic Colonel

John Finnegan - Speaker of the House

Gregg Daniel - Lab Technician

J. Kenneth Campbell - Doctor

Rance Howard - Texas Investor

Frank Welker - Various Martians (Voices)

Crew

Producer/Director - Tim Burton

Based on the Trading Card Series - Len Brown,

Woody Gelman, Wally Wood, Bob Powell

and Norman Saunders

Screen Story/Screenplay - Jonathan Gems

Associate Producer/Unit Production Manager -

Paul Deason

Associate Producer - Mark S. Miller

Producers - Larry J. Franco and

Laurie Parker (Uncredited)

Casting Directors - Victoria Thomas,

Jeanne McCarthy and Matthew Barry

Production Designer - Wynn Thomas

Supervising Art Director - James Hegedus

Art Director - John Dexter

Assistant Art Directors - Jann K. Engel

and Richard Fernandez

Set Decorator - Nancy Haigh

Set Decorator: Washington D.C. - Kathy Lucas

Property Master - Jerry Moss

Assistant Property Masters - Andrew Petrotta,

Maura Moss and Marty Grimes

Costume Designer - Colleen Atwood

Key Makeup Artist - Valli O'Reilly

Makeup Artist: Mr Nicholson - Ve Neill

Hair Stylist: Mr Nicholson - Joy Zapata

Director of Photography - Peter Suschitzky

First Assistant Camera: VistaVision -

Clyde E. Bryan

Stunt Coordinator - Joe Dunne

Aerial Coordinator - Cliff Fleming

Special Effects Supervisor - Michael Lantieri

Design Supervisors: Mackinnon & Saunders

Ltd. - Ian Mackinnon and Peter Saunders

Visual Effects Supervisors - David Andrews,
Michael L. Fink and Jim Mitchell

Associate Effects Supervisor: ILM - Ellen Poon

Senior Visual Effects Coordinator: ILM - Jill Brooks

Visual Effects Art Director: ILM - Mark Moore

Digital Effects Supervisor: Warner Digital

Studios - Guy Williams

Computer Graphics Supervisors: ILM -

Roger Guyett and Andy White

Computer Graphics Sequence Supervisors:

ILM - Joel Aron, David Horsley,

Barbara Townsend and Ben Snow

Lead Character Animators: ILM -

Chris Armstrong, Kyle Balda, Linda Bel,

Lou Dellarosa and Jenn Emberley

CGI Lead: Saucers, Warner Digital Studios -

Chris Waegner

Model Supervisor: ILM - Charles Bailey

Model Makers: ILM - Eben Stromquist,

Chuck Wiley and Steve Gawley

Miniature Director of Photography: ILM -

Pat Sweeney

Model Supervisor: Acme Models - Michael Joyce

Editor - Chris Lebenzon

First Assistant Editor - Joel Negron

Supervising Sound Editor - Richard Hymns
Sound Designer/Re-Recording Mixer - Randy Thom

Assistant Sound Designer - Steve Boedekker

Sound Effects Editors - Ken Fischer

and Frank E. Eulner

Supervising Dialogue/ADR Editor - Michael Silvers

Re-Recording Mixer - Gary Summers

Re-Recording Mixer/Music Recordist and

Mixer - Shawn Murphy

Music - Danny Elfman

Music Editors - Bob Badami and

Ellen Segal

Review

MARS ATTACKS! was not Tim Burton's first choice to adapt this trading card game series to the big screen. He was supposed to direct another adaptation of its sister series Dinosaur Attacks! until the success of Jurassic Park and its forthcoming instalment, The Lost World, halted these plans. He switched to produce MARS ATTACKS! However, it was not a commercial success for the director when released in America in the same year as another over-the-top sci-fi flick, Independence Day, outgrossed it. The competition was inevitable, and MARS struggled to attain a few million dollars at the box office, but not quite as hoped by Tim Burton to beat Roland Emmerich for his successful feature when mirrored in terms of success. It remains one of Burton's few overlooked but underrated features. Some people claimed the Destroy All Humans video game series existed because of its minor influence.

Still, the Martians are coming to a black comedy satire that parodies the early alien invasion films like The War of the Worlds. It's noticeable that Burton has been trying to get his comedic touch since Beetlejuice. It isn't the first genre that the director encountered. Elements of classic science-fiction mixed with dark humour created a very imaginative look reminiscent of the B films of the 1950s that deal with these alien apocalypses. These Martians in the movie are undeniably goofy but pose a threat to most of the humans who make poor decisions. The humans were at their utmost selfish and barely redeemed themselves except for some saved at the film's end. It helps that this came after the director's semi-autobiographical movie of Ed Wood and explains a lot of inspiration and detail. He even took some scenic inspiration from Dr. Strangelove from the late Stanley Kubrick, particularly in the war conference room.

Jack Nicholson was the most prominent player as he had a dual role in the feature as the President and as an immoral casino manager. Most noticeable of these other featured actors in supporting roles and cameos include Michael J. Fox (in his last live-screen appearance), Pierce Brosnan, Annette Bening, Danny DeVito, Sarah Jessica Parker, singer Tom Jones, Martin Short and Glenn Close. Several viewers, including mostly Star Wars fans, may recognise Natalie Portman for her later work other than the divisive prequels and vice versa. They would be surprised that she was among the actors who got a small role in the film, and so is Jack Black when acting as one of the soldiers vaporised by the Martians. The movie's CGI was decent but was certainly out-of-date compared to modern films, and many of its visuals have worked through better quality.

It may not have been the finest hour for Tim Burton and his crew. He can do pictures whenever he wants us to be captivated, which is better than MARS ATTACKS!, even by a long shot. I purposely recommend to all moviegoers that this is a semi-decent film.

Star rating: (7/10) Good Movie

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Kingsman: The Secret Service/The Golden Circle Review

Kingsman: The Secret Service/The Golden Circle

Release Date: 5th February 2015 - Australia (Secret Service)

21st September 2017 - Australia (Golden Circle)

Production Companies

20th Century Fox

Marv Films
Cloudy Productions
TSG Entertainment (made in association with)

Distribution

20th Century Fox Australia

Genre: Action

Rating: MA15+ (Not Suitable for Young Children)

Runtime: 129 minutes 

                  (Secret Service)

                141 minutes 

                (Golden Circle)


Budget: $94,000,000 (Secret Service)
$104,000,000 (Golden Circle)

Box Office Gross: $414,351,546 (Worldwide) (Secret Service)
$410,902,662 (Worldwide) (Golden Circle)

Plot Summaries

THE SECRET SERVICE 
Gary "Eggsy" Unwin, whose
late father secretly worked 

for a spy organisation, lives 

in a South London housing 

estate and seems headed 

for a life behind bars. 

However, dapper agent 

Harry Hart recognises 

potential in the youth 

and recruits him to be 

a trainee in the secret 

service. Meanwhile, 

villainous Richmond 

Valentine launches a 
diabolical plan to solve 
the problem of climate 
change via a worldwide 

killing spree. (Source - Google)

THE GOLDEN CIRCLE 

Gary “Eggsy” Unwin is 

learning what it takes to 

be a true Kingsman from 
mentor Harry Hart. He 
learns nice clothes, fancy 
cars and cool weapons 
help the Kingsman with their 
ultimate goal: to sacrifice 
anything for the greater good.

But when the Kingsman 
headquarters is destroyed, 
Eggsy and Merlin have 
to figure out who is 

responsible. Their research 

leads them to discover an 

allied American agency 
called Statesman 
comprised of Agent Tequila, 
Agent Whiskey and Agent 
Champagne. The two 

agencies decide to band 
together to try to discover 
this new enemy and save 
the world. (Source - Metro Cinemas)

Cast

Talon Egerton - Gary ‘Eggsy’ Unwin

Colin Firth - Harry Hart/

Galahad

Mark Strong - Merlin
Sophie Cookson - Roxy

Edward Holcroft - Charlie
Samantha Womack - Michelle Unwin

Tobi Bakare - Jamal

Hanna Alström - Princess Tilde

THE SECRET SERVICE

Samuel L. Jackson - Richmond Valentine
Sofia Boutella - Gazelle

Michael Caine - Chester King/Arthur
Mark Hamill - Professor Arnold 

Jack Davenport - Lancelot
Geoff Bell - Dean
Jordan Long - Poodle

Alex Nikolov - Little Eggsy
Fiona Hampton - Amelia
Jack Cutmore-Scott - Rufus Saville

Bjørn Floberg - Scandavian Prime Minister

Lily Travers - Lady Sophie

Richard Brake - The Interrogator
Andrew Bridgmont - Kingsman Tailor

Nicholas Banks - Digby

Tom Prior - Hugo

Jonno Davies - Lee
Theo Barklem-Biggs - Ryan

Morgan Watkins - Rottweiler

Nicholas Agnew - Nathaniel

Rowan Polonski - Piers
Corey Johnson - Church Leader
Anne Wittman - Church Blonde Woman

THE GOLDEN CIRCLE 

Julianne Moore - Poppy

Channing Tatum - Tequila 

Pedro Pascal - Whiskey

Jeff Bridges - Champ

Halle Berry - Ginger
Elton John - Himself

Michael Gambon - Arthur

Keith Allen - Charles

Tom Benedict Knight - Angel

Mark Arnold - General McCoy

Bruce Greenwood - The President
Poppy Delevingne - Clara
Emily Watson - Chief of Staff Fox
Bjorn Granath - The King of Sweden
Lena Endre - The Queen of Sweden
Calvin Demba - Brandon
Thomas Turgoose - Liam
Nicholas Colicos - Very Drunk Redneck
Shannon Bream - FOX News Anchor
James Carroll Jordan - Harvard Professor
Bill Hemmer - FOX News Anchor
Antonio Magro - Confused Guard
Joe Gallina - Poppy's Security Gate Guard
Mingus Johnston - First Burly Guard

Crew

Screenplay/Producer/

Director - Matthew Vaughn

Based on Comic Book 

"Secret Service"/Executive 

Producers - Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons

Screenplay/Co-Producer - Jane Goldman

Executive Producers - Pierre Lagrange, Stephen Marks and Claudia Schiffer

Producers - Adam Bohling and David Reid

Production Designers - Paul Kirby (*)
and Darren Gilford (**)
Supervising Art Directors - Andy Thomson (*)
and Grant Armstrong (**)
Set Decorators - David Morison (*),
Jennifer Williams (*) and Rosemary Brundenberg (**)
Property Masters - David Chessman (*) and Ty Teiger (**)

Costume Designer - Adrianne Phillips

Cinematography - George Richmond
Aerial Director of Photography - Adam Dale 
Second Unit Director/Stunt Coordinator -
Bradley James Allan
Second Unit Directors - Kenny Bates (*) and
Moumita Moundal (**)

Stunt Coordinator - Adam Kirley

Additional Stunt Coordinator - James O’Donnell (*)
Fight Arranger/Stunt Double: Taron Egerton (*)/
Stunt Performer - Damien Walters
Fight Coordinator - Guillermo Grispo

Skydiving Supervisor - David Emerson (*)

Special Effects Supervisor - Steven Warner
Special Effects Coordinator - Anna Krawczyk (*)

Special Effects Consultant - Neil Corbould (*)

Visual Effects Supervisors - Steven Begg (*),
Matt Kasmir (*) and Angus Bickerton (**)
Visual Effects Supervisor: SPI - Mark Breakspear (**)
Visual Effects Supervisor: Framestore -
Chris Lawrence (**)

Visual Effects Supervisor/Lidar and Cyber
Scanning Supervisor - Huseyin Caner (*)

Additional Visual Effects Supervisors -
John Paul Docherty and John Bruno (*)
On Set Visual Effects Supervisor - John Haley (**)
Visual Effects Producers - Stephen Elson (*),
Jessica Norton (*), Barrie Hemsley (**) and
Scott Mitchell (**)
Animation Director - Max Tyrie (**)
CG Supervisors - Fabio Zangla and
Jim 'Big Dog' McLean (**)

Film Editors - Eddie Hamilton and
John Harris (*)

Music - Henry Jackman and
Matthew Margeson

Review

I apologise for taking another break as I had to finish my long-term animated project among other things. While taking a trip down to Sydney, I recently come across the Hoyts cinema in Penrith where I saw the second 'Kingsman' instalment 'THE GOLDEN CIRCLE'. Before that, I had watched 'THE SECRET SERVICE' and it was the fourth time that I’ve watched this film. 

THE SECRET SERVICE

An excessively violent spy-fi movie with stylised action sequences that reminisces the classic spy movies from the 1960s and 1970s like James Bond. 'KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE' is a dapper movie with a great sense of humour and action-packed story-line. Matthew Vaughn has never been formally introduced to the espionage sub-genre for a film that’s based on an original comic. Much like his few other films that were previously adapted from comic-books, this movie also has the director’s penchant for gruesome violence and vulgarity. Trust me, this one is completely different to his superhero flicks that were 'Kick-Ass' and 'X-Men: First Class'. This film has very much of the hardcore fight scenes and explosions and speaking of these two, the church scene and the pub-fight are absolutely two of the best moments and the part of the exploding heads is to die for.

Taron Egerton was warmly welcomed as the new star in a much-deserved role as Eggsy, a young man who desires to do good in his life. Colin Firth was even a suitable British actor when he is fantastic as Harry Hart who trains Eggsy to become a proper English gentleman spy. Hollywood’s living legend Samuel L. Jackson has had a dazzling opportunity to do an over-the-top portrayal as the lisping villainous businessman named Richmond Valentine. Mark Strong was the director’s frequent collaborator and is once again working with him in a supporting role as Merlin. Sofia Boutella was ideally chosen in her debut role as the deadly henchwoman Gazelle.

This movie may be horrifying for some with graphic violent scenes and crude language, and don’t mind the campiness that hasn’t been used before in a recent spy movie. I appreciate the level of enthusiasm that has been brought to 'THE SECRET SERVICE' and is properly envisioned as the year’s ultimate action-packed blockbuster. If you are old enough to see it, just buy it or rent it elsewhere in online and retail.

Star rating: (8/10) Very Good Movie

THE GOLDEN CIRCLE

It seems that the wait is over as the first 'Kingsman' movie’s helmer Matthew Vaughn is back for its newest chapter to revisit the glamorous but violent style of espionage. Unfortunately for him, he’s forgotten what he had promised us, more genuine class in the sequel. 'THE GOLDEN CIRCLE' was twice as big as the original film but rehashes everything that was done in its predecessor. There are a few grating plot-holes that were noticeable enough to derail the film off its corners. Nevertheless, the new characters were added to the plot like those from the Statesman agency plus the violence and action sequences are still intact but remained as over the top and edgy. 

It was truly unexpected to see Colin Firth return in a screen combination with the main lead actor Taron Egerton. Actress Julianne Moore does a great performance as the smart and cunning villainess who has a secret motivation that doesn’t involve world domination or doomsday cataclysm. Pop musician Elton John was no actor but rather than a cameo, he outplays himself as being in a supporting role. Halle Berry was sweet as the American female counterpart of Merlin. Jeff Bridges was a bit of a dandy as the head of the Statesman agency. Channing Tatum was good but I felt his character Tequila could have had more screen-time, if he was featured in the rest of the movie for more action. 

'THE GOLDEN CIRCLE' is somewhat decent but it was an instantly forgettable continuation and some believed it was being put upon for the sake of the style. There is still much fun going on with just this film to get the 'Kingsman' saga going until the next instalment is unveiled..

Star rating: (6/10) Fair Movie 

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