Mars Attacks! (PG-13, 1996)
common sense media says
Alien-invasion satire for older tweens and up.
parents & educators say
- 40% say violence is an issue
- 40% say sexual content is an issue
What parents need to know
Parents need to know this movie was based on a notorious series of trading cards that were censored for gruesomeness, and director Tim Burton doesn't hold back: abundant cartoony violence includes people being turned into skeletons by a death ray, vivisection (and whimsical re-assembly) of living humans, Martians' brains swelling and bursting, and cruelty to (computer-generated) animals. In addition the filmmakers have added some prostitutes to the blend. There is a subtle anti-authoritarian tone that kids have the smarts to save the world after all the annoying adults are wiped out.
Violence:
A herd of cattle is set on fire (digitally). A Martian death ray turns people into gruesome green skeletons, while other hapless citizens are crushed or impaled. There is a severe finger and a disembodied hand, and captured humans (and one alien-autopsied Martian) are taken apart and reassembled in gruesome ways. Much shooting at the Martians (though seldom very effectively).
Sex:
The US presidential press secretary (Martin Short) is shown using the prestige of his office to pick up girls (two are prostitutes, one a nasty Martian in disguise). The Martian leader is shown perusing a magazine with a pin-up centerfold and getting some lascivious ideas.
Language:
Not applicable.
Consumerism:
Not applicable.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
A stereotyped white-coated scientist comes complete with a pipe to smoke thoughtfully.
More on Mars Attacks!
Review It
Based on 5 parent & educator reviews:
- 40% say violence is an issue
- 40% say sexual content is an issue
Most useful reviews by all members
Flaper
teen, 16 years old
teen, 16 years old
If you like violence this is the movie for you!
This is a VERY violent movie. Many say that language is not an issue BUT it is...
Do you know what those Martians are saying?
Who knows.
I have seen lots of violent movies and on the violence meter this is WAY up there probably broke the scale.
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ILUVMEAT
teen, 17 years old
teen, 17 years old
This will make kids laugh more than it will scare them
The first time I really checked this out was before going to bed and I wanted to stop since I was about to go to bed but when I watched it all the way throug, I lauged. A race of martian aliens decide to invade earth. They have normal sized bodies but have huge heads. They try to invade a few times, each time disentagrating humans with a gun that zaps people and vaporizes their skin, leaving behind a red or green skeleton. This is just a movie full of crazy slapstick antics. For the 10 and up crowd.
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Airgirl2010
teen, 15 years old
teen, 15 years old
UGH!!!!...
I remember surfing through TV channels , and we found this , so we watched it. My dad thought it was funny , and I thought it was horrible!!!!!! The violence! THE STUPIDNESS! I think that people who make stories of bad aliens are pretty dumb , because nobody said aliens , or things from another planet [ well , thier has to be some life in the other millions of planets!] had to be mean. I really suggest ET instead!
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KIdX13
teen, 16 years old
teen, 16 years old
50's style movie is fun for young teens
This movie is very good, it tries to co for that cheesey, clasic 50's B movie, and dose a pretty good job, andjust like movies from the 50's there are little issues:
1. COmic style violence that no one can take seriously, the martin's guns turn people into skeletons, Humans are abducted by the martians and experimented on, green martian blood when the martinas die.
2. Very little languge including afew uses of H--l, and one s--t, but other than that the language is fine.
3. A coule can briefly bee seen having sex (no nudity), with a coule matrians watching, the martian king breifly looks at a porn magazine from earth (no nudity either). So osverall, this is a fun 50's B movie with better special effects that is fun for teens young and old.
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naked bros ...
kid, 11 years old
kid, 11 years old
i lost six brain cells watching this
after i watched this ime gonna be scared of freakin aliens for the rest of my freakin life
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E-Man
kid, 11 years old
kid, 11 years old
I think it was fine. I think the younger boys crowd would enjoy this movie, probably because of the violence. But, I rated it 11+ because I think it would be APPROPRIATE for that age. There was constant violence. I think it was really goofy. Some violent-loving kids wont like the build-up to the violence, but there gonna have to deal with it. I don't think there was any positive message to it. Parents probably wouldn't want their kids to see this movie.
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mickeym_k
parent of 15 year old
parent of 15 year old
Just plain bad.
I love a good movie. I enjoy the entire experience. But, I HATE THIS MOVIE. Beside the fact that it is very violent, it is just a bad movie. The story is awful and the humor is childish. This is the only movie I have ever walked out on.
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green_goblin
adult
adult
Not suitable for under 15s, really. It's violent and too scary.
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sasuke the awsome
teen, 13 years old
teen, 13 years old
I really did not like this movie because first of all there is actually a good amount of language like a few s-t and about 5 uses of hell i didn't think that it was funny at all and there was a lot of violence plus there were a lot of references to prostitution it really suprised me because i love tim burton and i thought it would be a lot better to quote airgirl2010 "I really suggest ET instead"
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Annoyedteenguy
adult
adult
Great Classic Sci-fi comedy
This is THE movie. The first time my parents had it on, I wanted to flee the room because i had a friend over for the night. Now, it is the funniest Alien comedy ive seen. There is violence, language, smoking, and some sexual stuff but any kid 10 and up could watch this because they will be laughing more than they will be screaming.
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Plague
parent
parent
Mars Attacks!
A classic comedy that the family will laugh and enjoy. The graphics arnt 2010, but its highly entertaining none the less.
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