Mars Attacks

Tim Burton has made his Ed Wood movie, but it is more of a disaster than Plan 9 From Outer Space ever was. The budget-busting special effects and A-list cast (including Jack Nicholson and Glenn Close) overwhelm what is essentially a B-movie at heart, based on a series of Topps trading cards. The Martians, though (especially a bee-hive wigged Lisa Marie), are out of this world and easily upstage their human counterparts. Like extraterrestrial Gremlins they have the most fun in the movie, gleefully wreaking havoc. Other cast members, including Michael J. Fox, Danny DeVito and Martin Short, exist only to be killed off. And Nicholson is no Peter Sellers; in one of his dual roles (a Las Vegas hustler), he seems to be imitating Michael Keaton in Burton's Beetlejuice. Not a necessary purchase. (K. Lee Benson)[Blu-ray Review—Sept. 14, 2010—Warner, 106 min., PG-13, $24.98—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1996's Mars Attacks! sports a great transfer and a DTS-HD 5.1 soundtrack, but no extras. Bottom line: an unimpressive Blu-ray debut of a disappointing film.]