Deliberate mistake: At the end just before the president is killed he fixes his tie, but it keeps on getting fixed to messed, to fixed, etc. Deliberate homage to "A Few Good Men", but worth looking for nonetheless. (00:28:15)
Mars Attacks! (1996)
Plot summary
Directed by: Tim Burton
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito, Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael J. Fox, Martin Short
President James Dale (Nicholson) of the United States and his right-hand man, Jerry Ross (Short) discover that an army of Martian UFOs are hovering around the Earth, and everyone has a different response. Some, like Texan alcohol dealer Art Land (Nicholson) and slimy newsman Jason Stone (Fox), just want to make a profit out of it. Others, such as TV hostess Nathalie Lake (Parker), Land's spiritualist wife Barbara (Bening), and the Southern-like Norris family, are excited, and some, like Dale's wife, Marsha (Close), and daughter, Taffy (Portman), don't care. Richie Norris (Haas)is extremely unintelligent but is only respected by his insane grandmother, while his older brother Billy (Black) is favored for joining the army. General Decker (Steiger) doesn't trust the Martians and insist they fight, but General Casey (Winfield) & Professor Kessler (Brosnan) are more optimistic. The Martians appear to come in peace but suddenly begin to use their super-powerful and technologically advanced weapons to wipe out the population and great structures. Will anybody find a way to stop them or will they all die in the war with these short, big-brained aliens?
More mistakes in Mars Attacks!
Taffy Dale: Guess it wasn't the dove.
Trivia: This is just something interesting - during the movie there are 2 aliens that are referred to as "Ben Der" and "Dun Dat" (been there, done that).
Question: I heard this movie was a remake or a compilation of different themes used in 1950's mars B-movie remakes. What are some of the themes of the movies that this movie takes? Such as, In Mars Attacks they use the music to kill the aliens I believe is a rip from a 50's movie where they use sound waves to down martian spaceships. What movie was that?
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Chosen answer: While the movie is a parody of the 50's sci-fi B-movies, the film is actually based on the Topps 1962 science fiction trading card collection called "Mars Attacks!", which tells the tale of the Martians' attack.
Bishop73