Mars Attacks

Director Tim Burton unleashes MARS ATTACKS!‚ a vicious‚ affectionate‚ brightly-colored homage to 1950s alien invasion movies. When a shiny silver flying saucer lands in the Nevada desert‚ a group of skull-faced Martians exit the gleaming craft. Although they claim to be peaceful‚ they promptly "vaporize" a gathering of unfortunate Earthlings‚ kicking off a bizarre high-tech war with wild special effects. This studiously campy sci-fi spoof‚ based on a series of Topps bubble-gum cards‚ gleefully parodies not only schlock B-horror movies‚ but also overblown blockbusters such as INDEPENDENCE DAY. This subversive film is helped along by an all-star cast including Jack Nicholson in dual roles as both a clueless U.S. President (with First Lady Glenn Close) and a Las Vegas sleazebag. The film follows the wacky WAR OF THE WORLD--like proceedings from the points of view of numerous colorful characters‚ from the inane U.S. Press Secretary (Martin Short) to a trailer-park family (Lukas Haas and Sylvia Sidney)‚ singer Tom Jones (as himself).