Mars in the Movies: A History : Mars Attacks! (1996)

Monday, February 27, 2017

Mars Attacks! (1996)

Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks! opens with one of the top title sequences in science fiction cinema to date. It is as well thought through and as well executed as 1953’s The War of the Worlds titles. The Mars Attacks! titles are virtually a mini-movie with a beginning middle and end. In a sentence, it shows a vast armada of countless flying saucers taking off from Mars, assembling into formations, and heading for earth. This sequence respects the intent of The Topps Company bubble gum trading cards on which the film is based. The cards do indeed show great numbers of flying saucers attacking the earth. The sequence is also, equally, a vast widescreen, colorful homage to Ray Harryhausen and his Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956). The look and movements of Burton’s saucers are clearly modeled on Harryhausen’s concepts. Well, here, see for yourself!

This is the title sequence from Mars Attacks!

To my great delight, a 1997 Cinescape magazine article by Ron Magid goes into detail about the creation of the title sequence, providing five healthy paragraphs on the subject. Migid’s comments include: "The movie’s opening sequence, which depicts the saucers leaving Mars and flying to Earth, measured some 5,000 frames long and was created almost entirely by computer graphics. While the first shot showing a lone reconnaissance ship leaving earth was handled by ILM, the tour de force sequence’s remaining 12 shots were all done by Warner Digital.... On Mars, irises open over the craters dotting the craggy surface, emitting hundreds of thousands of saucers that assume battle formations and head for Earth."

Danny Elfman’s score for the titles brilliantly both choir- and theremin-centric, borrows from 1950s classic movie themes—especially Bernard Herrmann’s trend-setting, spine-tinglingly eerie The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Circa 1962, the Topps Mars Attacks bubblegum series of trading cards caused quite a commotion as parents rose up en masse and demanded that the controversial and intensely graphic cards be taken off the shelves. No doubt this is what attracted Tim Burton to the project to begin with. All in all, Mars Attacks! is a faithful adaption of the bubble gum cards as easily seen by perusing the fabulous 2014 225-page book Topps Mars Attacks 50th Anniversary Collection (below) published by Abrams ComicArts.

From YouTube, here are all the original cards presented in an extremely clever manner with music and very special special effects.

Glenn Erickson in his DVD Savant review of Queen of Blood (www.dvdtalk.com/dvd savant/s3512quee.html) noticed something interesting: “What viewers today will immediately realize is that [Florence] Marly’s Alien Queen [in Queen of Blood, just below] is the visual inspiration for the ‘Martian Girl’ played by Lisa Marie in Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks! (© Warner Bros. Pictures) (see the poster below).”

I adore the Mars Attacks! title sequence and often will pop in the Blu-ray just to watch the titles, and when the muse strikes me, I’ll even watch it two or three times in a row. Of course, it is best to watch on as big a screen as possible with high fidelity sound. I am so pleased by the fact that the special visual effects crew so carefully paid tribute to Harryhausen's saucers, which you can see in this trailer:

A The Earth vs the Flying Saucers (1956) trailer.

Mars Attacks! (1996)
USA. Warner Bros, Tim Burton Productions. C. 2.35:1. 106m.

CREW: Director Tim Burton. Script and Story Jonathan Gems. Based on the Topps Trading Card Series Mars Attacks by Len Brown, Woody Gelman, Wally Wood, Bob Powell, Norm Saunders. Producers Tim Burton, Larry Franco. Score Danny Elfman. Director of Photography Peter Suschitzky. Production Designer Wynn Thomas. Editor Chris Lebenzon. Casting Matthew Barry, Jeanne McCarthy, Victoria Thomas. Special Visual Effects Industrial Light & Magic, Warner Digital Studios.

CAST: President James Dale/Art Land Jack Nicholson. First Lady Marsha Dale Glenn Close. Barbara Land Annette Bening. Professor Donald Kessler Pierce Brosnan. Rude Gambler Danny DeVito. Taffy Dale Natalie Portman. Press Secretary Jerry Ross Martin Short. Nathalie Lake Sarah Jessica Parker. Jason Stone Michael J. Fox. General Decker Rod Steiger. Tom Jones Tom Jones. Richie Norris Lukas Haas. General Casey Paul Winfield. Byron Williams Jim Brown. Martian Girl Lisa Marie. Grandma Florence Norris Sylvia Sidney.

Formal Notice: All images, quotations, and video/audio clips used in this blog and in its individual posts are used either with permissions from the copyright holders or through exercise of the doctrine of Fair Use as described in U.S. copyright law, or are in the public domain. If any true copyright holder (whether person[s] or organization) wishes an image or quotation or clip to be removed from this blog and/or its individual posts, please send a note with a clear request and explanation to eely84232@mypacks.net and your request will be gladly complied with as quickly as practical.

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Mars in the Movies: A History

Monday, February 27, 2017

Mars Attacks! (1996)

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