Throughout his career John Carpenter has taken on horror and sci-fi in ways others hadn’t and often time merging the two. In 2001he brought together Ice Cube, Jason Statham and Natasha Henstridge for the sci-fi horror flick Ghosts of Mars. Now Mill Creek Entertainment is bringing the cult hit home on Blu-ray.

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Ghosts of Mars follows 200 years in the future where a Martian police unit is dispatched to transport a dangerous prisoner from a mining outpost back to justice. But when the team arrives they find the town deserted and some of the inhabitants possessed by the former inhabitants of the planet.

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When the movie Ghosts of Mars first came out I was so excited and thrilled to see something with Ice Cube as an actor. He had already made a name for himself, but was always interesting seeing him grow as he took on different kinds of roles. It also started then relatively unknown Jason Statham and it was a fun movie that incorporated a lot of things I like:  sci-fi, thriller, action-adventure, zombies, some gun fights and great action scenes.

 

So now with this new release, I wanted to go back and see if I would still be as excited and happy to watch this film. Because for the past 18 years, it had lived in my mind as a great movie that was always fun to watch.  Well time isn’t always kind, and instead of this film being ‘great’ like I remembered, it was merely good. The performances are still good and the story well crafted. But the effects of the time don’t hold up as well as I would have hoped. 

 

When the actual ‘Ghosts are Mars’ are moving around it’s a bit unclear what is actually happening and the movement of their shadowy figures aren’t very good. It’s a bit fuzzy and hard to see. But in reality, I’m watching for the fight and action sequences and those are still fine. 

 

If you’re a fan of Ice Cube or Jason Statham then this should be on your list!