Our Verdict
Pros
- 4K remaster is a truly excellent improvement over all previous releases
- It's nice to finally get some bonus features...
Cons
- ... but the bonuses are woefully short
Should you buy it?
Following on from Tim Burton's 1994 passion biopic Ed Wood, the quirky director returned to familiar blockbuster ground with his next feature, based on the dark alien invasion Topps trading card series from the 1960's. Matching the dark humor of the property with Burton's sensibilities and cutting-edge computer graphics from Industrial Light and Magic seemed like a match made in heaven, but Mars Attacks landed on the wrong side of the more conventional alien invasion blockbuster Independence Day, with middling reviews and disappointing box-office returns. But as so often happens, audiences have now caught up with Burton's vision, which continues thanks to this wonderful 4K restoration.
When spaceships descend from Mars and land to worldwide applause, President James Dale (Jack Nicholson), scientist Professor Donald Kessler (Pierce Brosnan), and talk-show host Nathalie Lake (Sarah Jessica Parker) all attempt to capitalize on the momentous visit to push their own agendas. But even as the big-brained visitors declare they "come in peace" before disintegrating crowds with their ray guns, the alien invaders haven't accounted for mankind's secret weapon.
Thirty years on from its original release, Mars Attacks! serves as Tim Burton's most gleefully unhinged studio picture. It's a blockbuster-sized gag, part in-joke, part tribute to the pulp 50s sci-fi films of Burton's youth that treats presidents, celebrities, and flying saucers with equal parts comedy and mean-spirited nihilism, as it eagerly dispatches the majority of its A-list cast, including Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael J. Fox and Danny DeVito. Mars Attacks! now sits comfortably in Burton's filmography as a rare big-budget flop that got funnier, weirder, and more beloved with time.
Video
Mars Attacks! is presented in the original aspect ratio of 2.39:1 in the Rec. 2020 color space, finished with dynamic Dolby Vision and static HDR-10 high dynamic range formats and encoded with AVC H.265 compression.
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Hailing from a brand-new scan of the original camera and interpositive elements, Mars Attacks has been fully restored by Warner's in-house Motion Picture Imaging team and immediately annihilates all previous releases.
Produced at a time when digital compositing and computer graphics tools had matured, but before the establishment of digital intermediate pipelines, Mars Attacks mix of old and new tech is very deliberately part of its charm. Unsurprisingly, the first-generation camera elements look amazing and leap off the screen with some superb three-dimensionality. Shots with CG elements often demonstrate a slight dip in visible resolution and occasionally a shift in hue (likely having been exported in a different color space, as was common with ILM at the time); however, these are often smoothed out by way of the new color grading and HDR.
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Overall, this is a spectacular remaster that shows the film to its best capacity. I will be surprised if it's ever bested.
Frequently Asked Questions
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What changes does the new Dolby Atmos mix make to the film's original 5.1 soundtrack?
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What do the new featurettes cover about the film's production design and visual effects?
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Audio
Mars Attacks! is presented in a new Dolby Atmos mix, whilst also preserving the original theatrical 5.1 mix in DTS-HD Master Audio.
Making a distinct improvement on the previous surround mix, Warner has taken the track to a whole new level, whilst remaining true to the general mixing principles. Dialogue remains largely clear and prioritized amid the chaos, though the midrange can lack fine detail in the loudest passages. Channel separation is decent, but is often confined to the front soundstage. Low frequencies have been given a significant boost - to be honest, perhaps too much, as it veers toward overloading the balance. The aforementioned height surrounds support a whole bunch of appropriate activity, and it's pretty clear that the Atmos designers have had a lot of fun here. Danny Elfman's superb score is mixed well into the proceedings and isn't overshadowed by the sound effects for the most part.
Overall, a really nice improvement, even if the strong but rather imprecise low frequency was a bit much for my taste.
Extras
Unfortunately, with Warner Bros. choosing to release the film themselves, we're denied an elaborate special edition release that a boutique studio like Arrow or Shout! Factory would have produced. Even more crushing is the fact that the film has never been served well in previous DVD or Blu-ray releases. Still, perhaps we should be grateful for the two new featurettes, which collectively add up to 20 minutes of footage.
First up is Looking Back on Mars Attacks! which includes screenwriter Jonathon Gems recollecting his discovery of the Topps cards and gifting them to Burton, whilst Ack! Ack! Aesthetic take a look at the film's production design and visual effects elements, including a discussion of how some of the effects were achieved on a limited budget and even more limited technology. They're both nice and welcome, but way too short to engage with in the manner they're due.
