Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
35
(26 sources)
35
(26 sources)
-
80
LA Weekly
It's cheap thrills all the way, served up with the kind of situational purity that only Carpenter seems to care for these days. It's that simple and that much fun. Read Full Review » -
80
New Times (L.A.)
Rife with silliness, such as the flashbacks within flashbacks of characters who were not with one another at the time, and occasional unintentional laughs -- but it's also a good, raucous kick in the behind, which is literally all it aspires to be Read Full Review » -
75
Chicago Sun-Times
A brawny space opera, transplanting the conventions of Western, cop and martial arts films to the Red Planet. Read Full Review » -
63
Chicago Tribune
Carpenter writes his own scripts -- here with past collaborator Larry Sulkis -- and their "Ghosts" screenplay lacks the density, character and humor of a Hollywood genre classic. Read Full Review » -
60
Salon.com
It might be nice if Ghosts of Mars had more to offer than snappy repartee and shameless gore, or if it could borrow a little narrative tension from its Alien Chain Saw forebears. Read Full Review » -
50
Washington Post
For those so inclined, it's nice to see the girl and the gangsta -- not the gunslinger -- save the day. Read Full Review » -
42
-
42
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
A redundancy, and a bore. The characters are harrowingly unsympathetic, the action sequences are by-the-numbers, and Carpenter's usual saving grace -- his sense of humor -- is nowhere in evidence. Read Full Review » -
40
Los Angeles Times
Carpenter's heart doesn't seem to be in this lackluster space adventure set in 2176. What's more, his stars -- Natasha Henstridge and Ice Cube -- don't exactly energize the proceedings. Read Full Review » -
40
Village Voice
Written, directed, and edited with the offhand shoddiness of a day worker thinking about his evening beer. Read Full Review » -
40
TV Guide
Bad enough that the plot is shopworn, but the tough-gal talk is unintentionally hilarious, and the complicated narrative structure is annoying and pointless. Read Full Review » -
38
Charlotte Observer
It starts as enjoyable B-movie pulp, degenerates to camp, then turns into laughable lunacy. Read Full Review » -
38
Philadelphia Inquirer
While this cheesy, heavy-metal melange of horror, space hooey and cowboy shoot-'em-ups isn't exactly dull, it isn't anything to write home about either. Read Full Review » -
30
-
30
-
25
New York Post
A deep disappointment to fans of sci-fi and the once great John Carpenter. Read Full Review » -
25
-
25
-
25
New York Daily News
I have an idea for a Mars movie. When our first astronauts step onto the Red Planet, they discover that Martians not only exist but that they've hired Johnnie Cochran to represent them in a massive defamation suit against American filmmakers. Read Full Review » -
25
San Francisco Chronicle
A tired and dispiriting affair that takes forever to get going. Read Full Review » -
25
Miami Herald
A horror/sci-fi/action mishmash that aims to be the kind of brainless timekiller once used to round out the bottom of a double bill at the drive-in. Read Full Review » -
25
Christian Science Monitor
Carpenter pulls out all the action-adventure stops, but he and coscripter Larry Sulkis forgot to write dialogue the audience could listen to without howling in disbelief. Read Full Review » -
20
Austin Chronicle
It keeps you off balance, all right, but not enough to obscure the sad fact that Ghosts of Mars is a muddled, derivative disaster straight on through. Read Full Review » -
20
-
20
-
20
Variety
This deliberately pre-'90s slice of rock 'n' roll-tinged sci-fi horror, decorated with anything but the latest in special effects, seems particularly grungy and marginal. Read Full Review »
You Say
click on a star to rate
