Mars Attacks! From Space!

It's been a while since I have seen the original Mars Attacks! and Reave's edit was a welcome excuse to revisit Burton's crazy movie. This edit is extremely well edited. The pacing is much better than the original which got dragged down by a huge ensemble of characters.

This edit was a joy - while watching i tried remembering all the scenes I found funny or scenes that stuck with me. And every time I thought Reave would cut this he found a way to incorporate it.

For example the death of Jack Black's character with the american flag. Even though he has a much bigger backstory he more or less is a one-note character and works fine as he is now - an incompetent fool who has joined the army.
Many characters who get introduced earlier in the original are still there but get introduced much quicker via throwaway lines and because almost every character is a caricature it is not important to spend too much time with them as they are mostly there to deliver punchlines

I found almost no flaws in the editing other than I expected the Byron Williams character and the DeVito character to reappear because they were introduced when the martians arrived.

other than that I loved this edit a lot and will probably rewatch it the next time i am in the mood for "ack ack ack ack ack ack"

I remember when the original commercials played promoting MARS ATTACKS back in 1996, coming on the heels of Independence Day -- it looked like a wild ride and I soooooo wanted to like this movie. But when I finally saw it in the theatre, I left very disappointed. The original is a bloated mess of lunacy with no one at the rudder. There are moments of brilliant satire and humor, but often it is lost with Tim Burton going too far over the top, almost showing off without any regard to the audience's intelligence.

Reave's fan edit is a definite improvement over the original. The story is much more focused and better paced, and the humor plays stronger. It is still a lunatic of a movie. You definitely need to be in the right frame of mind to thoroughly enjoy it. I have often wondered if the madness ( and 1950s homages) would play better if the movie had been Black and White?

Technically, the fan edit is perfect. Perfect audio and video. Excellent cuts. In terms of entertainment, as remarkable as this edit is, some of the material still does not work for me. It a very uneven fare for me. But humor is very subjective. I still whole heartedly recommend this fan edit, especially for the hard core Tim Burton fans and lovers of campy schlock.

Thumbs up.

I like Mars attacks, but for such a short film, on repeated viewings it feels far longer than it actually is.

Reave gives us a no nonsense (well mostly nonsense free) version that I enjoyed throughly. Exposition for characters who mostly die anyway are minimalised bringing the Martians and main characters to the foreground. I would nitpick about the sudden appearance of two boys who start shooting, but why would being an Expert in some arcade game make you proficient with real weaponry? so I don't mind that scene not being there. Also there was no Tom Jones as far as I could see but his name was in the credits, otherwise I am still nitpicking as he definitely wasn't missed, unless he had a brief scene in which I didn't notice him, which is to suggest he may have literally been missed by me.

The film is a little short now, but I think it feels like the right length and it feels more like a homage to old 50's sci fi than Burtons original version.

9/10 from me.

I'm afraid I can't be quite as eloquent as Neglify, but anyway. I was never that big of a fan of Mars Attacks! because, despite great visual designs and some funny moments, I found it to be all over the place. I, however, loved every minute of this version. It's much more to the point, much more centered on satire, and much more fun and funny. Technical aspects are perfect. 10/10 in all cathegories.

Ack ack ack. Ack ack. Ack! Ack ack! Ack. Ack ack ack, ack ack ack ack ack. Ack ack ack ack ack, ack ack ack ack ack; ack ack. Ack--ack ack--ack ack ack ack, ack ack ack, ack!

Ack ack - 10/10
Ack ack - 10/10
Ack ack - 10/10
Ack ack - 10/10
Ack Ack - 10/10

Ack ack? Ack!