Read more about Ghosts Of Mars at: Wikipedia Official Site: Screen Gems John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars is a 2001 American science fiction action horror film composed, written, and directed by John Carpenter. The film stars Ice Cube, Natasha Henstridge, Jason Statham, Pam Grier, Clea DuVall, and Joanna Cassidy. The film was a critical and financial failure, garnering only a 20% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and $14 million from a $28 million budget. Set in the second half of the 22nd century, the film depicts Mars as a planet that has been 84% terraformed, allowing humans to walk on the surface without wearing pressure suits. The Martian society has become largely matriarchal, with women in most positions of authority. The story concerns a police officer, Melanie Ballard (Natasha Henstridge), second in command of a small team alongside Sergeant Jericho (Jason Statham) sent to pick up and transport a prisoner named Desolation Williams (Ice Cube). Arriving at the remote mining town where Williams is being held, Ballard finds virtually all of the people missing. She learns that the miners had discovered an underground doorway created by an ancient Martian civilization. When the door was opened it released "ghosts," disembodied spirits which possessed the miners. Violence ensues, as the possessed miners commit horrific acts of death and destruction, as well as self-mutilation. With their team leader Helena Bradock (Pam Grier) murdered, Ballard must fight off the attacking miners, escape the town, and destroy the ghosts, if possible. Unfortunately, her intentions are complicated by the fact that killing a possessed human merely releases the Martian spirit to possess another human. The team eventually decides to blow up a nuclear reactor to try and vaporize all of the ghosts. At several points in the film Sergeant Jericho shows a romantic interest in Ballard, mostly unreciprocated. Ballard's crew along with survivors who manage to gather in the jail are eventually wiped out by the miners after many fierce battles and events (including Ballard's almost being possessed but fighting the ghost off and seeing its memories and motives), leaving only her and Williams after Sergeant Jericho and the other remaining officers and the two operators of the train are killed upon returning from a brief retreat to finish the fight. Not wanting the authorities to blame the massacre on him, he handcuffs Ballard to her cot and escapes from the train, leaving her to return home and deliver her report, which is received with skepticism by her superiors. While Ballard recuperates at a hospital, the released spirits, who weren't destroyed after all, attack the city. The end scene sets the movie up for a sequel as Williams returns to team up with Ballard to fight the possessed.
Ghosts Of Mars has not been a contender in any CBUB matches.
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