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When we think of films about Mars, the first image in our minds is usually that of poorly costumed aliens emerging from a lazily smoking cardboard spaceship, kind of horrifying a mixed crowd of over acting second string movie stars and confused extras. But films are not just movies, and science fiction films are not all poorly done or poorly acted. The films here cover everything from shorts to features, B-movies to award winners, fiction to documentary.

Films are will eventually be organized by subject, but for now, just by title.

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Title Author Publisher Year Published Notes
Abbott and Costello Go to Mars. Lamont, Charles director. Universal. 1953 Comedy. The famous team heads for Mars, but only go to Mardi Gras and Venus.
Angry Red Planet. Melchior, Ib director. Sino. 1959 A manned mission returns to Earth with only half it's crew, and one of those infected with some Martian germ. Many monsters and isolationist Martians.
Capricorn One. Hyams, Peter director. Capricorn One Associates. 1977 US cover up of a fake Mars mission, with a surprising number of stars. OJ Simpson is one of the stars, but he has done worse acting.
Flash Gordon: Mars Attacks the World. Beebe, Ford and Robert Hills, directors. Universal 1938 Edited version of the second Flash Gordon serial. Buster Crabbe at his martial Martian best, duking it out with Min and the Queen of Mars.
Flight to Mars. Selander, Lesley director. Monogram Pictures 1951 Humans travel to Mars, find human-like Martians. The bad ones want to conquer Earth for her resources, the good ones help the humans stop the plan.
Invaders from Mars. Hooper, Tobe director. Canon. 1986 Well done remake of the 1953 film. Martians land in a field and start takign over the local populace with inserts into their neck. The Army saves the day before the boy wakes up and thinks it was all a dream.
Invaders from Mars. Menzies, William Cameron director. National Pictures 1953 Martians land in a field and start takign over the local populace with inserts into their neck. The Army saves the day before the boy wakes up and thinks it was all a dream.
It! The Terror from Beyond Space. Cahn, Edward L. director. Vogue Pictures. 1958 Supposedly a real howler. Takes place in the year 1973, when a Mars mission is attacked by a seemingly indestructible Martian monster, who then stows away on their ship.
Lobster Man from Mars. Sheff, Stanley, director. Electric Pictures. 1989 A movie about making a B-flick Martian invasion movie.
Mars Attacks! Burton, Tim director. Warner Brothers 1996 Based on a set of 1950's trading cards, a comical but deadly Martian invasion drops in on Earth, only to be stopped by Slim Whitman.
Mars Needs Women. Buchanan, Larry director. Azalea Pictures 1966 Comedy. All you need to know is in the title. At least 0ne rock band used the name.
Martians Go Home. Odell, David director. Taurus. 1990 Comedy. A song writer inadvertantly gets millions of little green men to visit, albeit non-violently, and has to figure a way to send them home.
Mission Mars. Webster, Nicholas director. Saggitarius and Red Ram. 1968 A US expedition finds a frozen Russian cosmonaut and a talking ball of light.
Mission to Mars. De Palma, Brian, director. Touchstone. 2000 Contact is lost with a Mars mission, and another is sent to find out what happened, and it faces its own problems. A decent film, but aliens abound at the end.
Mission to Mars. Goeske, Fred , Bret Michaels and Shane Stanley producers. Sheen Michaels Entertainment. 1997 Charlie sheen narrates a decent documentary about exploration and life on Mars.
Project Shadowchaser III. John Eyres, director New Line. 1995 A flying dutchman-like spaceship collides with a communications station over Mars.
Ray Bradbury's Chronicles: the Martian Episodes. Various directors. Atlantis Films 1985 A collection of 5 shorts from TV's Ray Bradbury Theater. Better than the TV miniseries.
Red Planet. Hoffman, Anthony. director. Mars Production, NPV, Village. 2000 A crippled orbiting spacecraft and an exploration mission hunted by their own malfuntioning war robot.
Red Planet Mars. Horner, Harry director. United Artists 1952 God, from Mars, tells the world that communists can't be trusted.
Robinson Crusoe on Mars. Haskin, Byron, director. Paramount 1964 Haskins' last Mars film. A stranded astronuat and his monkey have to burn rocket for oxygen, and pick up an alien Friday from some slave traders for good measure.
Rocketship X-M. Neumann, Kurt director. Lippert Pictures. 1950 A malfuctioning moon shot lands on mars, finds post atomic war Martians.
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.
MCA Universal. 2002 Comedy. Bad. Martian kids see Santa on Terran tv, and the parents take steps accordingly.
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. Webster, Nicholas director. Avco. 1964 Comedy. Well, if they HAD to be conquered, at least they got a conqueror who gives decent gifts. martians kidnap santa because their kids don't get presents.
The Alpha Incident. Rebane, Bill director. Studio Film international. 1977 A growing Martian microbe gets out of hand on Earth.
The Conquest of Space. Haskins, Byron director. Paramount. 1955 Haskins' second film about Mars. The first Mars mission comes up against the captain's religion. Inspired by Ley's book and Bonistell's illustrations.
The Martian Chronicles Parts I-III. Anderson, Michael director. BBC, Charles Fries. 1979 Made for TV miniseries adaptation of Ray Bradbury's work. Good group of stars are in it.
Total Recall. Verhoeven, Paul director. Carolco, Tri-star. 1990 A man has his mind wiped by an evil governmental administration, and goes to Mars where his memories start returning.
War of the Worlds. Haskin, Byron director. paramount. 1953 The first of Haskin's Mars films. Set in the US, the film draws more from Welles than Wells.

 

last updated 23 Aug 2003 jea