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Our nearest planetary neighbour presents a kind of paradox: close enough to be accessible and knowable, far enough away to be mysterious and hidden. Early films in this sub-genre played on the belief that Mars was inhabited, and on real fears that we would be invaded. This concern underscored the success of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds - the subject of at least 3 film versions, and an inspiration for many others. It's easy then to make a connection between the red flag of the Communists and the red planet, especially when the post WWII Cold War provided a number of paranoia/invasion-themed efforts. However, some of cinema's Martian visitors have been benign, and many of the visitors have been humans going to Mars. Post Berlin Wall, the Mars films trailed off. The next series will, I suspect, be based around real scientific exploration and human colonisation.
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A Trip to Mars (produced by Thomas Edison [pictured], USA, 1910)
A scientist creates an anti-gravity potion which makes him float to Mars, where he has adventures. A 4 minute film which is reputed to be a re-edit of footage from Georges Méliès 1902 film, Le Voyage dans la Lune (more here).
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A Message From Mars (J. Wallett Waller, UK, 1913)
Adaptation of Richard Ganthony's stage play (pictured) about a benign Martian who visits Earth to save humans from themselves. A theme later adopted for The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). Remade in the USA in 1921.
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Pawns of Mars (Theodore Marston, USA, 1915)
A cheat for this list. 'Mars' here refers to the god of war in this anti-arms-race film about a battle between two nations.
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Aelita: Queen of Mars (Jakov Protozanov, USSR, 1924)
A visually impressive film about a man who flees to Mars and falls in love with the queen, Aelita. Alternative title: Aelita: Revolt of the Robots. More here. |
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Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (Ford Beebe & Robert F. Hill, USA, 1938)
Larry 'Buster' Crabbe stars again in this second Saturday morning chapter-play outing for the comic-book hero.
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Flight to Mars (Lesley Selander, USA, 1951)
A crash landing on Mars brings human astronauts in conflict with the Martian inhabitants, who want to use the Earth ship to escape from their dying planet. Not a rip-off of Destination Moon (1950), but certainly some familiar design elements.
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Flying Disc Man from Mars (Fred C. Brannon, USA 1951)
A Martian arrives on Earth, repairs his ship and prepares for Martian invasion. Cold War paranoia fare very similar to the director's own 1945 film The Purple Monster Strikes.
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Red Planet Mars (Harry Homer, USA 1952)
A heady mix of religion and politics in this anti-Communist allegory.
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Invaders from Mars (William Cameron Menzies, USA 1953)
Classic 'golden era' Cold War paranoia fare from the director of the British classic Things to Come. |
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Devil Girl from Mars (David MacDonald, UK, 1954)
The eponymous visitor arrives on Earth to find men to take home and breed with! |
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The Angry Red Planet [aka: Invasion of Mars] (Ib Melchoir, USA, 1960)
Astronauts travel to Mars to fight the bug-eyed monsters in this B-movie. |
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The Day Mars Invaded Earth (Maury Dexter, USA, 1962)
Martians take over the mind and body of humans in preparation for a Martian invasion. Invasion of the Body Snatchers inspired Cold War paranoia fare, with War of the Worlds thrown in.
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I Marziani Hanno Dodici Mani [aka: The Twelve Handed Men of Mars] (Franco Castellano & G. Pipola, Italy/Spain, 1964)
Inter-planetary immigration begets comedy when aliens arrive on Earth looking for a better life. |
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Robinson Crusoe on Mars (Byron Haskin, USA, 1964)
Co-written by Ib Melchoir - who had a go at Mars in 1960 - this version of Daniel Defoe's classic pits a US astronaut against the Martian elements. An alien slave ship brings his 'Man Friday'.
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Mars Needs Women (Larry Buchanan, USA, 1966)
A reversal of Devil Girl from Mars (1954). This time Martian men arrive to find human women to take home and breed with. |
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Mission Mars (Nick Webster, USA 1968)
1968 film makers are looking beyond the 'race to the moon' to the next challenge. US astronauts land on Mars to discover a frozen Russian cosmonaut and a mmysterious orb.
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Invaders from Mars (T. Hooper, M. Golan & Y. Globus, USA, 1986)
Remake of the 1953 classic, with an added alien science teacher. |
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Mars Attacks! (Tim Burton, USA 1996)
Often outrageous Technicolor comedy satire based on the trading card series. |
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Mission to Mars (Brian de Palma, USA, 2000)
Shades of 2001. A rescue mission to Mars discovers one astronaut alive, and a mysterious 'dome of knowledge'. |
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Ghosts of Mars (John Carpenter, USA, 2001)
True to form, Carpenter straddles science fiction and horror. Mars colonists seek rescue when their base is threatened by parasitic ghosts. Not dissimilar to Aliens (1986) and very close to Terrore Nello Spazio [aka: Demon Planet] (1965). |
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There are of course many science fiction films which feature Mars without having Mars in the title. The best known of these is perhaps Total Recall (1990 & 2012). Others include Capricorn One (1977), Battle Beyond the Sun (1963), Meshte Nastreshu (USSR, 1963), El Conquistador de la Luna (Mexico, 1960), Niebo Zowiet (USSR, 1959), It! The Terror from Beyond Space (USA, 1958), Conquest of Space (USA, 1955), Zombies of the Stratosphere (USA, 1952), Just Imagine (USA, 1930), and Radio Mania [aka: M.A.R.S.] (USA, 1923). The 1917 Danish film Himmelskibet, possibly the first real example of epic space-opera, sometimes goes under the title A Trip to Mars.
More pub quiz lists to follow, when time allows...
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