Mars Attacks! (1996)

Based on a set of cult favorite bubble gum trading cards from 1962, Mars Attacks! (1996) offers a campy look at space invaders as it tips its hat to such sci-fi classics as The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) and Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959). Under the direction of Tim Burton, this funny flick features an all-star cast including Annette Bening, Christina Applegate, Danny DeVito, Glenn Close, Jim Brown, Lisa Marie, Martin Short, Sarah Jessica Parker, Natalie Portman, Pam Grier, Paul Winfield, Pierce Brosnan, Rod Steiger, and Tom Jones. If that’s not impressive enough, composer Danny Elfman was given a Saturn Award for Best Original Score. The action kicks in when big-brained miniature Martians surround the Earth with a convoy of flying saucers. It’s up to U.S. President James Dale (Jack Nicholson) and a team of scientists to plan a monumental meeting with the mysterious beings. As the extraterrestrials announce in their native tongue that they come in peace, a cultural misunderstanding triggers a massacre of the human race. While the Earth undergoes a laser-shooting force, an unlikely young hero (Lukas Haas) and his grandmother (Sylvia Sidney in her final film role) discover a way to destroy the aggressive aliens. Even though the death toll is high, the nudity is near non-existent in this flick. At least, Billy Glenn Norris (Jack Black) bends over, slightly showing the top of his butt crack amid his army fatigues. This skintastic sight makes us think Mars Attacks! should have been called Uranus Attacks!