Mars Attacks - Features and humour
...all odds and just when it seems like Earth will be annihilated an unlikely hero appearing and saving the day. The unlikely hero in this case is Richie Norris, a country bumpkin, who finds out that a certain song "The Indian Love call" is what kills the aliens and then he broadcasts it over the entire nation. It is definitely not a predictable movie. This film is a darkly humorous send up of and affectionate homage to B-grade sci-fi epics of the 1950s, especially those of Ed Wood. The whole film is a parody of these early sci-fi films and it is filmed with satirical humour in mind. Like all alien invasion epics, Mars Attacks! follows a variety of characters and how they cope with a hostile Martian invasion. There are parodies shown of the serious patriotic speech given by the president. President Dale has his big speech to the nation when the aliens, in his case Martians, are spotted. In a singularly trite address, he proclaims to his people, "It is profoundly moving to know there is intelligent life out there." When the Martians land, everyone assumes that they are friendly. After the Martian Ambassador makes a circular motion, Richie says, "Wow, he made the international sign of the donut." When the Martians vaporize the entire congress, the not unpleased President says, "I want the people to know that they still have two out of three branches of government and that ain't bad." This satirical style affects the presentation on the sci-fi features making them more humorous than would normally be seen in a sci-fi movie. For those of the audience who don't realise that this is a parody, the majority of jokes, will probably be misunderstood as a sad attempt at humour, but for the initiated this film will be seen as a parody and tribute to the first sci-fi films. One technique used is music. It is used in speeches to compliment the over acting and over the top patriotism of the speech. It is used when the UFO's arrive and for battle scenes in order to build up the tension of the scene or what a character is about to do. Music also plays a large role in it as it is the "Indian Love call" which eventually saves the day and rescues Earth from total destruction. The cast and the acting they use also contribute to the satiricalness of the film. Overacting by all mem...