History Film / MarsAttacks

* AdaptationExpansion: The series had multiple story lines which expanded the universe beyond the original comic series.

''Mars Attacks!'' was originally a trading card series from Topps published in the early [[TheSixties sixties]]. Created by Wally Wood, the series depicted an AlienInvasion of evil Martians colonizing Earth and exterminating all life on the planet in the style of Creator/ECComics horror and science fiction stories at the time. The series was quickly discontinued due to MoralGuardians who were horrified by the series' violence. In the 80s, another serie so fcards with a similair premise ws released, known as ''TabletopGame/DinosaursAttack''. In the 90s the property would resurface in the form of new trading cards and a comic series. A movie soon followed.

* Subverted with Billy-Glen assembling a rifle blindfolded. It's implied that the same rifle he assembled was the one that wouldn't fire when he tried to shoot a Martian during their first attack.

* ChekhovsSkill: Byron's kids are seen early in the movie shooting the aliens in a video game. Guess what happens later on? [[spoiler:During their field trip in the White House they are attacked and they save the day by taking some Martian guns and saving the president. Whether this is a good or bad thing is your decision.]]

* ChekhovsHobby: Jerry the press secretary is seen early on trolling for hookers in his limo; this habit comes back to bite him (and the planet Earth) when the next babe he picks up turns out to be a Martian assassin.

''Mars Attacks!'' was originally a trading card series from Topps published in the early [[TheSixties sixties]]. Created by Wally Wood, the series depicted an AlienInvasion of evil Martians colonizing Earth and exterminating all life on the planet in the style of Creator/ECComics horror and science fiction stories at the time. The series was quickly discontinued due to MoralGuardians who were horrified by the series' violence, but a follow up series, ''TabletopGame/DinosaursAttack'' was created, and in the 90s the property would resurface in the form of new trading cards and a comic series. A movie soon followed.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Byron Williams, while he is a boxer, he's pretty much a NiceGuy who just wants to go home and see if his wife and kids are okay, [[PapaWolf especially when there are Martians attacking.]] He prefers to leave his fighting in the ring, but has often broken this rule to defend his friends in UsefulNotes/LasVegas. The first time, he just knocks a Martian headfirst into a slot machine. The second time, he challenges the Martian ambassador to a one-on-one fist fight, to distract them from his friends escaping via plane [[spoiler: defeating the Ambassador at the cost of his life when dozens of the Ambassador's guards swarm him and beat him down]]. [[spoiler:However, we later see him arriving home to see his family, implying he managed to defeat the group.]]

* {{Goth}}: Taffy Dale seems to conform to this, as her EstablishingCharacterMoment is her accepting a meal from the White House butler while lying on her bed under a long black mesh canopy, shown wearing black clothes, and being a DeadpanSnarker (see above) when the aliens blew up Congress. [[spoiler: She seems to push away from that personality, or at least is putting on a politician's demeanor, when [[ArtisticLicenseMilitary awarding the Medal of Honor to the two civilian heros]] of the war; as she seems to be the only surviving member of what's left of the US Government.]]

* HandshakeOfDoom: President Dale finds himself cornered by the Martian Leader, and manages to stammer out a rather clumsy Patrick Stewart Speech that actually seems to get through to the Leader - enough to get him to offer his hand in friendship. Thinking he's ended the war, the President shakes the Leader's outstretched hand... [[spoiler: only for it to abruptly detach and crawl across Dale like a scorpion, before impaling him with its "stinger". As if to add insult to injury, the arm then transforms into a flagpole and raises the Martian flag over Dale's corpse.]]

''Mars Attacks!'' was originally a trading card series from Topps published in the early [[TheSixties sixties]]. Created by Wally Wood, the series depicted an AlienInvasion of evil Martians colonizing Earth and exterminating all life on the planet in the style of Creator/ECComics horror and science fiction stories at the time. The series was quickly discontinued due to MoralGuardians who were horrified by the series' violence, but would later resurface in the form of new trading cards and a comic series. A movie soon followed.

* KillItWithFire: Card 35 features soldiers who figure out that even BigCreepyCrawlies are vulnerable to fire, and use flamethrowers to fight back.

* CrossThrough: In January 2013 IDW had the Martians individually attack the Franchise/{{Transformers}}, ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}, WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters[[note]]Yes, they do specifically mean the animated series of that name, not any other incarnation of [[Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}} the franchise]].[[/note]], ''Zombies vs. Robots'', and... Music/{{KISS}}.

The 1996 movie adaptation was directed by Creator/TimBurton and depicted gleefully destructive Martians animated by Creator/IndustrialLightAndMagic as opposed to the more violent and terrifying versions seen in the trading cards or comics. Notable for its all-star EnsembleCast, including Creator/JackNicholson, Creator/LukasHaas, Creator/AnnetteBening, [[UsefulNotes/NFLOffensivePlayers Jim Brown]], Creator/PierceBrosnan, Creator/SarahJessicaParker, Creator/GlennClose, Creator/MartinShort, Creator/RodSteiger, Creator/MichaelJFox, Creator/JackBlack, Creator/NataliePortman [[note]]Do not confuse the below examples of Natalie the character with her[[/note]], Creator/PamGrier, Creator/DannyDeVito, Music/TomJones, Creator/FrankWelker and Creator/JackNicholson (again). HilarityEnsues as most of them are jokingly killed off with bizarre weaponry as cheesily as possible. Despite underperforming at the box office and getting a tepid critical reception at the time, the film has developed a modest [[CultClassic cult following]] since its release [[VindicatedByCable through frequent TV showings]], and it's now [[VindicatedByHistory widely considered one of Burton's best films]].

* KillEmAll: Put it this way; out of the top '''nine''' cast members, [[spoiler:Annette Bening is the only one who survives]]. Burton, told that he couldn't kill Nicholson's character, gave him two characters (Art Land and the President)... and killed [[spoiler:''both'' of them.]]

* PacifismBackfire: The U.S. tries twice to make peaceful contact with the Martians. The first time, the Martian ambassador and his soldiers [[CurbStompBattle wipe out the U.S. Army forces at the meeting site]]. The second time the Martian ambassador asks to address Congress. While he's doing so he and his soldiers [[KillEmAll destroy everyone there]]. Later on the French government tries the diplomatic approach: not surprisingly [[RuleOfThree it ends in a bloodbath]].

* ImprovisedWeaponUser: Marsha Dale throws the skull of their dog at the alien assassin who infiltrated the White House, moments after the dog was killed.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Byron Williams, while he is a boxer, he's pretty much a NiceGuy who just wants to go home and see if his wife and kids are okay, [[PapaWolf especially when there are Martians attacking.]] He prefers to leave his fighting in the ring, but has often broken this rule to defend his friends in UsefulNotes/LasVegas. The first time, he just knocks a Martian headfirst into a slot machine. The second time, he challenges the Martian ambassador to a one-on-one fist fight, to distract them from his friends escaping via plane. [[spoiler:Even though we think his efforts killed him, we later see him arriving home to see his family.]]

* EarthShatteringKaboom: The Martians' whole impetus for invading Earth is that "atomic pressure" within Mars will destroy it very soon and Earth is the nearest planet they can escape to.

* DeadpanSnarker: Taffy's response to the Martians shooting Congress is an extremely dry "Guess it wasn't the dove".

* EntertaininglyWrong: The Martians were always going to attack humanity, but accidentally hitting their BerserkButton(birds) before the first attack made everyone think it was just PoorCommunicationKills.

* {{Gorn}}: The cards' major selling point.

* PlotTumor: The Martians ''vanish'' from the cards in favor of the giant insects around #27.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: When a Martian steps into a giant mech suit, his wife throws him a lunch box and waves him off like he's going to work.

The 1996 movie adaptation was directed by Creator/TimBurton and depicted gleefully destructive Martians animated by Creator/IndustrialLightAndMagic as opposed to the more violent and terrifying versions seen in the trading cards or comics. Notable for its all-star EnsembleCast, including Creator/JackNicholson, Creator/LukasHaas, Creator/AnnetteBening, [[UsefulNotes/NFLOffensivePlayers Jim Brown]], Creator/PierceBrosnan, Creator/SarahJessicaParker, Creator/GlennClose, Creator/MartinShort, Creator/RodSteiger, Creator/MichaelJFox, Creator/JackBlack, Creator/NataliePortman [[note]]Do not confuse the below examples of Natalie the character with her[[/note]], Creator/PamGrier, Creator/DannyDeVito, Music/TomJones, Creator/FrankWelker and Creator/JackNicholson (again). HilarityEnsues as most of them are jokingly killed off with bizarre weaponry as cheesily as possible. Was not very popular with critics or audiences at the time of its release, probably because they didn't get the joke. Has now become [[CultClassic a cult favorite]] of the movie viewers community. The Martians also appeared in the Walmart ad "Famous Visitors" for Super Bowl LIV in 2020 that has them [[VillainsOutShopping ordering pick-up]].

* ActorAllusion: Pierce Brosnan and Joe Don Baker ([[Film/{{GoldenEye}} James Bond and Jack Wade, respectively]]) in the same movie again.

In 2012, Creator/IDWPublishing launched a new ongoing ''Mars Attacks!'' comic series. This later led into a {{crossthrough}} event where, in one-shots, the Martians attacked such characters as ''ComicBook/TheTransformers'', Music/{{KISS}} and even ''Franchise/{{Popeye}}''.

The 1996 movie adaptation was directed by Creator/TimBurton and depicted gleefully destructive Martians animated by Creator/IndustrialLightAndMagic as opposed to the more violent and terrifying versions seen in the trading cards or comics. Notable for its all-star EnsembleCast, including Creator/JackNicholson, Creator/LukasHaas, Creator/AnnetteBening, [[UsefulNotes/NFLOffensivePlayers Jim Brown]], Creator/PierceBrosnan, Creator/SarahJessicaParker, Creator/GlennClose, Creator/MartinShort, [[Film/InTheHeatOfTheNight Rod Steiger]], Creator/MichaelJFox, Creator/JackBlack, Creator/NataliePortman [[note]]Do not confuse the below examples of Natalie the character with her[[/note]], Creator/PamGrier, Creator/DannyDeVito, Music/TomJones, Creator/FrankWelker and Creator/JackNicholson (again). HilarityEnsues as most of them are jokingly killed off with bizarre weaponry as cheesily as possible. Was not very popular with critics or audiences at the time of its release, probably because they didn't get the joke. Has now become [[CultClassic a cult favorite]] of the movie viewers community. The Martians also appeared in the Walmart ad "Famous Visitors" for Super Bowl LIV in 2020 that has them [[VillainsOutShopping ordering pick-up]].

The 1996 movie adaptation was directed by Creator/TimBurton and depicted gleefully destructive Martians animated by Creator/IndustrialLightAndMagic as opposed to the more violent and terrifying versions seen in the trading cards or comics. Notable for its all-star EnsembleCast, including Creator/JackNicholson, Lukas Haas, Creator/AnnetteBening, [[UsefulNotes/NFLOffensivePlayers Jim Brown]], Creator/PierceBrosnan, Creator/SarahJessicaParker, Creator/GlennClose, Creator/MartinShort, Creator/MichaelJFox, Creator/JackBlack, Creator/NataliePortman [[note]]Do not confuse the below examples of Natalie the character with her[[/note]], Creator/PamGrier, Creator/DannyDeVito, Music/TomJones, Creator/FrankWelker and Creator/JackNicholson (again). HilarityEnsues as most of them are jokingly killed off with bizarre weaponry as cheesily as possible. Was not very popular with critics or audiences at the time of its release, probably because they didn't get the joke. Has now become [[CultClassic a cult favorite]] of the movie viewers community. The Martians also appeared in the Walmart ad "Famous Visitors" for Super Bowl LIV in 2020 that has them [[VillainsOutShopping ordering pick-up]].

* CelebritySurvivor: Singer Music/TomJones (AsHimself), and last but not least, Byron Williams, [[PunctuatedForEmphasis HEAVYWEIGHT! CHAMPION!]] [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome OF THE WORLD!]]

* FemmeFataleSpy: The Martians send out a spy in a woman suit to infiltrate the White House and try to assassinate the President. It almost works because of the IdiotPlot.

** The final scene on the Capitol steps to the final scene in ''Franchise/StarWars Episode IV Film/ANewHope''. Becomes incredibly HilariousInHindsight because Natalie Portman went on to play Queen Amidala in the prequel trilogy, where she plays the same role in paying homage to the same scene.

* JerkassHasAPoint: General Decker was quite right to not trust the Martians, but this gets subverted when he pleads to use nuclear warheads that turn out to be useless. FridgeLogic comes into play when you realize, had the President listened to Decker and used the warheads much earlier, the Martians would've probably invaded much faster.

* NukeEm: Attempted against the Martians, but fails massively. The Martians actually capture the explosive force of the nuke, and smoke it! They actually get high on radioactive explosives. This is both funny and badass. It gives them ''helium voices''. FridgeBrilliance kicks in when you remember that nuclear fusion produces helium.

* PunctuatedForEmphasis: "It's ME! Byron WILLIAMS! [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome HEAVYWEIGHT! CHAMPION! OF THE WORLD!]]"

* StrippedToTheBone: The effect of the Martian DisintegratorRay. Colorized, too. Possible FridgeBrilliance with the color effect: the Martians may be keeping score.