History Film / GhostsOfMars

* SaltAndPepper: Develops in the second half, and implied even more strongly in the last scene. Straightlaced, blonde cop Melanie teams up with wisecracking, black criminal Desolation Williams to kick ass and fight Martian zombies.

It's 2176 and UsefulNotes/{{Mars}} has been [[{{Terraform}} terraformed]] to have a breathable atmosphere by some [[LadyLand matriarchal]] mining corporation. A crack-squad of SpacePolice consisting of Melanie Ballard (Creator/NatashaHenstridge), Jericho Butler (Creator/JasonStatham), Bashira Kincaid (Creator/CleaDuVall) and Helena Braddock (Creator/PamGrier) is sent to relocate notorious criminal James "Desolation" Williams (Music/IceCube), only to discover that half the colony has been [[DemonicPossession possessed]] by the spirits of the alien race that used to inhabit Mars [[SealedEvilInACan which were released via a scientific excavation]], causing them to transform into a clan of sadomasochistic self-mutilating punk savages that look as if they're auditioning as extras for ''Film/TheRoadWarrior'' and which murdered the other half. The rest of the movie is spent fighting them off.

* DeathIsDramatic: Averted; whenever any of them main characters get killed (which happens quite often) the camera doesn't focus on any of it, instead merely panning to the rest of the action. None of their deaths receive any more attention than that of a typical Mook.

* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Averted. Martian society is matriarchal, as is their police force. The savages also have a fair number of women among their ranks, and on both sides of the battle, the women die just as gruesomely and with no more fanfare than the men.

* [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Proud Warrior Race Guys]]: From Melanie's hallucination, it looks as if the extinct aliens were this.

It's 2176 and UsefulNotes/{{Mars}} has been [[{{Terraform}} terraformed]] to have a breathable atmosphere by some [[LadyLand matriarchal]] mining corporation. A crack-squad of SpacePolice consisting of Melanie Ballard (Creator/NatashaHenstridge), Jericho Butler (Creator/JasonStatham), Bashira Kincaid (Creator/CleaDuvall) and Helena Braddock (Creator/PamGrier) is sent to relocate notorious criminal James "Desolation" Williams (Music/IceCube), only to discover that half the colony has been [[DemonicPossession possessed]] by the spirits of the alien race that used to inhabit Mars [[SealedEvilInACan which were released via a scientific excavation]], causing them to transform into a clan of sadomasochistic self-mutilating punk savages that look as if they're auditioning as extras for ''Film/TheRoadWarrior'' and which murdered the other half. The rest of the movie is spent fighting them off.

It's 2176 and UsefulNotes/{{Mars}} has been [[{{Terraform}} terraformed]] to have a breathable atmosphere by some [[LadyLand matriarchal]] mining corporation. A crack-squad of SpacePolice consisting of Melanie Ballard (Creator/NatashaHenstridge), Jericho Butler (Creator/JasonStatham), Bashira Kincaid (Clea Duvall) and Helena Braddock (Creator/PamGrier) is sent to relocate notorious criminal James "Desolation" Williams (Music/IceCube), only to discover that half the colony has been [[DemonicPossession possessed]] by the spirits of the alien race that used to inhabit Mars [[SealedEvilInACan which were released via a scientific excavation]], causing them to transform into a clan of sadomasochistic self-mutilating punk savages that look as if they're auditioning as extras for ''Film/TheRoadWarrior'' and which murdered the other half. The rest of the movie is spent fighting them off.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: "Desolation" Williams, Jericho.

* ChekhovsSkill: [[AwesomeMcCoolname Jericho]] has almost preternatural skill with locks. This comes in handy when the team has to [[spoiler: break into the nuclear power plant and blow it up]] at the climax.

''Ghosts of Mars'' is a 2001 sci-fi/action/horror film directed by Creator/JohnCarpenter.

* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Melanie escapes with only some "superficial injuries", consisting of one tiny scratch on her neck.
** ...and a gash on her leg that needed stitches.

* LadyLand: The human society on Mars is explicitly stated to be a matriarchy, and women are primarily seen in powerful positions. Doesn't stop the men from acting like machos, though.
** Presumably the men are CompensatingForSomething.

* TooDumbToLive: The team had a possessed man safely locked up in a jail cell. Bashira Kincaid decides to shoot him through the bars because "Fuck him, whatever the fuck he is". She does this despite the fact that it has already been established that killing the possessed only frees the possessing entity, rather than destroying it, thus allowing this particular one to [[spoiler: temporarily possess Melanie]].
** Also, shoutout to [[spoiler: Bashira again]], who ducks under the savages' razor-death-frisbees only to ''stand right back up again'' directly in their line of fire. Unsurprisingly, she gets decapitated.

* MomentKiller: Jericho manages to talk his way Melanie's pants, but Kincaid ruins the moment by killing the possessed prisoner.

* ScreamingWarrior: Big Daddy Mars, the martian leader. A LOT.

** ...and a gash on her leg that needed stiches.

* DwindlingParty: [[spoiler: While Braddock and Descanso are axed off by the miners, Ballard is solely responsible for unintentionally causing the deaths of the rest of her teammates]]

It's 2176 and UsefulNotes/{{Mars}} has been [[{{Terraform}} terraformed]] to have a breathable atmosphere by some [[LadyLand matriarchal]] mining corporation. A crack-squad of SpacePolice consisting of Melanie Ballard (Creator/NatashaHenstridge), Jericho Butler (Creator/JasonStatham), Bashira Kincaid (Clea Duvall) and Helena Braddock (Creator/PamGrier) is sent to reallocate notorious criminal James "Desolation" Williams (Music/IceCube), only to discover that half the colony has been [[DemonicPossession possessed]] by the spirits of the alien race that used to inhabit Mars [[SealedEvilInACan which were released via a scientific excavation]], causing them to transform into a clan of sadomasochistic self-mutilating punk savages that look as if they're auditioning as extras for ''Film/TheRoadWarrior'' and which murdered the other half. The rest of the movie is spent fighting them off.

* ArtisticLicenseNuclearPhysics: An exploding nuclear reactor.

* VasquezAlwaysDies: There are three {{Action Girl}}s in a uni-sex team sent to retrieve a dangerous criminal. The toughest one, a butch middle-aged woman, is killed off first, and then followed by the boyish-looking one. The sole survivor is the drop-dead gorgeous Natasha Henstridge. All the men are killed off as well, save for the aforementioned criminal.

* BuryYourGays: [[spoiler: Braddock again.]]

* InvincibleVillain: The titular ghosts are just that - intangible ghosts who [[DemonicPossession possess humans]] to interact with the world. The spirits can't be killed by any known means (they even tried a [[NukeEm nuclear detonation]], which did nothing), which means that if their host is destroyed [[BodySurf they'll just move on to the next body]]. The movie dances around this issue by setting up the all-out battle to occur after the story's events, but it's impossible to maintain any hope for the surviving characters because victory is ultimately impossible. Then again, Melanie shows us that getting the entire planet high as balls might do the trick. There's also a certain percent of the population that's naturally immune, so attrition might work, too.

* FightingAShadow: The evil Martian ghosts are intangible. While it's possible to resist possession, destroying their current host body only delays them. The heroes actually attempt the NuclearOption, which is ultimately proven to be an inadequate solution.

* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Averted. Martian society is matriarchal, as is their armed forces, and the women die just as gruesomely and with no more fanfare than the men.