Imagine the day when beings from another planet come in contact with Earth. While visiting our planet, they say that they come in peace. All of a sudden they become hostile aliens and attack Earth. This is only the beginning of the disappointing movie, "Mars Attacks!" The plot of this movie was not very spectacular, but I have to congratulate the special effects team. I have to admit that this film has a star-studded cast including Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Michael J. Fox, Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan, Annette Bening, Danny DeVito, Martin Short, and, of course, Tom Jones.

Nicholson plays the President of the United States and Close is the First Lady. Fox and Parker play a couple who host their own television show. Brosnan is a scientist who falls in love with Parker (and vice-versa). Bening is an ex-flower child from the 1970s who is married to a casino owner (played by the multi-talented Nicholson). The funny DeVito is a Las Vegas gambler who, of course, is vaporized at the end of the movie. Short is the President's aide, and Tom Jones makes a cameo appearance. The only people who actually live through the attack are Bening and Jones. The actors who I enjoyed seeing in this movie were killed, which did not surprise me. For instance, Fox is vaporized within a half an hour. Brosnan is kidnapped and separated into many pieces by the aliens for observation. Parker is also abducted and has her head sewn to her dog's body and vice-versa. Basically, the whole story is about the people of the world trying to get rid of the martians without dying in the process. All in all, the actor's performances were pretty good.

Although the movie tried to become a hit by ripping off the blockbuster "Independence Day," I feel that it was not very successful. I give "Mars Attacks!" a thumbs

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