Mars Attacks!

Witness the Destruction!

• Mars Attacks!
• http://www.marsattacks.com
• Web Site Credits
• Includes Frames, Shockwave Files

nly the Topps comic book incarnation of Mars Attacks! took the trading cards cum national phenomenon seriously, but no one else has, including -- happily -- Tim Burton, who is directing the Mars Attacks! movie, which opens December 13. The official Mars Attacks! Web site clearly demonstrates that the movie will be lots of fun, sort of an Independence Day without the outdated 1950's sensibilities, and with dump trucks of irony added.

The site is divided into pages devoted to the major metropolitan areas where the film takes place: Washington D.C., New York, Las Vegas and Perkinsville, Kansas. Each section includes a little Shockwave game which can be mildly amusing (don't miss "Burning Cow Tipping"), but the meat of the pages is in the plethora of photos from the film. There are dozens of pictures to look at, plus storyboards with photos that show how scenes were planned and how they actually turned out. Cast and production crew biographies are also included.

To further tantalize there is "The Movie" section, which has, among other goodies, an art gallery of sketches and drawings, many by Tim Burton, as well as a gallery of computer-generated scenes and characters by Industrial Light and Magic and Western Digital. There are also desktop backgrounds to download and four screen savers which are also games -- the same games featured on the metropolitan pages.

For all its zeal and good design sense, it's too bad this site is so twitchy. Many of the pages hang indefinitely, although a quick Stop and Reload often solves the problem. One puzzling aspect is the many pages that are divided by a frame that sets off a banner ad for Warner's general Web site. Why take up so much space for an internal ad, when readers are already spending time learning about this movie? The designers must have been under orders from the higher-ups on that one.

Otherwise the site is quite artistic and it sports flashy side and navigation bars but doesn't overindulge in modem-pounding backgrounds and animated GIFs. Although rich in information, it's impossible to get lost on the site thanks to good design and plenty of internal navigation links. All in all this site is more than enough to whet the appetite for what's sure to be a rollicking dose of big hair, Slim Whitman, death rays, 70's fashions and 80's paranoia.

Find the picture of Pierce Brosnan and tell me, is he not the spitting image of Bob, patron deity of the Church of the Sub Genius? Coincidence? I don't think so. -- Brooks

Site Index | Request a Review | Feedback

News of the Week | On Screen | Gallery | Other Cool Sci-Fi Stuff
Off the Shelf | Sci-Fi Site of the Week | Games | Interview | Home