Fiction

Mars Movies

Many have tried, few have succeeded. The history and experience of movies that glorify Mars as a setting have often failed to bring to life the necessary magic and coherence that is expected by Mars aficionados, or even fans of basic sci-fi.

In recent memory, there has been a whole slew of "bad" movies that abuse Mars as the primal setting. They include, "Ghosts of Mars", "Mission to Mars", "Red Mars", "Invaders from Mars", "Lobster Man from Mars", and "Total Recall".

Movies featuring invading Martians has become a timeless classic of Hollywood. Martians make a good stand-by for evil aliens close to home. "Mars Attacks", directed by Tim Burton, is a comical send-up of the classic cliché of alien invaders of the planet Earth.

Who can forget the 1964 classic Santa Claus Conquers the Martians?

Of course, more recently, is the Steven Spielberg remake of "War of the Worlds", which is based on the HG Wells story of the same name.

More recent development, or at least rumored, involve James Cameron developing a 3D IMAX movie based on the Mars Direct concept

Writers

By far the most famous writer of science fiction is author Arthur C. Clarke, who made science fiction more mainstream with such works as "2001, A Space Odyssey".

However, in more recent memory, Kim Stanley Robinson has created a popular series titled, "Red Mars," "Green Mars", and "Blue Mars." The series details the first human venture to Mars, the colonization of Mars, and the eventual terraforming of Mars. Or, as it becomes known within the Mars series, "the aeroforming" of Mars.

Yet, if one wishes to find the magic of a Martian world lost to science and time, one need look no further than the works of Ray Bradbury. "The Martian Chronicles" is a great introduction to what it is to dream about a world that Mars could have been, and may one day be.

An ecological treatment is found in "White Mars" by Brian W. Aldiss & Roger Penrose. To spoof the various technicolor Mars books, Larry Niven wrote "Rainbow Mars."