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First of all, i have to say that John Carpenter is a brilliant, flawless director because his every shot, every scene, narrative style is perfect, whatever he wants it's on screen. I know, then why his movies are flops at the theatrical release? - 'cause there's a problem with us(people) to understand his films that are really old-fashioned aiming rather at the people in the 60's-70's and that's the only Carpenter's flaw as a director, his bad timing(maybe born out of time). But when his movies at its core are good it's only a matter of time to be fancied. I think we should start appreciate such a director who's devoted to an old genuine film-making and not to these days where everything has to be big, right in your face. I love his subtle style especially in future classic as Ghosts Of Mars. This film is very essential: it represents every directorial aspect what John Carpenter uses in other films(hardy women equal to men, defiance against authority etc..), but it's not just a hotch-potch of his early works it has its own low-key style and Forbidden Planet-like feel, it combines genres Sci-fi, Horror, Western, Action, Comedy, it has a message(perhaps Carpenter's biggest at all) that beautifully reflects us. I know it is a B-Movie, it has a silly dialogue, silly situations but that's exactly what Carpenter wanted and he takes all these elements to encapsulate into its own form and never let it slip out, it never tries to be serious, it never tries to be something what it's not, there's nothing what doesn't fit in (that's what i can't say about for example Kill Bill), something what should these young filmmakers learn from. i've been watching Carpenter films since the early 80's and still like them all so i'm deadly serious when i'm rating Ghosts Of Mars as a masterpiece and one of his best that will certainly stand the test of time especially for its form and uniqueness. Somewhere i read a review where one guy as if justifying himself likes this movie only because he's a Carpenter fan but on the top of that i have to tell you that's what it's all about, only his fan can recognize his masterful touches, that he's a true author and that's why he has more cult films(which most of them were then supposed to be a failure) than any other director.
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