10 Mars Movies That Are Out of This World

The closest planet to Earth, Mars has been featured in countless movies throughout the decades. Now the red planet takes center stage once again in Ridley Scott's 'The Martian,' which stars Matt Damon and is based on the popular novel of the same name. With the film opening in theaters on October 2, we have compiled a list of 10 other Mars-set movies that are out of this world.  

Based on the Phillip K. Dick story ‘We Can Remember It for You Wholesale,’ this iconic Arnold Schwarzenegger film also stars Sharon Stone and was directed by Paul Verhoeven (‘RoboCop’). While the ending left audiences guessing whether Quaid (Schwarzenegger) was actually on Mars or really dreaming, the movie’s visual effects were ahead of their time and at least gave us the feeling that they really could have been on the red planet. 

Hollywood had been trying to make a film adaptation of legendary author Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “Barsoom” series of novels since the 1930s, but was not successful until the release of 2012's ‘John Carter.' It was based on the book ‘A Princess from Mars’ and stars Taylor Kitsch as the title character.

As Hollywood often does, there were two different films released in 2000 about going to Mars. The first to the box office was the aptly named ‘Mission to Mars,’ about a rescue mission to the red planet, which was directed by Brian De Palma and stars Academy Award-winner Tim Robbins.

The second of 2000's two Mars movies, ‘Red Planet’ stars Val Kilmer as an astronaut investigating the death of a crew working to make Mars habitable for humans. In addition to Kilmer, the film also features Carrie-Anne Moss, Tom Sizemore and Terence Stamp. 

Some of the best scenes in director Zack Snyder’s ‘Watchmen,’ based on the iconic graphic novel, are the Mars sequences. After being accused of giving his former girlfriend cancer, Doctor Manhattan (Billy Crudup) exiles himself to Mars, and later takes Laurie Jupiter (Malin Akerman) there to tell her he is no longer interested in saving humanity.    

This 2013 film based on the short story ‘The Animators’ by Sydney J. Bounds finds Liev Schreiber fighting zombies on Mars. Let’s be honest… is there anything cooler than zombies from Mars?

If you thought zombies from Mars sounded cool, then you’ll love the idea of ghosts from Mars! Leave it to legendary director John Carpenter (‘Escape from New York’) to come up with such a great idea, and pair Ice Cube with Jason Statham and Natasha Henstridge as outer-space cops.   

Based on the popular video game, ‘Doom’ stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as a genetically enhanced marine trying to save his sister (Rosamund Pike) from mutated humans on a Martian research facility. 

This 2011 3D motion-capture computer-animated movie features Seth Green (‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’) as Milo, a little boy whose mother is abducted by Martians. This sends Milo on a quest to rescue her from a planet desperate for maternal guidance. 

Based on the classic ‘60s TV sitcom, this 1999 movie stars Jeff Daniels and Christopher Lloyd as the title’s extra-terrestrial. While the TV series never traveled to Mars, the film’s opening sequence actually takes place on our neighboring planet.