Ghosts of Mars Blu-ray

Ghosts of Mars

 (2001)

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi



By the year 2176, the planet Mars, long inhabited by human settlers, has become the manifest destiny of an over-populated Earth. Nearly 640,000 people now live and work all over Mars, mining the planet for its abundant natural resources. But one of those mining operations has uncovered a deadly mother lode: a long dormant Martian civilization whose warriors are systematically taking over the bodies of human intruders. Lt. Melanie Ballard of the Martian Police Force is on transport assignment to bring James "Desolation" Williams, the planet's most notorious criminal, to justice. Williams has no plans to make Ballard's job easy. What begins as a battle of force and wits between cop and criminal soon turns into something more fundamental: a battle for human survival in the realm of the Martian warriors. It's civilization against civilization as Ballard and Williams join forces in mortal combat with the Ghosts of Mars.

For more details about Ghosts of Mars on Blu-ray, see the Ghosts of Mars Blu-ray Review

Ghosts of Mars Blu-ray, Video Quality

 


Ghosts of Mars is not a quality production. The sets look cheap and the overall picture, while defined and showing good contrast, does not exude quality either. Blacks are inky and deep but there seems to have been some digital processing used to reduce noise and the picture suffers a bit from looking flat, without the depth associated with reference quality 1080p. Detail is good, but skin tones rarely look right. This is undoubtedly because of the lighting. The sets are bathed in red to make sure we all understand Ghosts of Mars is taking place on--you guessed it--Mars.

Most of the scenes have a darkness that permeates the corners of the screen. While it doesn't make for the greatest picture quality, if does contribute to the suspense that Carpenter is going for, and is similar to his use of darkness in many of his previous classic horror pictures. Halloween, for example, was a study in how to use shadow and framing to maximize suspense and surprise. Of course, the red sets and crimson lighting is new for Carpenter.

The MPEG-4 encode appears to have been subject to DNR because the grain present is quite subdued. Either processing was used, or the Blu-ray was produced from a subpar master. Watch the scene where Williams tends Ballard's wounds. While it appears adequately detailed and lively, overall there is an uneven, 2-D quality to way the skin and clothing textures are rendered. But this is a nit for videophiles to pick and the picture, presented in 2.39:1, looks quite detailed when it comes down to it.

Ghosts of Mars Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 


Compared to other HD audio content, the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix of Ghosts of Mars appears processed and a bit dead. Highs are rolled off, not extended or microdetailed like reference quality Dolby TrueHD done right. The music in the soundtrack--featuring the venerable Buckethead, an older guitar hero of mine by the name Steve Vai, and the death metal progenitor Anthrax--was not particularly well recorded to begin with. So I was not surprised at its lifelessness here. It drones on with other sounds popping more noticeably. For example, the dialog rises to a higher level of clarity and crispness. Of course, there are fewer challenges in engineering one or two voices compared to an entire rock band.

In keeping with the economic production values, the soundstage is put together rather poorly and haphazardly, with occasional effects assigned to the rear channels but most anchored up front. It would have been cool if the soundstage added presence and provided the audio cues to make the listener feel like they are on Mars. Unfortunately that is not the case, and if you feel transported anywhere it will be to a cheap set of a B movie.

Ghosts of Mars Blu-ray, News and Updates

• The One; Ghosts of Mars Announced for Blu-ray - January 19, 2009