Plot: What’s it about?
Dop (Tommy Kirk) is the leader of an interstellar expedition from Mars, in which he and his cohorts are to seek out females. It seems Mars has run low on good looking women and as such, Dop and his crew have to come to Earth, where hotties run wild in the streets. He and his Martian pals begin to cruise for some ladies and have great luck, as Dop is smooth with the chicks, to be sure. He even manages to romance Dr. Marjorie Bolen (Yvonne Craig), a beautiful and intelligent scientist, not a bad choice at all. The Martians need to locate some dates, work their special mojo, and then return home with their new ladies in tow, but before they’ve been discovered by the masses. Of course, the government soon learns of this mission and if they have their say in it, the Martians will go home in an instant, without their newfound loves. Have Dop and his crew finally found their true loves so far from home, or will they be forced to return home with broken hearts.
With a title like Mars Needs Women, you know this movie is a natural choice for MGM’s Midnite Movies line. But the title is just one reason for the inclusion, as this movie is pure camp and has a ton of outrageous moments. Tommy Kirk (The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini) and Yvonne Craig (In Like Flint) lead the line of often dismal, but hilarious performers, who add countless laughs and botched lines, which aren’t bad elements in this case. In addition, the poor performances are driven by poor material, so you know some of this stuff is so bad, it has to be good. You’ll hear bad innuendoes, plays on words, and corny jokes, all of which adds humor, though not in the manner intended by the filmmakers, however. Of course, not everyone will be entertained by this kind of movie, but fans of bad B movies should be pleased, as this more than qualifies as one. This disc from MGM is as bare bones as can be, but with a super low asking price, it is still recommended.
Video: How does it look?
Mars Needs Women is presented in a full frame transfer. I am uncertain of the intended aspect ratio here, but I don’t think it is full frame, as the image just seems unnatural at times. The framing is often correct, but the image just seem off throughout, save a few natural looking sequences. I don’t think there’s much in terms of pan & scan, but it just doesn’t seem right, though I can’t put my finger on the problem. Perhaps it is just the way the movie was shot that throws my eyes off, but I can’t say for sure. In any event, the image shows heavy grain and debris, though the debris sometimes clears up, but it always returns. The colors and contrast are thrown off by the grain, but retain acceptable levels of performance. Not the best looking effort by any means, but it is watchable and that’s about all there is to be said here.
Audio: How does it sound?
The mono option here is stable and solid, but of course, is limited by the mono format. I heard some hiss at times, but only to a minor degree and other age related errors were absent, which is good news. The outrageous music and sound effects seem in fine order, while dialogue is crisp and always easy to understand. This is about as basic as you can get, but since minimal errors surface, I won’t be too hard on this one. This disc also includes a Spanish language track, as well as subtitles in Spanish and French.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes no bonus materials.
