Dr. Craven the magician
08-24-2003, 03:30 PM
Hey kiddies…if any of you have looked up into the night sky and seen a very bright, red colored star rising up from the east and wondered what it was…well, it isn’t a star at all. It’s Mars, the angry red planet itself! The reason it’s so very bright is because right now Mars orbit has brought it closer to the Earth – a mere 35 million miles away – than it’s been in 60,000 years!
Because of its reddish color, Mars was named after the mythological Roman god of war. And ever since it was first defined into a red disk in the eyepiece of a crude telescope it has held an incredible fascination for the men of Earth. Unlike nearby Venus, the surface of Mars could be seen and studied. And because it was found to have a thin atmosphere and polar ice caps that changed with the Martian seasons, it became the most likely candidate in the solar system to be capable of supporting life. When early astronomers came to the mistaken conclusion that the surface of the red planet contained an intricate web of canals, speculation of life and particularly the imaginative minds of early science fiction writers went wild.
In his classic late nineteenth century novel, “The War of the Worlds,” science fiction pioneer H.G. Wells envisioned an invasion from the red planet by bizarre creatures in tripod machines that fired mysterious black gas and invisible heat rays.
Even though the novel was set in Victorian England, it was still the inspiration for the now classic Orson Wells Mercury Theater radio broadcast that put the country into a panic in 1938. Written to sound like a whole series of newscasts, the radio version featured Martian invaders that landed in a farm in New Jersey and then moved forward, wiping out the army and the air force to destroy New York City. Paranoid over the growing war threat in Europe at the time, people tuning in late thought the show was real and went into a panic. Wells said later that he thought the whole thing was hilarious.
In a whole series of early twentieth century science fiction novels, Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs envisioned a Martian society of men and monsters in which his hero, John Carter of Virginia, lived, fought, married a Martian princess and raised a whole family. It was these novels, in fact, that first inspired noted astronomer Carl Sagan, to make Mars a lifetime pursuit. Like Burroughs character, Carter, who heard Mars calling him, spread his arms upward toward it and was whisked away to the red planet, Sagan told a panel of journalists he had tried the same thing as a boy. “I didn’t think it would work,” he admitted. “But you never know till you try.”
Even though spreading his arms didn’t work, years later Sagan did reach Mars, though, by spearheading the historic landing of the Viking probe in 1976.
But even while authors like Ray Bradbury were using Mars as a setting for social commentary in his classic “Martian Chronicles,” filmmakers were using the red planet as a breeding ground for new monsters. In 1953, legendary sci-fi filmmaker George Pal stunned audiences with his film version of “War of the Worlds.” Unlike the two Wells, who had their Martians landing outside London or New York, Pal’s Martians landed outside Los Angeles and went marauding in machines that floated on magnetic beams and had invisible shields that could resist atomic bomb blasts. But Pal’s Martians weren’t the only ones invading the Earth. In the late fifties drive in classic, “Invaders from Mars,” which involved a lot of rubber-suit “zipper monsters” running around in endless caves, the Martians tried taking over people’s minds with mysterious probes. Meanwhile in “Mars Needs Women,” low budget Martians ran around in costumes left over from the old Saturday afternoon serials kidnapping busty blondes. And we won’t even talk about “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.”
But all the Mars movies weren’t about the threat of invasion. Lots of them involved fanciful rocket flights. In “Flight to Mars,” a young Cameron Mitchell, riding in a space ship that looked a lot like a V2 rocket, discovers an underground society of human-like Martians. In “Robinson Crusoe on Mars” a stranded astronaut survives a horde of zipper monsters with the aid of a Martian he names Friday. In “It, the Terror from Beyond Space” (forefather of the film “Alien”) a particularly nasty Martian zipper monster stows aboard a spaceship returning to Earth and then crashes through the decks stalking the crew to drain their blood. But the ultimate drive-in classic, “The Angry Red Planet,” had it all. Once an unlikely group of Earth astronauts – including a saucy female redhead – land on Mars, they encounter fantastic jungles, exotic landscapes, mile-high cities and a variety of monsters including man-eating plants, spaceship eating amoebas, bug-eyed creatures and giant bat-rat spiders.
But once real spaceships orbited, photographed and then landed on Mars, proving it to be a dead, desert world, the days of fanciful Martian monsters was pretty much at an end. As seemingly disappointed as everyone else, filmmakers responded with films like “Capricorn One,” about a government attempt to fake a Mars landing and then cover it up by assassinating all the astronauts involved. The film version of Bradbury’s “Martian Chronicles” begins with an explanation that the Martian city was just beyond the rise where the Viking probe had landed. And in “Total Recall” the existence of a long dead Martian society is covered up by a group of unscrupulous businessmen selling air to the dome-encased Martian colonies.
While there have been attempts to bring back the beloved Martian monster such as the failed television series version of “The War of the Worlds,” Jeff Wayne’s excellent two-album rock opera version of “War of the Worlds” narrated by screen legend Richard Burton and Tim Burton’s science fiction spoof, “Mars Attacks!” modern Martian movies have taken a different tack. In the recent “Red Planet,” for example, a stranded Val Kilmer seeks the reason for a failed attempt to Terri form the red planet, and after a six month long space rescue voyage, astronauts of “Mission to Mars” discover the real secret of the mysterious Martian “face.”
But even though in light of scientific fact the days of the death dealing heat ray, the zipper-monster Martian and the Bat-rat spider are gone, that doesn’t mean the red planet is any less mysterious. The possibility of microscopic life forms, the discovery of frozen oceans beneath the red dust and the simple fact that more missions have failed trying to reach the red planet without reasonable explanation than any other endeavor in the annals of space exploration continue to make Mars seem more mysterious than ever.
So if you look up to watch the red planet in its close approach to Earth in the next few days and happen to see what looks like a mysterious jet of blue flame erupting from the surface, don’t be surprised. Just put on an extra plate and tell everyone that neighbors are coming!
It's only magic...if you believe...
Because of its reddish color, Mars was named after the mythological Roman god of war. And ever since it was first defined into a red disk in the eyepiece of a crude telescope it has held an incredible fascination for the men of Earth. Unlike nearby Venus, the surface of Mars could be seen and studied. And because it was found to have a thin atmosphere and polar ice caps that changed with the Martian seasons, it became the most likely candidate in the solar system to be capable of supporting life. When early astronomers came to the mistaken conclusion that the surface of the red planet contained an intricate web of canals, speculation of life and particularly the imaginative minds of early science fiction writers went wild.
In his classic late nineteenth century novel, “The War of the Worlds,” science fiction pioneer H.G. Wells envisioned an invasion from the red planet by bizarre creatures in tripod machines that fired mysterious black gas and invisible heat rays.
Even though the novel was set in Victorian England, it was still the inspiration for the now classic Orson Wells Mercury Theater radio broadcast that put the country into a panic in 1938. Written to sound like a whole series of newscasts, the radio version featured Martian invaders that landed in a farm in New Jersey and then moved forward, wiping out the army and the air force to destroy New York City. Paranoid over the growing war threat in Europe at the time, people tuning in late thought the show was real and went into a panic. Wells said later that he thought the whole thing was hilarious.
In a whole series of early twentieth century science fiction novels, Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs envisioned a Martian society of men and monsters in which his hero, John Carter of Virginia, lived, fought, married a Martian princess and raised a whole family. It was these novels, in fact, that first inspired noted astronomer Carl Sagan, to make Mars a lifetime pursuit. Like Burroughs character, Carter, who heard Mars calling him, spread his arms upward toward it and was whisked away to the red planet, Sagan told a panel of journalists he had tried the same thing as a boy. “I didn’t think it would work,” he admitted. “But you never know till you try.”
Even though spreading his arms didn’t work, years later Sagan did reach Mars, though, by spearheading the historic landing of the Viking probe in 1976.
But even while authors like Ray Bradbury were using Mars as a setting for social commentary in his classic “Martian Chronicles,” filmmakers were using the red planet as a breeding ground for new monsters. In 1953, legendary sci-fi filmmaker George Pal stunned audiences with his film version of “War of the Worlds.” Unlike the two Wells, who had their Martians landing outside London or New York, Pal’s Martians landed outside Los Angeles and went marauding in machines that floated on magnetic beams and had invisible shields that could resist atomic bomb blasts. But Pal’s Martians weren’t the only ones invading the Earth. In the late fifties drive in classic, “Invaders from Mars,” which involved a lot of rubber-suit “zipper monsters” running around in endless caves, the Martians tried taking over people’s minds with mysterious probes. Meanwhile in “Mars Needs Women,” low budget Martians ran around in costumes left over from the old Saturday afternoon serials kidnapping busty blondes. And we won’t even talk about “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.”
But all the Mars movies weren’t about the threat of invasion. Lots of them involved fanciful rocket flights. In “Flight to Mars,” a young Cameron Mitchell, riding in a space ship that looked a lot like a V2 rocket, discovers an underground society of human-like Martians. In “Robinson Crusoe on Mars” a stranded astronaut survives a horde of zipper monsters with the aid of a Martian he names Friday. In “It, the Terror from Beyond Space” (forefather of the film “Alien”) a particularly nasty Martian zipper monster stows aboard a spaceship returning to Earth and then crashes through the decks stalking the crew to drain their blood. But the ultimate drive-in classic, “The Angry Red Planet,” had it all. Once an unlikely group of Earth astronauts – including a saucy female redhead – land on Mars, they encounter fantastic jungles, exotic landscapes, mile-high cities and a variety of monsters including man-eating plants, spaceship eating amoebas, bug-eyed creatures and giant bat-rat spiders.
But once real spaceships orbited, photographed and then landed on Mars, proving it to be a dead, desert world, the days of fanciful Martian monsters was pretty much at an end. As seemingly disappointed as everyone else, filmmakers responded with films like “Capricorn One,” about a government attempt to fake a Mars landing and then cover it up by assassinating all the astronauts involved. The film version of Bradbury’s “Martian Chronicles” begins with an explanation that the Martian city was just beyond the rise where the Viking probe had landed. And in “Total Recall” the existence of a long dead Martian society is covered up by a group of unscrupulous businessmen selling air to the dome-encased Martian colonies.
While there have been attempts to bring back the beloved Martian monster such as the failed television series version of “The War of the Worlds,” Jeff Wayne’s excellent two-album rock opera version of “War of the Worlds” narrated by screen legend Richard Burton and Tim Burton’s science fiction spoof, “Mars Attacks!” modern Martian movies have taken a different tack. In the recent “Red Planet,” for example, a stranded Val Kilmer seeks the reason for a failed attempt to Terri form the red planet, and after a six month long space rescue voyage, astronauts of “Mission to Mars” discover the real secret of the mysterious Martian “face.”
But even though in light of scientific fact the days of the death dealing heat ray, the zipper-monster Martian and the Bat-rat spider are gone, that doesn’t mean the red planet is any less mysterious. The possibility of microscopic life forms, the discovery of frozen oceans beneath the red dust and the simple fact that more missions have failed trying to reach the red planet without reasonable explanation than any other endeavor in the annals of space exploration continue to make Mars seem more mysterious than ever.
So if you look up to watch the red planet in its close approach to Earth in the next few days and happen to see what looks like a mysterious jet of blue flame erupting from the surface, don’t be surprised. Just put on an extra plate and tell everyone that neighbors are coming!
It's only magic...if you believe...