Helio This film was a treat! There was lots of innovative features. Landing during Mardis Gras was brilliant where A & C believed it was Mars due to all the creative costumes taken to be Martians. I don't think they have such unusual outfits today.I don't understand other reviewers taking issue with them not actually going to Mars; they were headed there; they were going there; they thought they arrived there and the men left from there. The title was just a metaphor for going crazy.Onto Venus where low budget special effects made future aspects looked remarkably advanced even by today's standards. There were clever foreshadowing tributes to later science fiction classics. However the giant dog was uninspired.Having only women on the planet borrowed from the future "Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus". I laughed out loud more often than their earlier classics in scenes such as when the Queen made the King sit on the truth throne and asked him questions.Has anyone else noticed how Derek Waters (Drunk History) looks like Costello?

mark.waltz O.K., so there are some very funny visuals in this film, but lots of sight gags do not make an excellent film. Sure, this was made for the kiddie trade, but ultimately, it is the adults who review it. First of all, from a scientific level: this does not teach the young the powers of good writing, because the boys never make it to Mars. They think they are on Mars for about half an hour because that's where the space ship was making its destination as before dumb Lou hit the button that made them crash, right in the middle of the Louisiana bayou. It just so happens that it's Mardi Gras, and everybody is weird costumes with large heads that either spin around or come detached from the rest of the body. Bud and Lou's space suits go in great with the Mardi Gras crowd, and the laughs come fast and furious. The arrival of two escaped bank robbers who disguise themselves in space suits then proceed to rob a bank results in Bud and Lou being chased and the spaceship with the two robbers aboard taking off and ending up on Venus. There, they meet man-hating queen Mari Blanchard who had all men banished centuries before because they were not faithful. Of course, her all-women army is man crazy, and even the presence of plump Lou has their hot Venus blood pumping. Lou becomes king, but the jealous queen knows he'll stray. When Lou kisses one of the women goodbye, a curse from the queen turns her back into her real age, a funny visual to watch as she becomes an old hag in gold lame' with certain body parts changing location to reflect her true age.Having been around for well over a decade in the 1950's, by this time, Abbott and Costello were still popular but adults who enjoyed their hijinks during World War II were staying away. At least with "Buck Privates" and "Hold That Ghost", they were hysterically funny if still juvenile, but they were surrounded by actors who brought an adult mentality to the proceedings. This is not only juvenile in the sense of the age group of where it strives to be mentally, but in the fact that it presents women as jealous creatures who if they can't fully get a man's attention and manipulate them to keep them from going astray, then they will have to banish them altogether. Of course, it's only one woman making this rule as the women underneath her will do anything to get a man's attention. Certainly, the costumes for the Mardis Gras sequence are very funny (as is a sequence involving a plate of limburger cheese) and the crystallized sets for Venus are attractive as well. But what about the giant dog who chases Bud into a cave where he discovers the women's army? It is there, then gone. Even the Three Stooges rip-off, "Have Rocket, Will Travel", would introduce freaky creatures in their Venus sequence and do something with them. This film pretty much is a pointless comedy for little boys of a by-gone era who might look back on this as a fond childhood memory but in retrospect, leaves one longing for something so much better.

simeon_flake In one of their better 1950s features, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello are headed on a little interplanetary trip. But first, there's a little sidebar where the lovable duo land their spaceship in New Orleans in the middle of Mardi Gras--and of course, Bud and Lou think they have landed on Mars.Meanwhile, 2 crooks who just busted out of the clink, find their way onboard the ship, steal a ray gun and hold up a bank and clothing store. Of course, it won't be long before the crooks and A & C come together and thanks to Costello, blast off to the planet of Venus.And what a planet Venus turns out to be--inhabited by some very shapely bathing beauties. Certainly, these are the best looking "aliens" you will come across in a Hollywood movie.And the pleasing aesthetics of the planet Venus lead to Bud, Lou and the crooks getting banished back to Earth, where they receive a heroes welcome and a ticker tape parade.Overall, while the title of this film is rather confusing--maybe someone at Universal thought that "Abbott and Costello go to Venus" didn't have a great ring to it. Regardless, "Mars" is a good way to while away over an hour of your life.

gridoon This film has been referred to numerous times as "the worst of Abbott and Costello". I haven't seen that many A & C pictures so far, but from those that I HAVE seen I'd say "Comin' Round the Mountain" and "Lost in Alaska" and maybe even "Meet the Keystone Kops" are worse than this one, therefore the above statement cannot be true. The best thing about "Go to Mars" are the special effects, which are creative and at times even ingenious; before you complain about them from a "modern" perspective, consider that they are about on the same level with those of, say, "Superman IV" - and that was made 34 years later! Unfortunately, much like "Meet the Keystone Kops", this film gives you the impression that more time was spent on the technical tricks and effects than on providing enough funny material and routines for Abbott and Costello. The funniest exchange in the movie comes early on: Dr. Orvilla: "Why did you tell them that you are Dr. Orvilla?" Lou: "I didn't tell them, THEY told ME!". And although the absence of songs is welcome, the two escaped convicts who eventually join A & C in their trip to Venus get too much screen time on their own. (**)