Tim Burton’s 10 Best Movie Adaptations

6) Mars Attacks!

1995’s Mars Attacks! is not an adaptation of a movie or TV show but rather a narrative based on a cult card game from the 1950s. Naturally, from this odd source sprung a bizarre tongue-in-cheek B-movie parody masquerading as a modern-day blockbuster.

With an all-star and eclectic cast including Jack Nicholson (in two roles), Pierce Brosnan, Glenn Close, Tom Jones and a teenage Natalie Portman, it’s a bit choppy and hit-and-miss but much of the surreal and black humour works – for instance, the weird sight of Sarah Jessica Parker’s head on a Chihuahua.

Regardless of its faults, it is a must-watch for anyone who finds the likes of Independence Day (which coincidentally came out the same year) and War of the Worlds too self-serious.