Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

You'll either love it or hate it. There's no in between. It's so outrageous, I have to love it. Never mind that the real Venus is a hellhole, with a sizzling 462 degrees C surface, and a suffocating 96% CO2 atmosphere. Never mind that A&C mistake participants in the New Orleans mardi gras as Martians. A&C rocket off to Venus after tiring of the 'Martians'.Abbott(Lester) is a maintenance worker at the spaceship research station near NYC. Costello(Orville) accidentally gains entrance to the facility when he hides in the back of a delivery truck, and is later mistaken for a Dr. Orvilla who is due to show up. The two have a mutual slapping session, with the Dr. the winner in the who's who decision. It's decided to let Lou stay and help Abbott. The 2 bring some things inside the spaceship. Lou plays with some switches and buttons, and it's lift off! First they buzz some skyscrapers, fly under some bridges, and even fly through the Lincoln Tunnel! They land at New Orleans, thinking it Mars(mighty fast trip!). They don their space suits and go out. Soon, they see some strange-looking people-like creatures and other creatures. It's the N.O. mardi gras. They fit right in with their space suits. Meanwhile, 2 escaped convicts enter the spacecraft and find a 'ray gun'. They use this to 'freeze' the employees at a bank they rob, then return to the spaceship, along with A&C. The boys decide to point the spaceship toward Venus. Upon landing, they discover that Venus hosts only beautiful young women(played by Miss Universe contestants). Seems they eliminated men 400 years ago, after it was discovered how to achieve physical immortality and eternal youth. Thus, these beauties are about 400 years old.Queen Allura(Mari Blanchard) is very bossy and jealous, if exceptionally beautiful. She has the 2 convicts incarcerated. Reluctantly, she goes along with Lou's request to be crowned King of Venus. But, it's only provisional if he doesn't think about the other women(Allura is very jealous and very much a feminist!). To see if he can pass this test, she gives him 3 balloons. If he thinks of another woman, one will pop. Bang! Now, he must pass the lie detector test. A metal chair is wired to produce a current sufficient to cause sparks to fly if Lou tells a lie. He flunks this test also. Thus, Allura says the men have to leave Venus, even if many of the girls want them to stay, at least for a while. Allura also orders that any girl who kisses a man will immediately lose the gift of immortality and eternal youth. One girl violates this decree, and immediately changes into a 400y.o. woman(well, 120y.o., anyway) At first, the spaceship wouldn't take off for Earth. It was concluded the reason was excess weight. Abbott discovered that Lou had smuggled a bevy of girls into some closets. After they are ushered out, the spaceship takes off fine, and eventually lands near NYC, but not before buzzing some skyscrapers, flying under a bridge, flying through the Lincoln Tunnel, and causing The Statue of Liberty to duck! A big parade is held for A&C, while the 2 convicts are sent to jail. The amazons watch the parade on their video, and Allura sends a congratulatory gift for Costello, but I won't say what it is.

Abbott & Costello play Lester & Orville, who somehow are on a top secret rocket-ship project. They accidentally launch it and wind up not going to Mars, but to Mardi Gras here on Earth(which they think is Mars). Two equally bumbling bank robbers named Mugsy & Harry force their way on board the ship, which does take off for outer space, though Venus, not Mars, which is inhabited by beautiful women who have banished the men, making these four guys both feared but welcome. Utterly inept and entirely unfunny farce is the team's worst; they look bored and indifferent the whole time, and there is no energy or point to this farrago at all. Just dreadful.

Abbott and Costello Go To Mars sees the popular duo tackle a sci-fi theme that was to be so prevalent in the 50s. It's directed by Charles Lamont and the co-star line up features Robert Paige, Horace McMahon, Mari Blanchard, Martha Hyer & Jack Kruschen. The plot sees Bud & Lou as Lester and Orville respectively, who accidentally find themselves on a rocket-ship bound for Mars. However, they actually land in New Orleans during the Mardi Gras and confusion reigns. Then an encounter with a couple of escaped convicts leads to another blast off, to Venus. A planet populated by a bevy of beauties.They were three years away from making what would be their last film together, but history dictates that the best of the film outings for Bud & Lou were long since past. However, "Go To Mars" and "Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (also 1953) are worthy pieces showcasing the comic talent and irrepressible charm of two fine entertainers. Sure the plot is as thin as some of the sets are for "Go To Mars," but there's enough chaos and comedy schtick to keep the smile on ones face. We get Costello doing an Italian accent-badly, which in turn leads to a slapathon. Then there's stunts with magnetic moon-boots, a triple bed fall down, gravitational larks and Mardi Gras strangeness. There's even a cheeky aside in favour of the ladies (the Venusian female race being contestants of Miss Universe) as the new male arrivals on Venus are compared to beefcake Adonis types on Venusian TV.Far from their best work but certainly enough good here to shoot down those "worst of the series" tags. 6/10

"Abbott and Costello Go To Mars" is one of the better remembered films from my childhood, along with their romp with Frankenstein, and other Million Dollar Movie favorites like "Godzilla" and "King Kong". Perhaps it was the memorable New Orleans Mardi Gras setting with it's outlandish cast of costumed "martians", it would have been an even better visual treat in color. It's pure and simple fun, and doesn't use a lot of scientific mumbo jumbo to explain space flight, unless you rely on the comments by a couple of Orville's (Costello) young friends in the opening scene.The fact that the boys never do get to Mars is easily overlooked, particularly as they get sidetracked by a couple of bank robbers and take off for Venus. There we get an early look at the 1950's version of a Star Wars type land speeder, and get to see Venusian girls testing their accuracy in a game using saucers that pre-date the Frisbee. Presiding over the man-less Venusian landscape is Queen Allura, portrayed by Mari Blanchard and looking nothing short of gorgeous. Universal could have done a lot worse than populating the movie with an array of Miss Universe contestants.The funniest bit for me was probably meant to be serious; as the boys take off in their rocket for the second time, Dr. Wilson (Robert Paige) needs only about one second on a slide rule device to determine the ship is heading to Venus - huh, how'd he do that? Then there was the comment made by Orville when confronted by a foggy landscape in an unknown world - "Being I can't see a foot in front of me, I'd say it's Los Angeles." Wow, I didn't think L.A. became known for it's smog until the Sixties!It's a shame that as time goes by, movies like "A & C Go To Mars" have less and less of an audience. It's charm lies in it's wholesome fare from a simpler time that doesn't have a message, without pretending to be anything more than fun. I think I'll get me a Venusian balloon.