There are a few movies out there that are so over-hyped that I've always hesitated viewing them for fear of being disappointed - "Raging Bull", "Blade Runner", "The Lord Of The Rings" films, and "Eight Heads In A Duffel Bag" all come to mind. Ray Bradbury's "Martian Chronicles" always had a special lure to me since I am very interested in planetary astronomy and have always enjoyed a writers interpretation of what our future in space may hold. I've never read the books, but I saw the videos available and bought them last week. And sure enough, these films are totally TERRIBLE! The Martian Chronicle series (the written series, anyway) is usually thought of as a "classic". But the films!! I can't honestly think of anything in the films that I thought were well-done, or even fairly well-done. The words that come to mind here are: Boring, Illogical, and Cheap. The special effects and models used in the films are cheap garbage and look almost as bad as those in "Plan 9 From Outer Space". The acting is not even acting - the actors appear as if they are reading off of cue cards. The writing is terrible and at times not even logical. The directing is non-existent, the many times the actors appear to be walking over to an "X" on the floor to deliver their lines to each other. The story is illogical and the sequence of events would never happen in ANY Universe. I am barely through the second tape of the series (there are three tapes in the set). The second looks like it will be even worse than the first. I doubt I will be willing to even sit through the third. What I find amazing is that these films were produced at the same time the original "Star Wars" Trilogy was filmed, and the difference between the two series is dumbfounding. Where the Star Wars films were exciting and dramatic, the Martian Chronicles are the exact opposite - each little story line is only marginally interesting, and each is filmed in almost a dreamlike sequence. I can go on and on and pick apart almost every scene in the Martian Chronicles films, but I think I've made my point. This has to rate as one of the bottom 5 films I've ever sat through. And if anyone can disagree with this I would appreciate hearing from them.