Mars Attacks! (1996)

When Earth is visited by a massive fleet of flying saucers from Mars, President of the United States James Dale addresses the people of the United States. Talk show host Nathalie Lake and her boyfriend, news reporter Jason Stone, attempt to capitalize on the developing story with an interview with President Dale’s scientific advisor Professor Donald Kessler, which is unexpectedly interrupted by a broadcast from the Martian leader. As the Martians prepare to land outside Pahrump, Nevada, numerous people around the country react to their arrival, including donut shop employee Richie Norris and his older brother Billy Glenn, flamboyant casino operator Art Land and his hippie wife Barbara, divorced ex-boxer Byron Williams and his ex-wife Louise, and Byron and Louise’s children Cedric and Neville.

Against the advice of the hawkish General Decker, President Dale chooses to greet the Martians as foreign dignitaries, ordering military officer General Casey to welcome them to Earth. Billy Glenn, a private in the US Army, is among the soldiers who volunteers to accompany General Casey as he greets the Martians in Nevada. Despite the translated message from the Martian ambassador stating that the Martians “come in peace”, they turn on the assembled crowd and attack them with rayguns, killing General Casey, Jason, and Billy Glenn, and abducting Nathalie and her pet chihuahua Poppy. Kessler convinces President Dale that the Martians’ attack in Nevada may have been the result of a cultural misunderstanding, and President Dale agrees to let the Martian ambassador address Congress after the Martians issue a formal apology for their actions.