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In the movie Mars Attacks!, the Martian soldiers shoot either a red ray or a green ray from their guns.
These seem to leave skeletons of the same color as the ray that hit the humans.
(All images taken from here)
But the rifles shooting either color ray both seem to have the same red/blue coloration.
Is there any explanation in or out of universe that explains the different ray colors?
There is, actually, though only out of universe.
In the first drafts of the script and in the novelization, the Martians' ray-guns had a variety of lethal, graphic effects. Victims were bisected, body parts were cut off, huge holes were blown through them. Other victims were melted, shredded, or turned into flame. To avoid an "R" rating from the MPAA, the producers toned down the effects of the Martian rays, and victims were reduced to skeletons.
When people had their flesh vaporized from their bones, the remaining skeletons were either red or green. Tim Burton explained this had been done because the movie had been scheduled for a Christmas release. Also, the red and green skeletons were first seen in Beetlejuice (1988). When Barbara and Adam were in Juno's office, you can see them with other ghouls looking at the screen.
Source: IMDB Mars Attacks! Trivia
