Disney's JOHN CARTER

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I remember Lynn Collins in Wolverine alright, but Kitsch hardly at all. I though she made a pretty good Dejah Thoris, although, like all the Red Martians depicted, she probably didn't look as exotic as ERB might have imagined.

[davejames]

Asbo Zaprudder wrote:

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As has been said elsewhere, the essential factor missing from John Carter is a credible and charismatic lead actor. I doubt many people outside the US can name anything that Taylor Kitsch has been in. He does a reasonable job in the role, but I think he was miscast.

I'm afraid even with a bigger name actor it still would have been dismissed by most people as just a cheesy Prince of Persia/Attack of the Clones knockoff.

The style and art design of the movie just looked painfully tired and derivative, and there's no trailer you could cut that would have changed that.

[captcalhoun]

Asbo Zaprudder wrote:

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Wolverine - terrible film and I don't recall Kitsch being at all notable in it at all although he certainly was in it.

Friday Night Lights - never watched by more than 26,000 people on ITV4 and also some fraction of those rich enough to be able to afford Sky Atlantic. Probably not enough people to make him recognisable to the vast proportion of the UK public who might be inclined to go to the cinema.

it's irrelevant how many people watched it, you said 'i doubt many people outside America could name anything he's been in'.

i named 2 things and i'm not American.

[Bob The Skutter]

^I wouldn't have been able to name anything he was in without IMDB, He had a "Where do I know him from?" Face but I didn't even bother looking him up. And I am an avid TV and film watcher.

[Asbo Zaprudder]

^Exactly, and "many" does not equate to one, good captain.

[Kelthaz]

Well that was stupid. Somewhat entertaining, but stupid nonetheless. I can't help but think that the whole movie would have been better off without John Carter. Think about it.

The princess is escaping from her marriage with Sir Humperdinck and gets in a battle just like in the film. Now instead of Super Mario saving her, she crashes into the Na'vi tribe where she earns the respect of the elder and befriends Sola. Without Mario we have more time to devote to the two cities, their wars, and the Hands of Blue. We don't get Colonel Walt this way, but that's a small price to pay.

[BillJ]

Kelthaz wrote:

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The princess is escaping from her marriage with Sir Humperdinck...

I actually compared it to the marriage of Prince Valium and Princess Vespa from Spaceballs while watching. Which earned a small chuckle from the wife.

[Admiral Buzzkill]

davejames wrote:

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I'm afraid even with a bigger name actor it still would have been dismissed by most people as just a cheesy Prince of Persia/Attack of the Clones knockoff.

That would first require that "most people" had any idea at all what Prince of Persia is.

[23skidoo]

My Name Is Legion wrote:

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That would first require that "most people" had any idea at all what Prince of Persia is.

Yeah - double whammy on John Carter to be marked as derivative of a film no one actually saw!

Sad part, as noted elsewhere, is John Carter is of course the original, yet it suffers because everything from it has already been done.

It's sort of like someone accusing Doctor Who of being a rip-off of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. And if you think that line of thought doesn't exist, I direct you to the first (only) user comment on this blog page where someone is indeed of that opinion - although he isn't completely clueless as he knows DW is older. He just personally considers it a rip-off:

http://challengeaccepted.wordpress.c...-to-hollywood/

You can't win against that sort of thing. Just like I was reading a column that mentions that The Hunger Games has destroyed any chance of a Battle Royale remake for the next 10 years. Which is not a bad thing at all, actually, being a huge fan of the original novel and movie. Yet with Hunger Games poised to become the anti-John Carter from now on there will be people who dismiss Battle Royale as a rip-off.

Alex

[Kelthaz]

BillJ wrote:

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I actually compared it to the marriage of Prince Valium and Princess Vespa from Spaceballs while watching. Which earned a small chuckle from the wife.

Damn, that fits so much better. I wish I had thought of that before I made my post. Oh well ...

You know, that's really the only problem I had with the film. Maybe all this stuff wasn't cliche back in 1917, but today it just doesn't work. Seinfeld is Unfunny pretty much doomed this film at the box office.

[pork3]

It's pretty bad when, after watching a film, the only thing I can think of is taking a shit.
Sad to say, that was the case after this mess.

-Jamman