"John Carter of Mars" Moving Ahead!

[Temis the Vorta]

Sounds like casting Taylor Kitsch didn't help much either.

I dont know. Avatar was succesfull without major stars.

Who needs stars anyway?

James Cameron's name and the SFX were the stars of Avatar.

Also, I wasn't saying Kitsch's problem is that he's not already a star. From what I've seen of him, he simply isn't right for the role and probably doesn't have it in him to be an action movie star.

 

[Yevetha]

What was so wrong with his performance?

 

[Kelso]

Having now paid to see this movie, I can say that it probably won't be very accessible to anyone who isn't familiar with the original stories.

My fiance knew nothing about the John Carter stories going in, and she absolutely loved it. She had no trouble following the story.

 

[Sindatur]

What was so wrong with his performance?

I haven't seen the movie, nor do I know the books, but, the complaints I've seen about Taylor Kitsch's casting in the role, (before anyone had seen the movie) is that he's too young and pretty to play the character. The character apparently should be older and more weathered looking to account for his backstory. I can't comment as to wether the writers of the movie made Taylor Kitsch more appropriate looking for the movie character

 

[Kelso]

John Carter is described in A Princess of Mars as looking about thirty with smooth skin. Kitsch looks perfect for the role.

 

[Sindatur]

John Carter is described in A Princess of Mars as looking about thirty with smooth skin. Kitsch looks perfect for the role.

Sounds like he does, so, I dunno, but, several folks earlier in the thread made those comments

 

[Kelso]

John Carter is described in A Princess of Mars as looking about thirty with smooth skin. Kitsch looks perfect for the role.

Sounds like he does, so, I dunno, but, several folks earlier in the thread made those comments

I decided to go back and look up some exact quotes.

ERB describing "Uncle Jack"...

I was then a child but of five years, yet I well remember the tall, dark, smooth-faced, athletic man whom I called uncle Jack.

He was a splendid specimen of manhood, standing a good two inches over six feet, broad of shoulder and narrow of hip, with the carriage of the trained fighting man. His features were regular and clear cut, his hair black and closely cropped, while his eyes were of a steel gray, reflecting a strong and loyal character, filled with fire and initiative.

And Carter on his age...

So far as I can recollect I have always been a man, a man of about thirty.

 

[Horta Burger]

I saw it. It's not bad, but it doesn't reach out and grab your attention, either. And the issue many have mentioned is correct--there are places where someone not already familiar with John Carter will be lost or feel some degree of cognitive fatigue.

The marketing is terrible. "John Carter?" I mean, seriously. The only worse title I could imagine is "Joe Smith." It sounds like a movie about an accountant. And the poster in the movie theater was worse, all red pastels and out of focus, one guy in the forefront with faint things you can't really make out in the background.

Come on people! Not even "From the creator of Tarzan..."? You've got big green guys with tusks, a giant Martian dog, albino apes, scantily clad Martian princesses, shiny light ships, etc. And the best you can do is some out-of-focus guy amid a sea of off putting red pastels?

I think it's poor box office is a combination of three things: (1) assuming the books are more widely part of the current cultural memory than they actually are; (2) silly marketing, and (3) a movie longer than it has to be, one that loses precious familiarization time with a complicated framing story.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Having now paid to see this movie, I can say that it probably won't be very accessible to anyone who isn't familiar with the original stories.

My fiance knew nothing about the John Carter stories going in, and she absolutely loved it. She had no trouble following the story.

She's probably very bright then. I can't imagine she's typical. However, I guess the minutiae of the story aren't that important if one views it as a roller-coaster ride with eye candy aplenty.

As bad guys, they're pretty unconvincing and offer an unsubtle allegory of environmental rapine by faceless global corporations.

Was this allegory from the original books?

The Therns in the books were different from these SG-1-ish Ori-looking wannabes, and were native to Mars - degenerated decendents of White Martians if I recall correctly. Burrough's Therns are probably a satire on the hypocrisy inherent in organised religions. I also don't think his Therns used a talisman to travel between worlds - that reminds me of a Harlan Ellison story Devil with a Glass Hand although I think the amulets in that story controlled travel through time, not space.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I also don't think his Therns used a talisman to travel between worlds - that reminds me of a Harlan Ellison story Devil with a Glass Hand although I think the amulets in that story controlled travel through time, not space.

I believe you mean the Outer Limits episode Demon with a Glass Hand, scripted by Harlan Ellison specifically for the show.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I also don't think his Therns used a talisman to travel between worlds - that reminds me of a Harlan Ellison story Devil with a Glass Hand although I think the amulets in that story controlled travel through time, not space.

I believe you mean the Outer Limits episode Demon with a Glass Hand, scripted by Harlan Ellison specifically for the show.

Yeah, that's the one. I haven't seen it in decades.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I think it's poor box office is a combination of three things: (1) assuming the books are more widely part of the current cultural memory than they actually are; (2) silly marketing, and (3) a movie longer than it has to be, one that loses precious familiarization time with a complicated framing story.

The framing story is definately unneccessary. I would have cut it.

The marketing for the movie hasn't been great, but I wonder if Disney has simply decided not to throw good money after bad since the movie stinks. I mean, it's not the worst movie I've ever seen but it's pretty unengaging, particularly considering the amount of visual spectacle thrown up on the screen. Overall, I get a very Green Lantern feeling from it.

I wouldn't say the movie is too confusing. Granted, I think I'm better than most at trying to accept a story on its own terms and trying to figure out what's going on based on the context. But I'd say I understood 90% of what was going on, which is about as much as John Carter himself understood at the time. Some of the Thark customs were a bit tough to grasp, but I got the gist of them.

The one part where I admit to being totally lost was the scene where they guy told John Carter, "Take me hostage." That scene was confusing, mostly because the Take-me-hostage guy looked a lot like the main bad guy.

In fact, overall, I think they could have done more to distinguish between the good guys & the bad guys. Their ships and their armor all looked too similar, with only some bits of red or blue trim here and there to distinguish between them.

Mostly, I think the characters were just kinda dull.

I also don't think his Therns used a talisman to travel between worlds - that reminds me of a Harlan Ellison story Devil with a Glass Hand although I think the amulets in that story controlled travel through time, not space.

I believe you mean the Outer Limits episode Demon with a Glass Hand, scripted by Harlan Ellison specifically for the show.

Ooh! I think the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate should sue Harlan Ellison for that! Turnabout is fair play, afterall.

 

[Maurice]

As bad guys, they're pretty unconvincing and offer an unsubtle allegory of environmental rapine by faceless global corporations.

Was this allegory from the original books?

No. That theme isn't there. As Asbo Zaprudder says above, the Therns in the books aren't much anything like those is in this film.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I also don't think his Therns used a talisman to travel between worlds - that reminds me of a Harlan Ellison story Devil with a Glass Hand although I think the amulets in that story controlled travel through time, not space.

I believe you mean the Outer Limits episode Demon with a Glass Hand, scripted by Harlan Ellison specifically for the show.

Ooh! I think the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate should sue Harlan Ellison for that! Turnabout is fair play, afterall.

Whatever.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Weird. If it weren't for the fact that John Carter was playing at the special "Extra Theatre" I would have been double checking to make sure I wasn't in the wrong one.

The Extra Theatre, for those wondering is a special theatre with a huge screen, vibration-causing sounds, some stupid light show on the walls which "immerses" you in the film but is in fact distracting. Seating is assigned when you purchase your ticket, and you get to sit in a leather recliner. On a regular day, a ticket would cost you $20.00, but I was there on cheap day, so I only paid $10.00. And before you ask, the particular cineplex was only showing John Carter in the Extra Theatre.

Under normal crcumstances, I go to another cineplex to avoid paying Extra, but since there's currently a bus strike in my city, I have to settle for the one people are willing to drive me to.

Is that the UltraLuxe Theater in Scottsdale, AZ? (Or is there another city inconveniencing its populace with a bus strike right now? Either way, you have my sympathies.)

But once again, the two home-grown Disney films -- Lone Ranger and Oz -- are expensive $200 million-plus bets.

I'm calling it now, The Lone Ranger will be a hit. This is the easiest movie in the world to market - it's POTC, reborn as a Western. It doesn't have to be good in order to be a hit. None of the POTC movies were good, so that part doesn't matter.

I disagree about none of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies being good. The 1st 3 were all good fun, even if they were a little long. On Stranger Tides was kinda lame but Gore Verbinski didn't direct that one.

And Johnny Depp, while fairly bankable, isn't as reliable as he used to be. A few years ago, I would have said that I've never seen Depp do a bad movie. Now I've seen 3-- Public Enemies, The Rum Diary, & The Tourist.

Sounds like casting Taylor Kitsch didn't help much either.

I dont know. Avatar was succesfull without major stars.

Who needs stars anyway?

James Cameron's name and the SFX were the stars of Avatar.

Also, I wasn't saying Kitsch's problem is that he's not already a star. From what I've seen of him, he simply isn't right for the role and probably doesn't have it in him to be an action movie star.

I think Kitsch has potential but he hasn't wowed me yet. And considering how he seemed to sap all of the inherent charm out of Gambit in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, he might not be the best bet for future action franchises.

But it's not like anyone else in the movie was really acting circles around him either. Mark Strong seemed to be sleepwalking through yet another stoic villain role. Willem Dafoe had an OK voiceover role but he also played the most dynamic character in the film.

 

[Yevetha]

The borgified posted:

The one part where I admit to being totally lost was the scene where they guy told John Carter, "Take me hostage." That scene was confusing, mostly because the Take-me-hostage guy looked a lot like the main bad guy.

Purefoy played a great villain in Rome.

 

[Warped9]

The one part where I admit to being totally lost was the scene where they guy told John Carter, "Take me hostage." That scene was confusing, mostly because the Take-me-hostage guy looked a lot like the main bad guy.

Odd. I clued into that right off.

 

[The Wormhole]

Is that the UltraLuxe Theater in Scottsdale, AZ? (Or is there another city inconveniencing its populace with a bus strike right now? Either way, you have my sympathies.)

No, I live in Canada. And the strike has actually been resolved, I just happened to see the movie during the two days needed to perform safety inspections on the buses before they went on the road again.

 

[StarTrek1701]

Sounds like casting Taylor Kitsch didn't help much either.

I dont know. Avatar was succesfull without major stars.

Who needs stars anyway?

I'd say Sigourney Weaver is a major star. Plus it was James Cameron's comeback movie. Cameron is a star in his own right. Who the fuck even knows Andrew Stanton?

 

[Yevetha]

Is she a star anymore?