• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

John Carter : FARSCAPE ON MARS ?

Can

Can

Commander
Red Shirt
I just have seen John Carter and similarities between Farscape and John Carter suddenly became clear. I know Edgar Burroughs original novel was 100 years old and since then it had been source material for many sci-fi fantasy works. But it still it was like Farscape on Mars ( minus zany humour )

The protogonist John Carter/John Crichton (even initials are same ! ) from South , yanked from their world to an alien fantasy universe ( Mars/Uncharted Territories ). There he befriends with various aliens (Tarks/Moya passangers , Sola even had a Zhaan vibe ) , gets a pet ( Mars dog Woola/DRD 1812 ) , becomes a pawn then a key player in struggle for that universe , messes with higher powers (Therns/Ancients ) , finds his soul mate ( Princess Dejah/Aeryn Sun )

Any more similarities ?
 
I hadn't thought of this, but now that I do, the similarities can't be denied. I think it's obvious that Farscape was probably heavily inspired by the John Carter of Mars books.
 
Inspired, I am not sure. The similarities are superficial, both Carter and Crichton are thrust into alien worlds. Their meeting aliens and gaining love interests are standard for sci-fi and drama respectively. Carter embraces the world he's in (in the books at any rate) unlike Crichton. In the movie, Carter is closer to Josey Wales than Crichton. A post war drifter who finds salvation in learning to embrace (often unwillingly) the new lives thrust into his life.
 
Ah, but Crichton finally embraces the world he lives in at the end of Peacekeeper Wars.

Farscape is also reminiscent of Buck Rogers - Modern day man (astronaut in some versions) is thrust into a futuristic world with no apparent way back to his home place/time.
 
Shawnster said:
Farscape is also reminiscent of Buck Rogers [...]
Click to expand...
...which was also inspired by John Carter, of course. :)

It would probably be difficult to find any sci-fi adventure story that wasn't in some way influenced by John Carter of Mars.
 
Shawnster said:
Ah, but Crichton finally embraces the world he lives in at the end of Peacekeeper Wars.

Farscape is also reminiscent of Buck Rogers - Modern day man (astronaut in some versions) is thrust into a futuristic world with no apparent way back to his home place/time.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but Crichton didn't have any particular death wish to work through, unlike Wales and Carter. The introductory scene of Carter at the trading outpost is visually very much like the outpost scene in Josey Wales. As is the loss of their families, which presumably led Carter into fighting in the Civil War (though that isn't as spelled out and is a supposition on my part.)
 
Most stories boil down to a man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town. It might have been more interesting to tell John Carter's story from the perspective of a Martian.
 
I think Burroughs used the JC initials in both the Mars stories and the Tarzan stories (Tarzan's birth name is John Clayton) to evoke the savior aspect of the characters.
 
District 9 did that too, with the Intelligent Prawn being named Christopher Johnson. At least there they played with it by reversing the initials.
 
All the Star Trek/Star Wars type TV and movie series are heavily influenced by early 20th C space opera, not just ERB's novels but also Lensmen, Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon.

Buck Rogers, Farscape's direct inspiration, dates from 1928. The first John Carter novel, A Princess of Mars, was published in 1917, and Buck Rogers certainly would have been influenced by it. So there's a connection, just not a direct one.

One of the few things I really liked about the Star Wars prequels was the way they upped the references to the old space opera serials, such as using more Art Deco in building interiors and exteriors. The Clone Wars is continuing this, and added "newsreel" type summaries at the beginning of each episode, which is more mid-20th C than early, but hey close enough.
 
^ That was the first thing I liked about TPM when I saw it in theater - the round view screen Amidala appears on at the beginning - an homage to all those pulp serieals from the 30s.
 
I also feel Farscape was more like Buck Rogers than John Carter, but then again it could be said that Buck Rogers was undoubtedly influenced by John Carter as well. Edgar Burroughs isn't often recognized as a father of modern-day SF, but he really should be.

Alex
 
Can said:
I just have seen John Carter and similarities between Farscape and John Carter suddenly became clear. I know Edgar Burroughs original novel was 100 years old and since then it had been source material for many sci-fi fantasy works. But it still it was like Farscape on Mars ( minus zany humour )

The protogonist John Carter/John Crichton (even initials are same ! ) from South , yanked from their world to an alien fantasy universe ( Mars/Uncharted Territories ). There he befriends with various aliens (Tarks/Moya passangers , Sola even had a Zhaan vibe ) , gets a pet ( Mars dog Woola/DRD 1812 ) , becomes a pawn then a key player in struggle for that universe , messes with higher powers (Therns/Ancients ) , finds his soul mate ( Princess Dejah/Aeryn Sun )

Any more similarities ?
Click to expand...

Can't be unseen.
 
^Which explains why my book compilation says 1912. I was just about to run and double-check when Greg saved me having to get out of my comfy chair. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top