"John Carter of Mars" Moving Ahead!

[Agenda]

I don't know why they bothered setting the movie on Mars if they're going to the trouble of eliminating it from the title. Just say it's a faraway planet or something.

 

[Mysterion]

I loved Sky Captain, and Conran's Barsoom movie does look like it could have been really good.

I agree totally.

Flawed as Sky Captain might have been, it was an interesting effort, and a fun movie. And I will say it was very obvious that everyone involved was very creative and talented.

 

[Hyperspace05]

I don't know if this has been posted yet, but here is a "Making of John Carter" featurette:
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jPevcb2IiGY[/yt]

The world building shown in this video makes me REALLY excited. This video has made me 10x more interested in the film than any of its lousy trailers.

 

[Professor Zoom]

I don't know why they bothered setting the movie on Mars if they're going to the trouble of eliminating it from the title. Just say it's a faraway planet or something.

Then why bother making a John Carter movie?

 

[Psion]

I don't know why they bothered setting the movie on Mars if they're going to the trouble of eliminating it from the title. Just say it's a faraway planet or something.

Then why bother making a John Carter movie?

Going by the first four books (the ones I've read), I don't think there's anything that specifically confirms that Carter's actually on Mars. And as far as Carter believing himself to be on the red planet, remember that he's a Civil War verteran with no specific gift for astronomy.

Given that we now know the planet depicted in Burrough's books cannot possibly be Barsoom, I think it makes sense to just run with the notion that Carter is an extraordinary fighter who believes he's on Mars, tells everyone he meets that Barsoom is Mars, and he's wrong.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Going by the first four books (the ones I've read), I don't think there's anything that specifically confirms that Carter's actually on Mars. And as far as Carter believing himself to be on the red planet, remember that he's a Civil War verteran with no specific gift for astronomy.

In chapter 11 of A Princess of Mars, Dejah Thoris tells Carter that she knows he's not of Barsoom and is of Earth. She's aware of what Earth is like and what Earth humans look like (the Red Martians have some sort of super telescope), and John Carter fits the parameters of an Earth human. It is a vague conversation, though, and one could rationalize its vagueness as a twenty-year-old memory of Carter's as he sits down to write his memoirs.

In fact, any problems with A Princess of Mars can be rationalized as such; it reads like a memoir of a man's life by someone who isn't a writer, so it assumes things that the reader doesn't know in places and explains things that the reader will find obvious because the memoirist is writing what he knows as best he can.

 

[Warped9]

Reactions.

John Carter Audience Reactions - by TheJohnCarterFiles.com - YouTube

 

[AvBaur]

For what it's worth, I totally agree with pretty much all of that.

And here's one of the first actual reviews that I've seen, with which I'd also mostly agree: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/53943

 

[Allyn Gibson]

io9's interview with Michael Chabon fills me with the hope that the first few trailers did not. Chabon gets Barsoom.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I've won tickets at work for an advance screening next Tuesday. I'm really excited.

Free Enterprise's Robert Meyer Burnett posted this link on his Facebook page earlier today -- "Why John Carter Has To Be Seen To Be Believed," a really nice personal review of the film from The Grauniad, err, I mean The Guardian.

 

[Warped9]

Now that the real word about the film seems to be getting out Disney's marketing geniuses are looking ever more stupid.

 

[Harvey]

Well, someone did get fired over the marketing campaign, no?

 

[AvBaur]

Yeah, but they're not doing much to salvage the campaign, although that last trailer was a step in the right direction.

While the bad marketing continues to piss me off (I want sequels, damnit!), I do think it's possible that the good buzz and word of mouth will make a difference and keep the movie from becoming a complete financial desaster, which it really wouldn't deserve.

 

[timothy]

I have no doubts that there will be sequals to john carter after all the inital story is a trilogy after all. and disney is good at doing those.

 

[AvBaur]

Now that the embargo has lifted, I was finally allowed to post my review of the movie. Unfortunately, it's in German, so most of you probably won't understand a word: http://www.splashmovies.de/php/rezensionen/rezension/15720

In short: don't be fooled by the lame trailers or the bland title. It's the most spectacular sci-fi action adventure in years. It has some of the very best visual fx and coolest set & creature designs I've ever seen and a complex, exciting story to match. My rating: 9/10

Here's another good review that I'd mostly agree with: http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/motion-...lp-science-fiction-right-and-on-a-grand-scale

 

[Hyperspace05]

Man, these reviews are getting me pumped up!

I loved 'Avatar', and it seems like this will be right up my alley as well...

 

[Lowdarzz]

Another good review with only some minor nitpicks.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/reviewsnews.php?id=87586

I'm really looking forward to this next weekend. It's probably the only movie I'll pay full price for this year.

 

[davejames]

Hmm, from all the reviews so far, I get the impression fans of the book are loving it, but everyone else is finding it a bit slow and hard to follow at times, with all the different characters and factions and politics involved.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

movieline preview review

Given the naysaying hype, the first batch of reviews are surprisingly... positive. Well, mixed positive, for the most part -- critics agree on many of the film's strengths, from the well-crafted CG world of Barsoom (that's Mars, to us humans) to the spirited action sequences Pixar veteran Stanton has pulled off. (Look for Movieline's John Carter review to post next week.)

First John Carter Reviews: A Flawed But Worthwhile Epic?
http://www.movieline.com/2012/03/02/first-john-carter-reviews-a-flawed-but-worthwhile-blockbuster/

it mentions these reviews:
SFX Magazine.
said Fan the Fire Magazine
Bad Ass Digest

 

[Warped9]

No film is perfect, though some come damn close, but if the biggest criticisms seem to be that this film may be too dense in content for some of the audience then, for me, that doesn't sound like much of a drawback. It sounds more like you can get even more out of it on a second viewing. It can give a film more resonance after you first appreciate the excitement and eye candy. It can speak of a smartly crafted film which I'm all for considering how many dumb-as-shit films we're so used to getting.

All in all I'm eager to see this film on the big screen as soon as it gets into town. And there aren't many films that come along these days that get me that interested.