Wow! Really! John Carter ?! I remember this book series with great fondness, I read a bunch of them in paperback as a youngster, and loved them. My dad had a bunch of them that I’d devour during our July family vacations in Maine. I hope the movie will do the character justice. 
I thought The Rock was supposed to be in this
I started watching the trailer. And, despite its awesomeness, I stopped so the visuals would be a fresh surprise. Looking forward to it.
I read a number of the books in high school, they were fun and a good introduction to fantasy for me. And I remember how utterly disappointed I was by the SciFi Channels John Carter movie, I could only bear a few minutes of it… Yeah, it was that bad. Why do you not look surprised? Oh I guess you have seen a few SciFi produced movies yourself…
So I will be pleased to see how this production company handles the material, if done well they could do a whole series of these. I don’t think anyone has done a Burroughs movie in a long time, I remember some Pellucidar movies back in the 70’s but those were just awful. And I think SciFi also did an adaption of The Land that Time Forgot, but that also was rather repugnant…
It would be nice to see his material done right. Of course I have also been waiting for a decent Lovecraft movie too, and have yet to see one.
((Lol, seems that here’s another thread that I’m resuscitating. It’s kinda turning into my thing as far as forums go.))
The film’s been out for just under a week and a half now. I was aware of the books for some time, but admit to never having read any of them, so I can’t say how well the movie follows the plot of the first book. That being said, I absolutely loved the movie - in fact I’ve seen it twice (which I rarely do, given the price of movie admission nowadays).
Now, just to clarify, I enjoy movies alot, and I go see them just to enjoy them. No disrespect intended, but I am not a nitpicker or a critic; I don’t spend the whole time trying to spot inaccuracies or finding things to hate. Something has to be really glaring for me to notice or even care. In that regard, John Carter was as close to being a perfect movie for me as anything. I thought it was awesome, basically in every way. The actors were well-cast, the script was well-written, and the CGI did its job. It had action, suspense, romance, good characters, and a good story. It brought all the elements together in a clear, enjoyable way (for me, anyway) and while it did have a few plotholes (mainly in regards to the villains) I didn’t find them glaring enough to detract from the overall story. It was a great science fantasy adventure story, and knowing that it was a major inspiration for later sci-fi, particularly Star Wars, made it satisfying to see that the ‘original source’ story finally made it to the movie screen after all these years. On a personal note, I go absolutely nuts for beautiful, noble, brilliant, tough lead female characters (and have since Princess Leia), so Lynn Collins’ magnificent portrayal of Dejah Thoris left me totally smitten. (For me, there’s just nothing sexier than a woman who can fight
I know that not everyone may enjoy it, but every review I’ve seen from ordinary folks who’ve seen it has been positive. If you folks haven’t seen it yet and have any interest in seeing it in the theater, I would definitely recommend going to see it before it gets yanked out to make room for something else (Wrath of the Titans, most likely).
I thought John Carter was a fantastic movie, so much so that I went to see it twice in the theater. I am so disappointed that it isn’t doing better at the box office, and that Disney has already publicly disowned it (in effect). First of all, it’s just a plain, flat-out fun film; second, the world of Barsoom is so richly imagined - it feels real. I don’t think any movie has so engrossed me since The Fellowship of the Ring - not that this is another Lord of the Rings, but the world-building, including the integration of CGI with live action, is very comparable and excellently done. The screenplay is more literate than you would expect from a big-blockbuster action movie, there is a first-rate score by Michael Giacchino…
If you haven’t gone to see it yet, please do (while you still can!).
PS. Commander 515 is spot on about Lynn Collins’ Dejah Thoris, too!
I have to say, for the record, that I’m a bit irked at Disney over the whole John Carter thing (and SciFi.com just seems to have it out for the film for some reason). I don’t understand why Disney recently came out and said that they’ll probably lose at least $200 million on the film - talk about counting their chickens before they hatch! Sure, I get that Hunger Games will probably obliterate everything else in the theaters this weekend - but there are still theaters that’ll be showing J.C., as well as plenty of smaller theaters that will be showing it in upcoming months (we have one near to where I live that doesn’t get the ‘new’ films until several months after they initially release). Plus, while I’m sure that the studios don’t make a heck of alot of money on the DVD rental/sales market, there have to be tens of thousands of people who’ll be renting it in 3-4 months when it comes out, via Blockbuster, Netflix, etc. or just plain buying it outright (raises hand!) because they didn’t feel like going through the whole theater hassle. If enough word of mouth spreads, it still may recoup its costs via post-theatrical exposure. This frankly old and outdated metric of judging a film’s performance solely via box office performance is as obselete and dated as the Nielsen ratings system for TV - the whole delivery system of the medium has changed but the measure of success for its content has still not changed to keep up. (Although, for the record, I could be wrong…)
I wonder if SciFi.com has it out for JC because of SyFy’s “Princess of Mars.” I tried watching that yesterday, because right now I’m interested in all things John Carter… but, man, it is a stinker of a movie. I couldn’t stick with it past the first hour. (So when folks ask, “I heard that ‘John Carter’ movie is a real turkey,” you can say, “If you mean the one starring Traci Lords, you’re right, but Disney’s ‘John Carter’ is fantastic!”) I mean, if you want to really appreciate what a first-class effort “John Carter” is, look no further than how SyFy managed to frak the source material up with this mess.
I agree on this being a good flick.
I think I posted elsewhere, but in short it was a fun 2 hours and a pleasant “popcorn muncher” kind of movie. I recall the term “Sword and Planet” for this genre of science fiction.
I never did read source material, but that did not hinder my “fun factor”.
It is too bad that it did not make as many coins as “The Mouse” would have liked.
I think I’ll still pick up the Blu-ray, the show is just so darn gorgeous.
OB
Saw this at the Meetup with mah GWC peeps, and I must say that after all the negative hype I was pleasantly surprised! It was a fun movie, had some great action and effects, some LOL moments, and overall quite enjoyable!! Was it The Godfather, or Inception? Nope. Was it a fun summer science fiction movie? Sure as hell was! It’s too bad Disney is already putting the nails in this movie’s coffin, kind of stupid when you’re trying to get people to go see it and it’s still out. Maybe they’re taking their public relation cues from SyFy now.