Disney's John Carter

[Guardsman Bass]

That was a great deal of fun, although I'll second what Zor said - the plot is all over the place. The movie really needed some tighter editing, plus possibly some re-arranging of scenes (starting the movie on Mars/Barsoom seemed off to me).

Also, James Purfoy makes every genre movie he's in extra-awesome. He's only a minor character in this one, but his scenery-chewing is great.

[Darth Yan]

Saw it with father yesterday. Enjoyed it somewhat but felt a bit let down. Still, decent enough overall

[Elfdart]

I saw it last night with my brother (a huge Burroughs fan) and my nephews and we thought it was a lot of fun. The Tharks calling Carter "Virginia", the dog-creature who looked and acted like my sister-in-law's pug (my youngest nephew blurted "It's Floyd!"), Carter being dumped in the nursery with the baby Tharks (complete with baby powder!) and the fight scenes were all great and the audience really enjoyed them, clapping and cheering in parts of the film.

I liked the way the exteriors were shot, which reminded me of The Big Country, William Wyler's masterpiece western. You could really enjoy the view of the Martian landscape without the constant camera movement which is so popular nowadays.

Oh and Lynn Collins as Deja Thoris was hot as hell, even though her outfits were more American Gladiators than Slave Girl Leia (though I do understand why they went with a new look for her while sticking to the original for John Carter).




It was also nice to see a sci-fi adventure movie where the female lead is NOT played by someone who looks like they just finished high school.

I hope the movie does well enough that they make more.

[Guardsman Bass]

I liked the way the exteriors were shot, which reminded me of The Big Country, William Wyler's masterpiece western. You could really enjoy the view of the Martian landscape without the constant camera movement which is so popular nowadays.

It was definitely some beautiful scenery. I think I actually recognized the parts of Lake Powell they used in the film - I've been there myself.

I hope the movie does well enough that they make more.

Probably not, unfortunately. The film cost a ton of money to make and advertise ($350 million), which means it would have to make something like $500-600 million to make its money back in theaters. I suppose it could build up next weekend, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen.

The movie really got screwed by its marketing. They made it look as vague as possible, possibly because they were afraid the whole "John Carter of Mars" thing would turn off viewers. I wish they would have more heavily advertised the whole "before Star Wars, etc, this was the story that inspired them all" theme in their ads.

[Zor]

To be fair it is doing quite well oversees and i can see this film being fondly rememebered by science fiction guys for decades to come like Tron even if it is not a major sucess up front.

Zor

[jollyreaper]

Fond memories aren't enough to get a sequel fast-tracked.

[Elfdart]

Probably not, unfortunately. The film cost a ton of money to make and advertise ($350 million), which means it would have to make something like $500-600 million to make its money back in theaters. I suppose it could build up next weekend, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen.

Too bad, because I enjoyed the movie. I guess they were counting on it being the next Indiana Jones when it's more like The Mummy, only with unrealistic expectations.

I know he's thoroughly despised on the internet, but Rick McCallum (or someone like him: a producer who runs a tight ship) could have cured most of that problem. There's a reason Revenge of the Sith cost about a third of what John Carter or Green Lantern cost.

The movie really got screwed by its marketing. They made it look as vague as possible, possibly because they were afraid the whole "John Carter of Mars" thing would turn off viewers. I wish they would have more heavily advertised the whole "before Star Wars, etc, this was the story that inspired them all" theme in their ads.

I noticed that the ads looked almost identical to The Prince of Persia.

[Guardsman Bass]

I know he's thoroughly despised on the internet, but Rick McCallum (or someone like him: a producer who runs a tight ship) could have cured most of that problem. There's a reason Revenge of the Sith cost about a third of what John Carter or Green Lantern cost.

I agree. Part of the problem was that the guy they got to run the movie production was inexperienced in doing live-action films (he was very successful at Pixar), and Disney was either unable or unwilling to meddle until it was time to actually try and advertise the movie.

[madd0ct0r]

Oh and Lynn Collins as Deja Thoris was hot as hell,...
It was also nice to see a sci-fi adventure movie where the female lead is NOT played by someone who looks like they just finished high school.

This.

God damn, that\'s the first time in a while I\'ve seen a WOMAN in a film like that. Took me right back zeta-jones in mask of zorro.

I cam out of the cinema slightly annoyed at his jumping, but wanting to know a lot more about the world, the thark\'s backstory, exactly how the 9th ray is supposed to work (and what the other 8 are).

not great literature, but i really enjoyed myself. Almost as much as Lyn Collins appeared to.

[Guardsman Bass]

So much for me hoping that John Carter would have some staying power in the box office, at least before Hunger Games kills it off. Box Office Mojo has its second domestic weekend number at $13.5 million, a 55% drop-off from its opening weekend. The international numbers are better, bringing in about $40.7 million, for an international total of $126 million.

That puts the overall gross so far at $179 million, which sounds better than it is. The studio usually gets even less back from international sales than they do from domestic ticket sales.

The film could still sell well on DVD/Blu-ray/Digital Download, but that's stretching at this point (particularly with the DVD market declining so quickly).

[LadyTevar]

I have been wanting to go see it, but Nitram's been too ill.
Yes, I could go by myself, but I prefer to go with him

[TimothyC]

I saw this on Sunday, and I must say, it was a lot of fun. It is too bad that there will probably not be a sequel, because it deserves one.

[Simon_Jester]

I have been wanting to go see it, but Nitram's been too ill.
Yes, I could go by myself, but I prefer to go with him

Well, if you don't go this week it may not be in your local theater the week after- I don't know.

S'a pity.

[PeZook]

Pretty sure the Martian sky isn't blue though.

The first book of the series, A Princess of Mars, was published in 1917. I'm pretty sure Mr. Burroughs had considerably fewer photographs of the Martian surface and atmosphere than we currently do, so if some of the science facts are off, well, consider the time of origin for the story and just suspend your disbelief a bit.

Actually, the Martian sky is, in fact, dark blue when no dust is present.

[Lord Revan]

btw how often is that seeing as Mars (our Mars that is) is know to have planet wide duststorms fairly frequently IIRC.

[PeZook]

btw how often is that seeing as Mars (our Mars that is) is know to have planet wide duststorms fairly frequently IIRC.

Not very often, but you can find a bunch of pictures, especially from the two rovers, that show a nice blue sky.

A few pictures of a blue Martian sky can be found in the Mars Exploration Program gallery on NASA's website ; At least one that I know of was taken way back by Phoenix. The colors are usually distorted and not what we'd see with the naked eye, though, because of the filters used, properties of the camera etc etc etc.

[K. A. Pital]

I saw it.

I wanted to rip out the scriptwirters arms so that he may never, ever write again. What a complete wreck of a script. I mean, there were some moments which would've been cool in an absolutely different movie, cool scenes. But the fugly script ruins everything. You feel like Burrows is being sodomized by Disney's "PG-13 lame fairytale" brigade, GOD NO.

Good moments:

1) Matai Shang (though a complete departure of his Gods of Mars character) and his deadly poof-poof nanomachine shit which he also uses for torture. Performance was good. The guy was good. Every scene with him was something awesome. He should have been the main bad guy and that wreck of an actor playing Zodanga's chief should've never appeared on the screen.
2) Solid performance from the male lead. That was expected.
3) Tarks were reasonably close to Burrows' representation.

Bad:
1) Storyline. Come on. You butchered the first book. Took elements of book two and used them in a frivolous fashion. Okay. But for god's sake the script sucks, incoherent, ugly mess with absolutely useless moments and ad-hoc events.
2) Deja Toris. I was a fan of Burrows (who the hell in the late USSR wasn't?), and I didn't see that coming. "She's a Princess" line drew laughter from the cinema, and not for nothing. The acting was cringeworthy. Hot? Yes. Hot like a red light district prostitute, maybe. Arrogant? Yes, like a dumb teen, not like a mighty aristocrat of Barsoom. The girl acted like shit and was completely out of character for Toris.
3) Just about everything else which does not fit into the above points.

There, you have it. Disney should stop making routine PG-13 shit out of decent, even if aged, adventure stories.

And yes, a sequel could be so much better and now it's not going to happen. Because the first movie was not as good as it could be.

Simple improvements to script which would make this shit at least as good as "Prince of Persia" or "Pirates", two other Disney flicks:
1) The gladiator arena happens at the beginning, not at the end. JC gains authority among the Tarks but is later kidnapped by the Zodangans, who are led by an unscurpulous Matai Shang (perhaps by advising a cabal of rulers, instead of that idiot boy). Matai Shang's high-tech civilization predates on low-tech societies by stealing their energy and therefore wants to get the most out of Barsoom while it dies in agony of war (which is closer to what some of the races of Barsoom did in Burrows trilogy).
2) Final battle is Carter and Helium versus Shang and Zodanga
3) Just remove the wedding part, that's just bullshit, nobody bought the lame romance subplot even for a moment and everyone just waited until Carter kills the idiot Zodanga person.

And there you have it. Absolutely epic combat in the end with tarks, airships and stuff, a more well-paced story in the beginning with the arena and, well, tarks, and a non-lame villain who is willing to take shit into his hands for the sake of his "plan".

But no. They had to make it the way they did, and no wonder it failed at the box office.

[FSTargetDrone]

Ouch:

Disney Predicts $200 Million Loss From 'John Carter' Movie

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

March 20 (Bloomberg) -- Walt Disney Co., the world's largest entertainment company, said the box-office disappointment "John Carter" will post a loss of about $200 million, possibly the biggest ever for a single film.

The film division will report a fiscal second-quarter operating loss of $80 million to $120 million as result of the picture, Burbank, California-based Disney said yesterday in an e-mailed statement.

"I do think this is the largest loss on a single film that I have ever seen," said Matthew Harrigan, an analyst with Wunderlich Securities in Denver who has followed the industry for 20 years. He has a hold rating on Disney stock.

"John Carter," about a Civil War veteran transported to Mars, cost an estimated $250 million to produce, according to Box Office Mojo. The loss exceeded the estimate of Alan Gould, an analyst at Evercore Partners in New York. He said Disney is unlikely to commit such a sum again to an untested project.

"It'll have to be an established franchise," said Gould, who has an overweight or buy rating on the stock.

Disney fell 0.5 percent to $43.24 at the close in New York. The shares have advanced 15 percent this year.

The film, which opened March 9, has collected $184 million in worldwide ticket sales, according to the company. Studios split ticket revenue with theater operators.

"As we look forward to the second half of the year, we are excited about the upcoming releases of 'The Avengers' and 'Brave,' which we believe have tremendous potential to drive value for the studio and the rest of the company," Disney said in its statement.


Franchise Focused

To boost profitability, the Disney studio has been making fewer movies and trying to focus on films with multipicture potential, such as Pixar's animated features and the "Pirates of Caribbean" series. Rich Ross, who served as head of the company's Disney Channel networks, took over the studio in October 2009.

"John Carter" is based on a 100-year-old series of novels by Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs. It marked the live- action debut for writer-director Andrew Stanton, who won Oscars for "Finding Nemo" and "Wall-E," at Pixar.

Gould was expecting a $165 million loss for the movie and a break-even fiscal second quarter for the film unit.

--Editors: Rob Golum, Anthony Palazzo

[Zor]

Stas, did you see a Russian dubbed version of the film?

Zor

[Simon_Jester]

2) Deja Toris. I was a fan of Burrows (who the hell in the late USSR wasn't?), and I didn't see that coming. "She's a Princess" line drew laughter from the cinema, and not for nothing. The acting was cringeworthy. Hot? Yes. Hot like a red light district prostitute, maybe. Arrogant? Yes, like a dumb teen, not like a mighty aristocrat of Barsoom. The girl acted like shit and was completely out of character for Toris.

Dejah Thoris (the silent characters do belong, assuming you care how Burroughs spelled it)... well, she may have come across differently in English than she did in Russian.

1) The gladiator arena happens at the beginning, not at the end. JC gains authority among the Tarks but is later kidnapped by the Zodangans, who are led by an unscurpulous Matai Shang (perhaps by advising a cabal of rulers, instead of that idiot boy).

Er, by the idiot boy you mean that warlord, the one who's trying to force Dejah to marry him?

Matai Shang's high-tech civilization predates on low-tech societies by stealing their energy and therefore wants to get the most out of Barsoom while it dies in agony of war (which is closer to what some of the races of Barsoom did in Burrows trilogy).

The guys with the fancy technology are presented as doing exactly that in the English version of the movie- they do prey (not predate, I know it doesn't make sense because the noun is "predation," sorry) on the energies and resources of Barsoom, and do not care that the planet's resources will ultimately be exhausted. One of them comes right out and say that.

And there you have it. Absolutely epic combat in the end with tarks, airships and stuff, a more well-paced story in the beginning with the arena and, well, tarks, and a non-lame villain who is willing to take shit into his hands for the sake of his "plan".

But no. They had to make it the way they did, and no wonder it failed at the box office.

This part I will not dispute.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

btw how often is that seeing as Mars (our Mars that is) is know to have planet wide duststorms fairly frequently IIRC.

Sunrises and sunsets. At those times, you're looking through enough atmosphere that the scattering of blue light becomes pronounced over the light reflected off all the airborne rust. At which time, you see a zone around and above the Sun where it is distinctly blue, fading out to the usual dusty tones.

Example below:

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/ ... set_br.jpg

[K. A. Pital]

well, she may have come across differently in English than she did in Russian.

That would matter if I were seeing the film in Russia, but I'm not. I saw the movie with English (also replying to Zor). And yeah, I misspelled her name, since I've only read the Russian translation of Burrows quite a while ago and when trying to guess the name back from cyrillics some characters might fall out.

Er, by the idiot boy you mean that warlord, the one who's trying to force Dejah to marry him?

Yeah. That guy. His character is weak and acting is likewise subpar.

One of them comes right out and say that.

I know, because I've seen the film, man. Matai Shang says something to that effect while Carter is being infested by the blue machine goo. However, they aren't clearly articulated as the main bad guys and Shang seems to be a tangential character, which is why the whole Good vs. Evil conflict (typical for the simple space opera setting) is not working. It worked in Star Wars. In Avatar. Here it's just not working.