Disney's John Carter

[Darth Nostril]

I love John Carter, though I only ever read one of his books. I should see if I can get an anthology online for cheap.

Even better they're available for free http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Science_F ... shelf%29#B
Just finished reading Chessmen of Mars then I heard about this movie, fingers crossed Disney don't screw it up.

[Slacker]

I prefer my princesses in planetary romances to be less blatantly rescue bait (see In the Court of the Crimson Kings) but I'm sure some of that is going to updated.

That was probably the best pair of books SM Stirling ever wrote. I'd love to see those made into a couple of movies, actually. I'd agree that the female characters are probably going to be updated for 21st century mindsets, though, probably less blatantly damsel in distress.

[Imperial Overlord]

I'd love to see those made into a couple of movies, actually. I'd agree that the female characters are probably going to be updated for 21st century mindsets, though, probably less blatantly damsel in distress.

Burroughs was funny about that. He wrote that everyone on Mars goes armed because of the dangers and that it's customary not to fight members of the opposite gender and then hits rescue the princess as his default storyline. It's like he walked up to a point where the heroine was capable of taking care of herself and then turned around. The adapters can simply walk down his path, so to speak, and take those last few steps that Boroughs didn't.

Besides, who doesn't want to see a hot, scantily clad Martian babe fighting sky pirates with a sword in one hand and a pistol in the other 10,000 feet off the ground?

[Zor]

An interesting bit of historical animation and what could have been. Very impressive animation for the time period.

Zor

[Simon_Jester]

I prefer my princesses in planetary romances to be less blatantly rescue bait (see In the Court of the Crimson Kings) but I'm sure some of that is going to updated.

That was probably the best pair of books SM Stirling ever wrote. I'd love to see those made into a couple of movies, actually.

Hell yes.

Court of the Crimson Kings was great because it took that and turned it around: You've got Wainman who's this adventurer-archaeologist who by Martian standards has super-strength and all, and who can plainly take care of himself... and then he winds up slotted into the role of "damsel in distress" and it's his girlfriend who winds up having to go take tremendous risks to save him and winds up getting crowned Empress of Mars.

[Imperial Overlord]

Court of the Crimson Kings was great because it took that and turned it around: You've got Wainman who's this adventurer-archaeologist who by Martian standards has super-strength and all, and who can plainly take care of himself... and then he winds up slotted into the role of "damsel in distress" and it's his girlfriend who winds up having to go take tremendous risks to save him and winds up getting crowned Empress of Mars.

Well to get technical they both end up being captured and having to take tremendous risks to save each other. He just gets caught first.

[Simon_Jester]

Eh, strictly true, but I'm sure you see what I mean- given what takes place at which bits of the plot, Teyud spends a lot more time rescuing Jeremy than vice versa.

He's not helpless, but he winds up being cast in the role that traditionally belongs to the "princess in the tower."

[Tasoth]

I just realized one character they didn't show in that trailer that I want to see: Woola the Calot. I like dogs and a giant martian death machine of a dog is right up my alley.

[Edi]

I'll go watch this one when it comes out. I've read all of the John Carter of Mars books multiple times and they were my favorites when I was growing up. Come to think of it, the only ERB stuff I haven't read is the final two volumes of Pellucidar and the Venus series, which to my knowledge was not translated to Finnish.

I would be amazed if they did everything completely faithfully to the books, because some of that would take a lot of doing. Be interesting to see how this turns out.

[CaptainChewbacca]

I feel like doing a 100% faithful JC of Mars movie would be up there with doing a movie about the life of King David. There's too much that's too crazy to fit into one (or even a handful of) movies.

[Zor]

I just realized one character they didn't show in that trailer that I want to see: Woola the Calot. I like dogs and a giant martian death machine of a dog is right up my alley.

Well there were critters riding along what i assumed were green martians on Thoatback.

Zor

[Bright]

So there's a new trailer out for this.



Ten minutes ago, I couldn’t have cared less about John Carter of Mars and that it was getting some sort of film adaptation, but now... This looks damn cool, and the more I find out about the story and the production, the more interested I am. I mean, this is basically a live-action Pixar movie, isn't it? A live-action PG-13 Pixar movie. Wall-E is one of my favorite movies ever, so I can't resist the pull of Andrew Stanton on another science fiction project.

[Broken]

Man, I read a couple John Carter books years and years ago. Haven't thought about them in years, but those trailers are pretty cool, I'll likely try to go and see this in the theater when it comes out.

[Zor]

More good stuff all around. Looking forward to seeing it.

Mind you i think that more people are going to make the Avatar comparison because of this trailer, for all that entails.

Zor

[Bright]

Mind you i think that more people are going to make the Avatar comparison because of this trailer, for all that entails.

I look forward to it. I look forward to laughing in their faces.

[Ahriman238]

I am looking forward to this, in an abstract sort of way. I'm not a huge fan of John Carter, but I'm at least a bit familiar with the works. Plus the visuals look pretty good, the Greenies the way I'd pictured, etc.

[Guardsman Bass]

Since the thread's already been revived once to post new news and stuff, I figured I'd do it again (particularly since we're getting close to the release date). Apparently, the news isn't good:

Hollywood is in a tizzy over the early tracking which just came online this morning for Walt Disney Studios‘ John Carter opening March 9th. “Not good. 2 unaided, 53 aware, 27 definitely interested, 3 first choice,” a senior exec at a rival studio emails me. Another writes me, ”It just came out. Women of all ages have flat out rejected the film. The tracking for John Carter is shocking for a film that cost over $250 million. This could be the biggest writeoff of all time.” I’m hearing figures in the neighborhood of $100 million. And the studio isn’t even trying to spin reports of the 3D pic’s bloated budget any more.

Now, to be fair, this very soft tracking has been expected. The studios’ private reports have shown for some time very soft awareness and very little wannasee. So what’s Disney’s explanation? “It’s the last leftover from the previous regime of Dick Cook,” an executive who works for successor Rich Ross reminds me. “We’re not running away from the movie. Our job is to sell it.” Then again, Cook also left Ross Alice In Wonderland to sell, too, along with other hits and a few misses.

Disney is nervous, really nervous, but trying to hold out some hope. ”We know that we have a long way to go. It’s still four weeks out, and the bulk of the media hasn’t hit yet. Our Super Bowl ad did what we intended it to do: have a pop of awareness. On Sunday we launch a full campaign with 90+% of all of our media ready to go.” Problem is, John Carter (formerly titled John Carter Of Mars) only has a two-week window before Lionsgate’s hotly anticipated The Hunger Games opens March 23rd.

Disney is still planning a gigantic worldwide day-and-date push for John Carter with all the frills no matter how dismal its prospects look. ”After all the movie has Andrew Stanton of Finding Nemo and Wall-E,” an insider explains to me.

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if it actually turned out to be a hit after all. This looks like one of those movies that will sell extremely well overseas, because it has

1. Big CGI fights
2. Straightforward themes
3. Beautiful women.

[Grumman]

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if it actually turned out to be a hit after all. This looks like one of those movies that will sell extremely well overseas, because it has

1. Big CGI fights
2. Straightforward themes
3. Beautiful women.

Maybe, but it feels like such success will be despite Disney, not because of them. The emphasis in the trailers on "He can jump really high" does a poor job of selling John Carter as a character I want to watch kick ass and take names. And while the actress is certainly beautiful, Dejah Thoris looks rather overdressed standing next to John Carter. Even the title feels lacklustre - "John Carter of Mars" or "John Carter: Warlord of Mars" is so much more evocative than just "John Carter".

[Broomstick]

Clearly they're not going to play up scantily clad Martian women, but hopefully they keep the other wacky stuff. I had heard they were doing something with these books, but I entirely forgot about it.

Er...

Actually, the Barsoomians from the John Carter of Mars series pretty much didn't wear any clothing. A whole planet of nudists. They wore belts and harness to hang tools and weapons off of, and lots and lots of jewelry (particularly the women) but nobody really wore any clothing. It wasn't played up too strongly in the books but it was there in the text. The covers, of course, had just enough drapery/careful posing to get published without riots.

Needless to say, the film isn't going to go to that extreme.

[Broomstick]

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.

[Broomstick]

Is ERB's John Carter stuff even under copyright anymore? I thought that part of the reason Disney did the animated Tarzan movie was that the character was no longer under copyright.

I don't know if the entire series is out of copyright yet, but certainly the first few books are.

[Knife]

Hmm, kind of sad that one of my favorite series as a kid turns out to be pretty much a rip off of this series. Never knew about this one, though, when I saw the previews I thought it was the one I liked as a kid. Learn something new each day.

[Lurks-no-More]

Well, I've seen this movie, and I loved it!

It's a really gorgeous, exciting, fun planetary romance blockbuster. They've updated the story and the characters in many ways, to make it more accessible and plausible to modern audiences, but they captured the spirit of the books and the feel of Barsoom. The feeling of a dying, desolate planet with dry seabeds, rocky uplands and the ruins of ancient cities is there; there are barbaric Green Martians and warlike Red Martians, and the sinister, shadowy Therns make chilling villains-behind-the-villains. And, perhaps most importantly, the John Carter-Dejah Thoris romance works great.

If this movie tanks, it will be because of Disney's lackluster (to put it mildly) promotion. Go see it despite that!

[Zor]

Saw it with Jess, both of us liked it. It has some really beautiful scenery and designs and swashbuckling action. I did feel that the plot was a bit over the place and could have used a bit more time with the Tharks. Still not enough to overshadow what did work and why i went there. John Carter learning to walk on the martian surface was quite enjoyable.

Also, Woola is Awesome.



Zor

[Vehrec]

For the Lolz, here's what my Negative Nancy Movie Critic said about it last night to me. I don't condone anything he says, I'm just reposting it with a bit of an eye roll so you guys can see this.

Session Start : Fri Mar 09 17:26:37 2012 -0500
[17:26] OB: My quick review of John Carter: Seriously, Pixar? You decided to take the already over-complicated plot of the original novel and make it even MORE convoluted?
[17:27] OB: My even quicker review: You will leave the theater scratching your head, wondering "What just happened?"
[17:28] OB: The quickest review of all: The Princess Bride, with horrendous pacing problems.
[19:53] Vehrec: As I have NEVER left the theater scracthing my head, even after watching PI, I think this is a challenge.
[19:53] Vehrec: And sorry for taking so long to respond, I was playing Vicky again.
[19:55] OB: I don't mean "that was surreal" head-scratching. I mean "seriously, what was the point of all those sub-plots" head-scratching. The break-neck pacing makes it even worse.

[19:58] OB: Also, the film sadly tries to shoe-horn in explanations for the more meta-physical aspects of the book. And it gives John Carter a generic Han Solo-type personality that was not in the book.
[19:58] OB: Completely rewriting the mythology, no less.
[19:59] Vehrec: Well, no shit!
[19:59] Vehrec: People are going to want to update and put their own stamp on it.
[20:01] Vehrec: Oh, I found something yesterday while looking for Homestuck stuff that Is NOT homestuck. It's Mulan. A deleted scene.
[20:02] OB: Also, for some reason, the Therns, characters from later books, are shoe-horned into the plot of this first movie, completely fucking up the chronology of the series and adding in yet another unnecessary subplot. One wonders how the hell they WOULD write sequels to this movie.
[20:03] OB: Also, Edgar Rice Burroughs as a supporting character for no reason.
[20:03] Vehrec: You seem to be comming off as complaining about all the changes they made, and I thought the Burroughs thing was a framing device.
[20:04] Vehrec: I mean, I've suspected that was what was going on since the very first trailer.
[20:04] OB: His role as a framing device is ultimately meaningless in the movie. I'm not even kidding.
[20:04] OB: Pointless, no less.
[20:05] Vehrec: I wasn't expecting there to be much of a point to it.
[20:06] OB: Framing devices usually have a point, whether they are tied directly to the plot, or they provide the main message of the movie. The framing device in John Carter does neither. It's just there. Not to mention the kid playing him is god-awful.
[20:07] Vehrec: God awful acting. Got it.

[20:10] OB: Look, I'm just saying that John Carter comes off less as a "Brotherhood of the Wolf" and more as a "Wolf-Man Remake". If that makes sense.
[20:10] Vehrec: Nope, sorry.
[20:10] Vehrec: Don't think I've heard much about either of those.
[20:11] OB: It should have been a bizzarely unique, one-of-a-kind adventure, but instead it came off as a hodgepodge.