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Looks like they left out that part from the title...it's a shame that ppl think that words are what make something worth taking seriously...

Anyway, here's the trailer, look pretty good:

I actually agree that leaving the "of Mars" out is a good thing. When ERB wrote the series (starting in 1912) it was not out of the realm of science to think that Mars might be habitable. Now we know better. So saying John Carter and showing a good trailer will bring people in. Saying, "John Carter, Warlord of Mars" and people will scoff or belittle the project.

You have to remember that although a lot of us here know the series, most people won't. They should NOT cater to we nerds as we are not the majority and it's a bad business plan, no matter what we choose to think.
Added at: 08:31
Oh, and if you are unfamiliar with it, here's a link to the Project Gutenburg text of the first book in the series, "A Princess of Mars".

Yeah Dave, that's what's sad...

And nerds are hardly any better when it comes to judging a book by its cover...

Squeeeee!

Prince of Persia?

Quotemander Prime said:

Prince of Persia?

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I assumed He-man from the X shaped vest thing.

Looks like it might be fun. I'm not familiar with the source material at all.

I am not familiar with the source either, but now I want to be.

What I'm afraid of is that should I read the source I will be sorely disappointed with the movie. Perhaps it is best to see the movie, then read the books.

Thread Necromancer said:

I am not familiar with the source either, but now I want to be.

What I'm afraid of is that should I read the source I will be sorely disappointed with the movie. Perhaps it is best to see the movie, then read the books.

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I usually do this. It let's me judge the movie on it's own better and also provides me with characters in my head when I read the book.

General Specific said:

Looks like it might be fun. I'm not familiar with the source material at all.

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Actually you are... just like anyone who knows Superman is familiar with Hugo Danner etc...

For those of you who want to get to know the source material, my first post has links to the eBook of the first book in the series.

I was wondering why they are even calling it John Carter rather then Princess of Mars. Then I read up on it and found out that The Asylum made a version of Princess of Mars back in 2009. No wonder they decided to go with John Carter.

@Li3n said:

Actually you are... just like anyone who knows Superman is familiar with Hugo Danner etc...

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Right, if you have any idea what early Buck Rogers was like, you know John Carter. The Radio, Comic, Movie Serial character was originally a John Carter rip-off.

Here's another link to the text as Gutenberg seems to be down right now:

Speaking of retro, check out the Geocities vibe of the official ERB John Carter site:

While they don't need to call it "John Carter of Mars", I'm not sure what the point of calling it a name that absolutely no one who isn't already familiar with it will associate with any of the themes of the film is a good idea. "John Carter" is not exactly a name on the forefront of cultural osmosis.

It just reminds me of when they thought calling taking the "Star Trek" out of "Star Trek: Enterprise" was a good idea, because apparently "Enterprise" was guaranteed to bring in the non-SF crowd.

Immortal, Confederate, Tarzan in SPACE!!!!!

It has a ring to it.

You forgot slightly super-powered (from lower gravity)...

The new trailer:

Ooof, the first trailer really benefited from the Peter Gabriel song, after watching the second trailer, that much is obvious.

I'll be honest, I wouldn't pay money to go see this regardless of what it's called.

Is there supposed to be lower gravity there, or is the jumping just straight up supposed to be ridiculous?

Raemon777 said:

Is there supposed to be lower gravity there, or is the jumping just straight up supposed to be ridiculous?

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As @li3n noted, he effectively has super leap and strength because of the lower gravity. It's a major plot point in the books.

Frankie Williamson said:

Ooof, the first trailer really benefited from the Peter Gabriel song, after watching the second trailer, that much is obvious.

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Yeah. The second trailer makes it almost sound like the soundtrack is being done by Led Zeppelin.

--Patrick

No idea of the source... looks OKish...

But was I the only one who though she said in the first trailer... "Are you John Conner?"

I was like..... HERE WE GO

phil said:

I usually do this. It let's me judge the movie on it's own better and also provides me with characters in my head when I read the book.

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I actually prefer the opposite. I don't like having pre-defined characters in my head when reading a book. I like to build them in my head from the ground up.

Tinwhistler said:

If you want to read super-awful bdsm-related series (that's also a tad misogynistic) which shamelessly rips off from the John Carter of Mars base premise, check out any of the "Gor" books from John Norman. heh.

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I thought you liked the people here.

Tinwhistler said:

If you want to read super-awful bdsm-related series (that's also a tad misogynistic) which shamelessly rips off from the John Carter of Mars base premise, check out any of the "Gor" books from John Norman. heh.

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No amount of bdsm can save terrible writing. Just stay away.

Also, stay away from anyone who uses the phrase "Gorean lifestyle" in any serious fashion.

evilmike said:

The new trailer:

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Wow, that does look pretty bad... i really hope it's just them trying to make the movie look "bad ass""....

http://www.tubedubber.com/#nlvYKl1fjBI:7sp23QURt9k:0:100:0:0:1

So apparently they took out the Mars part because girls hate the solar system: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/12...y-john-carter-of-mars-became-just-john-carter

As fucking stupid as it sounds, after working myself in consumer research, he may not actually be wrong. I'd be really really surprised if Disney(?) hadn't done research on this topic, and the silliest little things affect purchase intent. I just worked a game research project where reported purchase intent among male gamers went down simply because the game had a female protagonist. Not anything in particular about her or her relation to the game, just that she was female. Seriously.

That said, there is also every possibility that he didn't do any research at all and is just talking out of his ass.

Wait, did I see the guy who played the villain from Dungeons and Dragons and Highlander:Endgame in there?

How does that guy keep getting work? He's just awful.

Never said he was wrong, just that girls are mentally inferior...

replace girls with humans and i might even say it's something i believe...

New TV spots:

Yup, removing "of Mars" from the title totally makes that movie not look terrible.

Awww. They have the aliens cheering instead of booing to show their delight. Thats one of the main things I remember, and for some reason still chuckle at, of when I read the books. Well I probably wont see this movie but I may have to read the books again.

Fan made trailer:

I am oddly excited for this film. I'm not sure I should be... but I want to see it.

Again, that Peter Gabriel song'd trailer gives me the trailer shivers where I'm excited to see something, every other trailer destroys those feelings.

I have no idea what to make of this movie.

A summer blockbuster getting released in the dead of winter has me concerned.

Taking out the "of Mars" thing is a horribly-thought-out decision, though.

If you don't know the source, a film called "John Carter" won't ring any bells or draw any attention. The title says nothing about the film, and certainly doesn't make it clear that it's a Sci-Fi epic.

I mean, a film called "John Carter" could be in the same Genre as Jackie Brown, Annie Hall, Jane Eyre, Donnie Brasco, Billy Elliot, Dolores Claiborne, Michael Collins, or Michael Clayton. I can understand not wanting to seem like a silly sci-fi, but that gets thrown out the window the moment you see a single preview involving fighting armies of aliens on Mars.

I think @li3n mentioned it, but those not familiar with the source might be interested in knowing that Seigel and Schuster drew a lot of inspiration from John Carter, including how Superman's superstrength and leaping originally worked.

fade said:

I think @li3n mentioned it, but those not familiar with the source might be interested in knowing that Seigel and Schuster drew a lot of inspiration from John Carter, including how Superman's superstrength and leaping originally worked.

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Actually my mention of Supes was about Hugo Danner... i mean the ant and grasshopper thing in Action Comics #1 is straight from Gladiator.

From the summaries i read about John Carter he's more of the prototype for guys like Indy, and other pulp action guys that explore stuff...

But thinking about it the lower gravity thing certainly fits with Carter... and there's no reason to assume they drew from more then one source.

Holy crap.


BRYAN CRANSTON is in this movie.


HOLY CRAP.

Trailer #3

Just watched this in 3-D...

...and to be honest...

...I liked it After hearing people bash it for a variety of reasons - the name, the style, the changes from the Princess of Mars - I have to say I got out of the movie what I came to see: a unique sci-fi film owing to the fact that its source material dates to the turn of the 20th century. The Tharks looked awesome, the cities were alien but oddly familiar, the plot gave an interesting twist to the staple fantasy plot of "one bare-chested man beats the living crap out of an evil empire". Don't get me wrong, Schindler's List this ain't, but I found it an enjoyable, fun film to watch.

My only two problems were , but those are minor issues.

I heard this was actually pretty good, but I'm not compelled to see it in theaters.

It's good and it's unfortunate it's doing so poorly, it's better than most of the crap right now.

Frankie Williamson said:

It's good and it's unfortunate it's doing so poorly, it's better than most of the crap right now.

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No kidding. The way the ball was dropped on this really pisses me off. I want to see the next books on the screen. It was a damn good movie.

Went and saw this last night on the only screen that is playing it in town, in 3D (meh). And like NR said, it's pretty good. The story itself is pretty interesting, the characters are quite likable, and there's a good mix of fight sequences and low points/comic relief. It was a bit confusing for a while after he gets to Mars - a bit 'who's on first'-ish, but they may also have been deliberate. Overall, I liked it and would whole-heartedly recommend it to sci-fi or fiction geeks. It reminded me a bit, at least in terms of style and costuming, of the B-list sci-fi movies of the 50's and I think that worked really well. And it was neat to see where some of today's stardard tropes may have originated from.

It was good, go see it, help this kind of movie be profitable.

Now I need to read the books.

I think this has only lasted in my theater for so long because it was the only 3D movie for a while and it's a Disney film. Now Titanic 3D is dropping into theaters like a 15-year-old lump of shit, and this will likely be my last chance to see John Carter in theaters in 2D.

Wasn't going to, but when my wife and I went to The Hunger Games there was a projector problem after a fire alarm, so we got free tickets and got to see that movie anyway. She was planning to see The Hunger Games again anyway today and the movies are starting within 10 minutes of each other and have roughly the same run, so I figured, why not? It has a 50% on Rotten Tomatoes--I like that kind of divide. The Fountain used to have that and it's one of my favorites. Polarism for the win.

If it sucks, I'm blaming you guys. Sort of.

EDIT: Some interesting stuff in the meantime.

One, apparently it made its budget back. Sure, it took a while, and if there is a sequel it'll likely have a smaller budget, but that's good news. The DVD sales should cover ads and more, so don't lose hope about a sequel just yet (nor get hopes up). I find it interesting that it did so much better around the world than in the U.S. The domestic marketing really fucked up in this case.

On the subject of the DVD, Disney seems to think a silly-looking cover will help sell. And they're probably right. What's irritating is that if you want it on Blu-Ray, you're going to have to buy a 4-disc set that is the DVD, the Blu-Ray, the 3D Blu-Ray, and the disc that allows you to watch it via download (so why have a disc; I hate that shit). Might hurt sales, but who knows?

Movie's at 4:00, so... I should do something else.

Courtesy of Tom the Dancing Bug Comix...



--Patrick

I... don't find that particularly funny.

But then again, it might be because most other films and series I've enjoyed have gotten f***ed by the executives like a fourteen-year-old prostitute in Tijuana.

Back from it + dinner.

I am in the defender camp*. Loved it. The stuff John was doing was probably better than we'll see in the Superman movie next year. I questioned it before despite enjoying Finding Nemo and Wall-E, but hiring an animation director was a brilliant idea for doing this. Loved the politics, good characters, the stuff with the Therns was fantastic. Tharks were my favorite.

*If I had anything bad to say, it's firstly on the title change, because at the start of the credits, they title the movie John Carter of Mars. Derp. Secondly, the opening 20 minutes of this movie probably had a lot of people walking out and giving bad reviews without seeing it, because they are a clumsy 20 minutes. First you have an admittedly great scene on Mars. Then you have the nephew. Then you have this gold-hunting stuff. And THEN we're on Mars, for real. I'm not sure how to fix this, because while the scenes themselves are good, and certain stuff sets up for a clever ending, it feels like a bit of work to get to the real movie. One way to fix it would be to cut all that and the ending... Or at least cut down some of the stuff with the gold-hunt, despite the funny stuff with him and the colonel.

One plot problem though, maybe someone can answer:

Quotemander Prime said:

Spoiler

Why was a Thern just appearing in Arizona at that time? Did they get a warning that someone had entered the cave and was messing with stuff? Otherwise it doesn't make sense for one to leave Mars at such a crucial time in their slow planet death plan.

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I can't remember the last time I've been on the side of a movie that so many people are dismissing with "It sucks" when they haven't seen it.

Quotemander Prime said:

I can't remember the last time I've been on the side of a movie that so many people are dismissing with "It sucks" when they haven't seen it.

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Hey, why form your own opinion when someone else can do it for you?

--Patrick

Charlie, is that you?

Charlie won't see John Carter, and he won't read the reviews, but he will skim them and pretend it's his own opinion.

Quotemander Prime said:

What's irritating is that if you want it on Blu-Ray, you're going to have to buy a 4-disc set that is the DVD, the Blu-Ray, the 3D Blu-Ray, and the disc that allows you to watch it via download (so why have a disc; I hate that shit). Might hurt sales, but who knows?

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There is a Two Disc Blu-Ray/DVD Combo that will be available. That's what I'll be getting, even though I haven't seen the movie yet, because I really don't like seeing most movies in theaters because of the lack of courtesy that exists there. And all (read both) my local theaters suck in this regard, and yes I know it's the patrons and not the theater.

Sparhawk said:

There is a Two Disc Blu-Ray/DVD Combo that will be available. That's what I'll be getting, even though I haven't seen the movie yet, because I really don't like seeing most movies in theaters because of the lack of courtesy that exists there. And all (read both) my local theaters suck in this regard, and yes I know it's the patrons and not the theater.

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Thanks; I'll get that as well. As far as not seeing it in theaters, it makes sense. I only ended going out of curiosity and to see it big screen--not too many people were at my screening and I doubt my few dollars is doing to matter. I do wish I'd gotten a chance to take my 9-year-old cousin; he would've had a blast.

I'm looking at reviews online such as from Nostalgia Critic, Red Letter Media, Cinema Snob... a lot of people get this movie. I think had the advertising been better, it would've found an audience today and not be dismissed as "sucking" so readily. Most people who saw it seemed to like it outside of the critics. I think RLM and Cinema Snob got it best when they mentioned this would be an appropriate double feature with an 80s sci-fi or sword and sorcery film.

To me, and I haven't done any extensive research, most of the negative talk about it was "It didn't make $200 million in the first day! It's a flop!" I don't like that they dropped the "of Mars" part of the title in almost all the latter publicity, since the early teasers had it there, and has been noted that it's in the movie title in the film itself. Personally, I would have gone with something along the lines of...

Based on the beloved works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan, the science-fiction epic that inspired generations: John Carter of Mars.

While typing that I had the weird idea of a spoof... John Carter: Princess of Mars. Yep, all the way that way, all transgender actors.

I think I need more sleep.

So is this worth seeing or not?

The general consensus seems to be that yes, it is. In my opinion it certainly isn't the best movie you'll ever see, but it isn't a waste of time either.

Yes. It's quite good.

@Li3n said:

So is this worth seeing or not?

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Yes.

Dunno. Haven't seen it yet. Remember that The Wizard of OZ was almost universally panned by critics when it was released, with some saying that you would be better off going to see the Tarzan movie down the street.

--Patrick

PatrThom said:

Dunno. Haven't seen it yet. Remember that The Wizard of OZ was almost universally panned by critics when it was released, with some saying that you would be better off going to see the Tarzan movie down the street.

--Patrick

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That's hilarious.

Well damn, looks like it's too late now, all the showings are before my friends get off work... and there's nothing else to see at the cinema until Avengers.

Avengers official release date in the US is May 4.

Are you serious? The release here in Spain is set for next week. Weird.

Broke down and bought the score.

Something important I noticed about Michael Giacchino's score of The Incredibles is how each scene's music has something different to listen to. I appreciate that level of care, when some composers just phone it in outside of 2 or 3 main themes.

Made a John Carter inspired tumblr full of hijinks.