Posted on 03/04/2012 5:16:17 PM PST by rrebo
Just saw a pre-screening of "John Carter", a new Disney movie scheduled to open on March 9. It pretty much followed the Edgar Rice Burroughs Martian books. We saw it in 3D and it was quite good. Action all the way. Pretty sure there will be sequels by the way it ended.
I dunno. I left with a feeling similar to the one I had after watching the remake of The Mummy.
Overall, it felt a little tame but still a lot of fun. I’m glad they made it and hope they do a followup.
The people who own the right probably don’t agree that we have “ insane copyright laws “
I plan on seeing it today myself, probably the 3D version.
Whats funny is the liberal rag reviewers are bombing on this movie but you go to Fandango and such and its getting rave reviews.
Being an ardent fan of ERB and having all of the Barsoom books just to name some I know that this character, the individuality, the fighting for justice and fighting against evil obviously bodes for bad propaganda for the controllers of Socialist America.
If we had more movies like this it might give the people bad ideas, like having some cojones to fight.
Almost any sci-fi adventure can trace its origins to novels from ERB, many people don’t realize the history of when these were written.
Trailers indicate that Disney has botched both the imagery and the story. Hope not the case.
Disney for some odd reason totally messed up with “Mars needs Moms” That was the absolute worst Disney film I ever saw, thankfully I saw it for free, they lost over $100 million on that turkey.
From some reviewers John carter is just old fashion action like Indiana Jones, no lightsabers, no Death Stars, no jar jar Binks or Wookies. And its supposedly a high morals story, but most of all is the feeling that its makes liberals uncomfortable as if they suddenly realized that they just mistakenly ate a case of prunes and they know what will happen next.
Probably, although since most people "protected" by copyright at the present time are already dead, one could make the opposite argument. Companies like Disney buy enough congresscritters to make sure that copyright never expires on their works, but then, when they want to make money, where do they look? Disney has a long history of appropriating stories and characters from the public domain for their own purposes. Their latest flick, "John Carter", was originally a story by Edgar Rice Burroughs called "A Princess of Mars" and was published in 1917. If the copyright that exists today had existed in 1917, they wouldn't be able to make this movie without paying his heirs until 2020. (Life of the author plus 70 years)
Yes, the modern American copyright is insane.
I'd have some respect for copyright if we'd stuck with the idea of "limited times" as specified in the Constitution. Two 14-year terms is plenty long for a work to be under copyright. The vast majority of works produced in the 20th century are still under copyright, even though they are out of print, and have been so for decades. Society gains nothing from this arrangement. The natural state of literary works is in the public domain. Copyright is an artificial mechanism put in place to encourage the production of works in the arts and sciences. The fact that someone's great-great-great-great grandchild is receiving benefits from copyright encourages nothing bot sloth.
I just saw the 3D version a while ago, I liked it, I can see liberals hating it, I saw where Disney adlibbed some parts for continuation and it worked because the first three books had a very very slow beginning and yes the movie had a slow start.
The green martians were very well done, the character that stole the show was the 400mph Barsoom “dog” Woola.
Deja Thoris fit the role perfectly and John carter well, he was John carter a very human person.
Comparing such other movies such as Star Wars a New Hope and the first Indiana Jones as benchmarks of a 10 I would give this film an 8.9 and if Disney doesn’t make a sequel I’m forever avoiding their theme parks for life.
This is a film and story that screams for no less than a trilogy. Some people will claim some scenes were stolen from a certain Star Wars film but I disagree, this story was written decades before and they stole the ideas, its a very original film, the costumes, the tattoos, the weaponry is totally original, very well done I must say Disney, I hope it makes good money, last I saw it has earned only #0 million, much below the expectations.
And a fraction of the tree hugging Dr. Seuss film The Lorax.
Go see John Carter?
You betcha.
Saw it today. It lived up (or down) to my low expectations.
Not to say it isn’t a good popcorn movie; it is and people should see it if that’s what they are looking for.
Sadly I re-read five of the books recently, so ERB’s descriptions of places, characters and events from the books have been refreshed. These were NOT echoed in the film. Also, unfortunately, I was put off by the overt departures from the source material in terms of plots, descriptions and actions. The plot is partly new and partly an unrecognizable mashup from several different of ERB’s Mars books.
The terrain is all wrong. Barsoom, while arid did indeed have ochre moss in great quantities, and scarlet swards of Martian lawn grass. Productive farms lined the great canals. Saw no one of that. The cities in the movie bear no resemblance to how they are described in the books.
Woola was a good characterization in the movie. Disney captured indeed the faithfullness of Carter’s beloved Calot. But though fast in the books, his ten legs (not six) did not make him leave a trail of dust like the road runner. The Therns were men (and women) of Barsoom who infiltrated the Red Martian cities by wearing makeup and wigs. They were not gimmicky shape shifting super beings. The White Apes, while large and dangerous were not the size of King Kong or even Mighty Joe Young. Etc etc etc. etc etc etc .
Perhaps most disappointing were the fliers. The fliers in the movie were clever and entertaining in their own right: but they were not the magnificent floating patrol boats, cruisers, and dreadnoughts of Edgar Rice Boroughs’ imagination. He saw them as ships of the type that were in battle at the time of the Spanish American War. That’s how they should be portrayed on screen as they sortie and battle in the thnning air of Barsoom.
Disney is in the business of making money, I understand, but ERB had an exciting vision of Barsoom which only modern CGI could render with fidelity. Disney chose not to and instead went for what I suspect is a pretense of an amusement park attraction, toys, etc.
And a word about the warriors of fair Helium….they were men. That’s right: a nation where the men were men, and the women were voluptuous. And nobody wore much in the way clothing (let alone armor – something entirely foreign to ERB’s vision). Female warriors of Helium? Must be the work of “that guy from accounting”.
And finally, what of the “incomparable Dejah Thoris” , “the most beautiful woman on two worlds?”
Woof.
Do the folks at Disney have no concept of beauty, or what kind of young woman would have the blue-blooded bearing of a Princess? Apparently not, for Disney’s idea of Dejah Thoris is nothing more than a tattooed skank.
If there is to be a sequel, please, Disney….. Recast that role!
Yeah, I remember that yellow moss ‘stretching for miles in all directions’ I think. By the trailers it doesn’t look alien enough.
When I first heard they were doing this I was thinking Pixar doing the first full on American digital animation action/adventure block buster with a heaping helping of violence. I was thinking Frazetta coming to life, and the imagery of barsoom captured with fidelity, because they could actually pull it off with that studio.
Here’s what conservative sci-fi writer John C. Wright has to say about it—he gets into a lot of the character stuff he says they got wrong:
http://www.scifiwright.com/2012/03/a-reluctant-hero-of-mars/#more-5064
Freegards
Great link!
Thanks!
They put a sword in Dejah’s hand - and made her weaker.
I thought she was hot, and if delivering ANY of the actual Dejah dialog - she would have sounded MUCH more noble.
*************** from “A Princess of Mars”***********
I was more concerned by the immediate problem of their treatment of her. That they were keeping her away from me was not a matter for surprise, but that they should subject her to dangerous and arduous labor filled me with rage.
“Have they ever subjected you to cruelty and ignominy, Dejah Thoris?” I asked,feeling the hot blood of my fighting ancestors leap in my veins as I awaited her reply.
“Only in little ways, John Carter,” she answered. “Nothing that can harm me outside my pride. They know that I am the daughter of ten thousand jeddaks, that I trace my ancestry straight back without a break to the builder of the first great waterway, and they,who do not even know their own mothers, are jealous of me. At heart they hate their horrid fates, and so wreak their poor spite on me who stand for everything they have not,and for all they most crave and never can attain. Let us pity them, my chieftain, for even though we die at their hands we can afford them pity, since we are greater than they and they know it.”
saw it, would recomend it highly.
the CGI did nail the four armed martians well.
(compared to the silly scifi channel, oops syfy [pronounced sea-fee] low budget silliness)
They obviously covered up the princess a bit more than the book. They did put in some minor pc twists in it but the story was good.
footnote the “maid marian without robin hood” movie looks to be an upcomming lame movie.
Disney better hire some executives who are fathers with sons in order to stop being the princess and poofy entertainer.
All in all it was a fun movie.
of course now I have to find a six legged toy plush dog thingy.
Lorax is too enviro wacko propaganda to get my money.
Thank you for the review. Now...I’m not so excited to see it.
Disney has an acknowledge “princess problem”
They have be redoing fantasyland at WDW and when their new VP was put in charge of the project (i believe he has two sons) he quickly tweaked the project to add some boy friendly stuff.
Unfortunatly the homosexual they put in charge of DisneyXD channel a few years back still has not gotten the memo.
The look and feel of this future from the past works with the current steam punk twist of tommorrow land.
Disney has to do something because Harry Potter is sucking all the “non frilly” attendance.
I would disagree with the review.
I have read all the books and but for a few tweaks it is faithful to the spirit and major plots.
It rare I spend any money for the theater experience but this was worth the money.
The one scene where John Carter sends the princess away to escape while he holds off an attacking hoard is a perferction.
I do hope they go into the other books.
(does anyone know where to buy a stuffed woola toy?)
That is very cool.
I don’t remember the two rings in the book but I thought that was a good element.
Well DisneyLAND is more about books,
and Disney World is more about movies.
in a footnote Tron 3 is slated for 2013.
Did you mean the transport devices? The Barsoomian “Ruby Red Slippers” that would have sent him home?
you mean a device vs a cave with mystic gas? (I found the device more plausable)
I know it is not constent with the books but it did work with the desire not to “go to war” again. It does track the fight for the people vs some cause.
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