I was surprised yesterday when my good lady presented me with a copy of John Carter which has just been released on DVD. I had said I wanted to see the film but as normal did not make it to the cinema and then forgot about it until this month when the release was made. It was like she read my mind! So we sat down last night to watch it and while I normally have to be prodded to stay awake by ten in the evening this was not the case with this film.
John Carter is based on the book Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs which I read many years ago and had mostly forgotten but some details did come back to me in the watching. Carter is a cavalry officer after the American Civil War who loses his wife and daughter and takes to seeking out gold in the caves of Arizona. Gold he finds and also the means to travel in an instant to ‘Barsoom’ or Mars to us Terrans. As normal I do not want to spoil the plot so I will stick to the main areas of the film. Firstly it is brilliantly rendered and shot with top notch special effects and traditional film making combined, much as you would expect from Disney Studios, and the actors are all well suited to their roles. The historical scenes on Earth are accurate and skill full holding the plot well. The scenes on Mars are astonishing in places with vast moving cities and creatures as well as airships and a ‘death ray’ too. The film is fast paced and held my attention from the first to the last moment with good use of action, tension and drama as well as a love story and woven strands of a father daughter narrative too.
This film has lost Disney a lot of money on this movie and it has had some really bad reviews but ignore that. I loved this film and as society keeps pointing out to me the kind of turgid crud that ‘people’ like and give good reviews to bores the hell out of me and things I like get slated and bomb at the box office. Draw what you want from that statement but if you are a fan of science fiction and of strong alpha male leads in movies (remember those?) combined with beautiful and independent female leads then you will love this. Some say the plot is a mess…I saw no evidence of this; it made perfect sense to me. John Carter is an excellent family adventure movie that really did remind me of the thrill of the original Star Wars movies. A film with a fixed point of vision and not made on a ‘tick the boxes plot’ hollywood normally churns out since the early 1990’s. Perhaps that is why it failed…
As for wargaming potential this film is stuffed with it; a gamers dream really. Many set pieces, lots of aliens and monsters as well as historical weapons and troops. Might well become my Mars project at this rate since learning of the new Total Recall.
Watch This Movie!
GBS
Glad to hear a positive review, and in the same sort of thought process as my own. It is based on a classic piece of Pulp fiction, it should feel like a classic piece of 50’s nonsensical science fiction!
Good-o, I will try and scrape up the pennies (just sold a load of stuff on eBay) to go and get this one then!
Rob
We discussed this, it’s not …of Mars, the Marketing boys said that …of Mars would put off normal people.
Yes Jim, I know. But I wanted ‘of Mars’ so I ruddy well used it!
I think it is a big ‘leap’ to get your head around all of it, but for us who are steeped in it, then it makes perfect sense!
We can watch it together next time you are around it you like.
GBS
Haven’t seen it yet but the bad reviews actually encourage me. One thing I have heard, which makes sense, is that the book was so influencial that people comming to this new actually think it derivative!
You might well be on to something there Edward. I think it is different from the book but actually just as good.
GBS
I first want to say thanks for this review! I feel as you do about the movie, but say this- Disney released this movie at the wrong time, this is hands down a summer movie not an Ester movie.
Now I did not read the books I listened to them in audio about 5 years ago. and after seeing this movie I went nutz, I have the first three book on my mp3 player right now.
https://catalog.librivox.org/search.php?title=&author=Burroughs+&status=all&action=Search
They are not fantastic but the story is, and they are free.
Thanks Gavin
Noel
Hello Noel!
Welcome to the comments list! Perhaps it was a Summer Movie but I think quality should be out all year and people go to the cinema a lot. I get a lot of material from Librivox, sure the quality is not superb, but you are right they are free and you can listen to them perfectly well.
Enjoy the blog.
GBS
I haven’t seen this movie yet, but I’ve been quite intrigued by it, despite the unfavourable reviews.
When I was just a little boy, I had by the age of 12 exhausted all sci-fi books in the youth section of our local library. Two books, I clearly remember, marked my passage into the “grown-up” world of sci-fi literature. One being “Songs of Distant Earth” by Arthur C. Clarke, the other “A Princess of Mars” by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It was the latter one (as well as Ray Bradbury and his “Martian Chronicles”) that had a profound influence on my own sci-fi designs.
In the end, I think I’d give this movie a fair chance when I will eventually watch it. Were “Conan” made today, it would get bad reviews from the spoiled audience as well, yet it is considered a classic in Fantasy film making. THULSA DOOOMMM!!! 😉
Hello Sam,
Well said!
It seems that all of us creative types have a different view of this movie compared to the typical reviewer.
GBS