Jon Carter - Now with actual stuff on the screen!

The first Jon Carter trailer was awful - clearly the SFX weren't done, so not sure why they released the trailer at that time.

This one? Gives you a view of what they are actually going to do, complete with four armed green martians, sky galleons, and canals.

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Hey, that looks pretty good!

Looks interesting. I'll have to take my Younger son to see it. Older one won't go 'cause it's "geeky" and "not cool". Screw him!

EPIC!

Not bad
/nitpicks:
too much clothing
Martians not red enough
even though Mars has 1/2 the gravity of earth, no one should be able to jump like that

that being said, the green martians look great, and the actress playing Dejah Thoris is hawt

Mars actually has 1/3rd the gravity of earth, meaning that his effective strength is tripled. If an olympic athlete can get his body to about 20 mph for a short sprint and then jump 25-30 feet, imagine what a person can do when they accelerate their body to 60 mph in a lower gravity environment.

It looks like Avatar, but with green aliens!

I will probably go see it out of curiosity. Is this based off a book?

Yes. "A Princess of Mars" by Edgar Rice Burroughs. First book in a fairly big series.

First published in 1912. The guy who wrote it also wrote Tarzan. Perhaps you've heard of it?

Don't be too hard on the youngins. They don't get taught the classics in school anymore

It's also the series that got a young Carl Sagan into astronomy.

You're right but the first thing I thought of when I saw it: Avatar got its story from this one.

This is a children's book right?

Avatar got its story from this one:

No, the John Carter stories could probably be described as "pulp" - lowbrow fiction intended for men's magazines or young adult readers. Burroughs also wrote the Tarzan books, Carson of Venus, and the Pellucidar tales.

You can't run proportionately faster in lower grav, though each stride will probably be longer with more air time! You can jump higher, though, of course.

Actually, you might be able to run faster. You'd have to work at it, because it wouldn't be anything approaching a natural gait like one had on Earth, but depending upon your "flight path" and when you hit the ground, you could probably build up quite a bit of speed. Stopping, OTOH, would be a real bitch, I'd think.

One review, by a self-described fan of the books, said that Tars Tarkas was turned into Jar Jar Binks by the film.

WSJ expects this film to lose $165 Million.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/ent...-could-lose-165-million-analyst-projects.html

At least until the low gravity takes its toll on his body, which should lose muscle and bone mass, increase blood pressure or weaken his heart, etc. And once he'd been there a while, it'd be very difficult to impossible for him to return to Earth because his body would be to used to the lower gravity.

Yeah, but in 1912 nobody really knew about that stuff or was probably even thinking about it. Hell, the airplane was only barely out of its first decade at that point.

Yeah, but they know that for this movie.

Yeah, but sometimes you want to be true to the source material, even if it's scientifically inaccurate. I notice that in the movie they've STILL introduced a plot device (medallion) that transports JC to Barsoom.

In the book, IIRC it was a rather conveniently unexplained, mysterious mist or fog that knocked him out and he woke up there, and in later books he mysteriously gained the ability to go back and forth on his own- without explanation.

Apparently the folks who adapted it for the big screen weren't willing to leave those open ambiguities in place.

Okay, saw this movie today and it was decent.

Faithful adaptation of a Princess of Mars? Not really, but they touched on all the essential elements so it was okay. In fact, it's been years since I read the stories but it seemed like they kind of borrowed elements from the first three books for the movie.


The Tharks looked a little cartoonish, I thought, and of course the thoats, zitidars, and airships don't really match the way I imagined them way back when, but that is okay too. They can't all be Peter Jackson and read my mind for what Middle Earth looked like.

The two leads did a good job. Years ago I would have cast Brooke Burke as Dejah Thoris, and at the present time maybe Olivia Wilde- both have exotic looks and D.T. was supposed to be the most beautiful woman in two worlds. I'm not going to complain overmuch, though; the actress playing D.T. was very pleasing to the eye and did a kick ass job to boot.

One other casting note: It was like watching HBO's Rome. Ciaran Hinds and James Purefoy side by side again (in vaguely Roman looking duds, no less!), and the guy who played Caesar's smart slave was the attorney on Earth. Polly Walker voiced on of the female Tharks. Dominic West was there as a baddie as well, kind of like in 300.

What the movie lacked was any 'epic' sense or moments, and the violence was all very PG. They gave JC a little too much 'juice' with the leaps and strength as well- it was a bit ridiculous.

Overall, I think this movie could have been done better, but probably not by Disney. This was an acceptable effort, though. Been wanting to see Barsoom on the big screen for years. Worth the price of admission.

I just picked up the first trilogy in one big volume to read for the first time. By the time the DVD comes out I'll probably have half forgotten the finer points, but remember enough to see if the movie carries the same feel.

Olivia Wilde? Gorgeous woman, yes, but she ain't got no titties!
Brooke Burke, absolutely has the look and the figure. Dumber than three sheep, though, and, can she actually act? I've only ever seen her model and MC a dance show.

Purefoy and Hinds seem to turn up a lot together...

The books are all free on amazon. Public domain as e-books!

Apparently most don't care.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/ent...-office-john-carter-lorax-thousand-words.html

Just got back from seeing it, in 3D Imax in all its glory. Was pleasantly surprised. The lead was a bit wooden, but everything else was spot on, and if it wasn't 100% accurate to the books it got the feel exactly right. Definitely going to buy this on DVD, and would be thrilled to see a sequel. Good for family viewing too - wife and son both thoroughly enjoyed it.

According to imdb.com, a 2003 made-for-TV movie called "The Mayor of Casterbridge."