John Carter (of Mars) trailer
 

Brought to you by Disney, from the Edgar Rice Burroughs classics...

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Looks interesting, kind of weird......i like that it appears it was shot on location instead of all CGI backgrounds.

I don't know if I was blown away, but it'll be interesting to follow this one. It's directed by Andrew Stanton of Pixar fame... he directed WALL-E and Finding Nemo, and was a writer on the Toy Story films. Also, Peter Gabriel on the music there, it's a great cover of an Arcade Fire song "My Body is a Cage."

Riggins!

Hey, guess what? I just got my IMAX print of "Real Steel". Guess what it came with? Yup... a "John Carter" trailer. Not sure if it'll be 2D or 3D yet, I'll have to run the trailer and see what it says.

My condolences.

Eh, I'm sure it'll be okay. At least it looks like it has some neat action and special effects. It's "Rock Em Sock Em Robots", how bad can they **** it up?

That's sort of like a guy in a horror film saying "what could possibly go wrong?"

Believe it or not, its actually getting decent reviews.

I think it'll be fine for what it is, a kids movie.

Won't catch me watching it in a million years, though. And that's fine, I don't think 37-year old dudes are the target audience.

heh, understood. Ill probably take my son.....although its another one of those "Transformers" quandries for me. I noticed its rated PG-13 and Hollywood feels like they have to add in language and adult situations to a kids movie. Meanwhile, anyone over 16 probably feels like this plays too young for them. I dont get why Hollywood does this??

John Carter looks intriguing. Here's hoping that it is good.

Per$onally it $eem$ to me like there'$ a few $pecific rea$on$.

By making it both a "kid's movie" and a "Transformers"-style FX film for nerds who remember playing "Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots", they double the market share.

If it were just a kid's movie, it'd make $40M. If it were a blood-and-guts FX fantasy, it might make $100+M. By doing both, it might not make for a better movie, but it'll probably make for $150+M. Which is all they care about.

Wikipedia sez Real Steel is based off a 1950s short story, not RockemSockemRobots. Make of that what you will.

Well, RESER was introduced in 1964. That whole 50s-1980 era was when robots took off in pop culture. Robbie the Robot, "Lost In Space", all the cheap sci-fi films, Isaac Asimov's novels, etc.,.

BTW, I'm screening my print now. So far it's not too bad. Because it's a Disney film it's definitely working the father-son-dysfunction angle. The kid playing his kid is like an 11-year-old version of the annoying kid who played little Anakin in "Phantom Menace" (picture that kid with an 11-year-old's annoying smart-ass attitude). Jackman is playing the "likeable rogueish asshole", and you know eventually he and the kid will bond, blah blah blah. Still, compared to a lot of the dreck I've seen lately, it's fairly entertaining and has some nice cinematography so far.

Cool...let me know how you think it might play for an 8 year old kid. Thanks.

Probably fine. It has the moral (everything has something good inside, it just needs to be brought out; we all get second chances to make good; etc.,.). It's got the "A Boy And His Dog-Robot" angle. The father-son dynamic. The unrequited-love angle (BTW, Evangeline Lily has tiny boobies but nice legs and a great minimal-makeup face). The movie's telegraphed from a mile away (everything is laid out simply and you pretty much know exactly what's going to happen and how), but that's okay. I don't think it's meant to be "Pulp Fiction" or "The Sixth Sense" in terms of storyline.

yea, always liked her on Lost. Definate girl next door quality, but hot.

I would the whole thing, twice, and then again in the morning.

Movie's got about 40 minutes left. Incredibly silly and simplistic, and yet you can't help but smile and enjoy it even though you could've written the plot yourself on a bar napkin while half-drunk. I think one of the early reviews said it was "Rocky" with rivets, which applies. It's actually one of the few films I can remember seeing where the inability of the film to commit to one thing actually makes it better; most films, when they can't make up their minds, end up being lesser than if they'd gone more in one direction than another (e.g. "Super 8" as a horror film and a coming-of-age story). This one actually seems to work better because it's such a blend (Rocky, Boy And His Dog, redemption, "Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots", special effects, heartwarming Disney-ish tale, etc.,.).

Final review... There actually wasn't enough fighting for my tastes. Could've used more. But what there was, was well done. The product placements got a little annoying, but that's just the way it is nowadays in films, unfortunately. The film won't blow you away, but it's actually an enjoyable silly simply-done film that both dads and their kids can take something away from. Has it's cute parts, sentimental parts. And it looks good in IMAX and sounds good (and loud). It's really not an FX-robot film, it's a family (and family-bonding) film with a shiny robot cover to it.

New John Carter trailer is out:




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I want one of those cute little Martian puppies....

http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/7...hncarter01.jpg

Uh oh.....Hollywood smells a bomb. Im actually looking forward to this, but the marketing has been awful.



http://www.deadline.com/2012/02/john...f-of-all-time/


‘John Carter’ Tracking Shockingly Soft: “Could Be Biggest Writeoff Of All Time”



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.

The marketing has been horrendous, and calling it "John Carter" instead of "John Carter of Mars" was a mistake from day 1. It's just a bland title.

From the trailers, it seems like they're trying really hard to catch Avatar in a bottle here.

STill don't have a clue what this movie is about. The title sure doesn't tell you shit.

John Carter ends up on Mars. People on Mars are in a stargate-esque battle for their freedom and lives. He's the "chosen one" or something, and is a total badass on Mars (superman effect?). He fights baddies. End of story (or at least that's what I gather from the trailer and what I've heard).

It's based on an old pulp fiction sci-fi novel (or is it comic book?) by same dude that did Tarzan.

That right there tells me I won't like it.

They have done an absolutely wretched job explaining the concept and "selling" this movie. Odd considering its Disney, who usually markets very well.

It's based on a series of books by Edgar Rice Burroughs. They are Sci Fi classics, I've read them and they are great. If Disney handled this right then they could have a movie franchise that spanned decades.

Barsoom series

Main article: Barsoom

• A Princess of Mars (1912) (Project Gutenberg Entry: [1]) (LibriVox.org Audio Book)
• The Gods of Mars (1914) (Project Gutenberg Entry:[2]) (LibriVox.org Audio Book)
• The Warlord of Mars (1918) (Project Gutenberg Entry:[3]) (LibriVox.org Audio Book)
• Thuvia, Maid of Mars (1920) (Project Gutenberg Entry:[4]) (LibriVox.org Audio Book)
• The Chessmen of Mars (1922) (Project Gutenberg Entry:[5]) (LibriVox.org Audio Book)
• The Master Mind of Mars (1928) (Project Gutenberg Australia Entry:[6])
• A Fighting Man of Mars (1931) (Project Gutenberg Australia Entry:[7])
• Swords of Mars (1936) (Project Gutenberg Australia Entry:[8])
• Synthetic Men of Mars (1940) (Project Gutenberg Australia Entry:[9])
• Llana of Gathol (1948) (Project Gutenberg Australia Entry:[10])
• John Carter of Mars (1964)
  • "John Carter and the Giant of Mars" (1940) (Project Gutenberg Australia Entry:[11]) Actually written by Burroughs's son, John Coleman Burroughs.
  • "Skeleton Men of Jupiter" (1942) (Project Gutenberg Australia Entry:[12])
  
  
  

Here's a synopsis of the first book from Wikipedia. I don't know if they are using this story for the first movie:

John Carter, a Confederate veteran of the American Civil War, goes prospecting in Arizona immediately after the war's end. Having struck a rich vein of gold, he runs afoul of the Apaches. While attempting to evade pursuit by hiding in a sacred cave, he is mysteriously transported to Mars, called "Barsoom" by its inhabitants. Carter finds that he has great strength and superhuman agility in this new environment as a result of its lesser gravity. He soon falls in with the Tharks, a nomadic tribe of Green Martians, as the planet's warlike, six-limbed, green-skinned inhabitants are known. Thanks to his strength and combat abilities, Carter rises to a high position in the tribe and earns the respect and eventually the friendship of Tars Tarkas, one of the Thark chiefs.

The Tharks subsequently capture Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, a member of the humanoid red Martian race. The red Martians inhabit a loose network of city-states and control the desert planet's canals, along which its agriculture is concentrated. Carter rescues Dejah Thoris from the green men in a bid to return her to her people.

Subsequently Carter becomes embroiled in the political affairs of both the red and green men in his efforts to safeguard Dejah Thoris, eventually leading a horde of Tharks against the city-state of Zodanga, the historic enemy of Helium. Winning Dejah Thoris' hand, he becomes Prince of Helium, and the two live happily together for nine years.

However, the sudden breakdown of the Atmosphere Plant that sustains the planet's waning air supply endangers all life on Barsoom. In a desperate attempt to save the planet's inhabitants, Carter uses a secret telepathic code to enter the factory, bringing an engineer along who can restore its functionality. Carter then succumbs to asphyxiation, only to awaken back on Earth, left to wonder what has become of Barsoom and his beloved.

Yeah, I read many of these as a kid. Was really excited that it was going to make it to the big screen, but am now preparing myself for disappointment.

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Theres still a review embargo, but alot of the geek crowd thats seen it have been hinting that its good. Im down.

Good stuff, Mr. keg in kc.

These were/are great books. ERB was kind a cross between Charles Dickens and Stan Lee. It looks like Disney is staying true to the character. I mean, Carter's powers on Mars were basically obstinance and leaping real high.

I have to admit, though, that John Carter had phenomenal good fortune. Nobody's that fortunate. He made millions and got to go to Mars. Nowadays, a guy is lucky to find a clean, public restroom.

FAX

I've never read the books, but I'm going to go see it. If we don't go see the classic works done on the big screen, all we're going to end up with is more Twilights. I respect the fact that they're even trying it, even if they can't figure out how to market it.

Heres another story about how Disney has basically screwed the pooch marketing this thing.

They dropped the "Of Mars" off the title because they thought it would scare off women. ROFL



http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...ie-fiasco.html

Is this going to be a 3D movie?

So far, I have been pretty unimpressed with the 3D movies with the exception of Avatar which was darn good, I thought. It looked as though that entire movie was shot with 3D in mind, though. Like that scene when the main guy and his squad or whatever first landed on the planet of the blue people ... before he was transformed into a blue guy and all by the lady who used to battle alien eggs and the mother alien badass with the acidic, green blood. That scene was shot down the length of the transport ship with tons of depth-of-field and it really worked. I like that sort of thing better than having hubcaps thrown at me. Also, I went to a special 3D movie in an IMAX theater in some museum one time that was a documentary about the wonders of the deep sea. At one point, the entire audience was swimming in 3D shrimp sperm. I could not stand that deal one bit. To this day, I shudder to think of what those poor fish have to put up with.

Anyhow, I was wondering if this was 3D? And, if so, are they going to do it right?

FAX THE INQUISITIVE

I'm tempted to see this but I probably wont unless it gets stellar reviews. I love the concept and the Frazetta paintings, but I can't take another CGI driven movie taking a dump on something that I used to think was cool.

Aside from the novels John Carter also made it into comic books.

I've collected comics for nearly 35 yrs now and though John Carter was never one of my Favorite Marvel comics(published in the late 70's)it did give you something Different to read from the typical super hero stuff.

I went thru my collection and pulled out a stack to reread to remember what the character was all about.
Character could be fun with todays special effects but still its such an unknown to so many people wtf invest in the attempt.

To anyone interested heres a link to a few of the old comics covers.
It was the art and covers that often jumped out at you back in those days.

http://www.comicvine.com/john-carter...-mars/49-2907/

Saw it tonight in 3D. I have not read the books, but I thought it was really good. Absolutely an epic adventure movie. That may be the only thing that hurts it really... people don't know what it's about, and there are a lot of characters in this entirely foreign world to keep up with, but I think Stanton balances it out pretty well, and adds in enough humor and action to keep it moving. Honestly I felt like it could've been longer, but you can't have a 3 hour movie. I want to say I enjoyed it more than Avatar, but it's probably too early to make a judgment like that. Not sure it's worth seeing in 3D though, but I'm not really a 3D fan.

Awesome! How did u see it early?

Word of mouth around the internet is very positive.

The director is a huge John Carter fan so that bodes well.

Excited for this.

LMAOLMAO

Oh god forbid someone puts out something FRESH.

AICN all fanboy squee up in here

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/53943

Wow, thats Riggins! nice. imma watch.

Oh no, I agree... I was going to say I really hope this does well at the box office for that reason. This material will be absolutely fresh for most people in the audience. I'm glad Disney spent the money to bring an entirely new sci-fi world to the big screen. I guess Avatar was that way too... but I just felt this movie was more complex.

There are absolutely elements that are similar to Avatar or Star Wars... but you also have to remember those movies took those elements from this story and not the other way around.

Last year my husband and I got a rare chance to take in a movie without the ol' kiddos. We walked in as the previews were starting. About midway up the aisle, my husband stops dead and just stares at the screen. Then he leans into me and whispers "It's John Carter!". I reply "Huh?". "John Carter is the reason I started to read for enjoyment. I read all his books when I was a kid."

So that evening I went home and picked up the first book. My husband and I normally have a differing opinion on what makes a good read. He can read through history after history, while I tend to like more light reading, and things that have happy endings (hey, what can I say, I'm a girlie-girl sometimes). I read the first book in about 2 nights of reading. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and immediately went onto the next and then the next. Great reads if you ask me.

As for the upcoming movie, we both are a bit concerned and excited. Exciting because we both like the stories and who doesn't like to see their favorite books come to life. Concerned because we can already see some major discrepancies and fallacies from just the previews. I mean, you can never expect the movies to get all the details, and usually you just go in knowing there will be some stuff that is left out, but this seems like they are going to "hollywood" it up way too much. Oh and that is not at all how I pictured the creatures of Mars to look. Tars Tarkas and his fellow green men look way too Jar-Jar Binks for my taste.

Regardless, I will be going to see it and I am still very excited. I just hope that I don't walk out feeling let down.


Oh and you guys should read the book. It's worth it and a quick read.

And this bears repeating. These books were on the forefront of science fiction.

Two reviews

http://whatculture.com/film/john-car...characters.php

http://www.mattsmoviereviews.net/john-carter.html

Weak competition. I bet it does good.

http://i44.tinypic.com/dnhp5f.jpg

Disney has put a 10 minute clip from the beginning of the movie online. If you're on the fence, watch this.

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Its getting some pretty strong reviews now. Especially from the "geek" crowd. Ill bet it builds up steam as we head towards the weekend.


http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/john_carter/

This clip was great. I cant wait.

I'm pretty sure I'm seeing it on Friday. Like I said somewhere else in the thread, if we don't fill the theaters for stuff like this, all we're going to get is more Twilights, more remakes and "reimaginings" and probably less science fiction in general. Go see this. Go see Prometheus. It's the only way to get Hollywood to make the stuff we want them to make.

Going in spoiler free for 12:01 AM Thursday!

Watching my digital print in one hour from now.

NIce...is this going to be in IMAX? Give us a report when done!

I have it in digital, although it is also on film for those Imaxes who so choose.

I enjoyed it, although most will find it derivative--even though, as mentioned here, it's actually the other way around. Dances With Wolves, Avatar, Stargate, the low budget fantasy from the 70s/80s (Krull, Beastmaster, Conan, etc.,.) all owe it to this material.

And, for the record, I want to cover Lynn Collins in chocolate syrup and lick until I die from diabetes. Just watching her is worth the price of admission.

Sooo you're just going to let that chick in your avatar sit there and watch? That's cruel.

My avatar is a fun appetizer. Lynn Collins is a four-course meal. She's reminiscent IMO of Olivia Munn mixed with Shannon Doherty and topped off with a little Dita Von Teese. I would suck her meat curtains until I died of terminal chapped-lips.

Wow, I really want to go see this.

As a general rule, I dislike movies that screw around with the origin stories. That 10 minute deal seems to take some liberties, but it's darn close and ERB could certainly have written it that way, I guess.

Anyhow, I think they're doing justice to Carter's attitude (which is his coolest attribute). This might be really good.

FAX

Yeah. I was thinking the exact same thing.

I don't know how to use the spoiler button thing, so beware ... some may feel that this post contains spoilers ... as well as really poor grammar and completely gratuitous and unnecessary references to female body parts ...

....



EDIT: Awesome! You learn something every day. Today, it was spoiler things!

FAX

Mr. FAX I don't want to spoil any aspect of the movie, so:



All you do is put spoiler with brackets around it, with a slash in the second bracket before the word spoiler.

Thanks, Mr. tk13. That was pretty easy ... no wonder I was clueless.

FAX

Yeah I was looking forward to that as I am re-reading the first book right now, but I understand that different medias require slightly different stories. As long as it is faithful to the author and treats the characters with integrity I will be pleased.

I get that, but that's a different relationship then I expected between Powell and Carter. Still very cool though.

I have to admit, I was cracking up at the scenes of him in confinement in the 10 minute teaser.

I haven't read the books but the two other projectionists who watched the IMAX screening said that the film was pretty faithful as far as they recalled, although it did go into more detail and explanation than the books and included stuff from more than one book. I think films naturally call for a simplification of storytelling, as you only have 2 hours to tell the tale. However, even though I'm a book reader and a sci-fi buff, I still had to pay attention to follow the plot. It's definitely not "kiddied down", despite the fact that it's Disney.

I have to watch the film again. I'm not sure I paid enough attention to Lynn Collins. :whackit:

Reviews are 50/50

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/john_carter/

I think this was going to be about Sean Carter.

I'll probably wait and catch this on BR (like most movies). However, I noticed that some of the books are free on Amazon, so now I have some reading to do before it comes out. :thumb:

Reviews are sort of mixed, but the "Geek" crowd seems to love it.

BIG TIM RIGGINS~!

LMAO.. I'm already seeing CAM versions of the movie popping up on my AppleTV....

Took my son to the 1:15 show. That was a lot of fun, and Lynn COllins look slike she walked out of a Frank Frazetta portfolio. All of it. Twice.

I took my two teens to see if this afternoon. A 16 year old girl (who thought she wouldn't like it) and a 14 year old boy. The three of us enjoyed it. I had forgotten about the 3D, but it didn't take away from the movie. I would have rather that they stayed closer to the source material, but I wasn't disappointed by the movie's story.

Smoking hot.