John Carter of Mars

[CreativeMage]

So, to avoid the movie's major pitfall, don't assume that the people who pick up your game have ever read the original.

Yes, good point...

 

[CreativeMage]

Have you seen this resource?

http://www.erblist.com/index.shtml

We have! Thank you!

 

[sabrinathecat]

The big problem with the movie is that it tried to rely on flash and wow, but was poorly paced and had mediocre direction. And it deviated too much from the original to suit "modern" audience expectations. A good, straight adaptation would have been a better way to go. And yeah, include Mars in the title. Maybe call it something like "John Carter and the Princess of Mars"? might actually... work?

Keep your combat rules simple and fast moving. I would suggest something like the D6 system by West End Games.

 

[CreativeMage]

Keep your combat rules simple and fast moving. I would suggest something like the D6 system by West End Games.

It so happens that that's exactly the system we're using! Well, D6 Legend, actually

 

[sabrinathecat]

It so happens that that's exactly the system we're using! Well, D6 Legend, actually

Perfect, isn't it? Simple mechanics anyone can learn in a few minutes, master in a session, quick, down&dirty results, and allows for on-the-fly reworking if the players go off on a weird tangent. And if the GM needs to improvise, it is easy to throw in a new, unprepared fight to get the PCs back on track.

 

[Nellisir]

But I ment unoriginal in the way the film was made, the characters portrayed, etc. A guy gets dumped somewhere weird, dhis destined to become great, fights, seduces princes, etc, etc, yawn. Seen it a dozen times. Very uninspired,like painting by numbers.

So...basically you're saying don't make the movie anything like the book? Because that's the book. Guy gets dumped somewhere weird; is destined to become great; fights better than anyone else; seduces princess; etc.

You and Zombie Babies must hate just about every book and movie ever.

I think the movie was pretty decent and fun. They should have left Mars in the name, though.

 

[Zombie_Babies]

So...basically you're saying don't make the movie anything like the book? Because that's the book. Guy gets dumped somewhere weird; is destined to become great; fights better than anyone else; seduces princess; etc.

You and Zombie Babies must hate just about every book and movie ever.

I think the movie was pretty decent and fun. They should have left Mars in the name, though.

Whoa there, buddy - slow down. Having different taste is ok, right? Well, that's all there is to it. Some of us don't like formulaic crap that's been done to death and find silly re-skins, well, silly. Something like this - which I actually have no opinion on (though I do trust goldo on film/books) - sounds to me like something that falls into the 'Marty Stu' category and would probably be lame. Like I said, some people don't like watching someone else's wish fulfillment. That's ok.

 

[Kramodlog]

So...basically you're saying don't make the movie anything like the book?

Or avoid the tropes we saw a hundred times already. The book is about a guys that goes to a sort of feudal-high tech Mars. No need to stick to a book that his not good by today's standards. Rossum's Universal Robots is a classic, should it be made into a movie without modifications?

Because that's the book. Guy gets dumped somewhere weird; is destined to become great; fights better than anyone else; seduces princess; etc.

So why not make Carter our comtemporary, someone who knows about science and saw films/TV shows about aliens and people who end up on other worlds. Make him ajust rapidly to the new place instead of having the stupid trope of the guy who doesn't know what is happening, just wants to go home and doesn't embrace is new status. We saw this many times. We know what will happen. Give me a protagonist that arrives and goes "cool, I was a nobody and now I am hero, die aliens /pew pew". I'm tired of the trope "the local aliens are cruel, but the hero will teach them a lesson about friendish and compassion". /vomits. Carter should kill the leader, eat his flesh and hear the lamentations of the women. I never saw that in a film.

You and Zombie Babies must hate just about every book and movie ever.

Hollywood just repeats itself, it is boring.

As for books, I do not read anything that has the fantasy or sci-fi label on it, I want a new take on old tropes. Not the same old tropes. This is why fantasy has so little to offer right now.

They should have left Mars in the name, though.

They wanted to avoid the curse of Mars. I suggest making good films to get box office revenues, not title changes. But I am crazy.

 

[Nellisir]

Whoa there, buddy - slow down. Having different taste is ok, right? Well, that's all there is to it. Some of us don't like formulaic crap that's been done to death and find silly re-skins, well, silly.

Oh, I totally think it's OK to have different tastes and opinions. I don't care that Goldomark doesn't like it - it's not my movie, I've got no dog in the fight. Ditto on The Hunger Games.

However.

Neither of you actually criticize the works as they are (well, Goldomark does, to some degree, but that's not the criticism I care about). Goldomark doesn't like the cliches in the plot. You don't like setting elements of The Hunger Games. How well these were/are handled within the work is irrelevant to both of you; it's the mere inclusion of the elements that draws your ire. You might as well hate them for being in English rather than High Latin.

If you want to start a thread to complain about tropes and cliches, that's fine. But criticizing a work because it has tropes and cliches while ignoring any qualitative element is...I don't know. Disfunctional? Distracting? A straw man?

Something like this - which I actually have no opinion on (though I do trust goldo on film/books) - sounds to me like something that falls into the 'Marty Stu' category and would probably be lame. Like I said, some people don't like watching someone else's wish fulfillment. That's ok.

It's a prime example of "Mighty Whitey". The whole genre is. Also "Humans Are Special", "Going Native", and "Like A Fish Takes To Water".

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MightyWhitey
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HumansAreSpecial
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoingNative
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LikeAFishTakesToWater

I dunno. I guess I just prefer that a story be good. I rarely find the first expression of a new idea to really be good; usually it's just passable enough to get someone's attention, who then does it a little better, and so forth. New is novelty, not quality.

 

[Nellisir]

Or avoid the tropes we saw a hundred times already....So why not make Carter our comtemporary, someone who knows about science and saw films/TV shows about aliens and people who end up on other worlds. Make him ajust rapidly to the new place instead of having the stupid trope of the guy who doesn't know what is happening, just wants to go home and doesn't embrace is new status.

So "Going Native" is better than "Trapped In Another World?" They're both tropes. They've both been done. See, for instance, Avatar.

Give me a protagonist that arrives and goes "cool, I was a nobody and now I am hero, die aliens /pew pew".

Oh, "Like A Fish Takes To Water" combined with the "Blood Knight". Still tropes.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TrappedInAnotherWorld
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BloodKnight

I'm tired of the trope "the local aliens are cruel, but the hero will teach them a lesson about friendish and compassion". /vomits. Carter should kill the leader, eat his flesh and hear the lamentations of the women. I never saw that in a film.

Well, typically people typically like to watch movies where they can empathize with the protagonist. I'd suspect that most people aren't interested in a martian recreation of the exploits of Jeffrey Dahmer.

As for books, I do not read anything that has the fantasy or sci-fi label on it, I want a new take on old tropes. Not the same old tropes. This is why fantasy has so little to offer right now.

It's certainly a dogmatic viewpoint, I'll give it that. And if you never read anything, you'll never be challenged and risk being proven wrong. So, good plan, of a sorts.

But I am crazy.

Crazy isn't one of the words I'd use.