John Carter

[Desdichado]

Well, I'll be leaving work in about an hour to go catch this. Anyone else seeing it today, or seen it already? I'm a huge fan of the original book. In fact, after Lord of the Rings, I generally tell folks it's my second favorite book.

Not that I'm expecting the movie to be a faithful adaptation necessarily. My expectations are relatively guarded. But still, I'm excited to see what they've done anyway.

 

[Mercutio01]

I plan on seeing it tomorrow. Like you, I'm a huge fan of the book. I own and have read all of its sequels, too. And since it's in the public domain now, I have several versions spread out across my Nook, Kindle, and netbook.

What I've seen of the previews makes me cautiously optimistic. I'm fully prepared to be completely let down, but simultaneously hoping that I'll be thoroughly entertained and very happy. But like with the Lord of the Rings, there's no way I can avoid seeing it.

 

[fanboy2000]

I'm making a special trip up to San Francisco to see it. Normally, I just watch IMAX and 3D movies in 2D on regular screens, but SF has an IMAX screen from the old days which are more square and really do occupy your field of vision. Since I expect scenery porn, I think the larger screen might be worth it.

After all, striking imagery may be the only thing the movie has going for it. I like the books. But I read them as an adult starting with Princess last year.

 

[Mallus]

Seeing it with friends this afternoon, after a lunch that will probably include bourbon (for medicinal, err, expectation-management purposes!).

 

[Meatboy]

Saw it last night. Really enjoyed it. Not the most involving film ever but I felt it was well paced and didn't beat you over the head with spelling things out over and over again. For me it was worth a trip to the theater. My only nagging question is. On Mars they use torches for their light source but they don't seem to have an over abundance of trees so what do they burn?

 

[Relique du Madde]

Saw it last night. Really enjoyed it. Not the most involving film ever but I felt it was well paced and didn't beat you over the head with spelling things out over and over again. For me it was worth a trip to the theater. My only nagging question is. On Mars they use torches for their light source but they don't seem to have an over abundance of trees so what do they burn?

Most likely lichen, moss,* kelp or whatever plants grow in that river from the previews.


* Did't all the Green Martian mount's eat lichen and moss in the book?

-Sent via Tapatalk

 

[Jack7]

Saw it with my daughter this afternoon. We both enjoyed it quite a bit. The actress playing Dejah was a blue-eyed baby doll. Good in a fight, superb bearing, intelligent, moved like a cat, excellent looker. No doubt of that. Quite the Princess of Mars.

If you haven't read the books it might be hard to follow in places. And it's not highly faithful plot-wise. A lot of things go unsaid though because of the complexity of the plot and the relationships (such as with the Tharks and Woola - my favorite creatures in the books), and because a film can rarely do justice to a well-developed book. That being said, I think that for those who know the books though, it came very close to being an almost completely realistic depiction of the fiction of Burroughs. To coin a phrase. I'm not much for 3-D but now kinda wish I'd seen it in 3-D. Just to see what certain scenes would have been like in 3-D.

I recommend it. I strongly suspect there will be future films in the series. There should be if other stories are handled as this one was.

 

[Relique du Madde]

Just wondering, it the movie a mixture of Princess of Mars and Gods of Mars? I only read Princess of Mars so when I saw a "bald headed pale white skinned" Martian on the preview I got confused.

 

[fanboy2000]

Just wondering, it the movie a mixture of Princess of Mars and Gods of Mars? I only read Princess of Mars so when I saw a "bald headed pale white skinned" Martian on the preview I got confused.

IIRC Stanton said that they were using material from the first three books. Princess Gods and Warlord form a kind of trilogy where the first book is a stand alone story with a sequel hook, but the next two books are clearly a single, continuous, story. The first three were also written fairly close together.

So the white bald guy played by Mark Strong is the villain of the second and third books.

 

[Mercutio01]

I saw it tonight in 3D. As others have said, it's very good and I recommend it, but if you're looking for slavish adherence to the book a la "300" or "Watchmen," look elsewhere. It was fun, exciting, and it worked within the context of the film, and was faithful enough to not make my inner fanboy foam at the mouth.