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Old 2011-07-16, 10:24   Link #1
Roger Rambo
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John Carter of Mars: Movie




I'll be perfectly frank. This is probably one of the least informative trailers for a movie I've ever seen. Does the actual content of this trailer give you a remotely clear idea about what this movie is about? Could you figure out what this is a trailer for without prior knowledge/looking up of John Carter and the Barsoom series?

Certainly nothing in the trailer would leave me thinking...

Spoiler for spoilers:



Also. Nothing is made better with emo cowboy songs about love.

Last edited by Roger Rambo; 2011-12-03 at 09:51. Reason: not just trailer discussion
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Old 2011-07-16, 11:48   Link #2
Vexx
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Yeah.. .to someone unfamiliar with the series... it looks like someone in the editing room was stoned and made a horrible mistake mashing together bits from a dozen different movies. Sigh... I keep hoping more cerebral classics will eventually make it to the screen but some things never change - bring on the pulp fiction
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Old 2011-07-16, 12:18   Link #3
Roger Rambo
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I'd love more cerebral classic films to be remade properly as well. OTOH I'm also a fan of pulp that's done well. And honestly? I can't think of anything that characterizes sci-fi pulp better than John Carter of Mars.

But that's what boggles me with this trailer. The Barsoom series isn't that hard to understand. Showcasing it and providing context to what's going on shouldn't be that difficult. You just have to spend a bit more time on exposition and showing off a few morsels of impressive world building effects, instead of random country music and the damn love interest. Though this being Disney, I guess we shouldn't be surprised they want to focus on the female character over something that might actually be interesting.
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Old 2011-07-16, 12:23   Link #4
Vexx
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The Disney sourcing worries me a bit... John Carter of Mars was pretty much sci-fi Conan --- pretty gruesome and gory during the action and more skin in the sexy.

And yes... said country music was so weird I can only speculate that some executive idiot had seen a few minutes of Firefly and wanted to accentuate some connection (pretty princess + country-western twang).

And yes, I agree seriously that the initial trailer should have focused on world immersion. Makes you wonder how such high-paid incompetent decision-makers exist.

Not to be totally negative ... the individual scenes look pretty good (though John Carter's outfit just looks a bit odd in real life ... what is the armor protecting again? )
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Old 2011-07-16, 12:31   Link #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Rambo View Post



I'll be perfectly frank. This is probably one of the least informative trailers for a movie I've ever seen. Does the actual content of this trailer give you a remotely clear idea about what this movie is about? Could you figure out what this is a trailer for without prior knowledge/looking up of John Carter and the Barsoom series?

Certainly nothing in the trailer would leave me thinking...

Spoiler for spoilers:



Also. Nothing is made better with emo cowboy songs about love.

Wow, it only took like what, nearly 100 years for this to become a movie.
It was serialized in 1912.

I really wish Disney wasn't the one doing this movie, because it means they're going to strip all the sex, nudity, gruesome violence, and fornication out of it.
Those were the best parts of the series.

I mean, didn't they only wear armor and jewelry in the Barsoom books?
I could swear when John Carter meets the princess she's totally butt naked and so is he.
I want my nude Mars women damn IT!!!

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Old 2011-07-16, 12:38   Link #6
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Ah yes, the old school pulp sci-fi...basically romance novels for men...or pron without it being pron. Or at least that is how it was described to me...since it was the only form of literature you could get away with people being naked in a Victorian society.
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Old 2011-07-16, 13:29   Link #7
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Originally Posted by GundamFan0083 View Post
I really wish Disney wasn't the one doing this movie, because it means they're going to strip all the sex, nudity, gruesome violence, and fornication out of it.
Those were the best parts of the series.
Technically, this was supposed to be Pixar's first live-action film, but the production company realized they didn’t have the means to release a live-action film (at least not a big-budget action film), so Disney took over. But, many of the main workers on the film are Pixar regulars: Andrew Stanton (the director/writer of Wall-E and Finding Nemo) is directing and co-writing the film; Mark Andrews (director for the upcoming Brave) is the other head writer. Additionally, Jim Morris (producer for Wall-E, Up, and Ratatouille) is a producer; and Michael Giacchino (composer for The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Up, etc) will do the music. (Also a lot of technical work is being done by Pixar).

Not Pixar related, but author Michael Chabon is also one of the screenwriters.

So, there is a lot of quality behind this production, even if it is Disney releasing the film.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vexx View Post
And yes... said country music was so weird I can only speculate that some executive idiot had seen a few minutes of Firefly and wanted to accentuate some connection (pretty princess + country-western twang).
The song was "My Body is a Cage" by Arcade Fire (performed by Peter Gabriel...who did the wonderful closing theme to Wall-E ). So, no country here...
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Old 2011-07-16, 14:05   Link #8
Roger Rambo
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Question

Well yeah. I'll give the film credit in that the individual scenes actually are pretty impressive. Especially that one scene at the end, where the Red Martian soldiers learn first hand how strong John Carter is. In terms of violence, that doesn't seem to bad, considering that he's whipping over a dozen men with bloody chains.

I don't. I'll reserve judgement from the actual film, but I still have a very weak opinion on this trailer. Though perhaps we can see something better (while not spoiling every scene in the film).
Quote:
Originally Posted by james0246 View Post
The song was "My Body is a Cage" by Arcade Fire (performed by Peter Gabriel...who did the wonderful closing theme to Wall-E ). So, no country here...
Well the thing is "Down to the Earth" was appropriate to the ending of Wall-E. The tone matched with what was in the credits and the theme's the movies emphasized at the end.

I'm not sure how this kind of mellow, romantic tune really is appropriate for introducing this kind of movie. Think about it. John Carter of Mars is about a guy who finds himself in an utterly alien, and warlike environment. The only way he matters, or even survives in this environment? It's very simple. John Carter is better at hurting people. The only reason John Carter survives long enough to impress anybody with his kindness, his nobility and sense of right and wrong, is because for the locals John Carter is an out of context problem that's capable of inflicting terrifying amounts of violence, pain and death. John Carter's importance to the plot is dictated by his ability to hurt people.


So it seems disingenuous to me to have the first half of the trailer have this kind of sentimental focus.
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Old 2011-07-16, 16:52   Link #9
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Originally Posted by james0246 View Post
Technically, this was supposed to be Pixar's first live-action film, but the production company realized they didn’t have the means to release a live-action film (at least not a big-budget action film), so Disney took over. But, many of the main workers on the film are Pixar regulars: Andrew Stanton (the director/writer of Wall-E and Finding Nemo) is directing and co-writing the film; Mark Andrews (director for the upcoming Brave) is the other head writer. Additionally, Jim Morris (producer for Wall-E, Up, and Ratatouille) is a producer; and Michael Giacchino (composer for The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Up, etc) will do the music. (Also a lot of technical work is being done by Pixar).

Not Pixar related, but author Michael Chabon is also one of the screenwriters.

So, there is a lot of quality behind this production, even if it is Disney releasing the film.



The song was "My Body is a Cage" by Arcade Fire (performed by Peter Gabriel...who did the wonderful closing theme to Wall-E ). So, no country here...
I understand the film will probably be a quality production James.
I'm just not sure that it will capture the savage nature of Edgar Rice Burrough's Barsoom.

As Vexx and Roger Rambo have pointed out, the Barsoom series is basically a Sci-Fi version of Rober E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian.

If Disney makes this an "R" rated film of the quality of John Milius' 1982 film, then it will be worth watching.

The trailer is certainly enticing, but seeing Dejah Thoris (Princess of Helium) dressed in clothing detracts from how savage Burrough's vision of Martian culture is.

Essentially John Carter is supposed to be a civilized Brute in a technologically advanced society that has regressed to Barbarism.
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Old 2011-12-01, 21:03   Link #10
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New trailer




Honestly? MUCH better. Still standard action movie fare, but interesting. I'm actually quite happy with how it looks like the Green Martians turned out.
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Old 2011-12-01, 21:56   Link #11
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Agreed, a MUCH better trailer.... it reduces most of my complaints to the PG clothing shown and the lack of gore. Ah well, no chance of an R rating from Disney...
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Old 2011-12-02, 14:33   Link #12
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that little speech at the end remind anyone else of Aragon's speech in a LotR?
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Old 2011-12-03, 02:43   Link #13
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Originally Posted by fullmetalme View Post
I have watched this trailer several times and I have no idea what it's about
The movie is based on a series of books written almost 100 years ago (by the same guy who wrote the original Tarzan stories).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ca...28character%29

A turn of the century (~1900ish) man is transported to Mars where he has great effect on the decaying civilization there.
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Old 2011-12-03, 10:37   Link #14
Roger Rambo
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Seeing as how John Carter is a civil war veteran, it's more like a late 19th century man.

Quote:
Originally Posted by fullmetalme View Post
I have watched this trailer several times and I have no idea what it's about
Deus Ex Machina sends Southern Civil War vet John Carter to Mars. Due to being from a much higher gravity planet, is crazy strong compared to the natives (even the giant four armed Green Martians). He makes friends with a bunch of Green Martians, and gets a hot Martian princess.
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Old 2012-03-19, 20:12   Link #15
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How was this film? It didn't do anywhere what Disney expected it to it would seem.


Disney says 'John Carter' to lose $200 million
http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=712102
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Old 2012-03-19, 20:39   Link #16
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Having seen the film myself, I thought it was pretty good (then again, I'm generally a sucker for Disney)... but I suspect that the reason why it did so poor is because
Spoiler for film:


... and I still need to find a copy, either in print or in electronic, of the series.
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Old 2012-03-19, 23:26   Link #17
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I'm actually okay with that story plotline (though it does make a sequel pretty necessary). I've seen it now - I came away far more impressed than I expected it to be. My original concern (uh oh, Disney means no gore no skin) was fairly assuaged - Thora had some pretty spiffy outfits (apparently the actress insisted on more skin, she'd read the books ).

The basic problem seems to be that Average Viewer and Average Critic doesn't seem to have a clue that this story was written at the turn of the last century, long before anyone had heard of Dune, Star Wars, Avatar, or any of that recent stuff. Also, the director (who has done some very good work) inserted himself into the teaser trailer work and frankly had no idea what he was doing. He also blew budget because he had little experience with budgeting live action work.

I suspect this puppy will more than make up losses in DVD sales, rentals, and re-releases. But then the movie studios never like to let on that films actually make money because then they have to pay percentages to the actual creative staff (for those that negotiated that).
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Old 2012-03-19, 23:36   Link #18
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Considering that the movie didn't do an amazing job adapting the source material (which I might add is one of my favorite sci-fi book series) I was surprised at how pleased enough I was with the film.

I'm just glad that one of the Barsoom books finally got a film adaptation.
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