John Carter (2012)

[Maria]

Trailer:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi938384409/

I'm very carefully *not* going to re-read any of the Barsoom books before going to see this. It might be OK.

"A Princesss of Mars" was published in 1912.
One hundred years later- a movie.
I hope they do it right.
They never do on Tarzan movies.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

That trailer definitely does not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling. But trailers often completely fail to capture what a movie is really like, so I won't totally give up hope. Still, oy!

[vison]

I have just been wallowing on Barsoom. I don't see that guy as John Carter - I always saw someone like . . . . hm . . . . Sterling Hayden? (With black hair, of course. ) Or, and I kid you not: The Rock.

Oh, well.

I see that Dejah Thoris is a long way from naked.

Tuff, eh?

[Primula Baggins]

I could see The Rock (who I believe goes by a human-style name now) in that role, too; John Carter with a little leavening of humor to lighten the whole mighty-thews thing might be appealing.

I can't judge much from that trailer, except that I wish Barsoom looked less like the U.S. desert Southwest. Where's the red moss of the dead sea bottoms? Where, in fact, is the red planet at all?

And why isn't Dejah Thoris properly red?

Maybe they're going to color-correct it all.

The few quick flashes of the Green Men of Barsoom didn't look convincing, but I'm sure they weren't final, either.

The two moons of Barsoom, OTOH, look just right to me: nothing like they would really look, but just as ERB seemed to imagine them, as a couple of moons much like ours. (I was relieved that they were in the same phase, being right next to each other in the sky.)

I do hope they hurtle.

[vison]

Well, only one hurtles . . . . Thuria, I believe.

As you know.

[Primula Baggins]

I guess I just figured since they both orbit close to Mars, they'd both hurtle . . . but now that I look it up, it's Thuria (Phobos) who hurtles from west to east in a little over 4 hours, twice every day, and Cluros (Deimos), her "cold spouse," who moves from east to west and is in the sky for like 2.7 days between rising and setting. Pretty spectacular. ("Thuria" really is about a third the width of our full moon; "Cluros" looks more like a star.)

And I am supposed to be working, not geeking out.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

My objection isn't to the look, it is to the tone. The emphasis on "only you can save this world." This should be primarily a love story, with Dotar Sojat willing to take on a whole hostile world in order to win the hand of the alien woman that he loves. And a story of friendship, with Tars Tarkas, Kantos Kan, Sola, and Woola (this all from memory; I haven't read the book in probably 20 years). The "saving the world bit" is just a sidelight at the end of the story, and still should be about saving the world in order to save Dejah. I fear that they will not at all capture the spirit of this great book.

[Frelga]

Huh. Not impressed with this guy either. Too young, not tough enough. Dejah... Meh. Does she really need to turn into another Xena wannabe?

The Rock could work. Too bad Arnie is old for the role, he could do excellent naked barbarians in his day.

[axordil]

Trailer tone and movie tone are independent variables.

[Primula Baggins]

I'm hoping it's a marketing decision for the trailer. "Only you can save the world," with action and a beautiful woman and swordplay, makes a simple message.

Of course, it's possible, even likely, that that decision carried beyond marketing into the film itself, which would be sad. This is a film that could be like Avatar in its appeal, with action thrills, scary monsters, and fearless warriors on the one hand and an appealing love story in a gorgeous, exotic setting on the other. I would love to see them at least try to capture some of the book's romance and eccentric appeal.

[vison]

I would like that, too. And yet, I am afraid that Voronwë is probably right.

The Rock - Dwayne Johnson - would have been my first choice. He has the right heroic chops and the sense of humour that would render the silliness bearable. Even if Arnold S. was 20 years younger, I would never in a million years have chosen him.

Given that there are 11 books in the series, it would have been possible to make a series of movies. Not 11! Great Scott, no. But 3, I would say: Warlord of Mars and Gods of Mars after the first one.

I do most sincerely hope that Dejah Thoris is going to be red-skinned and that dear old Tars Tarkas is on board. Woola, too. And Sola . . .

Oh, dear.

Is this going to be LOTR all over again?

[Primula Baggins]

Dwayne Johnson. That's it. I like him a lot. Anyone who goes from wrestler to action star to revealing himself as a man named Dwayne is clearly not afraid of anything.

As for John Carter the film—I would regret to see an opportunity wasted, but it wouldn't feel like having LotR turn out to be something I couldn't watch with any pleasure.* "There are always the books" and all that, and also I think there'd be more likely to be another attempt within our lifetime than with LotR.

*In fact I like the LotR films quite a lot, as vison knows.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The fact that they changed the name from "A Princess of Mars" to "John Carter" is not particularly encouraging. I seriously doubt that this film will be any good. Who's directing it? And what studio is producing it?

[Primula Baggins]

It's directed by Andrew Stanton, stars Taylor Kitsch (!!!), and is from Walt Disney Pictures.

IMDB link

[Voronwë the Faithful]

So am I gathering correctly that this is his live action directorial debut? He certainly has directed some very excellent animated films, but how will that translate. On the other hand, the screenplays that he has written for those animated films are very well done, so hopefully that will also be the case here (although those are all, so far as I know, original screenplays, not adaptations of a beloved book).

I'm still going to be very skeptical on this one. I'd rather be pleasantly surprised (as I was by FOTR) than bitterly disappointed.

[Primula Baggins]

I think anyone would agree, Voronwë!

The fact that he can both write and direct a good story is good news. That it's Disney is also good news; they don't tend to just exploit a property and move on.

[Alatar]

Well, having never read the books, that looks like it could be stonking good fun, which I imagine is the style they're going for. Looks like "The Mummy" or "Prince of Persia". Good old fashioned B-Movie sensibilites updated for the modern audience.

[axordil]

Just pointing out it would be difficult to have Dwayne Johnson as JC without changing his back story a bit.

The costume style in the trailers reminds me somewhat of the early pulp covers, as opposed to the text.

[Primula Baggins]

He wouldn't be the first Southern gentleman with a similarly interesting backstory.

[vison]

I, for one, hope they drop almost all of the "Virginia gentleman" stuff. Even when I first read it, back in the actual 50s, it was icky.