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RTTP: John Carter (the film);better than the Star Wars prequels. Too bad it flopped

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E

enigmatic_alex44

Whenever a game uses "middleware," I expect mediocrity. Just see how poor TLOU looks.
Haven't seen John Carter since opening weekend in the theaters. It was a massive Box Office bomb and for some reason I wasn't that into the movie the first time. I think all the negativity surrounding the film may have soured my judgement at the time.

I picked up the blu ray cheap this weekend as I've been wanting to give the film another chance now without all the negative press surrounding it. You know what? The movie is pretty good. It looks gorgeous with amazing cinematography and locations, and the CG is remarkable. Film is 3 years old and the special effects look way better than Jurassic World. I know this is one of the flops that helped kill Taylor Kitsch's career as a leading man, but honestly he was fine in this movie.

The real star of the film is Woola. Love that little alien frog looking dog thing that runs super fast <3 <3 <3. Ok, joking aside I love Woola but the REAL star of the film is Lynn Collins as Dejah. She was really excellent in the role, and her tough character combined with her black hair reminded me of Lucy Lawless as Xena. Honestly, the film could have just as easily been called The Princess of Mars as she was just as important as JC to the plot.

A lot of the film reminded me of the Star Wars prequels. The colisseum fight against the White Apes especially reminded me of Attack of the Clones. The color palette made me think "Star Wars". Any scene involving the flying tech reminded me of Star Wars too, except unlike the Prequels, John Carter had a consistent look throughout the film. Plus unlike SW PT, John Carter has no horrible character like Jar Jar Binks.

Such a shame the film was such a gigantic flop, it really is a fun adventure film imo. Would have loved a sequel to this one.
 
S

Sir_Crocodile

Member
I need to watch this one of these days. The trailer was incredibly bad so I didn't watch it on release, but everyone I know who did says it's pretty good.
 
Chuckie

Chuckie

Member
Being better than SW prequels doesn't say a lot man.

Anyway... I thought John Carter was a rather boring movie and to be honest I cannot even remember how the movie ended.
 
DKehoe

DKehoe

Member
enigmatic_alex44 said:
A lot of the film reminded me of the Star Wars prequels. The colisseum fight against the White Apes especially reminded me of Attack of the Clones. The color palette made me think "Star Wars". Any scene involving the flying tech reminded me of Star Wars too, except unlike the Prequels, John Carter had a consistent look throughout the film. Plus unlike SW PT, John Carter has no horrible character like Jar Jar Binks.
Click to expand...

The book John Carter Of Mars kinda invented the sci-fi coliseum arena fight trope I believe? So I guess Attack of the Clones version was either a direct or indirect homage to it.
 
EdwardTivrusky

EdwardTivrusky

Member
It was ok. visuals were good and the acting wasn't bad but i remember it had some pacing issues and my mind wandered at some points.

I think i thought the story was a bit pants but I'll have to watch it again to remember more.
 
K

Koriandrr

Member
Better? Doubt it.


But even back then I thought the film was really good.
I just think it was absolutely horrible marketing, giving people unrealistic expectations of the film. People came in expecting some sort of transformers or something and got a Disney film and they were mad. Everyone somehow managed to forget it's a Disney film. I think John Carter is one of the most underrated films ever. It's a shame what happened to it.
 
V

VeryGooster

Banned
I had fun watching the movie. I would argue it was a little bloated, like the beginning could have been trimmed down. A shame it was advertised so poorly. Even I didn't give a shit until it was like a cheap Amazon rental.
 
E

enigmatic_alex44

Whenever a game uses "middleware," I expect mediocrity. Just see how poor TLOU looks.
maquiladora said:
Nah, you really don't.

Episode III is a better film than John Carter btw.
Click to expand...

Episode III is the only good one in the Prequel Trilogy, and I'd say it's the best Star Wars film imo, yes better than Empire Strikes Back.

HOWEVER, John Carter is better as a film than that trainwreck Phantom Menance and Attack of the Clones. I'd put it on equal footing with Episode III.
 
Chuckie

Chuckie

Member
enigmatic_alex44 said:
Episode III is the only good one in the Prequel Trilogy, and I'd say it's the best Star Wars film imo, yes better than Empire Strikes Back.

HOWEVER, John Carter is better as a film than that trainwreck Phantom Menance and Attack of the Clones. I'd put it on equal footing with Episode III.
Click to expand...

So the conclusion of this post is:

John Carter > Empire Strikes Back

That, kind sir, is the most ridiculous post I have read today.
 
O

Ovid

Member
Lynn Collins looked more like Wonder Woman than Xena.

I saw it theaters and loved it.

I understand why it flopped though.

I hope it turns into a cult classic so that Disney can go through with the sequel.
 
J

Jean Valjean

Member
I also liked John Carter. Like you said, Lynn Collins as Wonder Woman, Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony as Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony, great special effects... it's sad that this movie bombed and we won't see any sequels.
 
H

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
This movie was alright. It's a pretty fun watch, but I wouldn't go out of my way to see it again.




Lynn Collins tho
 
M

MisterAnderson

Member
enigmatic_alex44 said:
Episode III is the only good one in the Prequel Trilogy, and I'd say it's the best Star Wars film imo, yes better than Empire Strikes Back.

HOWEVER, John Carter is better as a film than that trainwreck Phantom Menance and Attack of the Clones. I'd put it on equal footing with Episode III.
Click to expand...

By posting this travesty you completely invalidated whatever credibility your OP may have had.
 
L

Lunar15

Member
That has to be one of the lowest bars I've ever seen.

There are things I dislike about this movie, but a lot of things I surprisingly liked. It was too self-indulgent, though. I didn't really like Kitsch either.
 
B

Banderdash

Member
Y'know... I was there when the Star Wars prequels came out in the theatres. At the time they weren't as shat upon as they are now.

Admittedly, we were probably still swept up in the concept of having new star wars films in nearly 30 years... but, at the time, we didn't think they were complete drek.
 
M

manueldelalas

Time Traveler
I had read the Barsoom series before, so it was a massive disappointment for me.

The change in characters, tone, etc etc was as massive as Dragon Ball the manga vs Dragon Ball the live action western movie.
 
E

ElectricBlanketFire

Member
Banderdash said:
Y'know... I was there when the Star Wars prequels came out in the theatres. At the time they weren't as shat upon as they are now.

Admittedly, we were probably still swept up in the concept of having new star wars films in nearly 30 years... but, at the time, we didn't think they were complete drek.
Click to expand...

I saw Episode II opening night and people were laughing at parts that weren't supposed to be funny.

We knew.
 
Chuckie

Chuckie

Member
Banderdash said:
Y'know... I was there when the Star Wars prequels came out in the theatres. At the time they weren't as shat upon as they are now.

Admittedly, we were probably still swept up in the concept of having new star wars films in nearly 30 years... but, at the time, we didn't think they were complete drek.
Click to expand...

This is true about TPM, but AOTC was considered complete drek since day 1.
 
F

Floex

Member
Never felt the need to walk out on a film in the cinema before, this was the film that pushed me to the edge of that.

Genuinely one of the worst movies I have seen.
 
H

Horohoro

Member
The only thing wrong with the movie is something that is one of the most crucial things in any movie in determining it being great, ok, or awful and that is the pacing.

I've heard people talk about the acting but its really pretty well done in the film. The script is ok but its not great however, given source material to turn into a film was something difficult to start with anyway. But if it had a different cut I imagine we would all be singing a different tune to be honest. I personally liked it well enough if thought about as an action movie which it wasn't intended to be so much as a drama...

Anyway thats just a huge film buffs .02$..
 
F

Forkball

Member
This movie was way better than I expected, but overall it was rather bland and formulaic. I mean it's hard to fault it for being that since it's based off of a 100 year old book that heavily influenced modern sci fi and fantasy. I think it should have done better at the box office though.
 
G

Gentleman Jack

Member
Banderdash said:
Y'know... I was there when the Star Wars prequels came out in the theatres. At the time they weren't as shat upon as they are now.

Admittedly, we were probably still swept up in the concept of having new star wars films in nearly 30 years... but, at the time, we didn't think they were complete drek.
Click to expand...

My friends and I shat all over TPM that very night, because of how awful Jar Jar and Anakin were.

The best thing we found we could say after Attack of the Clones was "well at least there was less Jar Jar" but we knew the romantic plot was shit.

Expectations were so low for Episode III that it didn't take much for it to be the best regarded of a shitty trilogy, but even then everything that came out of Anakin's mouth induced a cringe, and Padme was no better. Yes, in 2005 we knew that the entire emotional core of the prequel trilogy was an awul joke.
 
N

Neuromancer

Member
I really enjoyed it at the theater. It was funny and it looked great. Also that princess was smoking hot. I'm not sure why it flopped so hard.
 
S

sans_pants

avec_pénis
enigmatic_alex44 said:
Episode III is the only good one in the Prequel Trilogy, and I'd say it's the best Star Wars film imo, yes better than Empire Strikes Back.

HOWEVER, John Carter is better as a film than that trainwreck Phantom Menance and Attack of the Clones. I'd put it on equal footing with Episode III.
Click to expand...

Opinions and all but wow this is a weird one
 
D

Danthrax

Batteries the CRISIS!
It's a pretty cool movie. I saw it with my dad, who loves the "of Mars" book series. He was pretty excited that they made a movie and generally liked it ... I felt bad for him that there wouldn't be a sequel.
 
E

Experien

Member
One of my favorite movies that year. It is a shame that Disney threw it under a bus to die just because they were getting Star Wars.

[It came out the same year that Disney bought LucasFilm and you know that deal did not take a week to come to an agreement.]
 
O

Oersted

Member
Lynn Collins needs to get waaaaay more roles.

enigmatic_alex44 said:
A lot of the film reminded me of the Star Wars prequels. The colisseum fight against the White Apes especially reminded me of Attack of the Clones. The color palette made me think "Star Wars". Any scene involving the flying tech reminded me of Star Wars too, except unlike the Prequels, John Carter had a consistent look throughout the film. Plus unlike SW PT, John Carter has no horrible character like Jar Jar Binks.
Click to expand...

Star Wars is inspired by John Carter and other pulp comics.

John Carter is based on John Carter.
 
E

Experien

Member
Oersted said:
Lynn Collins needs to get waaaaay more roles.



Star Wars is inspired by John Carter and other pulp comics.

John Carter is based on John Carter.
Click to expand...

You could argue that John Carter is based on Tarzan
but both were created by the same guy
.
 
V

vio

Member
Very fun movie. It has it problems but it was a solid movie. Too bad there won`t be sequels.
 
E

enigmatic_alex44

Whenever a game uses "middleware," I expect mediocrity. Just see how poor TLOU looks.
MisterAnderson said:
By posting this travesty you completely invalidated whatever credibility your OP may have had.
Click to expand...

sans_pants said:
Opinions and all but wow this is a weird one
Click to expand...

They're cute movies but not everyone grew up with the Original Trilogy so I don't hold them in as high regard as some folks do.

BIGaZLW.gif
 
S

Sumio Mondo

Member
Shame it killed Lynn Collins and Taylor Kitsch's careers in Hollywood dead. I think they're both decent, just in a bad movie.
 
E

enigmatic_alex44

Whenever a game uses "middleware," I expect mediocrity. Just see how poor TLOU looks.
Mr. Poolman said:
Choosing between Ep3 and John Carter is like choosing between having syphilis or gonorrhea.
Click to expand...

so choosing between two pretty good films is like choosing between two sexually transmitted diseases in your opinion?

v45Ajmu.gif
 
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