John Carter Gets New Trailer, Stays Vague

vansau

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May 25, 2010
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John Carter Gets New Trailer, Stays Vague


Disney's John Carter certainly looks exciting, but it's still hard to tell what it will actually be about.

When the <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.300563-John-Carters-Mars-Isnt-As-Red-As-Youd-Expect>first trailer for Disney's John Carter was unveiled, people seemed pretty divided on whether or not the movie looked good. One thing everyone seemed to agree on, though, was that there weren't nearly enough four-armed Martians or epic battles from Edgar Rice Burroughs's source novels. Now, Disney's released a new trailer that's pretty much nothing but crazy action and Martians.

The trailer showcases a lot of chaotic action sequences, involving swords and (I think) laser beams and (again, I think) at least one large gatling gun. Other than that, it's hard to tell what Mr. Carter is doing on Mars, wearing a loincloth. The narration implies that he agrees to fight on behalf of the Green Martians, but there's really nothing else explained in the 50 second-long video.

Disney's marketing strategy for this film is a risky one. It's now got two trailers out that provide incredibly different glimpses of the movie, but neither one really explains the movie's plot. This might not be a problem if the movie was based on a popular intellectual property, but John Carter isn't nearly as popular as Burroughs's other literary hero, Tarzan.

John Carter is a pretty massive undertaking, with a $200 million budget, which is why the limited amount of marketing so far is a bit surprising. That said, Disney's got a little time to kick things up, since the movie is due out on March 9th.



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r_Chance

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Robert E. Howard's source novels? Conan? Try Edgar Rice Burrough's source novels. *sigh*
 

vansau

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May 25, 2010
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r_Chance said:
Robert E. Howard's source novels? Conan? Try Edgar Rice Burrough's source novels. *sigh*
Argh. Thanks. I've got Tarzan sitting on my bookshelf, too.
 

SnakeoilSage

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While you're doing your fact-checking post- er, post you might wanna pop over to <link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Princess_of_Mars>this wikipedia page and review it. There's a little snippet at the bottom about film adaptations you should pay attention to.

You honestly don't have an excuse for this Fox-esque level of fact-mismanagement. Not when you're sitting in front of a database as vast as the internet at this very moment.
 

flashgriffin

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Jan 17, 2010
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Some thoughts...
The actor who plays John Carter....so-so. I was hoping something more along the strain of...Viggo Mortensen? Although the costumes are very good.
Just a little bit disappointed by the green men, I was expecting something a tad bulkier but what's done is done.
Red men and women look good. And the airships look great.

Looking forward to seeing whether Disney will be able to pull through with this.
I always imagined that if a movie was made from the books, it would be more in the 14A - R range. Not crossing any fingers though.
 

samsonguy920

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Well I can say one thing, it definitely looks like they are pulling material from more than the first book. I am going to go into this with a blank slate in mind. If their patchwork plot works and the action is decent, and it feels faithful to the world Burroughs made(if not to the actual first book), then I will be satisfied.

Truth be told, there is room to improve on the books. The first three are good and give credence to how fun Barsoom can be, but the ones after that just seem to repeat old stories with new names and diminish the enjoyment to be had. Disney gave us a fun romp with Prince of Persia, so I have reason to have faith there will be fun to be had here.
 

samsonguy920

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flashgriffin said:
Some thoughts...
The actor who plays John Carter....so-so. I was hoping something more along the strain of...Viggo Mortensen? Although the costumes are very good.
Just a little bit disappointed by the green men, I was expecting something a tad bulkier but what's done is done.
Red men and women look good. And the airships look great.

Looking forward to seeing whether Disney will be able to pull through with this.
I always imagined that if a movie was made from the books, it would be more in the 14A - R range. Not crossing any fingers though.
Viggo would be a good choice, ten years ago. John Carter was rather young when he started his journeys to Barsoom, so giving watchers a John Carter who is about ready to retire isn't the best idea.
I liked Taylor when he played Gambit in Wolverine. This will be a chance for him to really prove his place in movies.
 

godofallu

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At first I was like, meh the title seems lame yet familiar.

Then I read it was a Disny film and I was like, oh boy another kids movie.

Then I watched the thing and I was like, oh this looks pretty cool.

Then I read the comments and realized i've already read the damn book.
 

omicron1

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I feel like this is another candidate for the "Spot the Trailer Music by Two Steps from Hell" game, but I can't quite place it. Anyone know whence the music in this trailer hails?
 

vansau

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Sober Thal said:
The 'humans' look like they belong in that Zeena Warrior Princess show...

I'm not impressed.
Those would actually be the Red Martians, though they look decidedly non-red.
 

Soviet Heavy

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omicron1 said:
I feel like this is another candidate for the "Spot the Trailer Music by Two Steps from Hell" game, but I can't quite place it. Anyone know whence the music in this trailer hails?
Sounds like an instrumental version of Come With Me.
 

Andy Chalk

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Are you serious? That thing is like 140k.

I'm just not impressed with anything I've seen so far. Which admittedly isn't much, but so far it looks like a hip, hard-rockin' John Carter for the 21st century! And hey, maybe that's what sells, but it's not what I want. I don't necessarily want a direct translation of the books, but at least give us something that feels like the real thing. Lord of the Rings is a great example of how it's done: edited, reduced, mass-market appeal but still true to the source. I want the same for John Carter.

(Let's not turn this into a conversation about LOTR please.)
 

Jenx

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At least having someone's willie hanging out would have been a good indication they're going in the right direction with this movie. Then again, disney, PG-13 action movies, shit like that...
 

crotchdot

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Andy Chalk said:
I'm just not impressed with anything I've seen so far. Which admittedly isn't much, but so far it looks like a hip, hard-rockin' John Carter for the 21st century!
I think you might be being a little harsh, that looked like every trailer I've ever seen, edited by someone with attention deficit disorder to try and make it look exciting, set to generic stadium rock. But the few glimpes the first two trailers have given have looked more faithful than I was expecting, provided if you can get past the fact everyone's wearing clothes. But I seriously doubt Hollywood was going to make a big budget film full of naked people.
And John may be a little young, but the days of Hollywood casting someone like Charlton Heston as a leading man are long gone. At least it's not Tom Cruise, that's all I can say.
 

DigitalSushi

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Soviet Heavy said:
omicron1 said:
I feel like this is another candidate for the "Spot the Trailer Music by Two Steps from Hell" game, but I can't quite place it. Anyone know whence the music in this trailer hails?
Sounds like an instrumental version of Come With Me.
ARGHHHHH ARGHHH!

Its the Guitarist Jimmy Paige of Led Zeppelin fame, bloody kids, get off my lawn!
*shakes stick*

That Riff is pretty much his trademark.
 

Soviet Heavy

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DigitalSushi said:
Soviet Heavy said:
omicron1 said:
I feel like this is another candidate for the "Spot the Trailer Music by Two Steps from Hell" game, but I can't quite place it. Anyone know whence the music in this trailer hails?
Sounds like an instrumental version of Come With Me.
ARGHHHHH ARGHHH!

Its the Guitarist Jimmy Paige of Led Zeppelin fame, bloody kids, get off my lawn!
*shakes stick*

That Riff is pretty much his trademark.
I thought it was Led Zeppelin! Dammit, I hear the song every day on the radio, and then I bloody well choose GODZILLA to relate it to? The hell is wrong with me!?