"John Carter" - movie

[bevs_plaything]

 An interesting article on the BBC about the performance of the movie at the box office:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17442613

I saw the movie at the weekend and enjoyed it.   :D

[Bromptonboy]

I plan on taking my family to see the movie - based on the opinions I have heard here on TiSF.

[bevs_plaything]

I plan on taking my family to see the movie - based on the opinions I have heard here on TiSF.

It's a good movie, did drag a bit at points (was about 2 and a half hours in duration), but enjoyable!  Make sure that any child you may take has plenty of popcorn, etc, and you shouldn't have any trouble. 

Posting that message makes me miss Gummy Bears!!   ;D

[M-5]

I just got back from seeing John Carter and I liked it. 

[Rico]

Cool!  Glad you liked it too.  :)

[Ktrek]

I enjoyed the movie.  It was about time someone did John Carter as a movie. 

Actually the John Carter story has been done before in 2009 but was kind of a flop although it's not as bad a movie as some might think. It retained the Edgar Rice Burroughs title "Princess of Mars" and starred Antonio Sabato Jr. and Traci Lords.

As for the current film I'll be waiting for the Blu-Ray to come out. I rarely go to films at the theater anymore. I prefer the privacy of my home and surround sound stereo. I will be going to see Batman, The Avengers and James Bond when they come out.



Kevin

[WillEagle]

This hits stores on June 5. I want it for my collection!

[Bromptonboy]

Just watched this on demand.  I enjoyed it.  Great special effects, and I was familiar with the story already.  Pity that Disney took such a bath on this one.

[X]

Finally saw this last week and I'm going to buy it now. I really enjoyed this film.

[Rico]

Yeah, I think most everyone on the forum here will enjoy it when they see it.  There are some great moments in it and some amazing visual sequences too.  The aliens/Martians are very well done I thought.  The film deserved to do much better.  I think it just wasn't marketed quite right.

[Jobydrone]

Surprised that Disney didn't have the ability to spin the negative press this movie got, which I think totally killed it.  I saw it recently and really enjoyed it, alot.  So much that I'm bummed there'll probably not be a sequel which was clearly set up in this film.

[Jobydrone]

Bryan Cranston on "John Carter", echoing alot of the comments in this thread:

AVC: Speaking of movies about Mars: Just about everyone else has weighed in on this, but as a cast member in John Carter, what did you think about the way it was received at the box office?

Bryan Cranston: I thought it was unwarranted. I enjoyed the film; perhaps I'm too close to it, but I really did. I thought it was a fun family adventure. You know, I think... [Hesitates.] Something's happened in our society which I don't think is beneficial, and that's that you see the public being fed box-office news. Newscasts now, every local station—I've been traveling around the country a lot, and you see the local news, and they give box-office reports. What movie came in at No. 1, making how much money in just a week, and No. 2 made this much money, and No. 3, and they go down and do the top five in 20 seconds of time, when they should be giving a review.

Give a review! Give an informative, intelligent review of a film that actually helps people decide what movies they'd like to see. "Hey, here's what I recommend for the family, and if you're an adult, here's what I recommend for you. It's a little out-there, but it's a fun adventure, blah blah blah..." In the same amount of time, you can actually give some informative news to someone, as opposed to... Why is it all of a sudden important for average Americans to know how much money a movie made at the box office? Once again, that equates in their mind with "This is what is good." "If it makes money, it is good. If it doesn't make money, it is not good, don't waste your time." And it's killing art. It's the same thing Ronny Cox was saying: There's dozens of dollars to be made out there in folk music... [Laughs.] But does that mean don't go see folk music, just because it doesn't pull in multi-millions of dollars on concert tours? So we just have to get away from that.

I kept hearing, "It's not tracking. John Carter is not tracking well." I was like, "What do you mean it's not tracking?" "Oh, it's only going to make $18 million this weekend. That's not good. It's going to collapse, it's going to be a flop." And this is before anyone had even seen it, before any reviews had come out. I think it's totally legitimate for someone to take it to task and say, "Artistically, I think this was good and this was not so good." That's fine. I have no problem with someone doing that. I just have this problem with someone looking at it from a strictly financial standpoint and determining worth by that component. An opinion, even if you hated it, I can't argue that point, because, okay, if that's how you felt. But you say, "Well, it only made $37 million, it can't be any good," well, I have a problem with that. "Did you see it?" "Well, no..." Sorry to get up on my high horse there. [Laughs.] But there are people who just hold on the money and treat it as a review of the film. And it's not.

[Rico]

I love Bryan Cranston even more now.  He is exactly on the mark and what I have been saying for years.  Don't watch the box office and use that to decide to see a film or not.  If it looks like something you would enjoy - go see it!

[QuadShot]

I agree 100%. John Carter was a much better movie than just about everyone gave it credit for. I think, and it's unfortunate, that Disney was the victim of over hype. They did what they do, and plastered it everywhere and really promoted it. That typically works for Disney but, and I do believe many have stated this already, John Carter of Mars isn't a well known main stream story at all. It's 100 years old and not as popular as many of the other Rice-Burroughs stories. I think if people just stopped listening to what "critics" say, and stop repeating what they "hear" about the movie and give it a chance, they'll find what we found: it's actually a really good film! My 2 cents.

[Rico]

I have this on Blu-Ray now.  When things like this come up, I always mention that the original "Star Trek" did badly in the ratings when it first was shown too.  Later on through reruns when people actually took the time to watch it they realized how great it was.