John Carter of Mars [Hardcover]

 

 

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Like the full set of Baum's Oz books, Burrough's Barsoom novels have been hard to find for decades now- and when they are available, it's usually been some hideous low-quality POD set scanned from bad photocopies. It's probably been 50 years since there was a lovely complete set of the Barsoom books for under $50, but thanks to the upcoming movie, Disney has finally done it!
This review covers all 3 volumes (I can't imagine why you wouldn't buy the whole set). The stories are exciting first-wave SF pulp from the master who brought us Tarzan. Predating even Howard's Conan, these tales (first published from 1912 on) set a strong and fierce U.S. Civil War hero in the exotic setting of Mars (Barsoom), which is a wild place, and his adventures make up the first "Sword and Planet" material ever written. They inspired everyone from Issac Asimov to Ray Bradbury and Robert Heinlein.
Disney's books are thick trade-sized paperbacks, featuring great new cover art, well-edited reset text, and nice flowing watermarked designs on the first page of each chapter. They're a lovely package and a great deal, reminiscent of Gollancz's recent Lovecraft and Howard omnibus "black books." These don't include any extra essays, internal illustrations, or introductions, however: they're just straightforward and very pleasant copies of the classics.

I bought a ticket to another movie, but had to wait an hour, so I thought I would pass time watching John Carter.

As JC began I became swiftly swept up in it, forgetting the other movie entirely, being so transported.

If you're like me and like movies such Star Wars, I think you will love this movie. I'm not suggesting that it's better than Star Wars, but I certainly enjoyed it than some Star Wars movies.

Like many movies our hero John Carter starts out in the ordinary world, in this case, earth slightly after the civil war. Our hero, a former soldier now disillusioned, has lost his purpose. Now the army attempts to conscript him into service. Being resourceful he escapes custody, stealing the captains horse, survives a showdown with Indians, seeks shelter in a secret cave with walls of gold.

Something happens that transports him to a special world, Mars, with its own rules, where there is a power struggle, between two factions vying for control of the planet, which threatens the destruction of a group of giant indigenous green people, who ultimately become his allies.

Quickly, he is taken captive, but in this special world with its different gravity he has special abilities, which impresses his captors. Pretty soon he crosses paths with an extremely pretty princess, played by Lynn Collins, who has beauty, brains, and fighting skills. She definitely is not your typical damsel in distress. She also has an excellent suntan, sky blue eyes, and a most shapely figure.

Though worlds separate him from the princess, as he crosses the distance quickly, we come to understand the loss that fuels his reluctance, and when you watch you will discover the cause that fuels his purpose.

I have always loved the Tarzan stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs. As a child I would sit in a tree and stop traffic with my blood curdling Tarzan impersonation. I was unaware that he had also written the John Carter series.

This story follows the same mythological pattern set out by Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero has a Thousand faces. George Lucas followed this template in creating the Star Wars series, and other movies that follow this pattern include The Matrix, Batman Begins, and Wanted. John Carter follows yet precedes the pattern, as the book series was written before Campbells book.

Stages of the story include a hero called to adventure, refuses the call, something happens to draw him into adventure, meeting the mentor, meeting the goddess, crossing the threshold, allies, trials and tests, the inmost cave, mastery of both worlds etc.

I loved the imagination and the creation of all these Martian characters.

Disney was disappointed with its opening weekend gross of $30 million, which tracked several million below expectation. Supposedly, the movie cost $250 million to make, but I always take these figures with a grain of salt. The more expensive the movie is, the more likely people are to watch, so figures can easily become inflated. I think word of mouth will help this movie enormously.

If one likes to be swayed by beauty, then one might enjoy the performance of Lynn Collins. I realised early in the movie, that she had a commanding presence, charisma, and acting talent. In fact she has a strong grounding as a Shakespearean actor, having appeared in Merchant of Venice with Al Pacino. I did not recognise her because she had different hair, and played a man for at least a portion of that movie.

So, it's nice to see the studio not cast a name but cast a great talent.

Hopefully, Amazon Canada will post a movie review product page for this great work.

I loved this movie. I think most people will, and I hope this was helpful.

Book was excellent - Disney movie a disaster where I understand they lost two hundred million dollars. Read the book.

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1.0 out of 5 stars John Carter of Mars
I have never received this book so I can not give a very good review of it. It was paid for but never recieved. I can find no place to as for assistance is this matter. Read more

Published on April 18 2005 by Brenda Morley

5.0 out of 5 stars ABSOLUTE FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT
This story lends to the reader, a release of ones overworked mind, and allows him or her the privilege in undertaking a trip without leaving their chair. Read more

Published on Aug 4 1999

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