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This wasn't as horrible as some people make it out

posted 3 years ago by CrabgrassWilly (1616)
12 replies | jump to latest

But it wasn't too faithful to the literature. It sort of combined elements from several of the John Carter stories. I've read most of Burrough's (thanks Project Gutenberg!) works, and he is not really a great writer (at least in these types of pulp stories) and honestly, most of his Mars, Venus, Pellucidar, Caspak, Tarzan, and various other works are basically the same story over and over with just different locations and character names. But they are an entertaining and easy read.

[–] chilone (17885) 3 years ago

I quite enjoyed it and I've read several.

[–] huwdj (4567) 3 years ago

I both like it and dislike it. The cast is OK/good, the cgi is effective but I hate that they didn't just film the book. I've also read a lot of his stories both as tatty old paperbacks and text files from Project Gutenberg and agree - he's a good writer of entertaining pulp fiction but I don't think they'll ever get him on an English Literature syllabus 😀

[–] CrabgrassWilly (1616) 3 years ago

🍻

[–] Befus (494) 3 years ago

I've never read the book so I had nothing to compare it to, but I thought it was a very fun movie.

[–] huwdj (4567) 3 years ago

There are various formats of the first book here: https://archive.org/download/aprincessofmars00062gut
They are old-fashioned by today's standards but I find it a quick enjoyable read.

[–] papamihel (1616) 3 years ago

No... When compared to what we have been getting the last few years, it wasn't all that bad.
Better than some Marvel behemoths certainly.

[–] whynotwriteme (7722) 3 years ago

Yes. This is actually a great movie, especially compared to most modern SF and adventure films. I generally start getting drowsy and bored somewhere near the middle of all those hugely popular Marvel and DC movies, but this film kept me interested all the way through. Great visuals, an exotic setting and just a great all-around Sword & Planet feel.

[–] stevewyzard (1602) 3 years ago

I saw this film twice in the theatre, and I'm still watching it today. No, I can't rightfully call it an all-time great, it's certainly not a faithful adaptation, and it runs a little too long. Even if the creators decided from the beginning they were just going to use the original novel as a launching point, there are still a lot of things I would have done differently. In spite of all this, it's still a fun watch and still reminds me of the kind of adventures they used to show on Saturday morning TV.

The biggest mistake (of many) Disney made was the same one they made with The Rocketeer: trying to please too many "markets" (adults, kids, average movie-goers, pulp fans, etc.), they ended up pleasing almost no one.

[–] strntz (12353) 3 years ago

I never read the book(s), but from only seeing the film, my opinion is that this is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Maybe fans of the book(s) appreciate it more

[–] mirelurk (884) 2 years ago

I saw it in its original theatrical run because I enjoyed the odd, melancholy trailer with Peter Gabriel's cover of My Body Is a Cage. But apparently most other people hated that trailer

It's a good movie, though. I feel bad for Taylor Kitsch, this should have made him a star