Comments on: Disney’s John Carter Flops Hard

By: John Carter Blu-ray, DVD Announced » DVDs Worth Watching

John Carter Blu-ray, DVD Announced » DVDs Worth Watching — Sun, 20 May 2012 21:07:48 +0000

[...] has announced that John Carter will be coming to DVD and Blu-ray on June [...]

By: Avengers Movie Sets Box-Office Records » DVDs Worth Watching

Avengers Movie Sets Box-Office Records » DVDs Worth Watching — Sun, 06 May 2012 21:40:19 +0000

[...] Or is this a way to make marketing feel better after they took some of the blame for the failure of John Carter? [...]

By: Blake Edwards’ S.O.B. » DVDs Worth Watching

Blake Edwards’ S.O.B. » DVDs Worth Watching — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 02:09:34 +0000

[...] though, at how upset everyone is getting over losing a few million dollars, given the scale of current film disasters.) Instead, what surprises is the casual acceptance of varying sexual partners and business [...]

By: vid

vid — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 04:01:03 +0000

I thought the title of the movie was boring and meaningless. If you read this book you’d know who the character is but for everyone else, John who? Just sounds like a random name pulled out of nowhere.

By: Kat Kan

Kat Kan — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 03:40:34 +0000

Everyone I know who has seen the movie has recommended it; they all enjoyed it a lot. My LCS owner urged me to see it, and said I’d love Dejah Thoris. So, I’ve talked my family into accompanying me on Sunday.

By: James Moar

James Moar — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:52:26 +0000

“I can see where Stanton was setting up future films involving the fight against the Therns to free the Solar System”
I think he was setting up the story of the second book, The Gods of Mars, with a stronger emphasis on the Martian religion and the journey down the river Iss than I remember from A Princess of Mars. The Gods of Mars involves Carter returning to Mars at the end of the Iss, and finding out Martian Paradise isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

By: Rob Barrett

Rob Barrett — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 15:40:00 +0000

Wishing for a sequel isn’t always a good idea: look what happened to the Matrix and Pirates of the Caribbean, two lovely standalones whose completed stories were undermined by dollar-driven sequels. I can see where Stanton was setting up future films involving the fight against the Therns to free the Solar System, but the movie as it stands is complete in and of itself. We can assume that John’s Martian adventures will go on even if we never see them again.

By: Jennifer Hachigian

Jennifer Hachigian — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 15:31:45 +0000

“I’m just glad this one got made and was so well-done.”

Same here.

By: Shamus

Shamus — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 03:39:10 +0000

I went to see John Carter this weekend without many expectations. The trailers didn’t really make it look to engaging, however what I saw was a fantastic movie. It had mystery, adventure, humour, action, romance, intrigue and charisma. I had the feeling of being entirely transported to this other reality. Barsoom was thick with it’s own cultures, traditions, architecture, religions, technology and lifeforms. Even the acting was much richer than I had anticipated. I would readily go see this again and for my tastes was just about perfect as a fantasy epic. I would love to see a sequel but I’m guessing that’s not likely. I’m just glad this one got made and was so well-done.

By: Jennifer Hachigian

Jennifer Hachigian — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 03:20:22 +0000

For folks interested, most of the earlier books are out-of-copyright and free to download from ManyBooks.net or in Kindle format from Amazon.com. They’re wonderful pulp fiction with generous helpings of violence and nudity. Start with A PRINCESS OF MARS and enjoy. :^)

By: Johanna

Johanna — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 20:51:49 +0000

That would certainly show the nay-sayers!

By: Barney

Barney — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 20:33:00 +0000

The audience at the theater I saw it at was fairly enthusiastic during the showing. If word of mouth still has any affect with people I expect “John Carter” will have a better 2nd weekend.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:33:50 +0000

So they should offer paperback novels when you buy a ticket? :) That’s actually not a bad giveaway idea, but it would require preordering your movie admission so you could study up.

By: Sallyp

Sallyp — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:14:34 +0000

Interesting. In reading some of the reviews, it appears that people who KNOW the character, who have read the books and such, really like the movie. The “critics” on the other hand do not.

By: Mentor's Camper

Mentor's Camper — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 03:30:55 +0000

“cost an estimated $350 million to make and market”

What marketing? I don’t think I saw a single trailer on television leading up to it’s opening. All the previews I saw were on comic book sites or youtube. As late as thursday I talked to friends who had never heard of John Carter.

I really enjoyed it. It had a clunky beginning but quickly took off and became very entertaining. I kept thinking, looking at several young children in the audience, how lucky a kid would be if John Carter was his first movie experience.

By: James Schee

James Schee — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 02:55:21 +0000

I thought some of the reviews saying that they had seen this movie before, were kind of interesting on a personal note. It reminded me of when I first read Watchmen a decade after it’d been published. I felt like it was something I’d read before, so I had to understand its historical place.

By: Rob Barrett

Rob Barrett — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 02:12:15 +0000

It’s a wonderful B-movie romp; the majority of the bad reviews smell to me of people sharpening their knives for reasons other than the actual quality of the film.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 01:57:55 +0000

That is a very interesting article. I especially like the part where the writer says, not in these words, “all those other journalists are lazy and unlike them, I am smart”. (Actual quote: “it’s obviously far easier to just continue quickly repeating an established narrative than do the heavy lifting of sorting through the data and drawing more nuanced conclusions.”) Seriously, the point about “foreign receipts now accounting for 60-70% of the average “big” film’s total box office” is a significant one. It’s just another field where the US is no longer driving the bus.

By: Steely Dan

Steely Dan — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 01:53:32 +0000

Haven’t seen it. Have no interest in seeing it. Haven’t liked anything that Andrew Stanton worked on at Pixar.

That said, I agree with the Forbes article James linked to. The money is from overseas markets now, and I have a hard time imagining it failing economically in the end (even if it flops in the U.S.). I could be wrong, but those have been the trends for the past decade. Just like in the oil market (where demand is coming from China and India), the U.S. consumer is no longer top dog. The international market is where the money is.

By: James Schee

James Schee — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:57:03 +0000

Here’s a counter argument article at Forbes

http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhughes/2012/03/11/john-carter-opens-with-100-million-worldwide/