Comments | lostsatyr: Movies etc

lostsatyr

Movies etc

Mar 12, 2012 16:21

We went and saw "John Cartier" this weekend. Can't say I found the protagonist sympathetic, but the movie was generally entertainig. A little slow with the initial set up, but Mars itself was interesting. Never read any of the books, so can't comment from that angle. Don't regret paying the matine price ( Read more... )

Comments 2

bonusparts March 13 2012, 20:15:36 UTC

I really enjoyed the John Carter books (at least, the first three; they don't really pick up again with the same tone until Thuvia, Maid of Mars). They're pretty short, fun little forays into early-ish science fiction. I'd recommend them to anyone looking for some retro high adventure. The first book is a bit slow to get started, but the three main stories are meant to be read as a whole.

Burroughs is not in the top form he exhibited later, with Tarzan, but there's something very cool about gentlemanly John Carter jumping around on Mars. Though Tars Tarkas is probably my favorite character...with the possible exception of Woola, who is just plain awesome.

I'd like to see it, but probably I'll wait for DVD/streaming.

lostsatyr March 15 2012, 15:43:43 UTC

I read your reply and started looking for the 1st three books. I started with Amazon, and as I had the Nook out I looked for Burroughs on that. I ended up getting a collection of (apparently) all of Burroughs' work for under $5! So I've started the first John Carter book. So far, not too surprisingly, it doesn't exactly match the movie. I'm sure some of it was to better fit a movie format &/or time. I suppose not showing John Cartier end up naked arriving on Mars (book) could be described as better fitting a movie format! ;-) I'm guessing some elements introduced early in the movie is an adaptation of something that shows up later in the series. Not going to spoil though, in case you see the movie.

I read an S M Stirling book, "in the court of the Crimson King", which seems (at least from the movie and what I know of the book) to have been inspired by Burroughs' mars. Different tone than Burroughs. There is a prequil to it, set on Venus (with jungles.)