893 replies to this topic

[Doug]

As for a possibly pseudo-scientific basis for Barsoom, I like to think that as long as JC's astral body (or whatever) can travel through space to Mars, why not assume it's also travelling through time, to Mars a million, or a hundred million, years ago?

That's exactly the kind of thing I've thought of as well, he's on a Mars of a distant past.

I'm going to go out on a limb here, but isn't it mentioned in "fighting Man of Mars" that the Barsoomians are obseriving WWI through a telescope?
And in the "Moon Maid" they are celebrating "Mars Day" and the ship that ends up in the moon was on it's way to Barsoom. If you went to a past Barsoom then it would end up like the one in Leigh Brackett's "The Aword of Rhiannon".

Take care.
Doug

[Ironhand]

Oh, well...

[Doug]

Oh, well...

Don't be sad! There was a story in Asimov's back when the magazine got started that explained that JC went back over 800,000 years.

[amster]

As for a possibly pseudo-scientific basis for Barsoom, I like to think that as long as JC's astral body (or whatever) can travel through space to Mars, why not assume it's also travelling through time, to Mars a million, or a hundred million, years ago?

That's exactly the kind of thing I've thought of as well, he's on a Mars of a distant past.

It just so happens that I'm re-reading A Princess of Mars in anticipation of the film.

We fell into a general conversation then, asking and answering many questions on each side. She was curious to learn of the customs of my people and displayed a remarkable knowledge of events on Earth. When I questioned her closely on this seeming familiarity with earthly things she laughed, and cried out:

"Why, every school boy on Barsoom knows the geography, and much concerning the fauna and flora, as well as the history of your planet fully as well as of his own. Can we not see everything which takes place upon Earth, as you call it; is it not hanging there in the heavens in plain sight?"

This baffled me, I must confess, fully as much as my statements had confounded her; and I told her so. She then explained in general the instruments her people had used and been perfecting for ages, which permit them to throw upon a screen a perfect image of what is transpiring upon any planet and upon many of the stars. These pictures are so perfect in detail that, when photographed and enlarged, objects no greater than a blade of grass may be distinctly recognized. I afterward, in Helium, saw many of these pictures, as well as the instruments which produced them.

[johnnypt]

As for a possibly pseudo-scientific basis for Barsoom, I like to think that as long as JC's astral body (or whatever) can travel through space to Mars, why not assume it's also travelling through time, to Mars a million, or a hundred million, years ago?

That's exactly the kind of thing I've thought of as well, he's on a Mars of a distant past.

I'm going to go out on a limb here, but isn't it mentioned in "fighting Man of Mars" that the Barsoomians are obseriving WWI through a telescope?
And in the "Moon Maid" they are celebrating "Mars Day" and the ship that ends up in the moon was on it's way to Barsoom. If you went to a past Barsoom then it would end up like the one in Leigh Brackett's "The Aword of Rhiannon".

Take care.
Doug

In FMoM, Ulysses Paxton was communicating to Burroughs through the Gridley Wave, so in the books it's definitely clear things are happening relatively in "real time". I was thinking just for the purposes of the film, so it would explain why someone looking through a telescope wouldn't see Helium, et al. Sometimes I overthink these things.

Edited by johnnypt, 16 February 2012 - 02:16 PM.

[Doug]

As for a possibly pseudo-scientific basis for Barsoom, I like to think that as long as JC's astral body (or whatever) can travel through space to Mars, why not assume it's also travelling through time, to Mars a million, or a hundred million, years ago?

That's exactly the kind of thing I've thought of as well, he's on a Mars of a distant past.

I'm going to go out on a limb here, but isn't it mentioned in "fighting Man of Mars" that the Barsoomians are obseriving WWI through a telescope?
And in the "Moon Maid" they are celebrating "Mars Day" and the ship that ends up in the moon was on it's way to Barsoom. If you went to a past Barsoom then it would end up like the one in Leigh Brackett's "The Aword of Rhiannon".

Take care.
Doug

In FMoM, Ulysses Paxton was communicating to Burroughs through the Gridley Wave, so in the books it's definitely clear things are happening relatively in "real time". I was thinking just for the purposes of the film, so it would explain why someone looking through a telescope wouldn't see Helium, et al. Sometimes I overthink these things.

Sorry, I meant Master mind of Mars! White Ape Brain Transplant Ras Thavas?

[THE KID]

The movie trailer looks really good! The first B movie you could see the rubbery tusks move back and forth when they talked. I'm going to the movie theater to see this one.
http://www.youtube.c...h?v=yeEMbPhgy64

[johnnypt]

The movie trailer looks really good! The first B movie you could see the rubbery tusks move back and forth when they talked. I'm going to the movie theater to see this one.

THIS should have been the Super Bowl commercial! It's got the look down (except the "Mars is red" part), I hope it all works in the final product.

[deuce]

The movie trailer looks really good! The first B movie you could see the rubbery tusks move back and forth when they talked.

(this isn't directed at you, Richard)

Just so EVERYONE KNOWS, the crap movie from Asylum is discussed on THIS thread:

http://www.conan.com...um&fromsearch=1

Asylum Films have done horrid knock-offs of innumerable movies. Any posts discussing their attempt to cash-in on the John Carter movie WILL be moved to the thread above.

Just so there is no confusion.

[Jack LesCamela]

THIS should have been the Super Bowl commercial! It's got the look down (except the "Mars is red" part), I hope it all works in the final product.

I just read A Princess of Mars recently and don't remember Mars being described as red anywhere in there. It describes a yellow moss being quite widespread and that's there in the trailer.

[johnnypt]

THIS should have been the Super Bowl commercial! It's got the look down (except the "Mars is red" part), I hope it all works in the final product.

I just read A Princess of Mars recently and don't remember Mars being described as red anywhere in there. It describes a yellow moss being quite widespread and that's there in the trailer.

It's the first thing I've heard from people that I've shown clips of the movie almost every time. In fact, it was the first thing I said when I saw clips of the movie. It's another one of those instances where reality intrudes on fantasy. We've all seen pictures of Mars and it's reddish. But if they get everything else right except that, I'll probably be fine with it.

[El Borak's Li'l Brother]

I have read A Princess of Mars three times. Once in the 1970's, once in the 1990's and last year when I ordered a Frazetta edition from Amazon and received a blue hardback instead. Be that as it may... Considering how many books I have read since, the story is a little vague, but! I remember it well enough to know there were no offworlders who fed off dying planets -- and earth was next(!), if John Carter didn't stop them, as a preview I saw showed...

It looks like another "Burroughs had some good ideas, but we took it in another direction..." Hollywood crap. Yes, book stories have to be rearranged to fit flick stories as they are different, but to totally change the story itself... While I know to the cgi-is-more-important-than-story crowd the bells and whistles will make it the greatest flick ever, to me it's sad that we finally have a way to bring such great stories to the silver screen, but no one who has the real ability to do it in Hollywood.

Edited by El Borak's Li'l Brother, 19 February 2012 - 07:23 PM.

[amster]

I have read A Princess of Mars three times. Once in the 1970's, once in the 1990's and last year when I ordered a Frazetta edition from Amazon and received a blue hardback instead. Be that as it may... Considering how many books I have read since, the story is a little vague, but! I remember it well enough to know there were no offworlders who fed off dying planets -- and earth was next(!), if John Carter didn't stop them, as a preview I saw showed...

Which preview was that?

It looks like another "Burroughs had some good ideas, but we took it in another direction..." Hollywood crap. Yes, book stories have to be rearranged to fit flick stories as they are different, but to totally change the story itself... While I know to the cgi-is-more-important-than-story crowd the bells and whistles will make it the greatest flick ever, to me it's sad that we finally have a way to bring such great stories to the silver screen, but no one who has the real ability to do it in Hollywood.

You might want to wait until after you've seen the movie to come to that conclusion.

[Jack LesCamela]

I have read A Princess of Mars three times. Once in the 1970's, once in the 1990's and last year when I ordered a Frazetta edition from Amazon and received a blue hardback instead. Be that as it may... Considering how many books I have read since, the story is a little vague, but! I remember it well enough to know there were no offworlders who fed off dying planets -- and earth was next(!), if John Carter didn't stop them, as a preview I saw showed...

It looks like another "Burroughs had some good ideas, but we took it in another direction..." Hollywood crap. Yes, book stories have to be rearranged to fit flick stories as they are different, but to totally change the story itself... While I know to the cgi-is-more-important-than-story crowd the bells and whistles will make it the greatest flick ever, to me it's sad that we finally have a way to bring such great stories to the silver screen, but no one who has the real ability to do it in Hollywood.

That doesn't seem to be the word that's coming out about the movie. The one review from a big Burroughs fan that's turned up so far says the movie is very faithful the spirit of the books --if not always the letter. He gave the movie 4/5, rating it a bit lower due to he wanted the battles to be bigger. Since he said he'd been waiting forty years for the movie, I assume the long wait had something to do with his opinion on that.

Edited by Jack LesCamela, 19 February 2012 - 08:15 PM.

[El Borak's Li'l Brother]

I have read A Princess of Mars three times. Once in the 1970's, once in the 1990's and last year when I ordered a Frazetta edition from Amazon and received a blue hardback instead. Be that as it may... Considering how many books I have read since, the story is a little vague, but! I remember it well enough to know there were no offworlders who fed off dying planets -- and earth was next(!), if John Carter didn't stop them, as a preview I saw showed...

Which preview was that?

It looks like another "Burroughs had some good ideas, but we took it in another direction..." Hollywood crap. Yes, book stories have to be rearranged to fit flick stories as they are different, but to totally change the story itself... While I know to the cgi-is-more-important-than-story crowd the bells and whistles will make it the greatest flick ever, to me it's sad that we finally have a way to bring such great stories to the silver screen, but no one who has the real ability to do it in Hollywood.

You might want to wait until after you've seen the movie to come to that conclusion.

I may have egg on my puss here. Last night I watched a couple of previews and am positive in one a man says, "We feed off dying planets;" followed by Dejah Thoris saying, "Our world is at war and Earth is next." Now I find the latter line, but not the first in all the previews I've watched. Nevertheless, just hearing again that the earth is next... I'm left to wonder.

Edited by El Borak's Li'l Brother, 19 February 2012 - 11:48 PM.

[Jack LesCamela]

I have read A Princess of Mars three times. Once in the 1970's, once in the 1990's and last year when I ordered a Frazetta edition from Amazon and received a blue hardback instead. Be that as it may... Considering how many books I have read since, the story is a little vague, but! I remember it well enough to know there were no offworlders who fed off dying planets -- and earth was next(!), if John Carter didn't stop them, as a preview I saw showed...

Which preview was that?

It looks like another "Burroughs had some good ideas, but we took it in another direction..." Hollywood crap. Yes, book stories have to be rearranged to fit flick stories as they are different, but to totally change the story itself... While I know to the cgi-is-more-important-than-story crowd the bells and whistles will make it the greatest flick ever, to me it's sad that we finally have a way to bring such great stories to the silver screen, but no one who has the real ability to do it in Hollywood.

You might want to wait until after you've seen the movie to come to that conclusion.

I may have egg on my puss here. Last night I watched a couple of previews and am positive in one a man says, "We feed off dying planets;" followed by Dejah Thoris saying, "Our world is at war and  Earth is next." Now I find the latter line, but not the first in all the previews I've watched. Nevertheless, just hearing again that the earth is next... I'm left to wonder.

Here's the tv spot where Dejah Thoris says, "and earth is next."

Here's the tv spot where Matai Shang says they feed off dying planets.

I don't have any problems with the changes because thus far all the changes I know about were made out of wanting to get as close to the novel as possible, being unable to, and doing something to make up the shortfall; i.e. the tattoos on the red men. The filmmakers were unable to make the actors any more red without it looking bizarre and distracting, so they went with tattoos to set them apart a bit more.

As far as the two things you bring up that are in the tv spots, I'm quite willing to suspend my judgment until I see the movie. There is no doubt sound dramatic logic behind it that's not a million miles away from Edgar RIce Burroughs' writings.

[Rockamobile]

I have read A Princess of Mars three times. Once in the 1970's, once in the 1990's and last year when I ordered a Frazetta edition from Amazon and received a blue hardback instead. Be that as it may... Considering how many books I have read since, the story is a little vague, but! I remember it well enough to know there were no offworlders who fed off dying planets -- and earth was next(!), if John Carter didn't stop them, as a preview I saw showed...

Which preview was that?

It looks like another "Burroughs had some good ideas, but we took it in another direction..." Hollywood crap. Yes, book stories have to be rearranged to fit flick stories as they are different, but to totally change the story itself... While I know to the cgi-is-more-important-than-story crowd the bells and whistles will make it the greatest flick ever, to me it's sad that we finally have a way to bring such great stories to the silver screen, but no one who has the real ability to do it in Hollywood.

You might want to wait until after you've seen the movie to come to that conclusion.

I may have egg on my puss here. Last night I watched a couple of previews and am positive in one a man says, "We feed off dying planets;" followed by Dejah Thoris saying, "Our world is at war and Earth is next." Now I find the latter line, but not the first in all the previews I've watched. Nevertheless, just hearing again that the earth is next... I'm left to wonder.

Hearing this worries me. it would be really nice if Hollywood would stick to the source material and not try to re imagine it.

[Almuric]

Ain't It Cool News presents selections from Michael Giacchino's score for the movie:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/53687

[Kortoso]

Wow, it's being advertised on freeway billboards, unlike Conan 2011.