John Carter of Mars

I grew up with the Edgar Rice Burroughs John Carter of Mars books and was a huge fan. Frank Frazetta’s illustrations of the stories manifested a synergy with the words in a powerful iconic manner.

When the John Carter film finally came out earlier this year it received some harsh criticism and was considered a box office flop. Truth of the matter is, it has made a profit with worldwide distribution and DVD sales. I saw it recently on BluRay and was pleasantly surprised that it was well done. It is not a great film but did not deserve the bum rap it received with early reviews. In spite of uneven story telling and pacing challenges it was still fun and entertaining. The script deviates from the original Princess of Mars story but it all works. Some of the CG was a bit rough, but most of it was well done with some parts looking stellar. It’s worth seeing and the extras on the BluRay are insightful.

I really wanted to work on this film. I was almost called in to Pixar for some post production work art directing EFX sequences, but alas it did not happen.

The trailer does not do the movie justice but check it out. The poster (above) was created by JC Richard for Mondo and not connected with the promotional campaign.  To bad, this type of image would have been much more interesting to look at than the silhouetted John Carter image they ended up using.

Addendum- After I posted this piece I was contacted by one of the fans of the film (in the comments below) about a group called, Take Me Back To Barsoom.  They have started a grassroots campaign that is committed to seeing a sequel made.

They have a petition started for Alan Horn, Chairman, Walt Disney/Pixar Studios to bring back John Carter, here.

They even rented a theater in Santa Monica to view the film! Buy tickets here.

Fans rule! This is a big part of what I teach in my Artist As Brand workshops. Fans make things happen.