jobloffski
Posts: 1836
Joined: 30/9/2005 From: elsewhere
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Sadly the makers of John Carter didn't have the sense to make a more literal adaptation of the book (including Carter being a swaggering hero of almost ridiculous proprtions, and giving the film the first person voiceover it needed to get across how lunkheaded Carter can be and knows he is and how rushing in to do the derring do often makes things worse, necessitating more derring do to put things right). The ending was changed signifcantly from the book, to quite damaging effect, and worst of all, instead of creating new visuals for the film and promoting it as the precursor to Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers (human transplanted to other world, episodic adventures that have cliff hanger after cliff hanger as things seem impossible to get out of, but then...), and the source of SHITLOADS of the adventure style of the star wars films (as well as words a bit like Jedi, Padawan, and the actual word Sith featuring in the books), what did Disney do? Disney produced a film designed to look like the films that owe their existence to John Carter. Hence the 'attack of the clones-alike' and the Avatar evoking visuals. If you are making a film that is based on the adventures of a character whose exploits practically began a genre and inspired practically everything about the genre, most notably the episodic serials that then inspired Star Wars, you make a film that is a film of the first book, not a streamlined, cliffhanger removing, ending changing version of, and you FUCKING TELL PEOPLE that before Before Luke Skywalker, Before Flash Gordon, Before Buck Rogers, Before that prince guy from Dune, Before that dick, whatever his name was in Avatar, before ANY sci fi hero known for derring do, there was John Carter. I'm sure that's the sort of thing that was pitched to Disney. And if it wasn't, why not? You make the proto-typical sci-fi hero film, your target market is the people who like things like Star Wars, and having intended to market that way, you don;t homage the copyists, you make the film that tells the actual story that has the giant shoulders the others are standing on and in marketing it, you skewer in advance criticism of it being like other films in some ways by pointing out John Carter is to the sci fi genre what Sherlock Holmes is to the detective story.
< Message edited by jobloffski -- 21/10/2012 1:47:34 AM >
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Yes, dreamers dream and doers do. But if dreamers DON'T dream, doers don't have anything TO do. Everything that is only here because people exist, only exists because someone thought of it., or in other words, dreamed it.
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