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John Carter (Of Mars) directed by Andrew Stanton, music by Michael Giacchino


Jay

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It sure will put up a stiff competition for all the other low-brained junk major studios so lovingly prepared for 2012.

Still, such a film getting a big orchestral score is no bad news...

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Yes, I know I can't judge the film yet, but I just noticed the criticial response so far.

http://www.rottentom.../m/john_carter/

Its as I thought, the film seems to be what the promos made it out to be. An incredibly cheesy flick with none of the sense of wonder that was in Stanton's Pixar works (in other words, a crappy film). So much for the theory that the fact he directed PIxar films guaranteed a great film. I'll watch the film this weekend, but I have a strong feeling I'm going to reaffirm my belief that this would be a piece of crap for a film (and I expect its RT score to lower with its main release).

The marketing is terrible and misleading and RT is a terrible way to judge a film, although I wouldn't see it if I were you as you seem to already have made your mind up.

I didn't make up my mind, I just offered what I guessed off of what I've seen so far. Regardless of how bad the marketing is, the scenes I saw from the promos are scenes from the film (and those are some pretty bad scenes).

Nor do I judge films from RT scores (come one people, I can't trust a site that gave Pirahna 3D a score over 70%).I look at the comments from the critics (and usually the ones I can trust). When I see stuff like comments from Peter Debruge from Variety saying something like "To watch John Carter is to wonder where in this jumbled space opera one might find the intuitive sense of wonderment and awe Stanton brought to Finding Nemo and WALL-E.", I can get a sense of what people thought of the film.

I don't make opinions however until I have seen the film for myself!

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I don't make opinions however until I have seen the film for myself!

What, to fill Disney's cashbox that we get more bad sequels?

Fine, there are exceptions. Normally, I would skip on films like John Carter (like I skipped on that stupid Prince of Persia film) but considering how so many people are so stubborn and adamant on their "positive" reception of the film, I'll give it a chance.

I still think its going to be a piece of crap, but I won't know it till I've actually given this film a chance...

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I have long realized that i'm not the target audience for this kind of stuff, shrug and move on.

But seriously, when tentpole movies like this heads towards multiplexes, there are always cartloads of gushing fanboy reviews...a year later, everyone who saw it at the cinema covers his head in shame. JOHN CARTER has crawled out of the same sea of desperation which spawned GREEN LANTERN et al.

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I don't remember gushing fanboy reviews of Green Lantern. If fact I remember the fanboys, including me, going mad at a lot of things even before seeing it. I still haven't dared to see it...

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I believe that was one the rare mindless blockbuster flicks that was nearly universally hated upon its release (even by fanboys). Other than that, publicist has a good point, these mindless blockbusters regardless of their quality, manage to still brainwash the masses to pay up their decent cash for it, only to regret it months later...

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After listening to it, Giacchino's John Carter score is a nice start to 2012 blockbusters. A big improvement on Star Trek (not including the Goldsmith fanfare was a huge minus), but not at the heights of The Incredibles. Definitely worth downloading for $4.

Maybe when I see the movie, I'll like the score more.

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This 2/4 star review from Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips mentioned Giacchino's score as a plus:

I like the musical score by Michael Giacchino. It offers both dramatic heft and clever surprises galore in its orchestrations. Composer Bernard Herrmann served as a sonic influence, and just as Herrmann augmented the Ray Harryhausen-designed effects spectacles "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" and "Mysterious Island" with all that crazed and glorious atmosphere, Giacchino keeps us listening without forcing us to only listen.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/sc-mov-0307-john-carter-review-20120308,0,5338206.column

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A big improvement on Star Trek (not including the Goldsmith fanfare was a huge minus), but not at the heights of The Incredibles.

To be fair, though, the scores to Star Treks II, III, IV, VI, and VII didn't include the "Goldsmith fanfare," and most, if not all, of them get lavish praise from film score fans. The "Courage fanfare" is used in each of the scores, including XI if you hear it hidden in the meat of the score and stick around for the credits.

Another review I saw gave this film 1.5 stars, though I'm not sure if it was out of four or five. Not good. I still want to see it, though.

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I saw a preview of this last night in IMAX.

For most of the 2 hour+ running time, I was just bored. Tired old story with every cliche there is, unmemorable characters, and fight sequences that are hard to follow. By the last 45 mins or so, I'd lost all interest or care for what happened to any of these characters, and subsequently stopped trying to work out what was going on (some plot with Mark Strong's character).

But the preview was free, and came with free popcorn :)

I did like the score though.

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Does Mark Strong ever play a good guy? Sherlock Holmes, Kick-Ass, this...it's like I see him and just know "he's the bad guy."

I'll give him props for looking like the Maroon 5 singer in about fifteen years.

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Does Mark Strong ever play a good guy? Sherlock Holmes, Kick-Ass, this...it's like I see him and just know "he's the bad guy."

That's not true! There was Stardust... Hmm, no... There was Robin Hood. Wait, no... There was Body of Lies... Oh, fuck! You're right!

I just commented on that to my friend the other day. And we could not think of any movies Mark Strong wasn't a bad guy in. The poor sod is really type cast. :lol:
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I have not seen that. I should, just to see Gary Oldman and of course Mark Strong as a neutral/good guy. :P

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Does Mark Strong ever play a good guy? Sherlock Holmes, Kick-Ass, this...it's like I see him and just know "he's the bad guy."

That's not true! There was Stardust... Hmm, no... There was Robin Hood. Wait, no... There was Body of Lies... Oh, fuck! You're right!

I just commented on that to my friend the other day. And we could not think of any movies Mark Strong wasn't a bad guy in. The poor sod is really type cast. :lol:

Bah... It's not worse than Sean "I-die-in-every-role-I-play" Bean.

Yes he has it as bad as Strong. They just can't keep him alive.
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Carl Weathers is similar. They kill him in Predator, they kill him in Happy Gilmore, and they kill him in the Rocky franchise, though it takes four movies to get there.

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Just saw it. The movie's pretty good, though it doesn't start off as well as it could. There's a lot of ground to cover, and as a result there's a ton of exposition that slows the first half down. But by the end, it's great fun.

The score's fantastic. I think I know where the 'John Carter Theme' as heard on the radio show goes (

when Carter is standing on the balcony and talking to Dejah, right before one of the Therns sends him back to Earth

), but that's merely a guess.

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Agreed. I'm really quite shocked at the low rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Did I see the same film?

I'll give more detailed comments later, but I really hope this thing gets past the rubbish marketing and is successful, because the ending definitely left me hoping that the sequel plans end up working out.

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So, we got one very positive, two positive, one negative. I'm curious.

Well, you're quite right, my bad :)

But his character is even called Sinestro. How subtle is that?

No subtle at all. I always liked that character except his name.

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Agreed. I'm really quite shocked at the low rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Did I see the same film?

I'll give more detailed comments later, but I really hope this thing gets past the rubbish marketing and is successful, because the ending definitely left me hoping that the sequel plans end up working out.

The film has written BOMB all over it. Too bad for all the talent involved.

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So, we got one very positive, two positive, one negative. I'm curious.

It's hard to tell if you'll like this movie. It has vast similarities to Star Wars, and I think the prequels are a pile of crap, which probably explains why I didn't like this.

I think some of the critics' negative reviews are being a bit harsh. I didn't think it was a terrible film, I was just very, very disappointed in it.

The protagonist is wooden as a tree and I failed to find a reason at any point to care about this guy or what happened to either him or the girl.

There was some plot to do with 'marriage = peace', and Mark Strong's character had some plan to show he was God of Mars or something... didn't really get that. But the problem is that if we're 2/3 of the way through the film and I don't care about any of the characters or properly understand why the antagonist is doing what he's doing, it's hard to be engaged (I've since had a few plot bits explained to me - and if it's all as I understand it, it's one staggeringly lame plot).

There was occasional comic relief, and one or two of the action sequences are sort of interesting, but overall I just found it all so boring, and consequently failed to muster the effort to really work out all the stupid politics.

By around the time the arena scene came, I was bored stiff and pleading for the film to end (had I been watching on Sky, I'd have turned it off long before this, and were it more socially acceptable to walk out of a film, I would have).

The only saving grace is that the last 15 mins or so gets a bit more interesting as the clever twist arrives, but it's far, far too late to save the film overall.

Basically, stuff on earth - passable entertainment. Stuff on Mars - zzzzzzzz.

(Oh, and it's converted 3D. Blah.)

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Harsh words, Richard. The movie has indeed nose-dived on RT, as Alex said it probably would. Getting to the cinema is difficult enough nowadays, so I'll probably just wait for the Blu.

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Exactly as I suspected, I knew the film would tank on RT upon its public release on Friday. And along with many have said here, I think I might have been right in presuming it would be a generic, lifeless, bland film. I might see it this weekend, might not. We'll see...

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Rotten Tortillas

Thanks again Bloodboal, for your ever creative input! Oh what would we do without you? ;)

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Giacchino's score is extra-ordinary. Really great work from him.

The music almost salvages the film, there are numerous sequences where the music comes to the fore and gives emotion and weight and force to the scene which the scene inherently lacks.

The film is good though. Go and catch it guys, its an above average piece of fantasy.

But its worth watching simply for the score. I'd watch it again and the score would be a major reason for that.

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I have a feeling I'll like it despite the critics

some say it's too "talky" instead of non stop action, that could be a good thing for some people

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