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


Jay

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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.

It was listed as End Credits, Part 1 on the sheet music I saw (although this positioning is not reflected in the final film).

Incidentally, End Credits, Part 4 is an arrangement of the Thern material, and End Credits, Part 5 is another arrangement of the main John Carter theme.

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John Carter got the Neil S. Bulk Seal of Approval, always a good sign. I'll probably go see it sometime next weekend.

Wrong! He thought Tintin was a bad film.

Yeah, he was dead wrong on that one.

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Tintin is a fantastic adventure film. Far better than anything on this "John Carter" film...

I'm sorry, but have you seen the film yet?

On the contrary my dear Boal, I took the opportunity to see the film last night with a few friends.

My opinion? I've got to say that Richard Penna summed up my thoughts pretty well. Its not a downright piece of crap, but it was incredibly boring or uninteresting. The protagonist is "stiff" (As others have said so) and quite hard to connect to. Many of the characters just seem quite two dimensional. The plot is rather dull with nothing new or interesting. And the thing is, most of the film has already been done to death before with better skill and execution. I get it, the story is supposed to have inspired many big sci-fi films like Star Wars and such...but I don't think its too much to ask for something new to offer with this film and the movie had none of that. I surprisingly found some of the humour enjoyable at times, but other than that, this film was pretty bland and boring to watch (if only for the reason that I've seen it all before). I think the only thing that kept me genuinely interested was Giacchino's score which works great with the film (better than on album)!

And Bloodboal, I still say The Adventures of Tintin is far better than John Carter!

Also theres one more point that really caught my interest! Despite the fact the film was not all to my liking, I really did smile when I saw Ciarán Hinds and James Purefoy show up on screen (I had no clue they would be in the movie prior to seeing it). With them in all their huge, royal armour and such, it was like seeing the two in Rome all over again! I swear they were cast as they were with that notion in mind! Julius Caesar and Mark Antony side by side...as Martians!!! Although they weren't as cool as they were in Rome, it was still fun to catch it!

Ciarán-Hinds-and-James-Purefoy-in-John-Carter-2012-Movie-Image.jpg

rome14.jpg

I loved those two in Rome!!!

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For those who have seen the movie, how appropriate is it for me to take my son who is almost 9? He's seen all the Star Wars films and FOTR. Since this is PG-13, just curious what you all think. Thanks!

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This film is nothing to be worried about. Star Wars and FOTR are far more mature and dare I say graphic than John Carter (which says something considering they're not graphic at most). John Carter is a pretty silly film and probably a fun watch for kids, so go for it!

I mean come on, its a Disney movie, what'd ya expect? :P

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For those who have seen the movie, how appropriate is it for me to take my son who is almost 9? He's seen all the Star Wars films and FOTR. Since this is PG-13, just curious what you all think. Thanks!

I think its fine for 9 year olds. There were a lot of kids in the theater today. I really enjoyed it. Much better than the reviews made it seem. Story is predictable and that is why I think it got some low reviews. But great effects, very good acting, good music, and decent enough story.

The princess woman is so damn hot and a great actress. Any scene with her was very fun to look at.

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Does nobody think that maybe both movies (JC and MNM) under performed was because Disney opened them in March instead of the middle of summer?

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This film is nothing to be worried about. Star Wars and FOTR are far more mature and dare I say graphic than John Carter (which says something considering they're not graphic at most). John Carter is a pretty silly film and probably a fun watch for kids, so go for it!

I mean come on, its a Disney movie, what'd ya expect? :P

For those who have seen the movie, how appropriate is it for me to take my son who is almost 9? He's seen all the Star Wars films and FOTR. Since this is PG-13, just curious what you all think. Thanks!

I think its fine for 9 year olds. There were a lot of kids in the theater today. I really enjoyed it. Much better than the reviews made it seem. Story is predictable and that is why I think it got some low reviews. But great effects, very good acting, good music, and decent enough story.

The princess woman is so damn hot and a great actress. Any scene with her was very fun to look at.

Thanks guys. That helps out a lot.

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Alice in Wonderland was released in March.

I think it boils down to a bad, bland marketing campaign with no personality. Down to the title of the film.

Seriously, would it have made a difference, if the title was "John Carter Of Mars"? It's like saying: "I'm sorry, sir, but if Star Wars had been called "Intergalactic Wars", it would have been a major bomb".

No, but it shows how scared they were to advertise anything worth a damn. They wouldn't put in it "princess" because they thought boys wouldn't want to see it, and they wouldn't put "Mars" because... because they might not have wanted people to run away from something that smells of fantasy or scifi.

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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.

It was listed as End Credits, Part 1 on the sheet music I saw (although this positioning is not reflected in the final film).

Incidentally, End Credits, Part 4 is an arrangement of the Thern material, and End Credits, Part 5 is another arrangement of the main John Carter theme.

Interesting - how about parts 2 and 3?

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In the CD it seems to go like this (I haven't seen the film):

John Carter's Theme (no all of it) [End Credits Part 1]

Thark material

Thern material [End Credits part 4]

Dejah's Theme

Sola's music (?), leading into John Carter's Theme [End Credits Part 5]

I assume parts 2 and 3 are the Tharks and Dejah's music and they decided to change the order, moving the Thern segment before the Dejah segment. This way the tone of the credits is a bit more balanced.

So the fanfares for Zodanga and Helium are not on the End Credits. I have to give props to Giacchino because you can totally tell what is what without even seeing the film.

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Just listening to the John Carter soundtrack...wow, it's much better than I remember it in the film. Probably my favorite Giacchino score to date. If you like David Arnold's old scores (Stargate, Independence Day) and Basil Poledouris's Starship Troopers, definitely check this one out. It's quite good.

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I'm one of those that actually liked the film. Nothing amazing, for sure, but I thought it was a fun movie for the most part and better than most sci-fi/fantasy in a long while. I like that it was a more "thoughtful" kind of film instead of just action, although I'm with everyone who was REALLY confused by what was going on for the first 20 minutes. I have never read the books so I was a virgin to all of it. It's a shame it hasn't performed that well, because I'd love to see what happens next by the way that it ended. I read that it is basically part of a trilogy, of course (with some other books/stories that were more like spin-offs).

As for the comment just made about enjoying the music far more on album than in the film, I think I know why: they mixed the music too low! I find this a problem with a lot of films of recent times. It's like they are afraid to let the music stand out because it's orchestra, only allowing pop or rock songs to ever have any volume. It's starting to irritate me more and more.

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For anyone interested, I finally got the review done for this score:

http://musicmusekk.w...hael-giacchino/

I must say, I really came to like this score.

- KK

Great review KK. Just one question. Why do you call 2:11 – 2:30 in “The Fight for Helium” the B phrase of John Carter's theme. That is the main John Carter theme, its not the B Phrase.

If anything, there is a heroic variation of that theme or the second John Carter theme (of the B theme as I would call it) heard in the track Sab Than Pursues the Princess.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT_CihVKFKc

Its heard here from 3:22 to 3:33 and again from 3:47 to 3: 57. Its briefly quoted again during the ape scene. I think this is a terrific heroic motif and should have been used more often whenever John Carter did something heroic.

So long story short, what you are calling the B phrase is actually the A phrase and the above motif might be called the B phrase (or a variation of the main theme).

PS: I really loved this score. It works magnificently in the movie as well. I am gonna watch the movie again just for the score.

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Also KK, can you post the from what second to what second in which track is Sola's theme? I couldn't identify it.

That was me, I haven't seen the film so I don't know if it's meaningful or just random music, but going with K.K.'s review I think it's the latter.

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Yeah I cancelled my Amazon.co.uk order and placed one at Amazon.com. And it shipped immediately. :)

Karol

i'll do that too. not taking any chances...

fuck it, amazon.uk has it on stock now.

Now i have to wait 15 days for it to arrive from the US....

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For anyone interested, I finally got the review done for this score:

http://musicmusekk.w...hael-giacchino/

I must say, I really came to like this score.

- KK

Great review KK. Just one question. Why do you call 2:11 – 2:30 in “The Fight for Helium” the B phrase of John Carter's theme. That is the main John Carter theme, its not the B Phrase.

If anything, there is a heroic variation of that theme or the second John Carter theme (of the B theme as I would call it) heard in the track Sab Than Pursues the Princess.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT_CihVKFKc

Its heard here from 3:22 to 3:33 and again from 3:47 to 3: 57. Its briefly quoted again during the ape scene. I think this is a terrific heroic motif and should have been used more often whenever John Carter did something heroic.

So long story short, what you are calling the B phrase is actually the A phrase and the above motif might be called the B phrase (or a variation of the main theme).

PS: I really loved this score. It works magnificently in the movie as well. I am gonna watch the movie again just for the score.

Thank you my dear Ulyssessian ;) You're right, what I was referring to was not the B phrase but rather the second half of the theme. It was just a mix up in music vocabulary, it has been fixed. However, I believe what you're referring to is simply a heroic variation of John Carter's theme (as you suggested), not a potential B-Phrase.

I like Carter's theme, but the second half is a bit too overly optimistic for my tastes. I was looking out for the film when the waltz versions of the theme pop in to the film. The first appearance was during a comical sequence and it worked well, but the second time was during an intense climactic battle...it made no sense to make Carter's theme so. Dejah's theme is awesome though!

Also KK, can you post the from what second to what second in which track is Sola's theme? I couldn't identify it.

That was me, I haven't seen the film so I don't know if it's meaningful or just random music, but going with K.K.'s review I think it's the latter.

I don't think there was any specific theme/motif associated with Sola (or as it was in film). There are two other motifs that I didn't go into detail (although I mentioned them) in my review. There's the rapid motif that is associated with the "real world" montages (all of JC's activities on Earth in the film), and then there is the motif that shows up at 2:44 ish in The Blue Light Special, although I'm not sure what its associated with. It might be random music, but it does show up more than once on the album (probably a thematic variation of some sort).

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Yeah I cancelled my Amazon.co.uk order and placed one at Amazon.com. And it shipped immediately. :)

Karol

i'll do that too. not taking any chances...

fuck it, amazon.uk has it on stock now.

Now i have to wait 15 days for it to arrive from the US....

15? It takes only 7 in my case. Which means it might arrive on Thursday or Friday. I don't see why would it take a week longer to arrive in Spain...

But then again you probably saved some money as it costs almost 20 quid on Amazon.co.uk. Which is really expensive. In those tough times (not that other times are light), you made a good decision. ;)

Karol

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OK then, I just saw this film.

It is nowhere as bad as reviews state and nowhere as good as I'd like it to be. I can totally buy the bit hokey and cheesy premise of the film and as a classic adventure/fantasy/s-f it does the job well enough. But I couldn't help feeling a bit detached from the whole thing. Maybe it's the length, maybe it's 3D, I don't know. There is actually a story in there. A cliched one, but a character at least has some kind of arc. But the glass still feels half-empty for some reason.

Two things are certain: One, Giacchino drives the film on his own and Stanton owes him big time at several points. Second, we need a complete score. There's a whole lot missing. And some really good stuff, I might add. Suddenly 70+ releases seems... short.

Karol

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I really enjoyed seeing 'JC' earlier this week. Nice to see a fantasy adventure movie with humour and an enjoyment in the swashbuckling sensibility. The music really did enhance the action and add to the relationships on screen. Heck, if I had time I'd go and see it again for sure.

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Second, we need a complete score. There's a whole lot missing. And some really good stuff, I might add. Suddenly 70+ releases seems... short.

Karol

Can you give a few examples of the really good stuff you feel is missing. Im going to see the movie again soon and I want to listen out for those?

Thanks

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But then again you probably saved some money as it costs almost 20 quid on Amazon.co.uk. Which is really expensive. In those tough times (not that other times are light), you made a good decision. ;)

Karol

i had preordered it for 10 quid. and had free shipping.

still i think i got it cheaper, but later :(

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Two things are certain: One, Giacchino drives the film on his own and Stanton owes him big time at several points. Second, we need a complete score. There's a whole lot missing. And some really good stuff, I might add. Suddenly 70+ releases seems... short.

Karol

I got that impression from the OST itself. It feels like there is a lot missing somehow.

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I saw the movie tonight and while it's no classic, it certainly was entertaining and it felt like massive effort was out into it.

It was scored almost wall to wall so it means there must be a truckload of unreleased music

Can you give a few examples of the really good stuff you feel is missing. Im going to see the movie again soon and I want to listen out for those?

Thanks

Just the sheer amount of music missing and that there didn't seem to be any boring cues in the film

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I also really liked the music for the first meeting between John and the Tharks. Had a nice Goldsmithian tone to it, especially with the type and usage of percussion.

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One fun action bit missing from the album is that one scene on the speeder-bike type thing that he "escapes" on after a certain scene.

I believe this is the music you are referring to, heard in this scene -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZJizVwZn04

Yes this cue is not on the OST I believe.

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Here's the demo reel for John Carter:

I love how they used Yared's rejected score for Troy in there. It's awesome!

I'd say this reel is better than the actual film ;)

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Yes, TheUlyssesian, that is indeed the scene I'm talking about! :) And hearing the music again, wow, I really wish it was on the OST, because it certainly is not. I'll have to watch the film again to refresh my mind with what else is missing, but for me that was the most obvious. It's longer than seen in that clip, too, I remember the first part right before that clip starts is also great, and the end of it as well. Would love to hear this cue somehow, I wonder how low the chances are of a expanded release of this score like what happened with Star Trek so soon after it came out? Or was that just because it was a Varese album thing? Maybe Intrada could have a chance at this one. ;)

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If this score gets some Academy Awards Consideration (and I am thinking that it might), we might get some Promo FYC CDs with a lot of the unreleased music.

But inspite of some pieces missing, I think the music on the OST is well chosen and represented. Most of the major cues are present.

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It's a mammoth 70+-minutes release, i don't think anyone could complain about the length...well, men can always complain about length, just not JOHN Carter-wise.

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It's a mammoth 70+-minutes release, i don't think anyone could complain about the length...well, men can always complain about length, just not JOHN Carter-wise.

:rimshot:
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If this score gets some Academy Awards Consideration (and I am thinking that it might), we might get some Promo FYC CDs with a lot of the unreleased music.

But inspite of some pieces missing, I think the music on the OST is well chosen and represented. Most of the major cues are present.

Well...we know this score isn't going to get any Academy Awards Consideration (because of the film and its nature), and as publicist so cleverly pointed out, this is already a big release, so I wouldn't count on a promo.

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Saw the movie again today and there is indeed a ton of stuff not there on the album. Like someone said, this is wall to wall music, barely 10-15 mins in a 2 hour 10 minute film where the music is not present.

I first reckoned I'd a keep a mental not of all the cues missing from the album but gave up after 10 or so as I realized its gonna be a lot. We are easily talking about 40-45 minutes of unreleased material and some of it is very good.

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