John Carter of Mars

Thanks for that link! I've been looking forward to this movie.
 
I still have all the ERB books, from Tarzan to Mars, to Pellucidar, to Venus... I still read them now and then. Some are great fun, others are atrocious. Burroughs would come up with a great idea then work the same plot through his different worlds so Tanar, Tarzan and John Carter's adventures seem eerily familiar. First read Tarzan when I was 12. Wish I'd have kept that copy - it was a first edition, hardcover, from my father. All I have today are the numerous paperbacks.

Hope the film has some of the magic of the first five Mars books. After Chessmen, it got thin at times with predictable plots.

Wonder how they'll handle the nudity? IN ERB's books, Carter arrives on Barsoom naked. Dejah Thoris is naked too. Could be fun. If they clothe them, it will take away a whole part of ERB's atmosphere.
 
Aw, just watched the preview. No nudity. How very un-ERB.

It looks like a cross between Silverado and 10,000 B.C. (easily ranked as the Worst. Film. Ever.)

I live in hope of entertainment, but fear the legacy of ERB will not be done a good service.
 
That first scene, though... with the yellow plants... was like something out of my head.
I don't have a problem with there being no nudity. It's not THAT important of a story point, is it?

I'm looking forward to this.
 
One thing that I felt encouraged about was an interview with the director. It's his first live action film - he directed Wall-E. Anyway - the director and two of the other production guys found out that they had all drawn sketches based on the books when they first read them at ages 10 or 12 - that they kept to this day. To me that shows a love of the original source material. Here's hoping so.
 
I don't have a problem with there being no nudity. It's not THAT important of a story point, is it?.
Have you read the books? Nudity was central to Burrough's concept of the 'noble savage' - it wasn't just sex (although for my 12-year-old brain it was certainly titillating to imagine); it was his belief that clothing created artifical barriers between people and their true nature is thus covered. It runs through many of his series - Tarzan, Barsoom and Pellucidar especially. It's a very Voltaire-ish idea, and perhaps naive, but it was also very ERB. Part of the vulnerability of the characters has to do with their nakedness. Imagine Tarzan in a safari suit, instead of a loincloth. And it wasn't always full nudity - many characters in his books wore loincloths - and sword belts - although the cover illustrations made them look like thongs.

Barsoom with clothed actors would be like filming Dr. Zhivago in Manhattan. Lawrence of Arabia in the Yukon. Or making a western without horses and guns. Harry Potter without magic wands or owls.
 
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