<p>Read the bad reviews and saw the film anyway. Enjoyed it. Not a cinematic epic, not Star Wars or Ring Trilogy but interesting and entertaining. Don’t know if Taylor Kitsch can actuallly act Another good job by Englishman Mark Strong. I guess the lukewarm response can be explained by the fact that this type if science fiction is 100 years old. Same fate as Jules Verne’s stuff; noboby reads it or enjoys it anymore. Too bad.</p>
<p>When I saw the trailer, I could NOT stop laughing. It seemed to be the ULTIMATE PARODY of this type of movie- each scene, each line was perfect. It became a formulaic prototype for me, not a genuine adventure experience, though. (You know, the way Flash Gordon seems when we watch it now…)</p>
<p>I watched the movie and enjoyed the vistas and dramatic landscapes – I began thinking I was watching a Nat Geo travelogue and really enjoyed that part. However, the whole plotline was a trope and a cliche --e.g., bad guy wants to marry unwilling beautiful princess who runs away with hero to find secrets of life and bad guy captures the princess again but cavalry comes to the rescue and everyone lives happily ever after, all the while crashing music plays in the background amidst sword fights and challenges . . . . Hmmmmm. Do you think just one person reading the script at Disney may have said (before spending $250 million), “Hey boys, this movie has been done already. Why bother?”</p>
<p>I liked it. Old-fashioned story, modern special effects. Not terrific, but enjoyable.</p>
<p>The acting was decent. Taylor Kitsch struck me as sort of Johnny Depp Lite. Lynn Collins, the female lead, is a classically trained actress. The lines they had to say were pretty much as clunky as anything in the Star Wars movies, which made it hard for them to shine.</p>
<p>I just have to say that I cannot believe that there is really a person named Taylor Kitsch. :D</p>
<p>^^ lol (ten char)</p>
<p>My DH loved the movie and declared it a classic nerd flick. Its off my list for sure.</p>
<p>I loved the NYT review which concluded “A movie this bad shouldn’t look so good.” Actually I think the reviewer really enjoyed the movie, but just was ashamed to admit it. There’s room in the world for good B-movies.</p>
<p>I was wondering why Ciaran Hinds and James Purefoy were there. It was like Rome all over again, only with tattoos.</p>
<p>I loved it. Made me want to read the books. Love this kind of stuff. Saw it in IMAX 3D.</p>
<p>Yes Greenwitch, it seemed like a reunion of the HBO “Rome” cast. Did you notice that John Carter’s attorney was the guy who played Octavian’s scheming assistant in Rome?</p>
<p>100 year anniversary of the ERBurroughs novellas. The trailers that I saw looked a lot like early Star Trek.</p>
<p>I read the weekend Box Office Mojo that said it’s a dud due to the combination of bad production and bad marketing. Something about the trailer showing Carter battleing furry
critters, and leaving out a core piece about some romantic fling. Who knew?</p>
<p>Haha, it wasn’t exactly a romantic fling, it was more “I’ve found my soul mate on another planet.”</p>
<p>There is such a huge audience for action films, I’m sure that’s why they emphasized action in the trailers.</p>
<p>I can’t remember whether the “Avatar” trailers showed the romance…</p>
<p>I’m not a big fan of action in films; depends how it’s done. I thought the battle with the furry creatures was really quite breathtaking.</p>
<p>There’s a place for a good B-movie, but not with a quarter-billion-dollar budget. At that level, it had better be Titanic, or it’s going to be The Titanic.</p>
<p>Among the movies you can watch now, and really aren’t half-bad: Heaven’s Gate, The Missouri Breaks, 1941, Ishtar. All of them ended careers, or threatened to. (Steven Spielberg survived 1941, but it was a close call.)</p>
<p>I would really like Taylor Kitsch (his real name, I’m pretty sure) to succeed. He was great as Tim Riggins in the Friday Night Lights TV series. I don’t know if it was great acting or great standing there and letting the light reflect off his cheekbones into the camera lens, but either way the result was consistently fine.</p>
<p>^^^Ah, that’s where I recognized him from. Had caught a few episodes of Friday Night Lights when it first came out.</p>
<p>I"m a big fan of sci fi and my whole family is nerds. I spent my childhood reading my Pepere’s old sci fi books, so I loved the story. It kind of reminded me of the original Time Machine movie, and the original True Grit. I’m also a sucker for mythology movies, so it really combined my favorite genres into one.</p>
<p>Son just home for spring break, and we were sorry that Arrietty was already gone, as well as 3D Star Wars. This will be our one big movie for the break, and we were not disappointed.</p>