Barsoom film5/3/2023 I also liked the “alien” species on the planet, known as the “Tharks.” One of the film’s best characters is the leader of the Tharks, Tars Tarkas (voiced to great effect by Willem Dafoe). I liked the design of the flying ships on Barsoom, sort of a retro-futuristic look, and this type of style also is exhibited in the planet’s cities and in the human cultures, which have some Greco-Roman undertones. Like “Avatar,” you can’t really tell what’s actual film and what’s computer generated. It has some nice action set pieces, and the CGI special effects truly are impressive. While the final product isn’t flawless, it’s still a rousing epic that’s just good, old-fashioned fun. Preproduction for a film version first started about 80 years ago, when Robert Clampett (director of “Looney Tunes”) approached Edgar Rice Burroughs to make an animated feature out of the first book in his John Carter series, “A Princess of Mars.” Throughout the years, the film project passed from MGM to Disney to Paramount, and then eventually back to Disney again. It’s a story that actually paved the way for later sci-fi classics such as “Star Wars” and “Star Trek,” but it’s also one Hollywood has struggled for a long time to bring to the big screen. Carter gets caught up in a war between the various cultures on the planet and helps to unite the oppressed peoples of Barsoom against a conquering warlord. “John Carter” is based on a novel written by Edgar Rice Burroughs in the early 1900s about a Civil War veteran who finds himself transported to Mars (the planet is called “Barsoom” by the natives who live there in Burroughs’ tale, Mars has both an atmosphere and water). The film will appeal most to those who are fans of science fiction and fantasy in general, and the special effects really are mind-blowing. However, it finally hit theaters this weekend, and I found it to be an enjoyable ride. The film had a massive budget (reportedly $250 million) it will have to make back through ticket sales, and the project has been mired in “production hell” since 1931 (yes, you read that right). ![]() There’s no doubt “John Carter” was a major gamble for Disney.
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