March 10, 2012 -- This year marks the 100th anniversary of the first publication of “Under the Moons of Mars” by Edgar Rice Burroughs in All Story Magazine. This story, later renamed A Princess of Mars and published as a novel, forms the basis, along with some other books from this Martian series, of the new movie, “John Carter.”

Unlike the book, this movie provides a technical explanation for how Civil War veteran John Carter (played by Taylor Kitsch of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”) manages to transport himself to Mars from Earth in the 19th Century, a little trick that still hasn't been managed in the 21st Century. In the original book, this instantaneous transport to Mars is almost supernatural in nature, but the movie actually does use elements from Edgar Rice Burroughs other books about John Carter, such as “The Gods of Mars” (1918) to work an explanation which is a bit more plausible and totally technological. It is quite clever, really.

Why the screenwriters felt the need to make this part of the story plausible is a mystery, because the rest of the story is entirely impossible in the light of what we know about Mars today. These speculations were a lot more plausible 100 years ago, when famed astronomer Percival Lowell was still arguing that there were signs of intelligent life on Mars, along with oases and water flowing through surface canals. We know now that John Carter would perish in seconds in the thin Martian atmosphere, or would freeze to death in the bitter Martian cold. There are no cities on Mars, no open water, no aircraft, no animal life as shown in the movie, although there might have been all these things millions, or billions of years ago when Mars was very different than it is now.

Most of the rest of the movie follows the basic story, as laid down by Edgar Rice Burroughs (who also wrote the Tarzan stories) a hundred years ago, with a few changes. I'm not going to go into the differences between the book and the movie, but I'm sure someone will. According to the website SF Signal, “Edgar Rice Burroughs, his worlds and his books are among the most researched and dissected of all time.” There is even a John Carter primer at the SF Signal website for those unfamiliar with the Mars series of books.

The movie makes John Carter into a reluctant hero. He is cynical about war and those who try to justify wars. He is deeply hurt by the losses he has suffered because of war, but he is also a warrior at heart and is ready to come to the aid of his friends if they are threatened. Like Superman, his great strength, from Earth's higher gravity, allows him to leap tall buildings with a single bound (this ability is greatly exaggerated over what it should be in the movie).

One of the things I liked about this movie is that it has nice little touches of humor. It also shows its Disney pedigree by the prominent presence of a sort of Martian dog that looks a lot like a big frog. It runs around at high speed and comes to the rescue just in the nick of time. The love interest in the movie is a Martian princess named Deja Thoris (Lynn Collins of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”). Carter also makes friends with important leaders of the big, green, four-armed warrior race of beings called Tharks.

The rest of the story has to do with political intrigue caused by the influence of advanced beings called Therns, who can teleport themselves to Earth and other planets. The Therns are manipulating events to create a political alliance which will lead to war and domination of the planet under a single despotic ruler, who will be the puppet of the Therns. Carter makes it his mission to foil their plot.

I didn't have much trouble following the story, but I guess some people find it hard to follow. It probably helped that I read the books first. The story is complicated because in a short time several new cultures and competing political groups are introduced. It would not have been possible to do this movie convincingly in the 20th century. It took the full development of computer animation to accurately depict the Tharks and the otherworldly creatures of Mars. The visual effects (I saw this in 3D) are quite convincing. The acting, by Kitsch and Collins and others is effective. This film rates a B.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2012 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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