So, when I was in high school, before cable TV, xBox 360, and the internet, people read books for entertainment. Well, some read books and some read comic books, but the people I hung out with read books. The old pulp series books were very popular. Some favored Tarzan. Others read Conan. Doc Savage was popular. The weird hippies read the Lord of the Rings. But the most favorite (because I read them) was the John Carter of Mars series. Sure they were nonsense and the writing was overheated and stilted but they were still a lot of fun to read.
Recently the Princess of Mars was made into a movie, John Carter. Disney spent a lotta money to make a movie that flopped, with a capital F. I'm sure executives lost their jobs over it. Even more recently (like tonight) the Missus and I rented it on pay-per-view (in high def!) to watch it on our super-duper flat screen TV. I must say we expected little and got a lot. It was just like the book: silly nonsense but a lot of fun to watch. I mean, what was not to like? It had the hero, an ordinary man given super human abilities once he got to Mars. It had the native tribe (seeming a lot like the Bedouins in Lawrence of Arabia) who find a champion in John Carter. It had the fierce native chieftain with the heart of gold and his fiery daughter who becomes John's loyal native guide. Did I mention the dog thingy creature who is fierce and loyal? It has fantastic special effects, beautiful art work in the panoramas, a great score and an uncredited appearance of our very own Vasquez Rocks county park, the location for many a movie and TV show. I almost forgot to mention the princess babe in the metal bikini who is not only beautiful, spunky, a killer swordswoman, a scientist, but gets to say the absolute best line in the movie "I'm getting away!" followed by the chieftain's disgusted reply to John's optimism in the face of all of their impending horrible and incredibly painful death in the area with the white apes: "Your optimism makes me tired." I've felt that way when I'm having a particularly rough day.
We really had fun watching the movie and my only regret is not having seen in on the big screen to really appreciate the scope and span of the movie and possibly helping to save the job of the movie exec who went down in flames over this pic.
I give it 4 out of 4 for supreme silliness done well with a straight face!
http://disney.go.com/johncarter/
Recently the Princess of Mars was made into a movie, John Carter. Disney spent a lotta money to make a movie that flopped, with a capital F. I'm sure executives lost their jobs over it. Even more recently (like tonight) the Missus and I rented it on pay-per-view (in high def!) to watch it on our super-duper flat screen TV. I must say we expected little and got a lot. It was just like the book: silly nonsense but a lot of fun to watch. I mean, what was not to like? It had the hero, an ordinary man given super human abilities once he got to Mars. It had the native tribe (seeming a lot like the Bedouins in Lawrence of Arabia) who find a champion in John Carter. It had the fierce native chieftain with the heart of gold and his fiery daughter who becomes John's loyal native guide. Did I mention the dog thingy creature who is fierce and loyal? It has fantastic special effects, beautiful art work in the panoramas, a great score and an uncredited appearance of our very own Vasquez Rocks county park, the location for many a movie and TV show. I almost forgot to mention the princess babe in the metal bikini who is not only beautiful, spunky, a killer swordswoman, a scientist, but gets to say the absolute best line in the movie "I'm getting away!" followed by the chieftain's disgusted reply to John's optimism in the face of all of their impending horrible and incredibly painful death in the area with the white apes: "Your optimism makes me tired." I've felt that way when I'm having a particularly rough day.
We really had fun watching the movie and my only regret is not having seen in on the big screen to really appreciate the scope and span of the movie and possibly helping to save the job of the movie exec who went down in flames over this pic.
I give it 4 out of 4 for supreme silliness done well with a straight face!
http://disney.go.com/johncarter/
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Sorry I missed it.
ReplyDeleteI just took an online SERE course that was quite in detail. It neglected to mention that you should announce your impending freedom, but if I ever find myself in that situation, I will be sure to follow the heroine's example!