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John Carter is a 2012 American science fiction adventure romance film directed by Andrew Stanton and produced by Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures. It is largely based on A Princess of Mars, the first book in the Barsoom series of novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Plot[]

It all started in the mid 1800 in the Arizona Territory, where Carter is prospecting for gold and having violent encounters with the local Apache Indians. After he was captured by Colonel Powell, Carter tries to escape from prison he goes running in a horses to escape and the apalaches interferere, then they start a fight and Powell gets hurt so they shelters in a cave then, Carter discovers a large quantity of gold. A strange figure suddenly materializes in the cave; Carter kills him and, due somehow to the stranger's large elaborate medallion, is inadvertently teleported to Barsoom (Mars). There, due to his different bone density and the planet's lower gravity, Carter is able to jump fantastically high and throw killer punches. He is soon captured, by the giant, four-armed Green Martian Tharks under the rule of Tars Tarkas

Elsewhere on Barsoom, the citie of Helium and Zodanga have been at war for a thousand years. The Jeddak of Zodanga, Sab Than, is now armed with a special weapon given him by the Therns, and proposes a cease-fire and an end to the war by marrying the Princess of Helium, Dejah Thoris. The defiant Princess escapes and is rescued by Carter. Carter, Dejah, and Tarkas's secret daughter Sola embark on a quest descending the sacred River Iss to find a way for Carter to get back home. There they find information about the medallion, and the process by which the Therns teleport ("telegraph") from planet to planet, but they are attacked by the Thern leader Matai Shang and his minions, the Green Martians of Warhoon. After the attack, Carter is captured and taken back with Dejah, while Sola is able to escape. Dejah agrees to marry Sab Than, then gives Carter his medallion and tells him to go back to "Jasoom" (Earth). Carter decides to stay back and is now captured by the shape-shifting Matai, who tells him about the secret purposes of the god-like Therns and their age-old manipulations of the histories of civilizations on different planets. Carter is able to make yet another escape, and he and Sola go back to the Tharks and ask for their help. There they come to know that Tarkas has been overthrown as Jeddak by the vicious Tal Hajus. Tarkas, Carter, and Sola are subjected to a gladiatorial contest with two gigantic white Martian apes. After defeating them and killing Hajus, Carter is acclaimed leader of the Tharks. A vast Thark army, with Carter at its head, advances on Zodanga, then on Helium, and defeats the Zodangian army, killing Sab Than. Carter then marries Dejah himself and becomes Jeddak of Helium. That night, Carter decides to stay forever on Mars and throws away his medallion. Seizing this opportunity, Shang re-emerges from hiding and sends Carter back to Earth.

Resuming the original framing story, it is revealed that Carter has undertaken a ten year long quest, looking for clues of the Therns' presence on Earth and hoping to find another medallion. His sudden "death" and unusual funeral arrangements would seem to indicate that he has succeeded and returned to Barsoom, leaving his "Earth body" in a coma-like state. His presence on Mars was via a sort of virtual body, and the death of his Earth body would end his life on both planets. He has made Ned his protector, giving him clues about how to open the mausoleum. Ned now hastens to the mausoleum, opens it, but finds no body. He has been covertly stalked by a Thern, in the form of a man with a bowler hat. As the would-be assassin prepares to strike, Carter suddenly reappears and kills him. He discloses to Ned that he never found any medallion, but instead laid a clever trap for a Thern to get that Thern's medallion. Carter now takes the medallion, invokes the necessary code words, and is instantly teleported back to Mars, to continue his Barsoomian life with Dejah.

Changes from the Book[]

  • Matai Shang and the Therns are introduced, where they were originally featured in the second book of the series.
  • Dejah Thoris is less of a princess and politician, becoming more scientist, warrior, and woman-of-action to pair better with Carter's journey; in this, she is the daughter of Tardos Mors, rather than his granddaughter as in the book.
  • Sab Than and the Zodangans are reduced to the secondary antagonists of the film, manipulated by Matai Shang and the Therns, now the primary antagonists.
  • Sab Than's desire to make Dejah Thoris his bride becomes the primary driver of Zodanga's renewed hostility against Helium; conversely, Kantos Kan and other Heliumites being in Zodanga is open due to the fact they are invited to the wedding.
  • The Therns are no longer Barsoomians, but rather an ancient alien race who administrate the rise and fall of civilizations across the universe; all of this is explained in an extended sequence involving Matai Shang and an imprisoned Carter.
  • The importance of the Ninth Ray is extended, being the source of the Therns' power and the mechanism by which Carter comes to Barsoom; Matai Shang gives the power of the ray to Sab Than, who uses it to wage warfare with impunity.
  • Carter does not learn the Martian language, but rather "absorbs" it through some form of potion given to him by Sola.
  • Tars Tarkus is already jeddak of Thark, opposed by Tal Hajus; after freeing Carter, Sola, and Dejah Thoris to escape to Helium, Tal Hajus wrests control of the horde from him; only when Carter returns and bests Tal Hajus in battle does Tars Tarkus become jeddak again.
  • Carter's Thark name, "Dotar Sojat", is not based on the names of the Tharks he kills in battle, but rather a title bestowed on him by Tars Tarkas, calling him his "right arms"; he is not with the Tharks long enough to gain the position of authority he does in the book.
  • Tars Tarkus already knows that Sola is his daughter, but is not driven to do anything about it until she is in danger of death, when he helps the trio escape from Thark.
  • Rather than imprisoning her (from which she escapes and is never seen again), Sola successfully kills Sarkoja, the woman responsible for her mother's death.
  • Carter's imprisonment with the Warhoon and later false service to Zodanga are bypassed, replaced by a brief encounter with the hostile green martian horde and his infiltration of the city, respectively.
  • The Warhoon games are replaced by a similar gladiatorial contest in Thark in which John Carter and Tars Tarkas are to be executed via white ape by Tal Hajus.
  • The journey down the river Iss to escape from Thark take Carter and Dejah Thoris to a Thern outpost, where they discover the truth of the Ninth Ray.
  • While the story continues with the opposition of Sab Than and the forced marriage of Dejah Thoris, it is further intensified by Carter attempting to find out the truth of the Therns from Sab Than, for which Matai Shang kills Sab Than to keep him from talking.
  • Rather than dying 10 years after coming to Barsoom, Carter is tricked on his wedding night by Matai Shang, who quickly transmits him back to Earth with no method of return; the remainder of the story is largely the same with Carter spending 10 years trying to get back, though this time focusing on trying to find other transmission devices left behind by the Therns, in the end finally luring a Thern with a ruse and taking the device from him.
  • The character of Carter's nephew Ned (Edgar Rice Burroughs) is featured more in the frame story, as he becomes personally involved in Carter's ruse against the Therns; his full name rarely mentioned - he is only ever referred to as "Edgar" or "Ned", his uncle's nickname for him - nor is he explicitly stated as the author of the semi-biography of his uncle, A Princess of Mars (or perhaps John Carter of Mars), though at the end of the story, Carter does tell him to do something with his life, something he feels is important.

Cast[]

Trivia[]

  • The film was originally titled and marketed as "John Carter of Mars", but director Andrew Stanton removed "of Mars" from the opening credits and promotional material to make it more appealing to a broader audience, stating that the film is an "origin story... It's about a guy becoming John Carter of Mars." The entire title "John Carter of Mars" is displayed during the end credits.
    • Taylor Kitsch said the title was changed to reflect the character's journey, as John Carter would become "of Mars" only in the film's last few minutes.

Gallery[]

Screenshots[]

Trailer[]

Film[]

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