tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post4824344297590334556..comments2024-03-19T00:19:09.117-07:00Comments on Rocketpunk Manifesto: Mars Needs PrincessesRickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932015378213238346noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-5771699026639160352012-03-25T09:09:14.521-07:002012-03-25T09:09:14.521-07:00If I were to pick an entertainment project featuri...If I were to pick an entertainment project featuring Mars, I would probably go for a "mini series" of the Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. <br /><br />It has up to date ideas, a reasonably compelling story line (creative editing to pick one of the many story lines to tie the series story arc together) and seems like something that people can actually relate to. It doesn't hurt that Elon Musk has Mars as a long term goal, perhaps he would be interested in financing the series as part of his groundwork for an actual Mars expedition.Thucydideshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09828932214842106266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-81340167953144918362012-03-24T17:21:43.284-07:002012-03-24T17:21:43.284-07:00I finally had a chance to see this movie and I fou...I finally had a chance to see this movie and I found it entertaining despite the whinny title character. Like some who've commented here, I find it hard to believe $200 million dollar price tag (why are the most creative people in Hollywood the accountants?), but there is enough of that money on the screen to make it worth seeing.<br /><br />I have to agree that the (apparent) failure of this movie has doomed the idea of any other movie about Mars, let alone a sequel to this one. Too bad, because there was some great potential in what I saw.Chris Lopeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603182786879935663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-37418330335466221602012-03-23T19:59:57.180-07:002012-03-23T19:59:57.180-07:00Welcome to another new commenter!
jollyreaper and...Welcome to another new commenter!<br /><br />jollyreaper and now Cheery Reaper? This place is getting to be Reaper Central!<br /><br />John Carter bombed on an epic scale, to the point where humans will probably reach Mars before Hollywood goes there again. The causes of its failure are probably 'overdetermined,' as the jargon term goes. More than enough failure points to go around.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16932015378213238346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-51193961457549574392012-03-23T17:01:17.327-07:002012-03-23T17:01:17.327-07:00Maybe if they tacked on "filmed on location&q...Maybe if they tacked on "filmed on location" to the title sequence of "A Princess of Mars"...<br /><br />FerrellAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-12420683325260518702012-03-23T15:23:36.231-07:002012-03-23T15:23:36.231-07:00Sad. I was prepared to like "John Carter"...Sad. I was prepared to like "John Carter" (and did, to a certain extent), but it certainly did not seem to be $200 millon worth of movie.<br /><br />It will be many years before someone is brave enough to bring back Martian Princesses to the silver screen.Thucydideshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09828932214842106266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-56666973935548729882012-03-23T08:02:33.583-07:002012-03-23T08:02:33.583-07:00This fella has a good post on why the movie was su...This fella has a good post on why the movie was such a bomb:<br /><br />http://dknowsall.blogspot.com/<br /><br />John C. Wright also has some good entries if you want to scroll down a few entries.<br /><br />Basically, they couldn't adapt a book that cost about 10 cents back in the day without blowing a couple hundred million on it first.<br /><br />Then they didn't have the actual John Carter, they had Kevin Costner's character from Dances with Wolves and put a different face on it. <br /><br />I think it's like that god-awful adaptation of the Wild Wild West with Will Smith. The only people who hated it more than the regular viewers were the fans of the original material.Cheery Reaperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07491323510160286317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-34136957117593768412012-03-21T13:31:17.353-07:002012-03-21T13:31:17.353-07:00But who cares about the Mars princesses, when ther...But who cares about the Mars princesses, when there are the "Leather Goddesses of Phobos"?<br /><br />http://infocom.elsewhere.org/gallery/leather/leather.html<br /><br />An Infocom text adventure with scratch'n'sniff!<br /><br />Can you prevent the hideous space creatures from abducting the naked heiress? <br />How to remove a brass bikini?<br />Can you stop the Leather Goddesses' fiendish plan to turn all Earthlings into sex slaves?<br /><br />Ah, these were the questions back in 1986, sitting in front of an Atari ST with mindboggling 1024 kB of RAM ... :-)francisdrakehttp://home.arcor.de/francisdrakex/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-75036190531969723472012-03-14T22:31:47.612-07:002012-03-14T22:31:47.612-07:00=Milo=
All I have to say on the matter is that ...=Milo=<br /><br /><br /><br />All I have to say on the matter is that my current favorite princesses are the sisters Celestia and Luna.<br /><br />If you don't recognize the names, look them up, and you should understand how I feel about gender issues.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-52616052096516355332012-03-13T08:27:19.992-07:002012-03-13T08:27:19.992-07:00(SA Phil)
I am not sure the number of planets is...(SA Phil) <br /><br />I am not sure the number of planets is mentioned in the book -- its on project guttenburg, I had a look over it yesterday. <br /><br />Definitely not in the intro. Or first couple of chapters. <br /><br />Amazing how brief the prose style is. If the book came out today, I am not even sure it would have been published - much less been popular.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-33449352995230717452012-03-13T04:28:23.702-07:002012-03-13T04:28:23.702-07:00Yes I was wrong about Pluto being known at the tim...Yes I was wrong about Pluto being known at the time of the book. Mixed them up with someone else and thought they dated from the 1930s.<br /><br />But while Pluto wasn't discovered until 1930, the existence of a ninth planet was predicted late 19th century and Lowell started his search in 1906. So I like to think that ERB had at least heard about 'Planet X.' Or maybe it's just the film writers making the same mistake I did.<br /><br />On the third hand (Green Martian) , the setting of the book is just after the American Civil War and there definitely were only eight planets known then.<br /><br />On the fourth hand the character of John Carter as portrayed in the movie probably wouldn't know much about astronomy anyway.Hughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16050374538817900860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-90529500317480485342012-03-12T19:12:54.895-07:002012-03-12T19:12:54.895-07:00Pluto was discovered in 1932, I think...My wife du...Pluto was discovered in 1932, I think...My wife dug up our copy of "A Princess of Mars" and the fly leaf states that the story was originally published in "All-Story Magazine" as a six part serial Feb through July 1912, originally named "Under the Moons of Mars"...<br /><br />FerrellAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-72204863029019877022012-03-11T20:56:29.992-07:002012-03-11T20:56:29.992-07:00Welcome to another new commenter!
Thanks for the ...Welcome to another new commenter!<br /><br />Thanks for the thumbnail review of the movie. (Also see my next post!)<br /><br />Quibble: Didn't the Solar System of Burroughs' day have 8 major planets, same as now? IIRC, Pluto was only discovered much later, 1930.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16932015378213238346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-30505486472210191412012-03-10T19:56:27.131-08:002012-03-10T19:56:27.131-08:00(SA Phil)
The actual Princess of Mars will proba...(SA Phil) <br /><br />The actual Princess of Mars will probably be a married middle-aged scientist who not only will not look good half naked- but might resemble your grandma from when you were a kid and first heard about these books.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-3894520592420078342012-03-09T21:38:40.123-08:002012-03-09T21:38:40.123-08:00This at least answers one long standing bit of sfn...This at least answers one long standing bit of sfnal/fantasy snark: half na ked princess' had better be good with swords...Thucydideshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09828932214842106266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-23214667908963146362012-03-09T14:32:17.177-08:002012-03-09T14:32:17.177-08:00John Scalzi has a long list of films that suffered...John Scalzi has a long list of films that suffered the "Martian Curse" at http://www.filmcritic.com/features/2012/03/john-carter-curse-of-mars/<br />If I were in marketing/publicity, I'd certainly think twice!<br /><br />Having now seen the film, I can report that while they left the M-word out of the title, "Mars" is used in the first sentence of the opening prologue and heavily throughout. (Bonus points for describing the solar system as having nine planets, correct for when ERB wrote the book.) The closing image is "John Carter of Mars" in first a regular font and then the initials JCM in a Martian font.<br /><br />As for the setting, it is appropriately dry and desolate (Utah) without the freezing cold and lack of oxygen. There's a very brief bit of narration explaining why it's largely lifeless, but hey it's not important. At least not to the movie: only afterwards did I start thinking what the heck do they eat? We see some water, but no vegetation at all.<br /><br />Switch off the part of your brain that knows the real gravity of Mars compared to Earth. Otherwise you're going to spend far too much of the movie crying out "Noooo!!!" and eventually be thrown out :-)<br /><br />Snark: Yep, Dejah Thoris is never going to appear in the Disney Princess lineup. Not only does she clearly spend more time in the gym than the beauty parlour, but she's a scientist as well! Carter calls her "professor" for a while: he's he's just being polite and she doesn't take offence.<br /><br />The design of the film is interesting. The flyers are beautiful, neither "industrial future" style of Star Wars/Alien nor the shiny blobs of Star Wars prequels/Wall-E. More steam punk than anything else, but lighter and more fantastic. Apparently solar and nuclear powered, or at least "radium" gets a mention and nobody recoils in horror. Add a transparent canopy and they'd make nice spaceships.<br /><br />ERB seems to have realized the copying implications of an interplanetary transporter beam decades before Star Trek fans did. Good for him!<br /><br />Definitely rates low on the Moh's Scale of Science Fiction Hardness, but it's well done and entertaining.Hughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16050374538817900860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-74746730287021945782012-03-08T22:38:20.945-08:002012-03-08T22:38:20.945-08:00Maybe someone finally wised up and decided not to ...Maybe someone finally wised up and decided not to name a movie after a book because every time they do that it irritates all the book's fans by getting the story all wrong. Nah, that possibility requires too much suspension of disbelief even for a sci-fi and fantasy audience.Raynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-38238276827414633522012-03-08T17:31:34.750-08:002012-03-08T17:31:34.750-08:00Disney's marketing strategy, although personal...Disney's marketing strategy, although personally annoying, is sadly the wiser of options. Space is for men, vampires are for women. To me this is just another instance of Hollywood reinforcing gender roles and stereotyping, "Leave space battles to the men while you go look at pretty dresses." Science fiction would certainly do itself favours if it didn't prescribe itself to a solely male audience, I mean there are exceptions to the rule (Ellen Ripley for example) but historically it's a male dominated genre. I don't even know if this is a consequence of the author's preconceptions or if they're merely just trying to appeal to a target audience. If so, why don't women generally appreciate science fiction? <br /><br />Or maybe I'm completely wrong and I'm chatting crap.Seannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-49851080352265754162012-03-07T15:40:33.971-08:002012-03-07T15:40:33.971-08:00"Maybe she should give lessons. I'm sure ..."Maybe she should give lessons. I'm sure the other princess' would appreciate it!"<br /><br />As would I. Unfortunately, I don't think it fits into the current Disney marketing strategy. Pity though.Chris Lopeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603182786879935663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-20700989050995131712012-03-07T10:55:10.712-08:002012-03-07T10:55:10.712-08:00On the other hand, I can see where a sword carryin...<i>On the other hand, I can see where a sword carrying, scantily clad, bad ass warrior princess might not quite fit in with Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella.</i><br /><br />Maybe she should give lessons. I'm sure the other princess' would appreciate it!Thucydideshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09828932214842106266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-53696559093914719712012-03-07T08:42:52.815-08:002012-03-07T08:42:52.815-08:00Grr. They need to bring back email notification. T...Grr. They need to bring back email notification. That's the only way I can keep up!jollyreaperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05673007647719726846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-18203973650089723802012-03-06T19:39:11.764-08:002012-03-06T19:39:11.764-08:00The "Disney Princess" idea certainly mak...The "Disney Princess" idea certainly makes more sense than the "guys won't go to movies with the word 'Princess' in the title" idea. After all, Burroughs wasn't bashful about using the word in the title and his audience (the pulp fiction reading public) was a decidedly male one. On the other hand, I can see where a sword carrying, scantily clad, bad ass warrior princess might not quite fit in with Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella.Chris Lopeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603182786879935663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-33212014827382041752012-03-06T19:06:05.493-08:002012-03-06T19:06:05.493-08:00What Chris said: direct-to-video movies get rolled...What Chris said: direct-to-video movies get rolled right over by big productions. <br /><br />I will join the grump about the quick-cut jittercam style of action footage. If you're not giving me an idea of what is going on, my suspicion is that you don't know what is going on, either.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16932015378213238346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-45165790087062650392012-03-06T15:56:41.109-08:002012-03-06T15:56:41.109-08:00Van Norman - Tracy Lord's version doesn't ...Van Norman - Tracy Lord's version doesn't count ;-)Chris Gerribhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09484367221527860100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-58461358371637889422012-03-06T15:36:01.998-08:002012-03-06T15:36:01.998-08:00Y’all must have missed it. Princess of Mars has be...Y’all must have missed it. <i>Princess of Mars</i> has been done already. ;-)<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsawq3PBMmsM. D. Van Normanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14174316114122438921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-42360515401426888862012-03-06T09:14:00.057-08:002012-03-06T09:14:00.057-08:00* A lot of CGI is stuff that you wouldn't even...<i><br />* A lot of CGI is stuff that you wouldn't even recognize as CGI at the time without prior knowledge. </i><br /><br />Granted. But when you're noticing it, it's bad CGI. It's like all the action scenes are shot chaotically and all look the same. When it no longer feels thrilling but tacked on, monotonous, dull. I should not feel bored by action.jollyreaperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05673007647719726846noreply@blogger.com