John Carter (2012/Disney
Blu-Ray 3D w/Blu-ray 2D + DVD)
3D Picture: A- 2D Picture: A/B- Sound: B+/B- Extras: B+ Film: A-
What happens when you faithfully adapt a one hundred year old sci-fi,
pulp adventure classic to the big screen?
Well, if you’re director Andrew Stanton you get short-shrifted on
advertising and promotion, then dog-piled by snobby critics who haven’t thought
to check the source material before attacking what turns out to be a damn fine
action movie. John Carter may never live down the “bomb” label it was unfairly
saddled with when it was released earlier this spring, but this package from
Disney will mark the beginning of the film’s long and productive second life as
a home-video standout. This amazing
4-disc collection includes the Blu-Ray 3D, standard Blu-Ray, DVD version, and
the digital version for easy access on the go.
The attractive package comes loaded with plenty of extras that include
a feature on novelist Edgar Rice Burroughs, author of the original 1912, serialized
novel A Princess of Mars. This film adapts that first novel under the
new title of John Carter. Burroughs’ mind-blowing concepts made him a
man ahead of his time, and his fiction included discussions of very real themes
and issues, chief among them the dangers of tribalism and the consequences of
environmental depredations. As a side
note, Mr. Burroughs went on to write a total of eleven books in the Barsoom
(re: Mars) series. Many deleted scenes
hint at a more complete movie that might have been better received with a few
different editing choices. The
featurette entitled 360 Degrees of John
Carter takes you behind the scenes and reveals what an amazing logistical
undertaking making the film turned out to be.
And what a film! Having seen it
in the theater on the night of its U.S. release, it loses none of its luster
when viewed on the small screen. Taylor
Kitsch plays the titular role with tremendous force and understanding. In this adaptation Carter begins a haunted and
reluctant warrior, seeking his fortune and some measure of peace in the
American southwest after suffering a terrible loss at the end of the American
Civil War. The movie really begins with
Carter’s “death” and the principle action plays out as an elaborate flashback,
pages from his journal read by his favorite nephew and heir, young Mr. Edgar
Rice Burroughs.
The victim of a strange transposition at the hands of a mysterious
alien, Carter quickly finds himself on Mars. But not the Red Planet of our modern
understanding, rather the more fanciful Mars Mr. Burroughs’ and other writers
of his era envisioned. Populated by
exotic denizens like the four-armed, towering Tharks and the Red Men of Helium
and Zodanga, Mars is a world torn apart by conflict. A lighter gravity world, Carter’s Earth-born
muscles grant him prodigious strength and physical power on Mars, and while he
stumbles upon the savage Tharks, he soon wins over their charismatic Jeddak
(re: Warlord) Tars Tarkas, wonderfully voiced by Willem Dafoe.
While happy for his limited acceptance, Carter’s thoughts remain on
getting home. Circumstances work against him, however, and the appearance of
the luminous Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins) only serves to draw him further into
the planet’s internecine battles.
Supported by stunning visual effects and a super supporting cast, once
the story gets going it moves at a breakneck clip. HBO Rome
veterans Ciarán Hinds (Tardos Mors) and James Purefoy (Kantos Kan) play
smaller, but powerful roles as allies of Carter, and Mark Strong ably plays the
diabolical manipulator Matai Shang. Director
Stanton smoothly blends CGI effects and live shots on the film’s many amazing
action sequences, and the costumes, weapons, and vehicles channel some of the
best design work available and really capture Mr. Burroughs’ amazing worlds.
Putting all of these elements together makes John Carter a complete and faithful adaptation, and while some
point to Mr. Stanton’s use of “weird” words like Helium, Barsoom, Jasoom
(Earth), and Jeddak, these are the sorts of elements that make the film honest
and true to its source material. While
Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote eleven novels in the Barsoom series, we may only
ever get to see this first one presented with this level of care, precision,
and artful style. If this movie marks
Mr. Stanton’s only shot at the Barsoomian legacy, then so be it. It was a damn fine result, and if there’s any
justice in the entertainment world, this one will enjoy the wildly successful
second life it so richly deserves.
The 2.35 X 1, 1080p full HD MVC-encoded 3-D – Full Resolution digital
High Definition image is a conversion from a 2D shoot, though it was shot on 35mm
film in real anamorphic Panavision and that really helps this look good and
that is where part of the money went.
The CG Stanton used is as good as it gets with his Pixar experience and
the company being owned by Disney, this is not going to look much better for
its time. The 1080p 2.35 X 1 2D digital
High Definition image is the best, however, shot by Director of Photography Daniel
Mindel (Star Trek (2009), Spy Game, Mission: Impossible III, Enemy
Of Teh State) had to also shoot this wqith 70mm IMAX blow-up presentations
in mind, so this is a top rate A-level big budget production in the best sense
and though the anamorphically enhanced DVD version can hardly compete with the
Blu-rays, it looks as good as it can at 480p.
The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 7.1 lossless mix on both Blu-ray editions
offer an amazing sonic experience anmd the kind you would expect from a film
that weas going to play through a 64-speaker IMAX system, well-recorded with
exceptional dynamic range and Michael Giacchino’s fine music score never
overshadowing dialogue or sound design showing great balance of all the
elements. The combination of this mix
and either Blu-ray HD image will challenge the best home theater systems. The lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on the DVD is
fine for what it is, but is missing the impact of the DTS-MA.
- Scott Pyle
