John Carter (2012)
Average Rating: 5.7/10
Reviews Counted: 219
Fresh: 111 | Rotten: 108
While John Carter looks terrific and delivers its share of pulpy thrills, it also suffers from uneven pacing and occasionally incomprehensible plotting and characterization.
Average Rating: 5/10
Critic Reviews: 42
Fresh: 15 | Rotten: 27
While John Carter looks terrific and delivers its share of pulpy thrills, it also suffers from uneven pacing and occasionally incomprehensible plotting and characterization.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 109,328
Movie Info
From filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes John Carter-a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). John Carter is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic
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Cast
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Taylor Kitsch
John Carter -
Lynn Collins
Dejah Thoris -
Samantha Morton
Sola -
Willem Dafoe
Tars Tarkas -
Thomas Haden Church
Tal Hajus -
Mark Strong
Matai Shang -
Ciarán Hinds
Tardos Mors -
Dominic West
Sab Than -
James Purefoy
Kantos Kan -
Bryan Cranston
Powell -
Polly Walker
Sarkoja -
Daryl Sabara
Edgar Rice Burroughs -
Arkie Reece
Stayman #1/Helm -
Davood Ghadami
Stayman #3 -
Pippa Nixon
Lightmaster -
James Embree
Thern #2 -
Phil Philmar
Thern #1 -
Figs Jackman
Man in the Bowler -
Emily Tierney
Pretty Woman in NYC ... -
Edmund Kente
Telegraph Clerk -
Rupert Frazer
Thompson -
Nicholas Woodeson
Dalton -
Kyle Agnew
Stable Boy -
Don Stark
Dix the Storekeeper -
Josh Daugherty
Rowdy #1 -
Jared Cyr
Rowdy #2 -
Sean Carrigan
Cavalryman -
Dusty Sorg
Twitchy Corporal -
Christopher Goodman
Stockade Guard -
Amanda Clayton
Sarah Carter -
Akima Castaneda
Apache Leader -
Joe Billingiere
Apache #1 -
Aldred Westley Monto...
Apache #2 -
Phil Cheadle
Thern in Cave -
David Schwimmer
Young Thark Warrior -
Arnie Alpert
Council Member #1 -
Ian Ray
Council Member #2 -
Peggy Clements
Council Member #3 -
Evelyn Dubuc
Council Member #4 -
Connie Jhil McEntyre
Council Member #5 -
Daniel O'Meara
Vas Kor -
Emma Clifford
Lightman/Helm -
Oliver Boot
Bodyguard (Matai) -
Rebecca Sarker
Stayman #1/Navigator -
Philip Arditti
Spotter #2 -
Jon Favreau
Thark Bookie -
Art Malik
Zodangan General -
Holly Weston
Carter's Wife (Corps... -
Gary Milner
Zodangan Officer (Ma... -
Cate Fowler
Matron of Chamber (M... -
Darwin Shaw
Zodangan Officer (Ma... -
Eileen Page
Elderly Woman (Matai... -
Si Evans
Zodangan Guard -
Steven Cree Molison
Humble Guard -
Garry Tubbs
Orkney Dig Worker -
Jeremy Booth
Doctor -
Jill Baker
Additional Voice -
Myriam Acharki
Priestess
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John Carter Trailer & Photos
All Critics (219) | Top Critics (42) | Fresh (111) | Rotten (108) | DVD (5)
A mess.
Top CriticThe most indelible performance in the film is not, strictly speaking, a performance at all. Rather it is Woola, a six-legged Martian hound who rather resembles a cross between a bulldog and a fetal gila monster.
The reported $250 million price tag for John Carter gives one pause. I suppose one could argue that masterpieces have no price. Then again, John Carter is no masterpiece.
Where John Carter continually gets it right is pacing, levity, and breadth of story.
Whenever the fighting stops and two people have to stand and talk, all the air goes out of everything. Suddenly it feels as if we're in an empty theater, watching a dusty old sword-and-sandal epic.
It isn't bad so much as innocuous, $250-million worth of innocuous, framed by a decent start and a solid finish but sagging through the long middle like a cheap mattress.
Even if Edgar Rice Burroughs' 11-volume series is adapted by its three screenwriters into a nonsensical mess, then it should at least be a visual feast, right? Hardly.
This wannabe epic is forgettable, bland and way too long.
They should have just let their freak flag fly and said, "To hell with it, here's 100 minutes of John Carter punching aliens."
"John Carter" is certainly an interesting idea for a film, with a power struggle on an alien world and an outsider affecting the balance, but sadly it never ends up fully working.
If Cecil B. DeMille were alive today and given the chance to direct a special effects-laden fantasy adventure on Mars, he might have made something similar to Andrew Stanton's visually stunning epic "John Carter."
A mightily entertaining, oft-cheesy, oft-soaring spectacle packed with more pulp than Florida's finest fruit.
One of the best sci-fi fantasy films in a long, long time.
Once John Carter gets past laying out the specifics of the various Martian cultures and tensions, it settles into a pleasant groove that recalls the old Saturday afternoon serials.
It's one of those big-screen enterprises that doesn't leave much residue (not to mention pleasure) once its moved on to conquer its next audience.
Not as bad as you've been lead to believe . . .
John Carter is a visual delight at times, but the classic story is tiresome and the characters are largely unmemorable, leaving a cold, only occasionally thrilling experience.
An undeniable disaster...of marketing. Join me on a tour of media headaches, and why they don't necessarily reflect the quality of the movie itself. [Blu-ray 3D]
Under Stanton's care 'John Carter' is the kind of tremendous fun-filled film that's worth going to the theater to see.
John Carter is for fans of pure, joyous, escapist, adventure cinema. Seeing John Carter unfamiliar with the text; it's very clear that the original text has influenced a hell of a lot of Sci-fi flicks that we've seen before.
OK, they botched the title. But not the movie itself.
Ambitious and often unwieldy, but savory in its construction and earnestness. John Carter is sadly undeserving of its flop status.
Nothing here as inspired as the Lightsaber, but there's no Jar Jar Binks either.
Isn't the disaster some industry observers predicted, but it's not the high-gloss masterpiece some of us hoped for either.
I understand John Carter likes being on Mars (superpowers + hot, intelligent princess). I just don't want to be there with him.
The film is far from perfect. Sometimes it's silly. But, the action and the atmosphere make this a world worth exploring. Paul Chambers, CNN.
Audience Reviews for John Carter
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
Movies Like John Carter
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- John Carter: The Jeddak of Zodanga means to quash Helium this very night, and if Helium falls, so does Barsoom. We must throw out the thought of old hatreds. Tharks did not cause this, but by Issus, Tharks will end it! We ride for Zodanga!
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- Dejah Thoris: No. It is your will. When I was little and we would look up at the stars, and you would tell me of the heroes whose glory was written in the sky. How there was a star up there for me. Is this what you imagined would be written on it?
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- Dejah Thoris: I'm getting away!
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- Tars Tarkas: Did I not tell you he could jump!
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- Dejah Thoris: Let me know when it gets dangerous.
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- Dejah Thoris: He shot me out of the sky!
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Totally underrated film... | 40 days ago | 62 |
| The Score | 18 days ago | 3 |
| Stinky | 7 months ago | 0 |
| John Carter- death by marketing | 2 months ago | 0 |
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Foreign Titles
- John Carter - Zwischen zwei Welten (DE)
- John Carter (UK)
