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John Carter Play Trailer

John Carter (2012)

tomatometer

51

Average Rating: 5.8/10
Reviews Counted: 216
Fresh: 111 | Rotten: 105

While John Carter looks terrific and delivers its share of pulpy thrills, it also suffers from uneven pacing and occasionally incomprehensible plotting and characterization.

36

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.

audience

61

liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 106,176

My Rating

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

Jun 5, 2012

$73.1M

Walt Disney Pictures - Official Site External Icon

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All Critics (216) | Top Critics (42) | Fresh (113) | Rotten (106) | DVD (5)

A mess.

March 26, 2012 Full Review Source: New Yorker | Comments (81)
New Yorker
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The 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.

March 9, 2012 Full Review Source: The Atlantic | Comments (21)
The Atlantic
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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.

March 9, 2012 Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | Comments (70)
Christian Science Monitor
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Where John Carter continually gets it right is pacing, levity, and breadth of story.

March 9, 2012 Full Review Source: Film.com | Comments (3)
Film.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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.

March 9, 2012 Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | Comments (48)
Newark Star-Ledger
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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.

March 9, 2012 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | Comments (17)
Globe and Mail
Top Critic IconTop Critic

"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.

September 16, 2012 Full Review Source: Examiner.com | Comment (1)
Examiner.com

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."

September 10, 2012 Full Review Source: FoxNews.com
FoxNews.com

A mightily entertaining, oft-cheesy, oft-soaring spectacle packed with more pulp than Florida's finest fruit.

August 25, 2012 Full Review Source: NECN

One of the best sci-fi fantasy films in a long, long time.

August 22, 2012 Full Review Source: CraveOnline | Comments (4)
CraveOnline

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.

August 17, 2012 Full Review Source: Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema
Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema

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.

July 15, 2012 Full Review Source: Knight at the Movies
Knight at the Movies

Not as bad as you've been lead to believe . . .

July 9, 2012 Full Review Source: Sci-Fi Movie Page | Comments (2)
Sci-Fi Movie Page

Considering it stems from a story that helped define a genre limited only by imagination, John Carter is a curiously dull film.

June 29, 2012 Full Review Source: SFX Magazine | Comment (1)
SFX Magazine

If you haven't seen it yet, give it another shot. You may be surprised at how much fun it can be.

June 25, 2012 Full Review Source: Sci-Fi Movie Page | Comment (1)
Sci-Fi Movie Page

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.

June 7, 2012 Full Review Source: IGN DVD | Comments (2)
IGN DVD

The odd, uneven John Carter is better than you'd expecting, but it's still an unwieldy collection of mostly half-realized dreams.

June 7, 2012 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comments (2)
Slant Magazine

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]

June 1, 2012 Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews
Groucho Reviews

Under Stanton's care 'John Carter' is the kind of tremendous fun-filled film that's worth going to the theater to see.

May 23, 2012 Full Review Source: Lyles' Movie Files | Comment (1)
Lyles' Movie Files

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.

April 26, 2012 Full Review Source: 2UE That Movie Show
2UE That Movie Show

OK, they botched the title. But not the movie itself.

April 21, 2012 Full Review Source: Quad City Times (Davenport, IA) | Comments (2)
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

Ambitious and often unwieldy, but savory in its construction and earnestness. John Carter is sadly undeserving of its flop status.

April 20, 2012 | Comments (5)
Projection Booth

Nothing here as inspired as the Lightsaber, but there's no Jar Jar Binks either.

April 16, 2012 Full Review Source: Spectrum (St. George, Utah) | Comment (1)
Spectrum (St. George, Utah)

Isn't the disaster some industry observers predicted, but it's not the high-gloss masterpiece some of us hoped for either.

April 5, 2012 Full Review Source: ScreenCrush
ScreenCrush

I understand John Carter likes being on Mars (superpowers + hot, intelligent princess). I just don't want to be there with him.

April 1, 2012 Full Review Source: The Scorecard Review | Comments (3)
The Scorecard Review

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.

March 29, 2012 Full Review Source: CNNRadio | Comment (1)
CNNRadio

Audience Reviews for John Carter

I saw this not knowing too much about it, although heard it got bad reviews. It's impressive in terms of scope, production and cast. The plot and story seem to have been made up of quite a few well known plots from other sci-fi films. Definitely felt like a mix of Stargate and even Star Wars attack of the clones at times. The big budget visuals and action does keep your attention though as does the actors on show. Overall it was quite enjoyable.
March 25, 2013
Deano78

Super Reviewer

This wasn't a bad movie at all. No Raiders of the Lost Ark, but most definitely entertaining...
September 12, 2012
itsjustme2004

Super Reviewer

    1. Dejah Thoris: Let me know when it gets dangerous.
    – Submitted by Tom L (2 months ago)
    1. Dejah Thoris: He shot me out of the sky!
    – Submitted by Tom L (2 months ago)
    1. Tars Tarkas: Mars. So you name it and think that you know it. The red planet, no air, no life. But you do not know Mars, for its true name is Barsoom. And it is not airless, nor is it dead, but it is dying. The city of Zodanga saw to that.
    – Submitted by Typhon Q (3 months ago)
    1. Matai Shang: We do not cause the destruction of a world, Captain Carter. We simply manage it. Feed off it, if you like.
    – Submitted by Typhon Q (7 months ago)
    1. John Carter: By god...I'm on Mars.
    – Submitted by Vern H (9 months ago)
    1. Dejah Thoris: Most warriors change their metals, but not their heart.
    – Submitted by Chad E (10 months ago)

Discussion Forum

Topic Last Post Replies
Totally underrated film... 32 days ago 45
The Score 2 months ago 1
Stinky 2 months ago 0

Latest News on John Carter

June 5, 2012:
RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: John Carter and Act of Valor
This week on home video, we've got some middle-of-the-road stuff, some flops, and some classics....

March 9, 2012:
Critics Consensus: John Carter Gets Lost in Space
Disney's John Carter has been the source of Hollywood tongue-wagging for months: this...

March 7, 2012:
Total Recall: Willem Dafoe's Best Movies
It's Taylor Kitsch's handsome mug that's plastered all over the John Carter trailers and posters,...

Foreign Titles

  • John Carter - Zwischen zwei Welten (DE)
  • John Carter (UK)
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