Synopsis:
Captain John Carter of Virginia finds himself mysteriously projected to the world of Barsoom and made capitive of the savage green men of Thark. With him is Dejah Thoris, the beautiful and brilliant Princess of Helium. Together, they must learn the secret of the evil Matai Shang and The Holy Therns in order to save both of their worlds!
Intentions:
John Carter, created by master storyteller Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1912, is one of my all-time favorite adventure characters. While the theatrical release directed by Andrew Stanton is not the version or story I would have told, I actually deeply love the movie and thus this edit is not a very aggressive cut. I have removed the ERB bookends to get to the main story faster. Also, I have "Wizard of Ozzed" the Earth sequences into a dull washed out black-and-white, while increasing the bright colour saturation of Mars to give it more of a fantastical look. Along with some small trims, and cuts, I hope to have created a fun alternate viewing experience.
Change List:
--Cut ERB prologue --Opening in a faded, washed out Black and White --Replaced modern Disney logo with Beuna Vista title card --New John Carter of Mars Title Card with zoom in of Mars in B&W --Added Arizona title card to Fort Grant, with new intro music cue and rain sound effects --dream of wife is kept in colour --Created a "sin city" blue light effect for Amulet teleportation to Mars --Mars events are all in colour, increased saturation, slight red hue and blue balance--emphasizing this a fantastical world more --broke Carter's arrival on Mars into two parts, moving the intro of Sab Than and Matai Shang in between, new music cues. --added some of Dejah's dialogue from deleted scenes, explaining the history of Barsoom, repurposed footage for this scene. --dreams of wife are original colour scheme --cut Helium warriors surrendering when attacked by Sab Than --cut Carter exclaiming "She's Human!" -- now more of man of instinctive action, added new music --cut bum slap, imperial command to jump by Dejah and Carter saying he is not for hire --cut "Zondanga happened" -- Barsoom is supposed to be world littered with ancient lost city ruins --cut Sab Than and Matia Shang scene of Shang explaining how to demoralize a nation, as Sab looks like an idiot, new scene transition cues --cut Carter telling Dejah no good would come from him fighting in her war --added a Zondanga establishing shot to Matai Shang and Sab Than scene, cut Sab saying "now I sound like you" --cut the other pilgrims on the River Iss, as they are never seen again and yet going to the same place? And what happens to those who reach the gates? It is never addressed in the story, so no need for it. --cut Carter and Kantos falling, he now makes the jump in a single bound! \S/ --cut Carter saying he has changed his heart -- don't like the line or delivery, sounds like he has changed his mind about his love for his dead wife and child --movie now ends on wedding with epic music cue and shot of Mars with title cards --new end credits with images of John Carter through the ages with new music --post-credits credits scene --cut 7 minutes of end titles credits.
Additional Notes:
-
Other Sources:
Incorporated images/book covers/art work of John Carter/Barsoom from the last 100 years.
Special Thanks:
Thanks to everyone who expressed interest and support for this project. In particular, big THANK YOUs to Rogue-theX, TM2YC, Vultural, Dwight Fry, MusicEd921, and hbenthow.