Thursday, October 1, 2026
DVD Review – John Carter
****1/2
This first-rate adaptation of an Edgar Rice Burroughs novel follows the adventures of an American Civil War veteran who is accidentally transported to Mars. Sadly underrated when it was first released earlier this year, the picture is a wonder-filled adaptation, faithful to Burrough's style. In the pantheon of adventure films it ranks alongside the Indiana Jones and Star Wars trilogies.
This is the first live-action feature from director Andrew Stanton, whose previous work includes co-scripting all three Toy Story films and directing Finding Nemo andWall-E, which won him two best animated feature Oscars.
His passion for John Carter is apparent in every frame, incorporating state-of-the-art special effects with a highly imaginative retro/pulp fiction look to create Mars. His casting of such leading character actors as Willem DaFoe, Ciaran Hinds, Polly Walker, Thomas Haden Church, James Purefoy, Brian Cranston and Samantha Morton adds weight to his dialogue.
And the casting of Taylor Kitsch as John Carter was an inspired choice, as the young star of television’s Friday Night Lights makes a perfect fish-out-of-water hero.
The film dazzles with battles between giant flying ships which seem to float on air, massive land battles between Martian armies, a gladiator match against a pair of humongous apes and feats of derring-do by an Earthling whose physical structure gives him superhuman powers in the Martian gravitational field. There is humor, romance and true emotion to be found here as well. Not to be missed.
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action
