John Carter of Mars

Possible SPOILERS ahead!

I had no doubt Bob would deliver a great edit. Of course the editing was great, but it's his passion for this story that really shows in the creative choices he made.

Carter is a flawed film. I think it's largely panned outside of the small fan base that knows the story and the characters. What Bob has done is made it a lot more accessible for a wider audience. The "Oz" effect in the beginning was a nice idea and I really loved how the amulet glowed blue through the black and white. I didn't expect that and I found myself saying that's cool out loud.

One of the previous reviews found some of the cuts a little jarring between Carter learning his jumping powers and the battle from the beginning of the movie with Sab Than. Personally I liked how it was worked in there and it needed to be there for narrative purposes. Mark Strong's character (I keep forgetting his name) indicated how no one could stop Sab and then we come back to Carter exploring the area. Perfect cut idea! Also, great use of the deleted opening. Would've been nice if they had finished the effects for the home video release.

Bob took this film to a new level. It still has its flaws, but that is the source material. Thank you for bringing us on a much more enjoyable trip to Barsoom.

You're lucky I don't take off points for that cliffhanger ending! (lol)

John Carter is a pretty fun movie but it's not as fun as it should be. This edit streamlines it to make it faster paced and tries to make it less confusing for the newbies. Overall it works very well and it's fun but don't expect a wildly different experience than the theatrical cut. If you enjoyed the theatrical cut but felt it was a little too long, this will help.

The color correction on Mars is very nice. It makes everything a little more vibrant while before it seemed somewhat washed out. It also makes Carter not look so pasty white. The rearrangement of the Thern introduction was nice and the deleted scene of Deja explaining the warring cities was excellent and should have been in the theatrical cut.

A few minor complaints:
After Carter talks about the ships sailing on oceans, his reaction shot is still a little goofy.

The music change during the quick escape from the Thark camp from exciting to slow and ponderous is a little abrupt. It's not a a hard cut or anything but it is just a bit awkward.

I kind of wish that a bit more of the after credits sequence was included with Carter back in his cave but I can understand the earlier cut off.

Overall:
It's a fun ride and nearly all of the changes are very well done. I wouldn't call it a replacement, but it's definitely a worthy sidegrade.

I hate to download and watch something without leaving a review..... But when there is nothing negative to say, I'm at a loss.
This was another pretty much perfect edit as far as I am concerned. That doesn't mean I thought it was a great movie itself, but this edit is certainly pretty great.
I'm noticing that i have a personal preference for sepia instead of black and white, and with the black and white portions of this movie I found myself thinking it would look better in sepia and very washed out color instead of straight black and white--but that is just personal choice (though, in keeping with the Wizard of Oz idea of saturating Mars, I wish Virginia looked more Kansas-y).
This is certainly a Disney movie--I don't recall any cursing or nudity or much blood. But it is a fun movie. I own the original, but I honestly have never gotten around to watching it, so this is my 1st and only experience with the film. From that perspective, it flows effortlessly, without any weird cuts or out of place musical cues. This seems like an excellent edit of a kind of bland but still fun movie.
But I def recommend it, as is becoming my habit with every BionicBob edit I have watched.

John Carter is one of my favorite movies, so I went into this edit with a lot of excitement. I was rewarded with a somehow even better, leaner version of a movie I already loved. Starting the movie off in black and white, with only a few splashes of color reserved for *important details* was such an inspired touch! It definitely enhances the contrast between Earth and Barsoom once John gets there, which is helped by the higher saturation those scenes are given. The addition of Dejah's narration also helps explain the world with the new focus on Carter in the first act, and virtually nothing important feels missing. Putting the scene where John gets sent back as the post credits scene certainly feels like an appropriate cliffhanger to end things on, perfectly setting up the sequel. While I miss the prologue and epilogue scenes with Edgar, I can't deny that this experience is in many ways tighter than the original. The comics ending credits is so very welcome.

However, I feel some of the additions were a touch clunky. Interrupting John's first leaps across Barsoom with Shang handing over the weapon to Sab was pace breaker, and seems unnecessary. It undermines Sab early on, and reveals the Therns' hand far too quickly. The music cues in that scene and the epic soaring score added to the wedding ending could have been integrated better. As this is an older edit, the visual quality isn't quite on the definition as, say, BionicBob's Justice League Unity edit, but I don't hold that against it. It is quite a great effort.

I was a little mixed on this cut. I really loved this when it came out in the theater and marvelled at how far CGI technology had come.

At the beginning of this edit, I felt a little rushed along by the story pace. I wanted things to slow down a bit and they eventually did. By the time Carter was captured by the Tharks, I was enjoying the pacing.

I did not miss some of the dialog that was removed throughout and thought those cuts were appropriate.

The color saturation was a mixed bag for me. I liked that it made Mars and the Martians more visually striking, but it came off a little odd at times, like watching an old Disney movie. (Ironic, I know) I also seemed to notice some of the CGI effects a little more in this cut, especially when Dejah was holding herself hostage. I don't know if it was caused by the color saturation, the non HD source or a little of both or something else, but I noticed it more.

All of the visual and audio editing felt seamless to me except I felt something had been cut when Carter and the old lady were walking together. I also could tell that there were cuts made during the battle with the (evil tharks??) whatever they were. Then during the sword fight with the bad guy (sorry, my memory sucks) I noticed somethiing wasn't quite right. None of these were really that jarring, but noticeable.

Regarding the flashbacks to the wife being in color, I think I understand what Bob was going for here, but I would have preferred them in B&W. Maybe a brightened B&W for those scenes to contrast with the dark visual of the burial scene.

One thing I think got rushed through too quickly was Carter learning to walk and jump on Mars. It just felt like that wasn't fully established and would have preferred to leave in most of that scene.

All in all the thing is well put together and definitely worth checking out by those that loved the original, like myself and those that weren't so impressed.