John Carter

PG-13

Released Mar 9, 2012

2 hr. 12 min.

Sci-Fi

Action

Adventure

List

52%

239 Reviews

Tomatometer

60%

100,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

When Civil War veteran John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) mysteriously awakes on the surface of Mars -- also called Barsoom -- he little expects the adventure that awaits him. Carter reluctantly becomes embroiled in an epic conflict among the red planet's inhabitants, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). As Barsoom is poised on the brink of collapse, war-weary Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that everyone's fate is in his hands.

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Critics Consensus

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

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Isabella S

This is on my top 5 favorite movies of all time. Truly a masterpiece of a film. The storyline was crazy but also made sense. The action was visual but not too scary. Music was beautiful. Honestly I liked the move more than the book.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/05/24

Full Review

Andy C

It's everything you need if you like any fantasy movie. Marketing team did a bad job to sale that movie. I got lucky to get to watch that movie. The story is good, it's mysterious and action scent are good. I need a sequel.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/02/24

Full Review

David W

Best movie ever! Because of the critics the second and third movie were never ever made. Best movie ever.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/24/24

Full Review

M M

TLDR: Excellent action & good fun. Can't wait for the sequel. Comparable to Brendan Fraser's "The Mummy". FULL TEXT: I love the film John Carter of Mars, I find that it was very close to the book. Look I know it's not Shakespeare but I'm not going to an action movie to see Shakespeare. I'm going to see action and fun, and it delivers. Obviously some of the things were changed but they stayed within the realm of reality of the story. I've been looking forward to a continuation of this series since it came out. Hopefully now that the MCU has opened up the wormhole of possibilities, some of these older though still excellent stories, can be told. Edgar Rice Burroughs' book series of John Carter of Mars has immense imagination, visual wonders and a good all inclusive cast of characters. And now that technology has actually caught up and can replicate his vision…these movies could be incredible. I would compare it to the movie series "The Mummy" with Brendan Fraser. I could rewatch "John Carter of Mars" and "The Mummy" over and over and over again.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/21/24

Full Review

Elvis D

Basada en el primer libro de la saga literaria de John Carter creada por Edgar Rice Burroughs y dirigida por una de las mentes maestras de Pixar, esta película es una asombrosa aventura marciana a nivel visual con una historia sencilla que mezcla elementos de ciencia ficción espacial, mitología antigua y epopeyas épicas. Todo girando al rededor de un capitán confederado que perdió a su familia y tras vagar en soledad, acaba en el planeta Marte obteniendo una segunda oportunidad de hallar la redención por medio de un acto heroico. Es una película fantástica con buenas secuencias de acción, maravillosa producción y buenos efectos especiales. Se aprecia muchísimo el empeño que le pusieron a esta película esperando llevar la saga literaria a la gran pantalla. El esfuerzo es admirable y es una lástima que esta película no haya sido un gran éxito para poder presenciar más sobre las épicas aventuras de John Carter. A pesar de ser una historia sencilla con algunos cabos sueltos y par de diálogos cuestionables, la película realmente tenía bastante potencial para iniciar una nueva saga cinematográfica. John Carter es una de esas grandes aventuras de ciencia ficción con toda una asombrosa mitología para explorar y esta película realmente merecía haberse convertido en una saga. Mi calificación final para esta película es un 9/10.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/09/24

Full Review

Nicholas L

I hated this the first time I encountered it 12 years ago. I had read the book as in my early teens and I had preconceived notions of how it should be visualized and the first few minutes didn't meet my expectations so I guess my mind just turned off for the rest of the movie. Seeing it now with a more open mind, I actually enjoyed the movie and found myself agreeing with the director's creative choices.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/20/24

Full Review

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Andrew Stanton

Director

Taylor Kitsch

John Carter

Lynn Collins

Princess Dejah Thoris

Willem Dafoe

Tars Tarkas

Samantha Morton

Sola

Ciarán Hinds

Tardos Mors

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J. Hoberman

ARTINFO.com

For the most part, the first "live action" feature by Andrew Stanton, is graphically splendiferous and enjoyably nonsensical.

Feb 25, 2019

Full Review

Matt Singer

ScreenCrush

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

Rated: 5/10

Apr 5, 2012

Full Review

David Denby

New Yorker

A mess.

Mar 26, 2012

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

It’s watchable and, at times, an enjoyable film, just not wowing or immediately satisfying in the way so many of Burroughs’ readers had hoped it would be.

Rated: 2.5/4

Feb 22, 2023

Full Review

David Bax

Battleship Pretension

John Carter is a good summer movie in March but, with the exception of that one fleeting segment, it's not a great movie at any time of year.

Mar 16, 2021

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Feels heavily recycled in both its storytelling techniques and its visual effects.

Rated: 4/10

Dec 2, 2020

Full Review

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Synopsis

When Civil War veteran John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) mysteriously awakes on the surface of Mars -- also called Barsoom -- he little expects the adventure that awaits him. Carter reluctantly becomes embroiled in an epic conflict among the red planet's inhabitants, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). As Barsoom is poised on the brink of collapse, war-weary Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that everyone's fate is in his hands.

Director: Andrew Stanton
Screenwriter: Andrew Stanton, Mark Andrews, Michael Chabon
Distributor: Walt Disney
Production Co: Walt Disney Studios
Rating: PG-13 (Intense Sequences of Violence|Intense Sequences of Action)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 9, 2012, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $73.1M

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