What would Edgar Rice Burroughs have thought of the 'John Carter' movie?

My wife and I traveled to Spanish Fort last Saturday and watched the recently released Disney movie, “John Carter.” I went in expecting to enjoy this science fiction movie and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was even better than I thought it would be.

Released on March 9, the movie was directed by Andrew Stanton and starred Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy and Willem Dafoe.

For those of you who haven’t seen “John Carter,” I would describe it as a mash up of “Star Wars” and “Avatar.” As you might have guessed already, the main character is named “John Carter.” He’s a rough and tough former Confederate cavalry officer, who, while prospecting for gold, is accidentally transported to Mars.

On this version of Mars, the red planet has breathable air, and its low gravity gives Carter superhuman strength and agility. Immediately upon his arrival, Carter finds himself in the middle of a war between three rival groups. He also falls for a beautiful Martian princess, who is about to enter into an arraigned marriage with a super villain in hopes of bringing peace to her planet. I’ll stop right there to avoid spoiling the movie for those of you who haven’t seen it.

The main reason I wanted to see the movie was because it’s based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs’ novel, “A Princess of Mars,” which was published in 1917. Burroughs died in 1950, and “A Princess of Mars” was one of 11 novels in what is known as his “Barsoom” series. The complete list of books in the series is as follows:

1. A Princess of Mars (1917)
2. The Gods of Mars (1918)
3. The Warlord of Mars (1919)
4. Thuvia, Maid of Mars (1920)
5. The Chessmen of Mars (1922)
6. The Master Mind of Mars (1928)
7. A Fighting Man of Mars (1931)
8. Sword of Mars (1936)
9. Synthetic Men of Mars (1940)
10. Llana of Gathol (1948)
11. John Carter of Mars (1964)

Burroughs is arguably best known for being the creator of the fictional jungle hero, Tarzan. In addition to his Barsoom series, he wrote 27 novels in his Tarzan series as well as 43 other novels. I thought it was cool that Burroughs was actually a character in the “John Carter” movie. Played by actor Daryl Sabara, this fictionalized version of Burroughs is Carter’s nephew, who plays an important part in the movie. I wonder what Burroughs would have thought of that.

For those of you who enjoyed “John Carter,” you’ll be pleased to hear that there is talk of a sequel and possibly a third movie as well. The second movie will supposedly be based on Burroughs’ second Barsoom novel, “The Gods of Mars.”

In the end, how many of you have seen “John Carter”? What did you think about it? Did you like it or dislike it? Why? How many of you are fans of Edgar Rice Burroughs? Which of his books is your personal favorite and why? Let us know in the comments section below.