The John carter/Star Wars Connection

Mistaken John Carter for Jimmy Carter on the first sight of your title.

I really should get more sleep.🙁
 
Star Wars is still more Kurosawa than Burroughs.
 
vellavu
vellavu
A tailor who doesn't want to be a cook is no good driver.
Mr. Pole said:
Star Wars is still more Kurosawa than Burroughs.
Click to expand...

Mr Trick said:
That might be because the first SW is bascially a remake of Hidden Fortress I think? If you already knew that, then nevermind...
Click to expand...

Burroughs has always been popular in both Europe and Asia and remains so to this day (which might also explain why the movie did much better in those markets than domestic) from almost as soon as he was first published. I don't think that it would be a terribly great stretch of the imagination to say that Kurosawa would have been familiar with Burroughs' work, and, while the single swordsman prevailing against incredible odds, I do recall a scene in "The Gods Of Mars," first published in 1913, in which Carter defeated a room filled with no less than 50 adversaries. And all that impossible jumping that seems so common in all of the chop sockey movies of the70's and 80's certainly would be something that Carter did fairly often in the Mars books.

Far be it from me to say that Burroughs' influence is QUITE that great, but both Asimov and Moorcock have, on more than one occasion, referred to Edgar Rice Burroughs as the most influential and most copied author of the 20th Century.
 
white avenger said:
Burroughs has always been popular in both Europe and Asia and remains so to this day (which might also explain why the movie did much better in those markets than domestic) from almost as soon as he was first published. I don't think that it would be a terribly great stretch of the imagination to say that Kurosawa would have been familiar with Burroughs' work, and, while the single swordsman prevailing against incredible odds, I do recall a scene in "The Gods Of Mars," first published in 1913, in which Carter defeated a room filled with no less than 50 adversaries. And all that impossible jumping that seems so common in all of the chop sockey movies of the70's and 80's certainly would be something that Carter did fairly often in the Mars books.

Far be it from me to say that Burroughs' influence is QUITE that great, but both Asimov and Moorcock have, on more than one occasion, referred to Edgar Rice Burroughs as the most influential and most copied author of the 20th Century.
Click to expand...
I cannot see a parallel between John Carter and The Hidden Fortress at all. Honestly. Just as I don't see a parallel between George Lucas' Star Wars draft and John Carter. It wasn't until his wife at the time made the changes that it became more 'John Carterish'. His original Star Wars was rather dull and drab. Everything 'fun' about Star Wars was not George Lucas doing.
 
Mr. Pole said:
I cannot see a parallel between John Carter and The Hidden Fortress at all. Honestly. Just as I don't see a parallel between George Lucas' Star Wars draft and John Carter. It wasn't until his wife at the time made the changes that it became more 'John Carterish'. His original Star Wars was rather dull and drab. Everything 'fun' about Star Wars was not George Lucas doing.
Click to expand...

Are you referring primarily to the film version of John Carter only, or are you familiar with the10 books in the series written by Burroughs? While I am not exceedingly familiar with any of Kurosawa's films except"The Seven Samurai," and possibly "Yojimbo," I can see parallels in both of those movies to the stories and characters created by Burroughs decades earlier, and I only said "familiar with," Burroughs work, not "copied," "cloned," or "ripped off."

As for Lucas, he, himself, has said that Burroughs was an influence for the "Star Wars" series, and there are definite parallels, from the "banths" and flyers of Barsoom and the "banthas" and totally improbable vehicles of tatooine, plus the similar warrior culture, with its improbable codes of conduct. Lucas doesn't have to be a good writer to be influenced by a great one.
 
white avenger said:
As for Lucas, he, himself, has said that Burroughs was an influence for the "Star Wars" series, and there are definite parallels, from the "banths" and flyers of Barsoom and the "banthas" and totally improbable vehicles of tatooine, plus the similar warrior culture, with its improbable codes of conduct. Lucas doesn't have to be a good writer to be influenced by a great one.
Click to expand...
None of which were his ideas. Which is why I said that I didn't feel Lucas' Star Wars was influenced by it.

I am not familiar with all ten. I think the first four or five. There are on a Kindle somewhere. I read them years before the movie was made.
 
Mr. Pole said:
None of which were his ideas. Which is why I said that I didn't feel Lucas' Star Wars was influenced by it.

I am not familiar with all ten. I think the first four or five. There are on a Kindle somewhere. I read them years before the movie was made.
Click to expand...

How do you know that out of interest? Chances are you're right, as I don't really think he brings much to the table at all creative wise.

Are they no longer available all in book form then?
 
You can still get most of them from Amazon (for free, last I checked)

Oh there was a big deal made about it. His wife Marcia was the editor.. she worked with Coppola and Scorsese, won awards, etc. So much of it was her doing. Hamil credits her with alot. There have been books written about it. Lucas even admitted it, so it's not a secret. She also was instrumental in putting together Raiders of the Lost Ark. She is an unsung great.
scorsese
 
Last edited:
Mr. Pole said:
You can still get most of them from Amazon (for free, last I checked)

Oh there was a big deal made about it. His wife Marcia was the editor.. she worked with Coppola and Scorsese, won awards, etc. So much of it was her doing. Hamil credits her with alot. There have been books written about it. Lucas even admitted it, so it's not a secret. She also was instrumental in putting together Raiders of the Lost Ark. She is an unsung great.
scorsese
Click to expand...

What the screenplay for Raiders?
 
Not per se.. but more or less a script doctor. She added the love story aspect. Indy meeting Marion at the end of the movie. Indy being vulnerable not the stereotypical hero of the time.. there were a few other bits that I cant remember. Basically she added the heart of the movie.
 
Thanks I'll have to read up on some of this. Guess it does make sense. Those were some of the best aspects of Raiders, and Philip Kaufman is more known for his directing than screenwriting. Does sound a bit of a mess before she came in.
 
Mr Trick said:
Thanks I'll have to read up on some of this. Guess it does make sense. Those were some of the best aspects of Raiders, and Philip Kaufman is more known for his directing than screenwriting. Does sound a bit of a mess before she came in.
Click to expand...
She was the one that convinced them to cast Pacino in Godfather, no one else wanted him. That's why I said so many of these movies owe alot to her (for the most part) uncredited work.
 
Mr. Pole said:
She was the one that convinced them to cast Pacino in Godfather, no one else wanted him. That's why I said so many of these movies owe alot to her (for the most part) uncredited work.
Click to expand...

Oh, is that who is she! I remember her from the documentary about The Godfather. I do think her persuasion to cast Pacino in The Godfather probably attributed to him being cast in Dog Day Afternoon a few years later, which is like one if my favourite films ever.
 
Skanky Vamp
Skanky Vamp
It probably attributed to him having a career period!
That's why Jedi was poor, and Temple of Doom was dark as the divorced after Empire. He took out his melancholy in Temple of Doom.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom