One of the top 2 movies of 2012, John Carter is the must-have DVD for this week. Disney really messed up bad with their marketing strategy, and just who’s bright idea was it to drop the Of Mars out of the title? But even after only making 30 Million its opening weekend domestically, it did end up pulling in 282 Million all in so far, with a total price tag of 250 Million, so it ended up making a decent profit. Perhaps if DVD sales are good enough to raise the total still farther they will go ahead and make the next movie in the series. I have already ordered my five copies, how about you? And if you were wondering, so far this year the only movie I have seen better than John Carter is The Avengers.
Also out this week, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island is a fun little followup to 2008’s Journey To The Center Of The Earth, this time starring Dwayne Johnson. Like John Carter, this movie is based on a book over a hundred years old which still has a story worth telling. Let’s face it, Jules Verne and Edgar Rice Burroughs were both excellent storytellers and Verne at least also had a firm understanding of scientific extrapolation. Finally, the original 1963 version of 13 Assassins is being released in the US this week, so if you have seen the 2010 remake of the film you should consider going back to the original to get a feel for how Japanese film making has evolved over the last 50 years.
In TV, Falling Skies: The Complete First Season is about the survivors of the conquest of Earth fighting back against the alien invaders, which runs on the TNT Network. Arn, The Knight Templar: The Complete Series is more of a miniseries than a full TV show, at 258 minutes long. There was a shortened version of this Middle Ages Epic Fantasy previously released in the US as a movie formatted story, that was 133 minutes long.
In Anime, Hero Tales: The Complete Series is about a star reborn as a human warrior who uses his celestial fighting skills to protect the citizens from their evil and violent Shogun. While Kurenai: The Complete Collection tells the story of a martial arts master with major negotiation skills in the battle of his life, trying to protect a wealthy 7 year old from her murderous family. Strangely enough, this one is more of a comedy than anything else according to the reports; I have yet to see it myself.