Product Details

• Actors: Traci Lords, Jr. Antonio Sabato, Matt Lasky
• Directors: Mark Atkins
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Asylum Home Ent
• DVD Release Date: December 29, 2009
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002RUNJCW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #46,694 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

PRINCESS OF MARS - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

61 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Princess of Schtick, December 29, 2009

By 

Paul Garrett (Fort Worth Texas USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Princess of Mars (DVD)

I cannot accept the fact that I waited over 50 years to see a film adaptation of my favorite childhood book and this came out first. Save yourself the agony and ignore this ridiculous piece of drek. It bears so little resemblance to the written story that it could be called by another title and no one would suspect that it had its origins in an ERB novel. I shouldn't even mention the acting. I'm sure they were doing their best and it would be cruel to discuss in any more detail. If this thing wasn't so pitiful I would be angry. The up side is that it will most certainly disappear quickly.

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Edgar Rice Burroughs would roll in his grave., January 27, 2010

By 

Catherine Douglas "Cat" (Brandon, MS United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Princess of Mars (DVD)

I was hoping for something more closely faithful to the book. Antonio Sabato, could probably have pulled off John Carter, but Traci Lords as the Princess of Mars? Please? The princess of mars was young, deeply tanned and petite, but voluptuous. The creatures of mars were larger and six legged. The non-human species were green, much taller and had four arms.

If you like B-Class sci/fi fantasies with bad special effects, which normally I do find amusing, you might like it. Me, I am an Edgar Rice Burroughs fan and would love to see movies that followed the books in their truest form.

We have the technology. James Cameron?

37 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An interesting film, January 1, 2010

By 

JJ Conway (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Princess of Mars (DVD)

If you are looking for a great adaptation of "Princess of Mars," you're going to have to wait a while longer because it is NOT here. That doesn't mean this DVD should be immediately discounted, though.

This film is pretty incompetently made. The shots are weak, the editing is poor, and the acting is very stiff. It does, however, provide an interesting adaptation of "Princess of Mars," considering that a 200+ page novel with a lighting quick pace was slimmed down to 90 minutes with a shoestring budget. They did a good job picking a choosing which story elements to focus on and which to cut out. The also did a decent job stringing all of these together in the plot (I hesitate to call it a "story"). It does not feel as if scenes are missing from the flim, like in some of the "Harry Potter" films where scenes from the novels are kept to appease the fans, but crucial setup FOR that scene is omitted. The addition of spiders is somewhat confounding, though...

What works particularly well is the integration of the air pumping station, which I feel is weak and disjointed in the novel. In the book, John Carter stumbles upon it when he escapes from the Green Martians, and later it also serves as a strange, second climax at the end of the book. The scene is totally disjointed and literally takes place 10 years after the rest of the central conflict. In this adaptation, the station serves a more central role in the plot and the central conflict is resolved here. I think the best touch in this adaptation is the distrust the Tharks have of the station. The Tharks think it is a lie when the Red Martians say all life Barsoom depends on this air pumping station; a lie told only to hold power over the Tharks. I like that spin on the source material.

The reason to own this DVD is the great "Making of" featurette that runs about 10 minutes. It shows the shortcuts they used to get this film completed with twelve, yes, TWELVE days of shooting. "Little Miss Sunshine" shot for a month and that was considered an insanely short shooting schedule. Watching the film with the context given in the featurette serves as a very interesting learning tool for aspiring filmmakers such as myself, showing what can be done with a shoestring budget and how to do it.

So overall, the film gets a nice 2/5, saved only by its good story-editing choices.
The DVD features get a 4/5 for the featurette.

Average, 3/5.