March 9, 2012

The film is based on the first story to feature John Carter, a character from A Princess of Mars, which was first serialized in 1912 and first published as a novel in 1917. John Carter is an American Civil War veteran who is transplanted to Mars (Barsoom) where he discovers a diverse planet whose inhabitants include 12-foot tall green barbarians. Formerly an Earthlike world, Barsoom became less hospitable to life due to its advanced age: as the oceans evaporated, and the atmosphere thinned, the planet devolved into partial barbarism with the inhabitants hardened and warlike, fighting one another to survive. Along his journey he meets Tars Tarkas and rescues a humanoid Red Martian princess, Dejah Thoris, from the belligerent four-armed Green Martians, whose respect he gains for his superior strength and fighting ability. He enlists the Green Martians’ assistance in winning a civil war, and saves Mars from destruction when its atmosphere plant malfunctions