After the sudden death of John Carter, a former American Civil War Confederate Army captain, his nephew Edgar Rice Burroughs (whom Carter called "Ned") attends the funeral. As per Carter's instructions, the body is put in a tomb that can only be unlocked from the inside; his attorney hands over Carter's personal journal for Ned to read, in the hope of finding clues explaining Carter's reason of death.
The film flashes back to the Arizona Territory, where Union Colonel Powell arrests Carter; Powell, knowing about Carter's military background, wants his help in fighting the Apache. However, Carter escapes, with the guards in pursuit. In an ensuing chase both Carter and Powell find themselves in a cave in which Carter had been looking for gold. A Thern appears in the cave at that moment; Carter kills him and, with the help of his medallion, is unknowingly transported to Barsoom (Mars). There, due to his different bone density and planet's low gravity, Carter is able to jump high and perform feats of incredible strength. He is captured by the Green Martian Tharks and their Jeddak (king) Tars Tarkas.
Elsewhere on Barsoom, the Red Martian cities of Helium and Zodanga have been at war for a thousand years. Sab Than, Jeddak of Zodanga, armed with a special weapon obtained from the Therns, proposes a cease-fire and an end to the war by marrying the Princess of Helium Dejah Thoris. The Princess makes an escape and is saved by Carter. Carter, Dejah and Tarkas' daughter Sola embark on a quest to get to the end of a sacred river to find a way for Carter to get back home. There they find information about the ninth ray, a means of utilizing infinite energy and also the key to understand how the medallion works, but they are attacked by the Thern leader Matai Shang and his minions, the Green men of Warhoon. After the attack, Carter is captured and is taken back with Dejah while Sola is able to escape. The demoralized Dejah grudgingly agrees to marry Sab Than, then gives Carter his medallion and tells him to go back to Earth. Carter decides to stay back and is captured by Shang, who tells him the purpose of Therns and how they manipulate the civilizations on different planets. Carter is able to make an escape and he and Sola go back to the Tharks and ask for their help. There they discover Tarkas has been overthrown by Tal Hajus. Tarkas, Carter and Sola are put on trial in a gladiatorial battle with two vicious ape-like creatures. After defeating them and killing Hajus, Carter becomes the leader of the Tharks.
The above taken from Wikipedia.
An illogical movie with a wild fantasy. There are a few moments where the storyline does not makes sense but I guess being a fantasy movie it doesn't matter. Especially since it was confirmed we can't breath the air in Mars but according to this movie, it is habitable. Also, after 10 years of disappearing from Mars, John Carter is confident his Princess wife will still be waiting for him? Hmmm... a Disney love story with an odd storyline... so odd it raised many reasonable doubts in me but in the end, I did enjoy it. Well, with such a handsome lead actor... a beautiful princess... what more can I asked for?
6 thumbs up out of 10
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