History Film / JohnCarter

* GoldFever: Early in the film, a disillusioned John's only real concern is finding a cave of gold somewhere in Arizona. [[spoiler:In a cruel twist towards the end, he gets it in his return to Earth.]] Spoiler: It's subverted however in that by the time Edgar was contacted, it's clear that John used the gold wisely, [[spoiler:mainly to fund archeological digs in the hopes of finding a way back to Mars/Barsoom.]] with enough to maintain a comfortable lifestyle.

* TheAgeless: The Therns do not die from old age, but can be killed. [[spoiler:Also, it seems that John Carter stops aging after his visit to Barsoom.]]

* AdaptationalVillainy: In the book, Powell was John's best friend from his days in the Confederate Army, and he and John journeyed to Arizona together to prospect for gold. In the movie, he's a {{jerkass}} Union Army colonel who arrests John and tries to force him to help the Army fight the Apache despite his objections.

** How Carter gets to Mars. In the books he projects himself there after inhaling some kind of witch's brew and it's never really explained until the end; in the movie, it's an effect of a piece of Thern technology he found on Earth (which is likely also the explanation for his agelessness).

** Inverted with how Carter gets to Mars. In the books he just projects himself there somehow and it's never really explained; in the movie, it's an effect of a piece of Thern technology he found on Earth (which is likely also the explanation for his agelessness, also unexplained in the books).

* MotiveRant: Subverted. Matai Shang gives one to John Carter, but it's highly disjointed and doesn't actually explain anything about the therns' motivations beyond revealing their AGodAmI attitude.

* MercyKill: Tharks destroy unhatched eggs, to ensure they're not eaten by the predators of Mars.

* PatrioticFervor: He willingly fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. But with the South's defeat [[spoiler:and his first wife's death]], he basically ceased to give a damn about everything. [[spoiler:Until he found a worthy cause in Mars.]]

* AdventurerArchaeologist: John takes on aspects of this after [[spoiler:he is sent back to Earth by the Therns and searches the world for a way to return.]]

* AlienBlood: Barsoomian life all appears to have bright blue blood. The filmmakers actually get away with some astonishingly gory scenes due to this.

* AllAnimalsAreDogs: Woola, the Tharks' guard-dog-lizard-thing. John refers to him as a dog when he finds it following him about. Woola has very doglike body language, and at one point makes a noise that is unmistakably a bark. [[spoiler:It's even an EvilDetectingDog - but John FailedASpotCheck.]]

* AmericanAccents: After capturing John Carter, Matai Shang guesses Carter's American origins based on his accent. He further narrows it down to Southern states when Carter calls him "sir" and finally settles on Virginia. This shows to Carter just how intimately the Therns know Earth.
* AmericanCivilWar: Referenced. John Carter is a former Confederate cavalryman and has trouble adapting to postwar life.

Reviews were mostly mixed though the usual sentiment is that it's a good-looking if average film. However the box office returns were very poor, ultimately bombing in the American market. [[http://www.optimum.net/News/AP/Article?fmId=55791414-lhL So much so that Disney Studio Chief, Rick Ross, resigned because of the failure]], and Disney estimated they'd lose about 200 million on it, [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18000362 making it one of the biggest flops of all time (when it comes to money lost).]] Fortunately, Disney was able to make up the loss with ''Film/TheAvengers'' three months later, and the film actually barely broke even.

** It's also implied that after they've finished strip-mining Barsoom, they're going to do the same to Earth, if they haven't started ''[[FridgeHorror already?!]]''

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Upon arriving on Barsoom, John seems to forget about Colonel Powell, last seen mortally wounded in a cave. [[spoiler: When John is banished to Earth at the end, he awakens in the cave to discover Powell's decaying skeleton. Well, what did you ''[[RealityEnsues expect]]'' happened to him?]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Upon arriving on Barsoom, John seems to forget about Colonel Powell, last seen mortally wounded in a cave. [[spiler: When John is banished to Earth at the end, he awakens in the cave to discover Powell's decaying skeleton. Well, what did you ''[[RealityEnsues expect]]'' happened to him?]]

* TimeSkip: By the time John Carter [[spoiler:was banished back to Earth]], the Yankee Colonel [[spoiler:was little more than a decaying skeleton]], implying that he'd be away for at least months.

* UngratefulBastard: John at first before he [[TookALevelInKindness takes a level in kindness]], since he ''[[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder repeatedly]]'' betrays the Tharks despite Tars saving his life several times. Tars finally has enough and [[WhatTheHellHero calls him out]] on it when his actions cause Sola to be sentenced to death, since she's held responsible for his actions.

* UngratefulBastard: John at first before he [[TookALevelInKindess takes a level in kindness]], since he ''[[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder repeatedly]]'' betrays the Tharks despite Tars saving his life several times. Tars finally has enough and [[WhatTheHellHero calls him out]] on it when his actions cause Sola to be sentenced to death, since she's held responsible for his actions.

* UngratefulBastard: John at first, since he ''[[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder repeatedly]]'' betrays the Tharks despite Tars saving his life several times. Tars finally has enough and calls him out on it when his actions cause Sola to be sentenced to death, since she's held responsible for his actions. [[TookALevelInKindness He gets better after that]].

* UngratefulBastard: John at first, since he ''[[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder repeatedly]]'' betrays the Tharks despite Tars saving his life several times. Tars finally has enough and calls him out on it when his actions cause Sola to be sentenced to death, since she's held responsible for his actions. [[TookALevelInKindness He later gets better]].

* PunchedAcrossTheRoom: John does this to a random Thark early in the film.

* BadassAbnormal: John is a competant fighter even on Earth.