Mark Strong


Title: John Carter

Format: Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Directed by: Andrew Stanton

Written by: Andrew Stanton, Mark Andrews, Michael Chabon

Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy, Willem Dafoe

Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment

Film Rating: ★★½☆☆

Blu-ray 3D Rating: ★★★☆☆

Review by: Bill Jones

The Film

John Carter may be best known in retrospect as a bad business decision. One that saw a lot of money spent and not nearly as much made. And that comes, I think, primarily from its source material.

John Carter is the kind of fiction that has attained a certain cult status – an incredibly loyal contingent of followers staunchly stand by the Edgar Rice Burroughs sci-fi adventure – but may be entirely unfamiliar to general audiences. And ultimately what happened is a group of those loyal followers pushed to get this made, and the mass audiences just weren’t there.

But that doesn’t necessarily speak to the quality of the film. Financial success doesn’t always speak to quality, of course, but in this case there does seem to be a connection. What John Carter struggles with most is finding, or creating, an identity for itself. By the end of 132 minutes, we’ve all seen a lot of fantastic things but are left caring about very little of it. (more…)

Mark Strong


Title: Green Lantern

Format: Blu-ray+DVD+Digital Copy

Directed by: Martin Campbell

Written by: Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim, Michael Goldenberg

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong

Studio: Warner Bros.

Film Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Blu-ray Rating: ★★½☆☆

Review by: Bill Jones

The Film

For the original review of the theatrical release of Green Lantern, click padsandpanels.com/?p=13877

The Blu-ray

Green Lantern has landed among the lower echelon of superhero films in recent years, reverting back to cheesy humor, overreliance on special effects and so forth. And the additional Blu-ray content does very little to add substance to the formula. (more…)

Mark Strong


Title: Green Lantern

Directed by: Martin Campbell

Written by: Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim, Michael Goldenberg

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong

Studio: Warner Bros.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Review by: Bill Jones

In a summer movie season that already saw the surprisingly good debut of Thor, and the unexpected resurgence of X-Men in First Class — both coming out of the Marvel camp — Green Lantern, DC Comics and Warner Bros. had their work cut out for them. But even if it were not for the high standards set by its summer predecessors, Green Lantern would be a letdown, whether the viewer is coming in as just a casual moviegoer or hardcore fan of the comics.

Green Lantern tells the tale of Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds), a test pilot who is granted the power to physically manifest anything he can see in his mind with the power of a green ring that chooses him after an alien crash lands on Earth. The ring gets its power from a titular green lantern, which derives its power from will, which is depicted in the color green. (more…)