observation notes: Princess of Mars

The Asylum's tie-in to the biggest money-maker of all time, Avatar, is based on the same root source, John Carter of Mars, by Tarzan-creator Edgar Rice Burroughs. The story here concerns an American soldier (Antonio Sabato Jr., "Earth 2," "The Bold and the Beautiful") who finds himself transported via ground-breaking technology to the Red Planet (Mars, j.i.c.), where he lands right smack in the middle of a skirmish between clashing alien races, including the still-hot Traci Lords (Cry Baby, Dragstrip Girl) as the titular princess.

As John Carter, Sabato plays the role with his usual approachable man-beauty and affable charm. One might think given the chain of events he witnesses, he'd be a little more freaked, but the consummate-soldier, he rolls with the punches with easy believability. 

Traci Lords is fierce and cold - appropriately Martian - but with an emotional core that, like everything else alive in the universe, is only longing for love. The is the best I've seen Ms. Lords in a long time, if ever. She's perfect for the role of a intimidatingly-beautiful and equally-powerful regent, a kind of Gwyneth Paltrow with balls and actual sex appeal (no offense, Coldplay). Rounding out the cast is Chacko Vadaketh as the baller and viciously ruthless nemesis of John Carter, and Matt Lasky, who although he never see his face for makeup, is the most human character in the film. Worth noting that John Carter of Mars is itself being made into a movie for release next year; Lasky will also appear in that film. No doubt his work here gave him a leg up in the audition. Tomas Boykin of Winchester House also makes a brief appearance as the officer who introduces ASj to the Avatar-esque program.


After watching this, Battle of Los Angeles, Winchester House and Evil Eyes all in the span of a month or so, I'm pretty high on writer/director/editor/cinematographer Mark Atkins right now. For my money, there isn't a better military-action direction at The Asylum, and as far as cinematography goes, this guy makes everything beautiful, even - especially - that which inherently is not. And this, Princess of Mars, is one of the best-looking Asylum films I've ever seen. A good eye is everything in filmmaking, and Mark Atkins has two. 


The FX are amazing by Asylum standards. The spacecraft, the creatures, aliens and interstellar skyscapes are all standouts, but the real technical winner for me is the slightly-sepia filter through which Atkins shot the Mars scenes; against the craggy desert landscape it creates the perfect foreign-yet-familiar environment. Kudos to the art direction, production design, costume and make-up departments as well, all of whom contribute to making this a visually arresting production and, in my estimation, one of the most - if not the most - lavish and impressive Asylum productions to date. This is not at all your average DtV sci-fi flick; it's an intelligent and inventive thriller, and mark Atkins best script to date (keeping in mind I've yet to work through his dragon epics).


And it's the god's honest truth that I enjoyed it more than Avatar, though that comes with the caveat that I never liked James Cameron after T2. Take from it what you will, but see this movie.

From The Asylum Library: Edgar Rice Burroughs

Every now and again, as is true of most motion picture studios, The Asylum will look toward the world of letters for inspiration. The public domain offers an array of spectacular, action-packed, thrilling, and - most importantly - free works ripe for the updating. In this occasional column, I'll take a look at the literary giants from which The Asylum has borrowed. Today, we look at the man responsible for two Asylum films to date, but perhaps he's best known as the creator of that crazy vine-swinging white dude in the jungle, Tarzan; Mr. Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Notice how the parrot"s mean-mugging the camera?

Mr. Burroughs, a native Chicagoan, was born ten years after the end of the Civil War to a retired Union Colonel and his wife. For the first part of his life it seemed E.R. was destined to follow in his father's footsteps, attending several military academies as a child and adolescent. But when it came time to take the entrance exam to West Point, old E.R. didn't cut the mustard, and failed the exam. This lead him to join the military as an enlisted man, but this too was to be a brief acceptance: shortly after, he was diagnosed with a heart condition that made him ineligible for service. So to the private sector E.R. was cast.


What followed were years of aimlessness and low-paying jobs, a passionless existence for E.R. but for the introduction and acquisition of one Emma Centennia Hulbert as his wife. 

But then one night, while working as a pencil sharpener - yep, that used to be a job - E.R. discovered the Pulp Magazines and their seedy little stories inside. Though not impressed with the material, E.R. was taken by how popular they were, giving him one of the greatest reasons ever for deciding to become a writer:

"...[I knew that] if people were paid for writing rot such as I read in some of those magazines, that I could write stories just as rotten. As a matter of fact, although I had never written a story, I knew absolutely that I could write stories just as entertaining and probably a whole lot more so than any I chanced to read in those magazines."

Now, taken by itself, this is a pretty cocky statement. But when you realize that's exactly what old E.R. proceeded to do, it's kinda baller. 

Over the next 40 years, E.R. would write more than 80 novels and short stories, creating some of the finest and most-enduring literature of the 20th Century across a variety of genres: adventures series like "Tarzan," sci-fi series like the "John Carter" or "Pellucidar" novels, western and historical novels, etc. Along with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and H.R. Haggard, the man practically invented - certainly exemplified - the adventure novel. So influential was he, in fact, that there's a freaking crater on Mars named for the dude. A crater. On Mars.


As for E.R. and The Asylum, to date they have adapted two of his novels, both in 2009: Mark Atkins' adaptation of Princess of Mars (also the inspiration for James Cameron's Avatar as well as the upcoming John Carter of Mars, the live-action directorial debut of Andrew Stanton, writer/director of Finding Nemo and Wall-E), and the C. Thomas Howell-helmer The Land That Time Forgot. 


In regards to these films, or rather their source materials, there are sequels to both: there are 11 novels in the "Barsoom" series, of which Princess of Mars is the first, and The Land That Time Forgot is the first part of what Burroughs called his "Caspak Trilogy," followed therefore by two sequels, The People That Time Forgot and Out of Time's Abyss. So somebody get Antonio Sabato Jr. oiled up and lasso C. Thomas Howell back to the helm, cuz these are movies just waiting to be made, folks!


So much more than just the man who gave us Tarzan, the work of Edgar Rice Burroughs is thrilling in a way comparable novels written today can't be; they come with a sense of true exploration, the genuine wonder that comes from living in a world you can't entirely know, of there still being secrets to parts of your very planet - a foreign concept to most of us today.


Great for kids, thrilling still to adults, download you some free ERB today. God bless public domain!

inmate RE-profile: Mark Atkins

In honor of the impending SyFy Premiere of the latest Asylum production, Battle of Los Angeles, Saturday, March 12th at 9pm, I thought I'd update and re-post the inmate profile I did on the versatile Mark Atkins, BoLA's writer/director/cinematographer.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a harder working dude in The Asylum's stable than Mark Atkins. Director, editor, writer and cinematographer, Atkins has had a hand in a plethora of Asylum productions. Check out these stats:

• cinematographer of 23 films (too numerous to list here, but check out his IMDB for deets)
• director of 8 (Halloween Night, Allan Quatermain..., Merlin and the War of Dragons, Dragonquest, Haunting of Winchester House, Princess of Mars and BoLA)
• editor of 7
• writer of 3 (Haunting of Winchester House, Princess of Mars, BoLA)
• visual effects for 3
• second unit director for 2

A graduate of the University of Central Florida, Atkins' first film, Night Orchid, won the Best First Feature Film award at the New Orleans Film Festival in 1997. Since then he has worked - as far as films are concerned - almost exclusively with The Asylum, which makes him not only an Original Inmate, but a true American hero. However, recently he has plied his many talents away from Asylum walls, though not devoid of Asylum faces: he worked as a cinematographer on Anthony Fankhauser's upcoming Shadow People and he's directed a film I'm stoked to see just based on the title, Sand Sharks, let alone the talent he's amassed for the film: Corin Nemic, Vanessa Lee Evigan (Journey to the Center of the Earth), and Brooke Hogan, among others. 

Seems you just can't keep Mark Atkins still.

If you still remember how to use MySpace, check him out here. Or if that's too antiquated for you, hit up his production website for more info on this champion behind the scenes.

And don't forget to check out his latest effort, Battle of Los Angeles, starring Kel Mitchell and Nia Peeples, Saturday, March 12th at 9pm.

Mark Atkins, consider yourself saluted. Again.