Stephen King's Epic "The Dark Tower" - Part 1

[DarthSkywalker]

Yeah, I think my original instinct on this was right. This is probably not going to go well.

 

[Marvolo]

Gunslinger looks like his dancing a jig to some catchy tune.

 

[terry78]

Didn't even need to put their visages on the posters. Just popular venues or artifacts the series is known for.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Gunslinger looks like his dancing a jig to some catchy tune.

Now I can't get the idea of him dabbing out of my head.

 

[Marvolo]

Just noticed that his gun barrels are glowing blue. Do they do that in the books?

 

[FunkMiller]

Ugh. This thing is starting to look worse and worse.

They're turning a grim, post apocalyptic western fantasy into a science-fiction action flick, from the looks of those sneak peeks.

This movie should look like The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, not The Matrix.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Ugh. This thing is starting to look worse and worse.

They're turning a grim, post apocalyptic western fantasy into a science-fiction action flick, from the looks of those sneak peeks.

This movie should look like The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, not The Matrix.

The movies should start out looking very western, and progress into something of a western/sci-fi hybrid.

 

[Marvolo]

Considering those are old style revolvers I think it would be much better looking if the magic of the barrels glowed red instead of blue. Like the magic is super heating the barrel and the bullet. The blue they went with looks like something out of World of Warcraft.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Yeah, not confident in this one at all, shame as the books adapted correctly could be something special. We will probably have to wait a long while for a good adaptation now.

 

[Drizzle]

Gunslinger looks like his dancing a jig to some catchy tune.

Now I can't get the idea of him dabbing out of my head.

You could literally photoshop him into the "Gaston" dance number from Beauty and the Beast and he'd fit right in.

 

[FunkMiller]

The movies should start out looking very western, and progress into something of a western/sci-fi hybrid.

Also, where the hell is Walter supposed to be in all that snow and ice? It's literally the exact opposite of the kind of landscape this movie should have - broad, sweeping vistas of a hot, barren world that has moved on.

...Okay, I know I'm not aware of the context, but this all just seems the wrong aesthetic for this project. Roland has gone from a thin, gaunt shadow of a man to a big broad beefy movie star, and Walter has gone from scraggly bearded pale joker in a black hood, to David Bowie's cousin.

Everything looks like it's been designed by a committee of people who have looked at every sci-fi movie recently and taken their cues from them - instead of concentrating on creating a bleak, desolate world of cruel beauty and stark choices, which should be the world of The Dark Tower.

Ah well. It's just another cycle, isn't it?

 

[jfurioso]

I read three novels of this series and cannot remember anything of the third book except that I was bored nearly to tears. It made me want to read some Kant for relief.

I hope this is self-contained enough that does not make it necessary to pick up those books again.

 

[Marvolo]

Also, where the hell is Walter supposed to be in all that snow and ice? It's literally the exact opposite of the kind of landscape this movie should have - broad, sweeping vistas of a hot, barren world that has moved on.

...Okay, I know I'm not aware of the context, but this all just seems the wrong aesthetic for this project. Roland has gone from a thin, gaunt shadow of a man to a big broad beefy movie star, and Walter has gone from scraggly bearded pale joker in a black hood, to David Bowie's cousin.

Everything looks like it's been designed by a committee of people who have looked at every sci-fi movie recently and taken their cues from them - instead of concentrating on creating a bleak, desolate world of cruel beauty and stark choices, which should be the world of The Dark Tower.

Ah well. It's just another cycle, isn't it?

The film isnt an adaption of the first book. The films are meant to act like a sequel for the books. If youve read the books or read spoilers about the end of the books you know

Spoiler

things sorta start over at the end of book 7 and he is going to go to the Tower again. The films are meant to show that next journey so in the films he will do some different things, go different places at different times, and wont meet the same people at the time or at all.

 

[childeroland]

Just noticed that his gun barrels are glowing blue. Do they do that in the books?

No. They're made of blue grey steel but they don't glow.

 

[Solidus]

Also, where the hell is Walter supposed to be in all that snow and ice? It's literally the exact opposite of the kind of landscape this movie should have - broad, sweeping vistas of a hot, barren world that has moved on.

...Okay, I know I'm not aware of the context, but this all just seems the wrong aesthetic for this project. Roland has gone from a thin, gaunt shadow of a man to a big broad beefy movie star, and Walter has gone from scraggly bearded pale joker in a black hood, to David Bowie's cousin.

Everything looks like it's been designed by a committee of people who have looked at every sci-fi movie recently and taken their cues from them - instead of concentrating on creating a bleak, desolate world of cruel beauty and stark choices, which should be the world of The Dark Tower.

Ah well. It's just another cycle, isn't it?

There is a lot of barren waste, but not all. There are vast forests in this, snow peaked mountains, beautiful fields alongside the destruction as well.

Though I'm more concerned about this project for how long it took them to release any footage officially. I mean the director is pretty good, the books are amazing, so I hope it defies the expectation I'm feeling. Sony is just a train wreck when it comes to films. Hopefully this ends up like Rise of the Planet of the Apes that did not release any footage until mid April and released in August, but with Sony....sigh. If it does fail, I really hope someone else picks up the rights. I've waited a long time to see this series brought to life.

 

[FunkMiller]

The film isnt an adaption of the first book. The films are meant to act like a sequel for the books. If youve read the books or read spoilers about the end of the books you know

Spoiler

things sorta start over at the end of book 7 and he is going to go to the Tower again. The films are meant to show that next journey so in the films he will do some different things, go different places at different times, and wont meet the same people at the time or at all.

Yeah... I've read the Tower cycle three times, thankee sai. And I know he now has the [BLACKOUT]horn of eld.[/BLACKOUT].. but that doesn't really excuse such a huge aesthetic shift. I know events will play out differently, but to jettison the aesthetics and story as established so brilliantly in the books for this by the numbers, sci-fi/cgi look, is just wrong IMO.

The man in black still flees across the desert, and the gunslinger still follows. The world has still moved on, and the trans engines have still stopped. I'd like to see all that actually presented to me on screen in a way that is faithful to the books. '[BLACKOUT]It's a new cycle!"[/BLACKOUT] is not a good enough excuse for such a huge shift in tone and narrative, and my confidence levels are not high.

I hope to be proved wrong.

 

[Victarion]

That snow could mean that Walter is in the White Lands of Empathica. Just past the Discordia Badlands, just before the Scarlet Fields of Can Ka No Rey where the Tower stands.

I miss Lud. The god drums. Bodies hanging from the lamp posts. Crazy city folk holding lotteries to see who'd be hung as tribute to the god drums. Lud would've been something on the big screen.

 

[Marvolo]

The Dark Tower series needed directors like Mangold, Reeves, Rian Johnson, Nolan, Ridley Scott on his A game, Bryan Fuller, David Fincher, Denis Villeneuve, Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuaron,
Guillermo Del Toro, or someone of that caliber and with vision.

 

[FunkMiller]

Sorry, to me, this looks horrible.

Full trailer -

https://youtu.be/GjwfqXTebIY

 

[Zant]

Not too bad, but can't see it being appealing enough to be a hit. SONY just can't catch a break huh

 

[FunkMiller]

Not too bad, but can't see it being appealing enough to be a hit. SONY just can't catch a break huh

They're chasing the big blockbuster market. This is comprehensively the wrong thing to do for a Dark Tower movie. It should have been low budget, gritty, arty, simple and brutal. Instead they're trying to compete with Marvel.

It's probably going to be PG 13, for crying out loud

 

[Alien Anal]

Yeh was pretty underwhelmed by this trailer. Just felt like another marvel/every other action adventure film.

 

[DeadStroke]

In a way this movie suffers from coming out the same year as Logan.

Even though I think that movie is overrated it did nail the western/sci fi angle pretty well. It knew what it wanted to be so you appreciated it more.

Could be decent though.

 

[FunkMiller]

In a way this movie suffers from coming out the same year as Logan.

Even though I think that movie is overrated it did nail the western/sci fi angle pretty well. It knew what it wanted to be so you appreciated it more.

Could be decent though.

True. The aesthetics and tone of Logan would have suited The Dark Tower extremely well. Bleak, low key, dramatically resonant with powerful character study.. this suits Roland's journey more than explosive shoot-outs, magic powers, and cliched dialogue.

 

[DeadStroke]

I actually like the trailer. It just looks too neat and clean. At its worst it looks like one of those Paul Bettany sci fi movies from about 6 to 8 years ago. Priest and Legion.

Cast here looks great so I think it can still be very watchable.