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

[Octoberist]

If Bardem was in the running and MOST people were okay with it (despite some fanboys), then Elba can do it.

 

[green]

Not the same at all.

 

[Roose Bolton]

Bardem, at least in terms of his Anton Chigurh ghoulish appearance was always closer to how I envisioned Marten Broadcloak than Roland.

 

[Victarion]

Bardem's too...bulky for Roland. I always pictured him as kind of gaunt and haggard. When they get to the taheen, they need to get the Jim Henson creature shop to work on them. I don't want them looking like the orcs in The Hobbit, or Bebop and Rocksteady in TMNT 2.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Someone spoiler tag the reason this is an issue, apparently. Never read much King outside of THE STAND. What dynamic is feared will be changed with Elba as the Gunslinger, and is it all that important an element in the first place? As I understand it, this is a sprawling series, and chances are, like most book adaptations, there will be changes galore.

 

[Victarion]

Spoilers for DT II

Spoiler

Detta accuses Eddie and Roland of raping her with their peckwoods and calling her a ****** *****. That's as much as I remember. She came from the 60's, when the Civil Rights movement was in full swing. Detta also had this thing where she'd go to honky tonks, blueball the white boys, and make fun of them for it. She got off on the danger. Its been a while since I read DT II, so that's why this is kinda scattered.

 

[Octoberist]

Also, I may have to add that King is a great writer. He's my favorite but I acknowledge the living hell that he's awful at writing minorities, gays, and (for the most part) women.

Like when I read Mr Mercedes, I cringed on how he wrote the young black teen who was the protagonist's side-kick. So on the nose with his 'vaudeville minstrel' act. A teen in the modern age would never pull that sort of thing.

So that's why I don't mind if Elba played Roland. Or Bardem.

People keep going 'we should get Eastwood's kid, or Timmy O' but that sort of archetype has existed so many times before that a guy like Elba can make Roland his own, and make Roland stand out.

 

[Roose Bolton]

It kind of feeds into the character's eventual trust of the group and that whole arc. Though apparently one of the older drafts of the script before it reached the Ron Howard camp made her white for some reason...

 

[Black Narcissus]

Someone spoiler tag the reason this is an issue, apparently. Never read much King outside of THE STAND. What dynamic is feared will be changed with Elba as the Gunslinger, and is it all that important an element in the first place? As I understand it, this is a sprawling series, and chances are, like most book adaptations, there will be changes galore.

Highly inspire after Clint in those spaghetti westerns flicks.

 

[Drz]

I don't get the Clint Eastwood argument, are you saying someone like Django Freeman can't be compared to a Clint Eastwood-type character by the end of Unchained?

 

[Roose Bolton]

That highly depends on what you classify as a "Clint Eastwood-type character". For instance, Django was nothing like the Preacher from Pale Rider, whom Roland is probably closer to.

 

[Rowsdower!]

I don't get the Clint Eastwood argument, are you saying someone like Django Freeman can't be compared to a Clint Eastwood-type character by the end of Unchained?

It's mentioned in the story that he looks like Eastwood in the "Man with No Name" trilogy and, if I'm interpreting it right, it's because our world is unknowingly influenced by Mid-World in art. For example, (minor spoilers) Snitches (Harry Potter) and Dr. Doom (sort of) actually appear in Mid-World.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

Roland was also compared to the Terminator at one point in the books. Should we be upset because Arnold isn't in this?

 

[Roose Bolton]

He's only compared to the Terminator during the whole thing with Jack Mort.

 

[Rowsdower!]

He's only compared to the Terminator during the whole thing with Jack Mort.

Yeah. It's a reference to how Mort is acting like a robot because Roland is controlling him.

 

[The Apocalypse]

I'm reading that they casted Idris Elba to play Roland. I'll post the link in a second. I'm on mobile.

 

[The Apocalypse]

http://deadline.com/2015/12/idris-elba-the-dark-tower-stephen-king-matthew-mcconaughey-1201663530/

Also, spoilers for 4th and 5th books...

Spoiler

I'm almost to the end of the 5th book. Up to Jake and Father Callahan. Did anyone else find it ridiculous that they fought Doombots that had snitches from Harry Potter and Lightsabers? And the fact that King wrote himself into the novels? I really didn't mind it too much but I'm wondering about the overall reception that got.

 

[Victarion]

Spoiler

I didn't mind the Wolves, though the pop culture stuff will make more sense when you get to Devar Toi. King's segment was interesting...my biggest worry was that he'd given them an easy ride to the Tower.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

He's only compared to the Terminator during the whole thing with Jack Mort.

That's what I said.

 

[Roose Bolton]

That's what I said.

Then you'll know that it doesn't refer to Roland's appearance.

 

[Sawyer]

https://***********/StephenKing/status/675472836455227393

 

[Whiskey Tango]

Then you'll know that it doesn't refer to Roland's appearance.

Cut me some slack, it was 7 am.

 

[ares834]

https://***********/StephenKing/status/675472836455227393

 

[Octoberist]

Good for King.

 

[wnjcwjkk]

http://deadline.com/2015/12/idris-elba-the-dark-tower-stephen-king-matthew-mcconaughey-1201663530/

Also, spoilers for 4th and 5th books...

Spoiler

I'm almost to the end of the 5th book. Up to Jake and Father Callahan. Did anyone else find it ridiculous that they fought Doombots that had snitches from Harry Potter and Lightsabers? And the fact that King wrote himself into the novels? I really didn't mind it too much but I'm wondering about the overall reception that got.

Yeah, I was not a big fan of that at all. Or his letter to the fans before the final chapter. There was some good stuff in the final three books, but I feel like he felt rushed to finish it after his accident and didn't do a very good job at all. The first four books were great, I loved the backstory in Wizard And Glass, was not a fan of Blaine The Rhyming Train (can't remember, but didn't he specifically state in the book that Blaine looked like Thomas The Tank Engine?)

I also thought King did a terrible job handling the three major villains, especially The Crimson King (that final confrontation was awful) and The Man In Black. I hope they deviate from the books quite a bit, particularly after the halfway point, leave King completely out of the story and remake the Crimson King as a totally different character, and it has potential to make a really great series.