Stephen King's Epic "The Dark Tower" - Part 2

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[Silvermoth]

It looks fantastic! I think they'll take some liberties but that's ok as long as they stick to the same themes

 

[FunkMiller]

It looks fantastic! I think they'll take some liberties but that's ok as long as they stick to the same themes

..and they'll explain all of those liberties away with the excuse that Roland carries the horn of eld this time around. Which, is both very clever, and total ********, at the same exact time.

...mind you, there's an awful lot about The Dark Tower storyline that needs changing for the movies, because some of it is just plain terrible. The self indulgent meta-wank Stephen King puts into the story rightly needs to be excised. The entire climax needs changing (no, not that bit... I mean everything that comes before it: "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"/ The sneetches / Patrick and his magic eraser... all just terrible). I'd be quite happy if they cut the character of Mordred completely, not least because of the way he dispatches a certain character like a little *****. Bloody 19 everywhere, to the point where it loses all meaning and just becomes an irritant...

I'm not keen on the way they've approached this from what I've seen in the trailer, but if they eventually get a chance to rectify all of those poor creative choices, then I'll think very highly of the film-makers.

 

[:eek:]

If they choose to have some kind of big battle a la Lord of the Rings as a climax, than I rather take the ending from the novels. Like it or not, at least it wasn't predictable, clichéd and unoriginal.

 

[Snakewise]

Love the shot of the Overlook Hotel.

 

[Guts]

Any shots of the taheen or can-toi that ya'll noticed?

My ideal DT lineup of directors:

The Gunslinger - Mangold

The Drawing of the Three - Nolan

The Wastelands - Lynch

Wizard and Glass - Eastwood

Wolves of the Calla - Darabont

Song of Susannah - Del Toro

The Dark Tower - Del Toro

While reading The Drawing of Three I thought of the gun fights from Django Unchained and Hateful 8 during the scene at Balazar's.

 

[TheFuture]

I haven't read the books but have read plenty about them. Even so.....the trailer didn't capture the visuals I would have imagined for this film.

 

[The Guard]

Jake's involvement does not speak of "The Gunslinger". It looks almost directly pulled from "The Waste Lands". Of course Walter is going to be there. Roland's quest is a Dark Tower thing, not simply a Gunslinger thing. I might be wrong, but I remember most of the Gilead stuff coming in "Wizard and Glass".

So there's some stuff from The Wastelands. Roland with a kid tagging along is a major part of The Gunslinger.

As far as Gilead goes, there's a whole subplot about Roland as a child training with Cort in The Gunslinger, isn't there?

I also mentioned mutliple times I wanted some GDT and Fury Road to this Western. But to label Leone generic western dhows a lack of knowledge of the spaghetti westerns. Which took the generic US western, and put a spin on it. Where they were shot also gave them a distinct look apart from the John Wayne and John Ford westerns. The hundreds that came out in Hollywood during the golden age.

I didn't label the Leone films "generic Westerns". I felt like I pretty clearly contextualized what I was talking about, but here it is again:

To attempt to recreate that feel would almost certainly result in what many now consider to be a "generic Western". It isn't new and exciting anymore. Though it can certainly be done well, it isn't considered all that clever or unique. It's been done many times since Leone did it.

I get wanting it to look more like a traditional Western at first with a slower reveal that there's more going on than it appears, and maybe the film will have that approach. I'm not sure how they would effectively market that to people who don't know what this stuff is, though, since they're trying to sell the concept of The Dark Tower universe, not just another Western. I suppose the trailer could have eased into it a bit more.

 

[X Knight]

I haven't read the books but have read plenty about them. Even so.....the trailer didn't capture the visuals I would have imagined for this film.

I'm in the same boat.

guess I expected a bit more visually? something more outlandish or "fantastical?"

I wasn't expecting the modern/real word stuff.

but it looks interesting.

 

[The Apocalypse]

Question for those who haven't read the books..

Would you prefer what you saw in the trailer or a post apocalyptic western and as the film progresses you notice more sci-fi elements being introduced

 

[The Infernal]

Question for those who haven't read the books..

Would you prefer what you saw in the trailer or a post apocalyptic western and as the film progresses you notice more sci-fi elements being introduced

I would say the latter.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

So there's some stuff from The Wastelands. Roland with a kid tagging along is a major part of The Gunslinger.

As far as Gilead goes, there's a whole subplot about Roland as a child training with Cort in The Gunslinger, isn't there?

Have you read the books? There is specific stuff, events that happens in each book. Like if you made The Fellowship of the Ring, and suddenly you had the trip to Mount Doom or Helm's Deep halt way through, having skipped the Mines of Moira or Rivendell, it would be a different story. If you were making Dune and Paul was God Emperor 25 mins in.

What they show from Jake in the trailer is either original material or from "The Waste Lands". I don't even think there was a Way Station or King's version of the Mines of Moira in the trailer, and honestly, I don't feel like going back to find out.

So how much Gunslinger is there really in that trailer?

I didn't label the Leone films "generic Westerns". I felt like I pretty clearly contextualized what I was talking about, but here it is again:

To attempt to recreate that feel would almost certainly result in what many now consider to be a "generic Western". It isn't new and exciting anymore. Though it can certainly be done well, it isn't considered all that clever or unique. It's been done many times since Leone did it.

I get wanting it to look more like a traditional Western at first with a slower reveal that there's more going on than it appears, and maybe the film will have that approach. I'm not sure how they would effectively market that to people who don't know what this stuff is, though, since they're trying to sell the concept of The Dark Tower universe, not just another Western. I suppose the trailer could have eased into it a bit more.

One, that is labeling Leone generic, even as it clearly does not bare simpler tone or look to classic American Westerns. Even still, not what I asked for. I asked specifically for something "weird". A western by way of weirdness, that clearly shows off the fantastical elements.

But on the generic front, this movie couldn't look more generic, down to the crappy filter. At least as something more Western inspired, it would look different compared to what it looks like now.

 

[Joe Von Zombie]

This **** gonna be Sony's Jonah Hex.

 

[X Knight]

Question for those who haven't read the books..

Would you prefer what you saw in the trailer or a post apocalyptic western and as the film progresses you notice more sci-fi elements being introduced

probably the latter.

 

[rogue trooper]

This **** gonna be Sony's Jonah Hex.

 

[FunkMiller]

Have you read the books? There is specific stuff, events that happens in each book. Like if you made The Fellowship of the Ring, and suddenly you had the trip to Mount Doom or Helm's Deep halt way through, having skipped the Mines of Moira or Rivendell, it would be a different story. If you were making Dune and Paul was God Emperor 25 mins in.

What they show from Jake in the trailer is either original material or from "The Waste Lands". I don't even think there was a Way Station or King's version of the Mines of Moira in the trailer, and honestly, I don't feel like going back to find out.

So how much Gunslinger is there really in that trailer?

I think the lumping in of so much stuff that isn't in the gunslinger speaks to both their lack of confidence in the existing narrative, and their desire to produce an audience friendly movie, full of action and cgi trickery.

Neither thing bodes well.

The first Dark Tower movie should be a slow burn, a meditation on obsession, and an exercise in effective world building, that concentrates on Jake and Roland's relationship... rather than telekinetic gun battles with Marten Broadcloak.

Logan proves that they could have done it right, and it's extremely irritating that they've just gone for a bog standard, generic looking action movie.

 

[FunkMiller]

Question for those who haven't read the books..

Would you prefer what you saw in the trailer or a post apocalyptic western and as the film progresses you notice more sci-fi elements being introduced

Definitely the latter... would have made a better, more original movie that would have stood out from the crowd.

 

[Flint Marko]

So McConaughey passed on Guardians 2 for this?

 

[The Guard]

I think the lumping in of so much stuff that isn't in the gunslinger speaks to both their lack of confidence in the existing narrative, and their desire to produce an audience friendly movie, full of action and cgi trickery.

Neither thing bodes well.

The first Dark Tower movie should be a slow burn, a meditation on obsession, and an exercise in effective world building, that concentrates on Jake and Roland's relationship... rather than telekinetic gun battles with Marten Broadcloak.

Logan proves that they could have done it right, and it's extremely irritating that they've just gone for a bog standard, generic looking action movie.

I think it speaks more to a reluctance to make more than say, a trilogy commitment to this, which is understandable, given the material. I think their approach is kind of clever, actually...intertwining possible TV stuff to flesh out the Gilead origins.

LOGAN, which lumped in a bunch of stuff that wasn't in the storyline it's adapted from, and utilized a good bit of action and CGI trickery, proves what now?

Question: How do we know there will be no slow burn elements to this film? In at least a similar fashion to the book, which also had some action and urgency.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

I think the lumping in of so much stuff that isn't in the gunslinger speaks to both their lack of confidence in the existing narrative, and their desire to produce an audience friendly movie, full of action and cgi trickery.

Neither thing bodes well.

The first Dark Tower movie should be a slow burn, a meditation on obsession, and an exercise in effective world building, that concentrates on Jake and Roland's relationship... rather than telekinetic gun battles with Marten Broadcloak.

Logan proves that they could have done it right, and it's extremely irritating that they've just gone for a bog standard, generic looking action movie.

Agreed, they could have made The Gunslinger for quite a low budget as well, reducing the risk of it failing. Then progressively and sensibly raise the budget for each movie. It should been gritty and dirty, not this polished blockbuster that trailer gave us.

 

[Neno_Kos]

Sony can't afford to themselves to do that. Their company is in risk. They need money, they need a huge hit, they need that blockbuster movie they keep making 10 years now and failing all over again every single time. So they spending money and waisting storylines to make generic garbage "$=(Z all this years trying to lure audience to give them their money.

They sadly arent interested in making FIRST good movies and then money. And even if they are, now they can't afford it to build a franchise with first small movie and keep raising budget for sequels . Specially now when they are so close to likely bankruptcy or at best selling their movie division.

 

[Joe Von Zombie]

I'm still confused as to how anyone could possibly even attempt to defend this project at this point. The trailer looks bad, the studio behind it is a complete mess. I get that these adaptions are always going to have the "its better than nothing" crowd and the "you haven't seen the full movie yet" crowd, but I can't go down that rabbit hole anymore.

I've been burned way too many times at this point. Sure, there are great films that have ****** trailers, but this is NOT going to be one of them. The faster this thing bombs and fades into oblivion, the sooner we can get a proper TV adaptation in a few years.

 

[Mysteryman]

So McConaughey passed on Guardians 2 for this?

Maybe for him, there were were meatier themes in the Dark Tower.

 

[Marvolo]

Well the Man in Black and the Dark Tower series certainly offers more to chew on than anything an MCU film can offer. And the Dark Tower is much more interesting than the MCU. So I undestand completely why he chose the Dark Tower series and the MIB character over GOTG 2 and the MCU. Unfortunately it seems a lot of quality was lost in the adaption process.