Am I the only one on this thread who actually enjoyed this movie? Anyone else?

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Edward John

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Totally disappointed. I was hoping for something along the lines of Once Upon a Time in the West. The movie was even close. And when Idris says,
“I do not aim with my hand; he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father," it soundedd totally hollow and fake.
When will they give director Peter Jackson a crack at The Dark Tower?

If there's one person that shouldn't do a Dark Tower movie its Peter Jackson, remember the lacklustre hobbit movies? If anything I wish it could have been Ron Howard. If there's a movie it should be close to its the man with no name trilogy or magnificent seven, a la - wolves of calla
 

Gerald

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What about that action sequence at the end though? The action was amazing. I think it did pretty well in establishing the Jake/Roland relationship, which is really the heart of the film, which isnt nesecarrily the case with the book series although it does play a role.

Oh yeah, there is some fun action. The thing is though, probably because the film is so short (it's exactly 90 minutes, INCLUDING the end title crawl), a lot of it was already seen in trailers and previews. When I finally watched the film, I never felt I saw something that I already hadn't seen somewhere before. It's possible I was so curious about the film I watched too many previews and things like that.
For example, I was also really, really curious about the remake of Suspiria from last year, and I watched endless clips of it, things people had put on Youtube and things like that. But this film is close to 2 and half hours, so when I finally watched it there were loads of new things and it still felt very fresh (well, about as fresh as exploding witches can be).

I just wish they had made the film longer and given more weight to it all. In the end it felt a bit like a pilot of a series (which in a way it was, a pilot for a theatrical series) and it does establish the Jake/Roland relation fairly well, but I don't think it does anything interesting with it, because by then the film is already over. It does indeed show how they meet, but still it remained superficial feeling to me.
I think the actors were good and there was potential, but I think it was mostly a question of there not being enough money. I felt the film was short because they just didn't have the money to do more. Mid-World never truly impresses and they spent very little time there before going back to New York. I surely have seen worse fantasy/action films - in general I have a feeling it remains a genre that's hard to do, there are few films of the calibre of Lord of the Rings. There is a very fine line in fantasy/action where it can go from feeling epic to feeling cheesy, and a lot of it has to do with the production values of the film, and production design and things like that.
The Dark Tower never crosses the line in becoming cheesy, but it doesn't become epic either. It falls in the middle, a fairly straight forward action film with a fantasy theme and a story that is hardly worked out further than the basic essentials.
 

prufrock21

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Totally disappointed. I was hoping for something along the lines of Once Upon a Time in the West. The movie wasn't even close. And when Idris says,
“I do not aim with my hand; he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father," it sounded totally hollow and fake.
When will they give director Peter Jackson a crack at The Dark Tower?

[/QUOTE
In fairness, I did like the scenes with the rapid fire and the rapid load. Just what you would expect from a master gunslinger.
 

Edward John

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Oh yeah, there is some fun action. The thing is though, probably because the film is so short (it's exactly 90 minutes, INCLUDING the end title crawl), a lot of it was already seen in trailers and previews. When I finally watched the film, I never felt I saw something that I already hadn't seen somewhere before. It's possible I was so curious about the film I watched too many previews and things like that.
For example, I was also really, really curious about the remake of Suspiria from last year, and I watched endless clips of it, things people had put on Youtube and things like that. But this film is close to 2 and half hours, so when I finally watched it there were loads of new things and it still felt very fresh (well, about as fresh as exploding witches can be).

I just wish they had made the film longer and given more weight to it all. In the end it felt a bit like a pilot of a series (which in a way it was, a pilot for a theatrical series) and it does establish the Jake/Roland relation fairly well, but I don't think it does anything interesting with it, because by then the film is already over. It does indeed show how they meet, but still it remained superficial feeling to me.
I think the actors were good and there was potential, but I think it was mostly a question of there not being enough money. I felt the film was short because they just didn't have the money to do more. Mid-World never truly impresses and they spent very little time there before going back to New York. I surely have seen worse fantasy/action films - in general I have a feeling it remains a genre that's hard to do, there are few films of the calibre of Lord of the Rings. There is a very fine line in fantasy/action where it can go from feeling epic to feeling cheesy, and a lot of it has to do with the production values of the film, and production design and things like that.
The Dark Tower never crosses the line in becoming cheesy, but it doesn't become epic either. It falls in the middle, a fairly straight forward action film with a fantasy theme and a story that is hardly worked out further than the basic essentials.

Good points. It probably could have benefited from a larger budget and run time. But you have to remember: the film was full of behind the scenes drama, they tried making multiple times over tha last decade or so, so the studio already put large amounts of money into it. Plus the director of the movie, Nikolaj Arcel, noted that his final edition of the movie had many scenes removed without his consent, from the studio executives. encourage you to try and find some of the extended scenes and bonus features, it makes for fascinating reading. I loved the stuff they did with Roland and his father and that relationship, I wish they would have expanded on it some more.
 

Deviancy

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I'm surprised you havent heard of Idris, he's probably one of the best in the buisiness. Especially in the US. I thought he was brilliant, but part of his brilliance, I fel - was different from the character in the book.

I looked up his resume and I see why I wasn't familiar with him, he has been in a ton of films but I've only seen one of them. I never could get through Prometheus, I tried but I'm just burnt out on the Alien franchise, I did watch all of Ghost Rider but I don't remember who he was in the film. To be fair, I don't watch a lot of modern day films.
 

Gerald

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Good points. It probably could have benefited from a larger budget and run time. But you have to remember: the film was full of behind the scenes drama, they tried making multiple times over tha last decade or so, so the studio already put large amounts of money into it. Plus the director of the movie, Nikolaj Arcel, noted that his final edition of the movie had many scenes removed without his consent, from the studio executives. encourage you to try and find some of the extended scenes and bonus features, it makes for fascinating reading. I loved the stuff they did with Roland and his father and that relationship, I wish they would have expanded on it some more.

But what was the reason for the removal of those scenes? Certainly we never see Susan and there was an actress cast for that (Alex McGregor). So that is most likely something that was removed.
Here they're talking about it. There was a dance scene (probably inspired by the dance scene at the Mayor's house in Hambry in Wizard and Glass) and during that Roland would think back about Susan:

 

Edward John

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But what was the reason for the removal of those scenes? Certainly we never see Susan and there was an actress cast for that (Alex McGregor). So that is most likely something that was removed.
Here they're talking about it. There was a dance scene (probably inspired by the dance scene at the Mayor's house in Hambry in Wizard and Glass) and during that Roland would think back about Susan:


I think they cast her, probably on a preliminary. they probably changed the script and Susan didn't appear in the script. I don't know, I would have left the Susan plot. I thought the Wizard in Glass was the weakest of all the novels in the series, still has its moments though. After a quick google search though, Alex McGregor seems like the perfect Susan Delgado, I think what helps is she is South African and that is where the vast majority of the production for the movie took place. I loved that the film focused on Roland's mad search for Walter, reminds me of the first novel. Plus Idris was brilliant.
 
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Gerald

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They also say Jake would have died in the original script. Would they really do that? That would mean there would never be a Ka-Tet with Susannah, Eddie and Jake, because the first two aren't even introduced yet in this film.

I wonder what they would have done, had the film been successful enough to do another one. Would they have stuck more or less to Drawing of the Three, introduce Eddie first and then Susannah? And would they have taken a whole movie for each, like they have taken a whole movie for Jake? And would they tell the films from their perspective rather than Roland's, just as they told it more from Jake's perspective in the first film?
 

Edward John

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They also say Jake would have died in the original script. Would they really do that? That would mean there would never be a Ka-Tet with Susannah, Eddie and Jake, because the first two aren't even introduced yet in this film.

I wonder what they would have done, had the film been successful enough to do another one. Would they have stuck more or less to Drawing of the Three, introduce Eddie first and then Susannah? And would they have taken a whole movie for each, like they have taken a whole movie for Jake? And would they tell the films from their perspective rather than Roland's, just as they told it more from Jake's perspective in the first film?

I never got the idea that they wanted a sequel, it seemed to be a self-contained story. Although, they may have introduced them later on. Its disapointing that they didnt make a sequel.
 

Gerald

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I never got the idea that they wanted a sequel, it seemed to be a self-contained story. Although, they may have introduced them later on. Its disapointing that they didnt make a sequel.

It was always intended as the first of a series. And the ending of Roland and Jake going back through the portal makes that very clear to me. Arcel said that during the series they planned to touch on everything from the books, although it was never meant as a literal adaptation.
 

Gerald

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Kind of hard to do follow up Dark Tower movie without Walter though. He essentially, in some in-direct ways, causes most of the events in the book.

I have no idea how they would have handled that. But it's what Arcel said when the movie came out. It was meant as an introductory movie.

It seems the reason why the film was cut down to its current length, is that the original cut was far more incoherent and confusing. And test audiences and the head at Sony hated it.

 

Edward John

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I have no idea how they would have handled that. But it's what Arcel said when the movie came out. It was meant as an introductory movie.

It seems the reason why the film was cut down to its current length, is that the original cut was far more incoherent and confusing. And test audiences and the head at Sony hated it.


It annoys me when directors listen to test audiences, the test audience in and of themselves is there to be critical, regardless of the quality. I would much rather have got the original edition of the movie. Directors shouldn't be undermined by studio execs or test audiences, if they feel strongly about the movie then they should stick up for it. Good points. I think we can agree in saying that the Dark Tower is the greatest fantasy series of all time, regardless of the ending.
 

Gerald

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It annoys me when directors listen to test audiences, the test audience in and of themselves is there to be critical, regardless of the quality. I would much rather have got the original edition of the movie. Directors shouldn't be undermined by studio execs or test audiences, if they feel strongly about the movie then they should stick up for it. Good points. I think we can agree in saying that the Dark Tower is the greatest fantasy series of all time, regardless of the ending.

I think there's too much money involved. If films could be made cheaper, the studios wouldn't worry so much and stick with the director's vision more. I don't know how they choose the participants of a test audience and if it's a good representation of different ages, gender etc.
 

Edward John

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I think there's too much money involved. If films could be made cheaper, the studios wouldn't worry so much and stick with the director's vision more. I don't know how they choose the participants of a test audience and if it's a good representation of different ages, gender etc.

Good point. I get that they have a broad test audience but you have to remember that they dont always reflect the audience who will go to the movie.
 

Edward John

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I have no idea how they would have handled that. But it's what Arcel said when the movie came out. It was meant as an introductory movie.

It seems the reason why the film was cut down to its current length, is that the original cut was far more incoherent and confusing. And test audiences and the head at Sony hated it.


You cant really have any faith in Sony, they have a long history of directors being unhappy.
 

Gerald

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Good point. I get that they have a broad test audience but you have to remember that they dont always reflect the audience who will go to the movie.

That's my point. I don't know how they select these people. And people who can watch a movie for free (I'm assuming they watch it for free) may be less critical than people who paid money for it. Plus there is the excitement of seeing an early preview of a new movie - that excitement alone can get the ratings higher.
But since they apparently still hated it, I suspect there really was something wrong with that first cut.
 

Edward John

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That's my point. I don't know how they select these people. And people who can watch a movie for free (I'm assuming they watch it for free) may be less critical than people who paid money for it. Plus there is the excitement of seeing an early preview of a new movie - that excitement alone can get the ratings higher.
But since they apparently still hated it, I suspect there really was something wrong with that first cut.

We'll never know unless some sort of directors edition is released.