Poor poor poor decision

[SteelTaz]

Why oh why take an absolutely awesome series of seven great books and shove it into a two hour movie???
This saga with the special effects available has the potential to rival with Star Wars Harry Potter maybe even Transformers.
at best this was mediocre and not what I've come to expect from The Master of HORROR.

 

[Tery]

Welcome!

You'll find no shortage of folks who agree with you. However, the books are still there, unchanged.

 

[GNTLGNT]

Why oh why take an absolutely awesome series of seven great books and shove it into a two hour movie???
This saga with the special effects available has the potential to rival with Star Wars Harry Potter maybe even Transformers.
at best this was mediocre and not what I've come to expect from The Master of HORROR.

...I say welcome, but Steve didn't helm the flick......

 

[mal]

I totally agree with you SteelTaz! Put Peter Jackson on it! He did a pretty fine job with Lord of the Rings. Pretty, pretty fine.

 

[king family fan]

 

[Spideyman]

Hi and welcome--- the books will always be there as written. The movie, is a movie unto itself-- no comparison. Enjoy the books.

 

[Sunlight Gardener]

I still have not watched it. I don't think I will. I think way too much of the book series to sully it.

 

[Deviancy]

This saga with the special effects available has the potential to rival with Star Wars Harry Potter maybe even Transformers.

Even huge studios don't like to take any risks and while Dark Tower has a solid audience, they probably felt it wasn't large enough to warrant a series of films, they probably felt the profit they'd want wouldn't be there. Shame though because I'd prefer a series of films based on a King series of books over the Transformers, Star Wars, or all of those comic book films. But I am in the minority because the majority are hooked on those films.

 

[Robert Gray]

I have faith the Dark Tower will get its proper due in a series on Netflix, Hulu, Starz or some other medium that can dedicate the time and talent to it. The less said about that movie the better. I'd rather talk about the good adaptations.

 

[RichardX]

I think the audience for the Dark Tower books is mostly older folks who don't make for big box office. So they aimed for a younger, wider audience who may never have heard of the books but it fell flat. Not because it varied from the books but because it just wasn't very good. It wasn't as bad as I expected, though, after hearing from the SK purists who mostly hated it. A middling adventure type movie.

 

[Robert Gray]

I think the audience for the Dark Tower books is mostly older folks who don't make for big box office. So they aimed for a younger, wider audience who may never have heard of the books but it fell flat. Not because it varied from the books but because it just wasn't very good. It wasn't as bad as I expected, though, after hearing from the SK purists who mostly hated it. A middling adventure type movie.

I didn't dislike it because it ignored the books (varied from the books is really an understatement). I dislike it because it was a bad movie, and internally inconsistent with itself. The actors were all fine; there is only so much they could do with that idiotic script.

 

[Deviancy]

I finally watched it and while it wasn't bad, Walken would have been ideal as the bad guy. Maybe he's a bit too old these days but if Arnold can still be the Terminator, why not.

 

[Gerald]

Even huge studios don't like to take any risks and while Dark Tower has a solid audience, they probably felt it wasn't large enough to warrant a series of films

The movie was meant as the first of a series of films. Which is very apparent by the way it ends, with Roland and Jake going back through the portal - the ending almost feels like that of a pilot of a series.

As an adaptation it fails, but I have also seen far worse fantasy-films. They had clearly not the budget to pull off a big fantasy-film (also apparent by its short length), so what you get is a compromise. If it had done well they would surely have put more money in the next one.

Hopefully the Amazon series will be much better.

 

[Keith72]

I have finally got round to reading The Gunslinger part one(and me being a fan for 32 years). The movie was i think shown only in certain cinemas in Dublin and It was miles to go to see it. I don't think it lasted a week. I thought the dark tower was based on the first book and then part2-7.

 

[César Hernández-Meraz]

Even thouh I prefer the actors to look as much as possible as the way they are described in the books, I think Idris and Tom did a very nice job at portraying the characters (even though I find it weird that Jake is referred to as an 11 year old boy by some magazines and promotional material, when Tom is clearly not that young).

The one I have more problems with is Matthew as the Man in Black. I think he did have what was needed for the role, but it was not used. For a character who should ooze charm and have a nice smile (even though the smile rarely, if ever, reaches the eyes), his Randall Flagg spent the entire movie either angry or nervous.

Did they want to avoid comparisons to Tom Hiddlestone's Loki? Or did the writers/director never even got that part of RF's personality in their minds?

I was never convinced by Jamey's looks as RF, but he definitely got the charm and smile bits correctly.

 

[Notaro]

I thought the whole thing was a mess, cast were fine but the film was completely devoid of tension or excitement, if the tv show goes ahead hopefully they'll get it right.

 

[Deviancy]

There's bits of it that remind me of Harry Potter but without the magic and entertainment of Harry Potter. Rowling's owned the fantasy/adventure genre with that book series, I don't think anything will best it for quite some time.

 

[Edward John]

Why oh why take an absolutely awesome series of seven great books and shove it into a two hour movie???
This saga with the special effects available has the potential to rival with Star Wars Harry Potter maybe even Transformers.
at best this was mediocre and not what I've come to expect from The Master of HORROR.

This wasnt intended to be an adaption of the book. If you read the synopsis to the film you will find out that it is a continuation. A sequel to the book series, ie the ending of the Tower series explains this point.