Poor poor poor decision

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SteelTaz

New Member
Nov 2, 2013
1
6
62
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.
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
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......
 

Deviancy

I go Boo.....
Mar 20, 2019
194
700
50
California
www.facebook.com
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.
 

RichardX

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2006
1,737
4,434
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

Well-Known Member
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.
 

Gerald

Well-Known Member
Sep 8, 2011
2,201
7,168
The Netherlands
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

Well-Known Member
Feb 18, 2017
59
257
51
dublin, Ireland
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

Wants to be Nick, ends up as Larry
May 19, 2015
605
4,416
44
Aguascalientes, Mexico
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

Stark Raving Normal
Mar 23, 2007
1,135
7,321
58
Dublin/Ireland
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.
 
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Edward John

Well-Known Member
Aug 15, 2019
4,004
18,785
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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.