Share your thoughts after viewing the movie **DEFINITE SPOILERS**
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I tried to like this movie....but I just can't. Even when I separated it from the novels the plot that they choose did not make sense. The Dark Tower, as with The Stand, is one of those stories that really needs to follow the structure of the original text. If not, you end with an incoherent story and mediocre ending.
I believe the Stand came out well due to it being a mulit-part TV movie, which actually followed most of the novel. I think that for the Dark Tower, as live action film was the wrong choice, and it should really be a multi-part Anime movie and/or limited series. Idris E and Matthew M. are great actors, but this was the wrong movie and the casting was wrong.
I believe the Stand came out well due to it being a mulit-part TV movie, which actually followed most of the novel. I think that for the Dark Tower, as live action film was the wrong choice, and it should really be a multi-part Anime movie and/or limited series. Idris E and Matthew M. are great actors, but this was the wrong movie and the casting was wrong.
A kid has visions about a Dark Tower, a 'Gunslinger' and a bad man who is a 'dark' man.
He ends up finding himself in contact with the 'Gunslinger', pitting their wits against said dark man and his cohorts in other worlds than this....
...they try to stop the dark man and his cohorts from destroying the Dark Tower and find some horror and excitement on the way...
Ok, it might have simplified the whole actual story but I didn't have so big a problem with what they put on the screen.
No offence intended but some Constant Readers seem to be getting too annoyed too easily. That's just my opinion and I hope there aren't any hard feelings...
He ends up finding himself in contact with the 'Gunslinger', pitting their wits against said dark man and his cohorts in other worlds than this....
...they try to stop the dark man and his cohorts from destroying the Dark Tower and find some horror and excitement on the way...
Ok, it might have simplified the whole actual story but I didn't have so big a problem with what they put on the screen.
No offence intended but some Constant Readers seem to be getting too annoyed too easily. That's just my opinion and I hope there aren't any hard feelings...
Robert Gray
Well-Known Member
No offense taken on my part at least. But I would be remiss if I didn't point out that it wasn't just annoyed Constant Readers who disliked the film. It simply wan't good. It had a final rating among critics of only 16% on Rotten Tomatoes and didn't make diddly squat. People who didn't read the books didn't like it any better, on the whole, than those who did. I try to be fair to these adaptations, i.e. accept them totally as self-contained entities. I rate them on how consistent they remain within their own framework, the quality of the writing, acting, costuming, cinematography, and a whole lot more besides. I never expect them to compare to the books upon which they are based.
The film was shallow, unimpressive, and by in large a cartoon. The best acting was done by the boy who played Jake (Tom Taylor). There were some nice shots of New York City, but after a hundred years of making movies in the Big Apple, that is kind of down to a science. You don't get good marks for that. You only lose points if you fail in what is considered a basic skill with a camera. Idris Elba wasn't bad, but he wasn't good either. He phoned it in as far as I'm concerned. The Man in Black was just written so cartoonish that I won't even judge Matthew McConaughey on the part. They had an incredible actress to play Jake's mom (Katheryn Winnick) and wasted her utterly. They introduced characters in an extremely idiotic, 1st year at Film School way, i.e. they have them walk on, deliver lines, and indicate they might be important only to have them vanish or become bit parts in the background. It is very frustrating to see talented actors reduced to what amounts to a walk on. I can't imagine Jackie Earle Haley who played Sayre was thrilled either. The list goes on and on.
Long story short, I may be a Constant Reader, but that has nothing to do with my being unhappy movie-goer.
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No offense taken on my part at least. But I would be remiss if I didn't point out that it wasn't just annoyed Constant Readers who disliked the film. It simply wan't good. It had a final rating among critics of only 16% on Rotten Tomatoes and didn't make diddly squat. People who didn't read the books didn't like it any better, on the whole, than those who did. I try to be fair to these adaptations, i.e. accept them totally as self-contained entities. I rate them on how consistent they remain within their own framework, the quality of the writing, acting, costuming, cinematography, and a whole lot more besides. I never expect them to compare to the books upon which they are based.
The film was shallow, unimpressive, and by in large a cartoon. The best acting was done by the boy who played Jake (Tom Taylor). There were some nice shots of New York City, but after a hundred years of making movies in the Big Apple, that is kind of down to a science. You don't get good marks for that. You only lose points if you fail in what is considered a basic skill with a camera. Idris Elba wasn't bad, but he wasn't good either. He phoned it in as far as I'm concerned. The Man in Black was just written so cartoonish that I won't even judge Matthew McConaughey on the part. They had an incredible actress to play Jake's mom (Katheryn Winnick) and wasted her utterly. They introduced characters in an extremely idiotic, 1st year at Film School way, i.e. they have them walk on, deliver lines, and indicate they might be important only to have them vanish or become bit parts in the background. It is very frustrating to see talented actors reduced to what amounts to a walk on. I can't imagine Jackie Earle Haley who played Sayre was thrilled either. The list goes on and on.
Long story short, I may be a Constant Reader, but that has nothing to do with my being unhappy movie-goer.
Fair enough...
I just watched this at home last night.
1) If I didn't already know the finer details of the story, I think I would have been lost. There was zero build up to who is who, and what is what. Did everyone catch Charlie the choo choo in the park? I did think that was a nice touch.
2) Walter was right when he was talking to Jake about the story. The Gunslinger was just a peripheral character. The story was about Jake and Walter.
3) I can honestly say that this is one of the worst films (along with Cell) that has SK's name attached to it.
1) If I didn't already know the finer details of the story, I think I would have been lost. There was zero build up to who is who, and what is what. Did everyone catch Charlie the choo choo in the park? I did think that was a nice touch.
2) Walter was right when he was talking to Jake about the story. The Gunslinger was just a peripheral character. The story was about Jake and Walter.
3) I can honestly say that this is one of the worst films (along with Cell) that has SK's name attached to it.
Did these people even read any of the books?
...hmmmm, seems as if there’s an echo in here...
Honestly, I don't think so! lol The way that the backstory for Roland..and especially for Jake was portrayed..left no room for sequels (which I thought was on table). Jake's death and the way he died are huge plot points in the novel.
I've been away 19 for a while. I recently watched this movie. I have a couple of comments:
- Idris Elba was decent as Roland (Jim Cavaziel would have been my choice).
- Matthew Mconughey (sorry for spelling) Was just playing him self; I was surprised he didnt go "all right, all right, all right...
- This movie was obviously going to be a one-and done to take advantage of all the Dark Tower fans out there.
- The film was a mish-mosh of all 8 books (Wind through the Keyhole is included) and only Dark Tower readers would be able to follow.
- Now just let it rest. Producers/Director/writers tried and failed.
I see that the movie is available to rent on my 'on demand'
I chose not to.
I chose not to.
I watched the movie recently. If you hadn't read the books the movie was quite good although the direction wasn't the greatest. I found the scene when Roland and Jake were shooting and reciting the 'prayer' was quite good only to be thrown away as nothing when they tacked on (to paraphrase) "Guns are my thing kid, the Shining is yours.". Also, I had to chuckle at the end when the second 'ricocheted bullet' reached Walter at the same time the directly shot first bullet did, when Roland as finally able to shoot him. I liked it, but realized this was no Peter Jackson faithful remake of Tolkien but some weird Hollywood pastiche where the source material seemed secondary. I'd watch the second one if made, but wouldn't go to the theatre to see it. I'd wait for it to trickle down.
Finally watched this. I liked and enjoyed it. It wasn't the bookss, obviously. But for what it was it delivered 95 minutes of entertainment I was able to get lost in. What else do you expect from a movie?
I'm eagerly awaiting the delivery of my bluray today. I want to see what kind of 'extra's' there are and I especially want to see what was deleted.
I watched it the other day. I quite enjoyed it. By it, I mean Dark Tower, not IT.
It was acted well, scripted well and paced nicely. Just a shame that the original 7 books didnt get the treatment they deserved, but it works well as a sequel, though it shouldn't have been needed.
It was acted well, scripted well and paced nicely. Just a shame that the original 7 books didnt get the treatment they deserved, but it works well as a sequel, though it shouldn't have been needed.
Just my two cents on the DT film...
I’ve said previously that The Dark Tower film has almost been set up to fail. Taking a seven book series (not counting The Wind Through the Keyhole), largely beloved by fans, and turning it into a 90 minute action film seemed a strange and unexpected move by the folks in charge. This adaptation suffers a bit of damned-if-you do, damned-if-you-don’t. By releasing this truncated version, the studio risks alienating the readers who revere the epic story and have been patiently waiting to see the novels come to life. Instead, The Dark Tower caters more to a teen and young adult crowd by offering up a rather mundane action film not far removed from such efforts as The Hunger Games and Divergent series. While I guess I can understand that decision as an attempt to draw in that demographic, I don't see elements in the film that would compel them to read the source novels.
It’s not my intention to trash the film. It’s certainly not horrible. There are some nice effects in it and I enjoyed Idris Elba’s portrayal of Roland. In casting Matthew McConaughey as Walter, the film teases us that we will be treated to an over-the-top performance by a very capable actor. I’m not sure that we got it. Walter is a very dark character in the King universe, and I wanted to see a performance that both reflects this and respects it. Imagine what an actor like Ian McShane could’ve done with this role.
Clocking in around 95 minutes, the film moves along quickly enough. Perhaps most enjoyable were the Easter eggs sprinkled throughout the film for King fans, but ultimately it’s not enough to elevate the film beyond mediocrity. For me, this ends up in a kind of film purgatory along such adaptations as Stardust and The Golden Compass (although in all fairness, I'd rank Stardust a much better film than The Dark Tower).
To be sure, I let my two boys watch it (ages 12 and 14) to try and get an opinion without source-bias. Neither of them have read The Dark Tower series, but they have read some of King’s other works. Both of them liked the film, which didn’t surprise me as they seem like target audience after all. The big question is: now that a few weeks have passed since seeing it, how much do they remember?
I’ve said previously that The Dark Tower film has almost been set up to fail. Taking a seven book series (not counting The Wind Through the Keyhole), largely beloved by fans, and turning it into a 90 minute action film seemed a strange and unexpected move by the folks in charge. This adaptation suffers a bit of damned-if-you do, damned-if-you-don’t. By releasing this truncated version, the studio risks alienating the readers who revere the epic story and have been patiently waiting to see the novels come to life. Instead, The Dark Tower caters more to a teen and young adult crowd by offering up a rather mundane action film not far removed from such efforts as The Hunger Games and Divergent series. While I guess I can understand that decision as an attempt to draw in that demographic, I don't see elements in the film that would compel them to read the source novels.
It’s not my intention to trash the film. It’s certainly not horrible. There are some nice effects in it and I enjoyed Idris Elba’s portrayal of Roland. In casting Matthew McConaughey as Walter, the film teases us that we will be treated to an over-the-top performance by a very capable actor. I’m not sure that we got it. Walter is a very dark character in the King universe, and I wanted to see a performance that both reflects this and respects it. Imagine what an actor like Ian McShane could’ve done with this role.
Clocking in around 95 minutes, the film moves along quickly enough. Perhaps most enjoyable were the Easter eggs sprinkled throughout the film for King fans, but ultimately it’s not enough to elevate the film beyond mediocrity. For me, this ends up in a kind of film purgatory along such adaptations as Stardust and The Golden Compass (although in all fairness, I'd rank Stardust a much better film than The Dark Tower).
To be sure, I let my two boys watch it (ages 12 and 14) to try and get an opinion without source-bias. Neither of them have read The Dark Tower series, but they have read some of King’s other works. Both of them liked the film, which didn’t surprise me as they seem like target audience after all. The big question is: now that a few weeks have passed since seeing it, how much do they remember?