The Dark Tower (Warning: Book Spoilers)

[chroniclard]

hmm, read the books a long time ago....did the gunslinger have almost supernatural abilities in it?

 

[FTM]

books confused me

I prefer Jon Shannow as a mysterious gun fighter character

 

[taB]

Reading about the just makes me wish they would bring The Jerusalem Man to the big screen.

I prefer Jon Shannow as a mysterious gun fighter character

Would love this.

 

[FTM]

Gemmel is a much more economic writer

I just find Stephen King drags on a bit

 

[FrenchTart]

Looks like I forgot to add the spoiler warning Done now.

 

[SirJinks]

Extended trailer with some new clips in it.

 

[FrenchTart]

The new trailer is doing it for me a little more than the first...

 

[aardvark]

the more i see the worse it looks - it seems to have very little to do with the books at all.

 

[wolfie138]

well to be fair i don't see how much it could have to do w/ 10x 600+ pages in one 90~120min flick. even the fact the main guy is black jars against one of the major themes in the early books w/ Susannah's alter-ego.

 

[aardvark]

do one based on the first book, its pretty short.

i'm a bit perturbed by just how much footage of the tower there is - its supposed to be mysterious, and its function not entirely clear, except that it sits at the nexus of all time and space and as it degrades, so does the world(s) (and that this is being done by someone, someone not even mentioned in the trailer).

 

[FrenchTart]

I actually thought this was meant to just cover just the start of the story, with further instalments to come? Based on that, I just assumed this was a teaser for the whole arc.

Is it meant to cover everything in just one film? That would be...kind of cack.

 

[SirJinks]

I understand this film depicts the start of a new arc in the story, picking up from the end of the last book. I guess that gives the people involved in the film's story enough wiggle room to deviate from the events exactly as they were depicted in the books and come up with something that could count as a complete story within the confines of a single film. I agree with other sentiments, whether you liked them or not there is simply too much volume in the books to cover them in a single film.

 

[asteldian]

I actually thought this was meant to just cover just the start of the story, with further instalments to come? Based on that, I just assumed this was a teaser for the whole arc.

Is it meant to cover everything in just one film? That would be...kind of cack.

The film is a kind of sequel to the books from what I understand, so not trying to cram in the books. Whether or not it will make sense to non readers, who knows, if it does make sense as a kind of 'stand alone' film, then not sure how those familiar will like it.

The tv show is supposed to be based on the Wizard and Glass book which I understand is a kind of prequel to the series (even though it was 4th book?). One would assume if this is a success, the tv show may then move onto the actual books which would eventually lead up and tie into the movie.

I haven't actually read the books but am always interested in fantasy books being turned into shows - and in general find I am better off not reading the books prior to watching the shows as it taints the enjoyment (exception being that I had read GoT which, while no doubt a minority view, I found to be an incredibly overrated series of books)

 

[Begbie]

The Dark Tower is so astoundingly awful that when you leave the theater you'll likely be less mad you wasted your time than flabbergasted that something like this could a) happen and b) be released as something that, theoretically, is going to launch a multi-platform franchise.

Was looking forward to this. But currently at 18% on rotten tomatoes. I'm not so sure anymore

 

[Muzza1875]

Just added a spoiler warning to the title. Once the series starts we should probably have a separate thread.

@SirJinks - I think I've seen that suggested too, given that he has the Horn of the Eld on him.

that would be great, sounds like the movie is a flop. I'll decide for myself when I see it but reviews aren't great. Hope the tv show is true to the books.

 

[CliffyG]

I watched this at the weekend with one of my sons. I can't remember the books at all was years ago when I read them so as a standalone film it wasn't too bad. My son enjoyed it.

 

[Chandler_90]

Seen this on Monday.

I'm currently up to book 5 of the series and tbh this film is unbelievably terrible... The story pales in comparison to that of the books.

If you haven't read any of the books then I can only assume that you're going to be very very confused.. there is no back story and no real character history.
There is no explanation of what the tower is, except one line of the screen at the beginning of the film..
There is no explanation of what a gunslinger is.. or indeed why Roland is focused on the tower.. infact it doesn't actually state that he is focused on the tower at all.
There is no explantion of the man in black.. who is not wandering the desert being tracked by Roland...
There is no explanation of who Jake is..
There is no explanation of Thunderclap..

There are no explanations........

This movie is imo the second worst book adapation that I have read, 2nd to I Am Legend and just ahead of Bram Stokers Dracula...

(I am aware it is not a direct adaption.. but god damn it has NO real ties to anything.. and I've not even finished the books..)

 

[wolfie138]

sounds about on par w/ "The Serpent & The Rainbow".

given the source material, i seriously can't understand why this wasn't a TV miniseries like GoT, it's the only way it could have possibly worked, imo.