The Dark Tower series filmed adaptation

[mae]

[Shannon]

So ... Dark Tower ... Anything too bloody/gory/torturous in the movie? Gun battles and such are fine, and Rose has no problems with superhero-type action (Wonder Woman, Man of Steel, etc.)/destruction, tense situations, anything like that, but at this point, any sort of realistic gore, rape with revolvers, etc., I'll pass on taking Rose to. So, yes, no?

[Shannon]

Tick tock, tick tock, 19:19 in Vegas is coming up soon, lol

[Randall Flagg]

So, yes, no?

No.
So,
No, yes, no?

[Shannon]

No yes no, more like ... Yes? No? And if the "no" was a refusal to answer the yes, no, then you should know that my yes, no was a jest in your nose, you know? But if the "no" was an answer to the yes, no, then I'll assume that the movie is a safe enough bet to take my four year old daughter (with a movie maturity-level of a preteen) to. Thanks!

[Merlin1958]

No yes no, more like ... Yes? No? And if the "no" was a refusal to answer the yes, no, then you should know that my yes, no was a jest in your nose, you know? But if the "no" was an answer to the yes, no, then I'll assume that the movie is a safe enough bet to take my four year old daughter (with a movie maturity-level of a preteen) to. Thanks!

Wow!!! 4 years old already? And going to "R" movie's? What a Dad!!!! lol

[Lookwhoitis]

No yes no, more like ... Yes? No? And if the "no" was a refusal to answer the yes, no, then you should know that my yes, no was a jest in your nose, you know? But if the "no" was an answer to the yes, no, then I'll assume that the movie is a safe enough bet to take my four year old daughter (with a movie maturity-level of a preteen) to. Thanks!

Wow!!! 4 years old already? And going to "R" movie's? What a Dad!!!! lol

Dark Tower is not R lol. It is PG-13 that is why it sucks (or at least ONE of the multiple reasons)

[Merlin1958]

No yes no, more like ... Yes? No? And if the "no" was a refusal to answer the yes, no, then you should know that my yes, no was a jest in your nose, you know? But if the "no" was an answer to the yes, no, then I'll assume that the movie is a safe enough bet to take my four year old daughter (with a movie maturity-level of a preteen) to. Thanks!

Wow!!! 4 years old already? And going to "R" movie's? What a Dad!!!! lol

Dark Tower is not R lol. It is PG-13 that is why it sucks (or at least ONE of the multiple reasons)

So much for being a "smart-ass"!! lol

[Shannon]

So far I've got one semi-vague NO, anyone else want to chime in? Seats are filling up ... Lol

[Randall Flagg]

When in doubt, be an adult and make your own decision...










Then come back and blame others.

[Shannon]

When in doubt, be an adult and make your own decision...

Then come back and blame others.

I'll take that as a "Yes, not appropriate for an awesome four year old," which cancels out your "No, yes, no" answer from earlier, so ... that's two no's and two yes's (yesses? yes'? lol) from you, which brings my total to ... zero. Grrrr.

[RUBE]

Well I'm not taking my seven-year-old, if that helps...

[Randall Flagg]

When in doubt, be an adult and make your own decision...

Then come back and blame others.

I'll take that as a "Yes, not appropriate for an awesome four year old," which cancels out your "No, yes, no" answer from earlier, so ... that's two no's and two yes's (yesses? yes'? lol) from you, which brings my total to ... zero. Grrrr.

FWIW, I wouldn't take my 4 year-old granddaughter to the movie. Two reasons:

• She might get bored and whiny.
• As a viewer not having brought a pre-schooler, I don't want my experience disrupted by anyone, let alone a child.

It's not fair to other people attending the movie.

[Shannon]

When in doubt, be an adult and make your own decision...

Then come back and blame others.

I'll take that as a "Yes, not appropriate for an awesome four year old," which cancels out your "No, yes, no" answer from earlier, so ... that's two no's and two yes's (yesses? yes'? lol) from you, which brings my total to ... zero. Grrrr.

FWIW, I wouldn't take my 4 year-old granddaughter to the movie. Two reasons:

• She might get bored and whiny.
• As a viewer not having brought a pre-schooler, I don't want my experience disrupted by anyone, let alone a child.

It's not fair to other people attending the movie.

I hate whiny kids, I hate people in the theatre that talk, I hate people that have their phones out for even a second. I'd never take Rose to an adult movie if she wasn't great, which she is. So that's not an issue.

Deciding against it simply for the entertainment value to her. She's hit or miss when it comes to non-kid movies. Liked Blair Witch, thought Paranormal activity was boring. Likes Star Wars, gets bored fifteen minutes into Harry Potter. Liked Goonies, didn't want to watch Pirates of the Caribbean after seeing a trailer. So, whatever, lol. I'll see it next week when she's with her mom. We're going to a trampoline park now, adios!

[CyberGhostface]

The book was difficult to get through. I can't imagine a straight-up adaptation would be all that great. Especially for a wider audience.

Maybe the issue is trying to make DT appeal to a wide blockbuster audience in the first place.

That is and always has been the biggest challenge that this book series faces. It is do-able though. How big were the fan bases for Harry Potter or Game of Thrones or LOTR before the movies/TV shows came out?

Harry Potter was a huge success even before the films. GoT wasn't as much but still pretty popular for an adult fantasy series. They were making merchandise like calendars, figures, card games and comics long before the show came out so take that as you will.

[CaraLaughs]

http://imgur.com/a/ZKHZ2

I will see it, and see it well, as I have all Sai King's other film adaptions of the wordslinger's words. Film can never be the equivalent of the written word, and so, of course it will fall short in so many ways because it isn't the 7 book series, but rather the sequel. I will go in seeing it with fresh eyes, not through the lens of The Dark Tower journey. <3 Hile, Gunslingers! Hile, Wordslinger!

[CyberGhostface]

In case anyone was wondering if Empire misquoted him:

Because I don’t even really see people when I’m writing. Because if I’m writing about a character, I’m behind their eyes. Unless they walk by a mirror or something, I don’t even really see what they look like. But, what really sort of made it an issue, in my mind, when they cast Idris as Roland, was all of those books were illustrated to start with, those Grant novels were all illustrated and in all those pictures Roland is a white guy and I never thought about that one way or another, but obviously that became part of the mindset.

http://collider.com/stephen-king-int...he-dark-tower/

Why can't he just be honest and say "Yeah it's different from the books but Idris was the best person who auditioned"? And no offense to King but he is the last writer who can say "I don't see color when I'm writing my characters". Not when he's still doing stuff like Jerome's "Tyrone Feelgood Delight" routine in Mr. Mercedes.

[Steve]

I just got back from the 19:19 showing (heh), and I gotta say that with all the issues I had with it, I still was entertained by it.

THE GOOD:

* Idris Elba was a fantastic Roland. He wasn't as terse and hard-hearted as the Roland of The Gunslinger, but he captured the nobility and the gravitas Roland exudes from every pore. Even when saddled with some naff lines here and there, he is rapidly eclipsing my mental image of the last gunslinger.

* Tom Taylor. Child performances are generally underappreciated, but Taylor was more than up to the task of sharing screentime with Elba. I hope to see Taylor in bigger things down the line.

* Matthew McConaughey. The guy was a perfect choice for Randall Flagg, but as he's playing Walter, his Flagg-isms feel a bit off at times, but McConaughey makes up for it with his patented go-for-broke gusto. Walter enjoys the chaos he wreaks, and Matty Mac relishes every drop of damage he inflicts.

* Junkie XL's music. First Mad Max, now this? Guy's killing it.

THE BAD:

* In terms of the adaptation, it felt less like The Dark Tower and more like The Talisman. Tom Taylor, who was a confident and adept choice for Jake, would've been an even better Jack Sawyer. I don't mind massive liberties, provided they keep with the basic spirit of the source material. Unfortunately, it felt like there wasn't confidence on the studio end.

* The editing was all over the shop, some of the worst I've seen in recent memory, and I've seen enough of it that I can guess that it was a studio-imposed hackjob. (Tom Rothman's notorious for that.) The fact that the Tower was mentioned a grand total of six times throughout the whole piece speaks to that.

*

Character Death Spoiler.

Steven Deschain went out like a bitch. Not cool.

* Roland's junkie-like obsession for the Tower has been replaced with obsession for revenge, and so it doesn't feel as important to the story at hand.

I have many more complaints, but I think for the most part, they are issues that others will harp on in more detail than I. But I don't think it was a waste of time, and indeed, I went in expecting a disaster and came out thinking I'd seen a fun, albeit studio-butchered, "what-could-have-been" entry in the Tower-verse, chockfull of little easter eggs and nifty sequences. It's unlikely we'll get a sequel, but I do think I'll revisit it when it gets a Blu-ray release, and hopefully, it'll come with an extended version to see what Arcel's unbridled vision would've been.

[becca69]

I agree with Steve's points. I just saw it. It was entertaining and I enjoyed it because I went into it thinking it would be a total disaster and also that it was in no way based on any of the novels.

[Wicked]

After reading/watching the reviews, I'm torn whether I'll go see this. I wasn't too excited once I started getting snippets of info as the movie was being made (and delayed) as it was.. the trailers didn't help to ease my feelings either.

I'd like to remember being excited for years about the possibility of this story coming to the big screen, and not be disappointed about the fact that it wasn't all I'd hoped it would be.

[Wicked]

In case anyone was wondering if Empire misquoted him:

Because I don’t even really see people when I’m writing. Because if I’m writing about a character, I’m behind their eyes. Unless they walk by a mirror or something, I don’t even really see what they look like. But, what really sort of made it an issue, in my mind, when they cast Idris as Roland, was all of those books were illustrated to start with, those Grant novels were all illustrated and in all those pictures Roland is a white guy and I never thought about that one way or another, but obviously that became part of the mindset.

http://collider.com/stephen-king-int...he-dark-tower/

Why can't he just be honest and say "Yeah it's different from the books but Idris was the best person who auditioned"? And no offense to King but he is the last writer who can say "I don't see color when I'm writing my characters". Not when he's still doing stuff like Jerome's "Tyrone Feelgood Delight" routine in Mr. Mercedes.

I very much agree with this, after all, look at Detta Walker and the names she calls Roland and Eddie.

[DoctorDodge]

Agreed on your thoughts, Steve. Definitely a film with a wide mix of good and bad.

For what it's worth, here's my spoiler-free review on it. https://jamesdoctordodgeaggas.wordpr...-tower-junkie/

[TCCBodhi]

Divorced of having great expectations of it being a "Dark Tower" project, it was enjoyable enough and I enjoyed MOST of the actors. However, when I was thinking of it specifically trying to start the Dark Tower filmed saga, I'd have to say I'm disappointed in the construction of the story, what they covered, how they covered it, what they ignored, etc. I still am VERY interested too see them attempt an almost pure Drawing of the Three story, but now that they already have Jake in the mix, I'm not sure how they can make that fit in well.

[georgiesarm]

A reasonable and good explanation by a massive fan of the books on why he doesn't feel this works as a true and faithful The Dark Tower adaptation:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/78298

[Tommy]

Reviews are coming in.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_dark_tower_2017/

At 21% now. Think it'll get down to 19?

Currently at 19

Edit: Just read a box office estimate of ~ $20 million for opening weekend.