The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

The Stand, however, was terrible, and for many reasons.

* notably, all also quite old.

Eh... The Stand started off alright. It went down hill after a few episodes, though. The Secret Window was also pretty good.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I thought The Stand was okay, not great but okay.

Even though I watched the whole thing, he turned me off in that one with the very first episode because of a lack of imagination. Shortly after they are introduced, 2 heroes have essentially the same struggle- each gets in a fight with a gun-wielding person and the gun goes off in the struggle, killing the antagonist. It was lazy storytelling.

 

[horacethegrey]

A question from a Dark Tower noob. I've never read the series, so I'm no means an expert, but is Roland's race ever described explicitly in the books? All the art of the Dark Tower series that I've seen (book covers, comic books, etc.) have portrayed Roland Deschaine as a white caucasian. But now we have Idris Elba in the role and he's clearly black. So is this a case of casting an actor over his ability rather than his appearance, that they change a fictional character's racial makeup? Or was Roland's race really ambiguous in the first place so they were free to cast any actor in the role?

Now please don't think I'm a some sort of pendant over a fictional character's race. I think Idris Elba is a wonderful actor and I really didn't give a s**t when he was cast as Heimdall (described as the whitest god of the Aesir) in Thor (I know some racist a-holes objected to his casting, but who cares about them?). So I wonder if they same thing happened again here. I guess it speaks volumes of Idris Elba's strengths as an actor that they cast him in such an important role despite the race issue.

Just curious.

 

[Kramodlog]

A question from a Dark Tower noob. I've never read the series, so I'm no means an expert, but is Roland's race ever described explicitly in the books? All the art of the Dark Tower series that I've seen (book covers, comic books, etc.) have portrayed Roland Deschaine as a white caucasian. But now we have Idris Elba in the role and he's clearly black. So is this a case of casting an actor over his ability rather than his appearance, that they change a fictional character's racial makeup? Or was Roland's race really ambiguous in the first place so they were free to cast any actor in the role?

Now please don't think I'm a some sort of pendant over a fictional character's race. I think Idris Elba is a wonderful actor and I really didn't give a s**t when he was cast as Heimdall (described as the whitest god of the Aesir) in Thor (I know some racist a-holes objected to his casting, but who cares about them?). So I wonder if they same thing happened again here. I guess it speaks volumes of Idris Elba's strengths as an actor that they cast him in such an important role despite the race issue.

Just curious.

Roland is vaguely discribed has white. So this is a switcheroo.

the character of Susannah is black in the books. I wonder if she had conflicts with Roland centered around race. That could change dynamics.

 

[trappedslider]

Even though I watched the whole thing, he turned me off in that one with the very first episode because of a lack of imagination. Shortly after they are introduced, 2 heroes have essentially the same struggle- each gets in a fight with a gun-wielding person and the gun goes off in the struggle, killing the antagonist. It was lazy storytelling.

yeah, I can understand that. It's been awhile since I saw it. I do try to read it once a year. I thought they did an okay job on the casting with Rob Lowe and Gary Sinise.

 

[horacethegrey]

Roland is vaguely discribed has white. So this is a switcheroo.

the character of Susannah is black in the books. I wonder if she had conflicts with Roland centered around race. That could change dynamics.

Interesting. Well, I guess if they were going to do away with the whole race thing, casting a great actor like Elba was a no brainer. I'm just glad it wasn't someone like Will Smith.

Regarding the series itself, how is The Dark Tower as a fantasy? I've never been a fan Stephen King's work so I've never give the books a try. But seeing that the series has been consistently popular and the fact there's a lot of hype over this movie, leaves me to wonder as to what the fuss is all about.

 

[Ovinomancer]

Roland is vaguely discribed has white. So this is a switcheroo.

the character of Susannah is black in the books. I wonder if she had conflicts with Roland centered around race. That could change dynamics.

It's not vague. Odetta uses many slurs on Roland's whiteness. Although, I can see why a film adaptation may want to severely reduce or even eliminate Odetta as a character -- while she's definitely interesting, and her war with Susannah forms the core of the development between those two characters -- ultimately Odetta's story isn't critical to the Dark Tower's plot. And removing Odetta (or altering her story) would make Roland changing ethnicity trivial as it's unimportant to any other plotline in the story.

Have to say, though, McConaughey as the Man in Black is inspired.

 

[Kramodlog]

Regarding the series itself, how is The Dark Tower as a fantasy?

It gets worse has the series moves forward. It was written over a longer period of time than GoT. King's talents isn't has his finest nowadays.

Of course, your experience may vary.

 

[Ovinomancer]

Interesting. Well, I guess if they were going to do away with the whole race thing, casting a great actor like Elba was a no brainer. I'm just glad it wasn't someone like Will Smith.

Regarding the series itself, how is The Dark Tower as a fantasy? I've never been a fan Stephen King's work so I've never give the books a try. But seeing that the series has been consistently popular and the fact there's a lot of hype over this movie, leaves me to wonder as to what the fuss is all about.

It's set in an alternate universe, where there is magic in the world, even if it's dark and rare. The foundation of the whole story is that Roland's world is dying, and he draws help from our world to help save it. Kind of. It's a bit complicated, but that's the best I can do at a non-spoiler overview.

Roland himself is a bit mystic, in the sense that he's a Gunslinger (capital intended). Imagine one of the legendary Knights of the Round Table, but with a duster and a pair of six-guns instead of mail and sword. His skill and ability with his guns are at the border of inhuman. But he can't shoot the world to fix it, so his skill isn't an 'I win' button, but just a facet of his character.

 

[Tonguez]

Roland is vaguely discribed has white. So this is a switcheroo.

the character of Susannah is black in the books. I wonder if she had conflicts with Roland centered around race. That could change dynamics.

Roland is explicitly compared Clint Eastwood in the Man with No Name and iirc is said to have blue eyes and yes there was racial conflict between Roland and Susannah as part of the dynamic. Thats why I initially thought Elba had be cast as the Man in Black...

Yup, he is cast as Roland, and that's pretty awesome.

That would be interesting. Are the books written in a sort of alternate history style?

no not alternate history.It initially looks like a post apocalyptic western but quickly goes weird (or is that wyrd?). Its hard to define as it weaves many different genre and worlds together.