Dr Midnight
Explorer
Ugh. I agree with Furn. I think that's just a bad movie that most people like for some reason I'LL never understand...kengar said:Excuse Me??Blade Runner a BAD movie? Blade Runner was a terrific movie!
Which of these two directors would you choose for the next D&D Movie?
- Thread starter Goodsport
- Start date
barsoomcore
Unattainable Ideal
Given that the discussion is to choose between Courtney Solomon and Peter Jackson, I'm voting for Courtney.
Not because he's a better director (I doubt HE would disagree with that assessment) but because he obviously loves D&D and loved making that film so much. Yeah, it was goofy and the dialogue was terrible and there were performances in that film that just made me wince, but at least they really really tried.
A movie like Swordfish, for example, sucks not because the people making the film don't know their jobs but because they don't have any respect for what they're doing or their audience or the world around them. There's no sense that these people truly love what they're doing. I hate films like that with a passion. I'd much rather watch something made by incompetents who are TRYING than skilled professionals who don't give a crap. I'd rather watch minor hockey or local boxing, too.
The D&D movie certainly felt like a labour of love. There were some great moments -- the leads were charming and had great chemistry, Jeremy Irons was crazed and deranged and his second-in-command was GREAT! I thought. And Courtney Solomon learned a lot while making it. It was his first film -- good for him for sticking to it for the many many years it took him to get it made, and getting it done on his own.
I doubt he'll get a sequel because my understanding is he only had the rights to a single film, and now that WotC is in the mix they're never going to let some punk from Toronto play around with their trademark. So cheers to Courtney for at least getting it done.
Not because he's a better director (I doubt HE would disagree with that assessment) but because he obviously loves D&D and loved making that film so much. Yeah, it was goofy and the dialogue was terrible and there were performances in that film that just made me wince, but at least they really really tried.
A movie like Swordfish, for example, sucks not because the people making the film don't know their jobs but because they don't have any respect for what they're doing or their audience or the world around them. There's no sense that these people truly love what they're doing. I hate films like that with a passion. I'd much rather watch something made by incompetents who are TRYING than skilled professionals who don't give a crap. I'd rather watch minor hockey or local boxing, too.
The D&D movie certainly felt like a labour of love. There were some great moments -- the leads were charming and had great chemistry, Jeremy Irons was crazed and deranged and his second-in-command was GREAT! I thought. And Courtney Solomon learned a lot while making it. It was his first film -- good for him for sticking to it for the many many years it took him to get it made, and getting it done on his own.
I doubt he'll get a sequel because my understanding is he only had the rights to a single film, and now that WotC is in the mix they're never going to let some punk from Toronto play around with their trademark. So cheers to Courtney for at least getting it done.
love Ridley or die
If you don't understand what Ridley Scott has done for modern cinema, then you need to do a little bit of research.
Aliens - revolutionized the genre, broke ground in special effects and production design, and overall pushed sci-fi into a wholly different direction;
Blade Runner - this film continues to be one of THE most influential movies of all time...the special effects still look convincing, the underlying themes are just barely being scratched by movies such as AI and Minority Report (albeit 20 years later), it inspired and still inspires fashion designers, production designers, and spawned a new generation of film makers...yes...I'd call that a bad movie.
Legend - weak in substance as the film was more about Ridley Scott the art direction/production designer/artist rather than Ridley Scott the story teller - however the visuals are still increadibly rich.
Gladiator - it hit the mark, entertained the masses, made Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix stars...what more do you want?
White Squall and Hannibal - pieces of sh*t - never does a director bat 1.00...Hannibal mainly because the book sucked.
Black Hawk Down - find me a more truthful representation of modern, man to man tactical combat that isn't blatantly waving the American flag.
As for another D&D or fantasy movie:
Courtney Solomon - don't let him anywhere near a camera, letting him direct the flagship D&D movie was a horrendous mistake. Oh yah, and try to make the lead villian look more convincing - Jeremy Iron's Executive VP in Charge of Sales haircut didn't look very sorcerous.
M. Night Shyamalan - his genre is modern day suspense with a device and twist laden script. He's brilliant enough and has the background (Indian mythology is steeped with their own rich brand of fantasy) to pull off a good fantasy movie...he's just a little hung up on pulling off "the twist" rather than telling a true story.
Peter Jackson - after the LoTR trilogy grosses almost 2 billion in theatrical, rental, and DVD home sales, the guy can do whatever the f*ck he wants. "What's that Peter? You want to do a Meet the Feebles Muppet Trilogy. No problem! Here's $300 million!" Due to legal issues, it will probably be a while until the Hobbit is ever made...but would love to see that one.
Sam Raimi - this guy kicked ass with low budget movies (Evil Dead --> Army of Darkness) and while he's busy doing a series of Spiderman movies, he understands the genre increadibly well. He'd be one of my top picks to do a D&D/fantasy movie.
James Cameron - d00d...make another movie already! JC is a genius and can pull off whatever genre he wants. His technical mastery is such that he could push the envelope in the fantasy realm AND he is awesome at running a "cast of characters" type movie.
George Lucas - if he could figure out how to direct (see Episodes I and II) he has the clout and resources to do WHATEVER he wants.
The Wachouski Brothers - imagine their knack for slick, stylish, razor sharp writing and action placed in a fantasy genre...tasty.
Oliver Stone - he wrote Conan the Barbarian and was very influential in making that movie as dark and gritty as it was. If you want a brooding, bloody, gory, hardcore shot at fantasy, he'd be the man.
David Fincher - like Oliver but his eye for visuals is unique and he'd be willing to tackle the genre in a non-traditional way.
Bottom-line, just thank Bob Shay, the Weinstein brothers and Peter Jackson for pulling off LoTR with the grace that it has. If LoTR was a hack attempt, fantasy would be dead in the water.
Now what I'd like to see is a really good adaptation of Shadowrun...blending future-shock, cyberpunk and dragons.
Hakkenshi: the debate over "Director's Cut" and theatrical version is never ending. I prefer the theatrical cut as it is truer to the Future-Noir aim of the film...and the insertion of the unicorn dream sequence (which was taken from Legend, which was filmed after Blade Runner) changes the movie substantially. Both are excellent however.
Barsoomcore: I can appreciate you giving Solomon the benefit of the doubt but the general consensus was that the D&D movie was a technical and financial flop. And what was with Bruce Payne (he played Profion's warrior lackey) and the blue lips? They never gave you a hint as to why he was wearing blue lipstick, and it just seemed as though it was something "cool from my D&D campaign" that Solomon threw in there....bleh.
If you don't understand what Ridley Scott has done for modern cinema, then you need to do a little bit of research.
Aliens - revolutionized the genre, broke ground in special effects and production design, and overall pushed sci-fi into a wholly different direction;
Blade Runner - this film continues to be one of THE most influential movies of all time...the special effects still look convincing, the underlying themes are just barely being scratched by movies such as AI and Minority Report (albeit 20 years later), it inspired and still inspires fashion designers, production designers, and spawned a new generation of film makers...yes...I'd call that a bad movie.
Legend - weak in substance as the film was more about Ridley Scott the art direction/production designer/artist rather than Ridley Scott the story teller - however the visuals are still increadibly rich.
Gladiator - it hit the mark, entertained the masses, made Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix stars...what more do you want?
White Squall and Hannibal - pieces of sh*t - never does a director bat 1.00...Hannibal mainly because the book sucked.
Black Hawk Down - find me a more truthful representation of modern, man to man tactical combat that isn't blatantly waving the American flag.
As for another D&D or fantasy movie:
Courtney Solomon - don't let him anywhere near a camera, letting him direct the flagship D&D movie was a horrendous mistake. Oh yah, and try to make the lead villian look more convincing - Jeremy Iron's Executive VP in Charge of Sales haircut didn't look very sorcerous.
M. Night Shyamalan - his genre is modern day suspense with a device and twist laden script. He's brilliant enough and has the background (Indian mythology is steeped with their own rich brand of fantasy) to pull off a good fantasy movie...he's just a little hung up on pulling off "the twist" rather than telling a true story.
Peter Jackson - after the LoTR trilogy grosses almost 2 billion in theatrical, rental, and DVD home sales, the guy can do whatever the f*ck he wants. "What's that Peter? You want to do a Meet the Feebles Muppet Trilogy. No problem! Here's $300 million!" Due to legal issues, it will probably be a while until the Hobbit is ever made...but would love to see that one.
Sam Raimi - this guy kicked ass with low budget movies (Evil Dead --> Army of Darkness) and while he's busy doing a series of Spiderman movies, he understands the genre increadibly well. He'd be one of my top picks to do a D&D/fantasy movie.
James Cameron - d00d...make another movie already! JC is a genius and can pull off whatever genre he wants. His technical mastery is such that he could push the envelope in the fantasy realm AND he is awesome at running a "cast of characters" type movie.
George Lucas - if he could figure out how to direct (see Episodes I and II) he has the clout and resources to do WHATEVER he wants.
The Wachouski Brothers - imagine their knack for slick, stylish, razor sharp writing and action placed in a fantasy genre...tasty.
Oliver Stone - he wrote Conan the Barbarian and was very influential in making that movie as dark and gritty as it was. If you want a brooding, bloody, gory, hardcore shot at fantasy, he'd be the man.
David Fincher - like Oliver but his eye for visuals is unique and he'd be willing to tackle the genre in a non-traditional way.
Bottom-line, just thank Bob Shay, the Weinstein brothers and Peter Jackson for pulling off LoTR with the grace that it has. If LoTR was a hack attempt, fantasy would be dead in the water.
Now what I'd like to see is a really good adaptation of Shadowrun...blending future-shock, cyberpunk and dragons.
Hakkenshi: the debate over "Director's Cut" and theatrical version is never ending. I prefer the theatrical cut as it is truer to the Future-Noir aim of the film...and the insertion of the unicorn dream sequence (which was taken from Legend, which was filmed after Blade Runner) changes the movie substantially. Both are excellent however.
Barsoomcore: I can appreciate you giving Solomon the benefit of the doubt but the general consensus was that the D&D movie was a technical and financial flop. And what was with Bruce Payne (he played Profion's warrior lackey) and the blue lips? They never gave you a hint as to why he was wearing blue lipstick, and it just seemed as though it was something "cool from my D&D campaign" that Solomon threw in there....bleh.
Last edited:
Furn_Darkside
First Post
barsoomcore said:
Do you mean Hasbro?
I agree with your point and voted for Courtney as well.
FD
Furn_Darkside
First Post
Re: love Ridley or die
Did anyone make a mention about what he did or not do for "modern cinema"?
No, people made mention if they thought he would make a good or bad d&d movie.
Get the fanboy chip off your shoulder.
Oh, I am scared. Really.
FD
Rexfelis said:
Did anyone make a mention about what he did or not do for "modern cinema"?
No, people made mention if they thought he would make a good or bad d&d movie.
Get the fanboy chip off your shoulder.
Oh, I am scared. Really.FD
barsoomcore
Unattainable Ideal
Re: love Ridley or die
The Scott brothers have done more for TV commercials and music videos than they have for cinema. Don't get me wrong, I'm an occasional fan (though I don't think Ridley's made a good film in a long, long while), but they are massively overrated. Not as overrated as the Warchowski brothers, but still.
Actually, nobody let him direct the film. He bought the rights from TSR ages ago and spent years raising the money to make the film. WotC couldn't do a thing about it, as I understand the situation.
The question wasn't "What was the general consensus about the D&D movie?" Yeah, sure, it was reviled universally and barely made its money back. So? I would love to see him do the next one because I enjoy watching people do something they love. And I believe Solomon loved making that movie and would die for the chance to do another.
Frankly, I'd be disappointed with PJ if he decided to do a D&D movie. He's a genius, he's one of cinema's greatest talents ever -- he has better things to do than a D&D movie. Courtney Solomon is an enthusiastic kid with energy and determination. I wish him well and would be thrilled to see him getting another fun project.
Rexfelis said:
The Scott brothers have done more for TV commercials and music videos than they have for cinema. Don't get me wrong, I'm an occasional fan (though I don't think Ridley's made a good film in a long, long while), but they are massively overrated. Not as overrated as the Warchowski brothers, but still.
Actually, nobody let him direct the film. He bought the rights from TSR ages ago and spent years raising the money to make the film. WotC couldn't do a thing about it, as I understand the situation.
The question wasn't "What was the general consensus about the D&D movie?" Yeah, sure, it was reviled universally and barely made its money back. So? I would love to see him do the next one because I enjoy watching people do something they love. And I believe Solomon loved making that movie and would die for the chance to do another.
Frankly, I'd be disappointed with PJ if he decided to do a D&D movie. He's a genius, he's one of cinema's greatest talents ever -- he has better things to do than a D&D movie. Courtney Solomon is an enthusiastic kid with energy and determination. I wish him well and would be thrilled to see him getting another fun project.
BiggusGeekus
That's Latin for "cool"
Re: Re: love Ridley or die
Well, maybe. But only if Ravenloft took place in Philidelphia or something. MNS builds his stories by slowly going from the real to the trans-real:
"I can see dead people"
"No kidding, Strahad! You're a vampire!"
I very much enjoy MNS, but I don't think he's suited to cast-a-fireball-fantasy.
Xarlen said:
Well, maybe. But only if Ravenloft took place in Philidelphia or something. MNS builds his stories by slowly going from the real to the trans-real:
"I can see dead people"
"No kidding, Strahad! You're a vampire!"
I very much enjoy MNS, but I don't think he's suited to cast-a-fireball-fantasy.
