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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 16, 2015 2:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
Have to respectfully disagree regarding Errol. He'd have made a great Nemo.

Flynn was a fine actor that Warner Brothers never fully utilized.

Well, I certainly can't argue that Errol couldn't have handled the role in view of the fact my perceptions of him are based on how the studio wanted me to perceive him, not based on dramatic roles he took on and didn't succeed at.

As for your other suggestions, I'm equally guilty of being unable to imagine them out of their standard personas, too!

Ronald Coleman is another actor who is best when he's suave and charming.

Spencer Tracy is good at being everybody's buddy, but not so good as being the stone-faced and enigmatic captain-type.

Frankly, Price wasn't all that great as the Nemo wanna-be in "Master of the World".

But Tyrone Power might have been pretty good as Nemo. He played commanding officers in several films (even one on a submarine in Crash Dive). He's very good at portraying intelligence, decisiveness, and the ability make hard decisions in a very cool manner.

And in 1958, this is what he looked like with a beard! By gum, sir, I think you've hit on a pretty great idea at that!




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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Fri Feb 16, 2024 6:04 pm; edited 5 times in total
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Pow
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 16, 2015 5:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Also adding gravitas to the role by Ty would have been his brave service during WWII.

I recall reading an article once that a number of leading actors who saw action in WWII came back as different men. As one would expect.

Prior to the war Jimmy Stewart, Hank Fonda, Clark Gable & others all had a boyish, innocent charm to them & many of the characters they played in films.

Afterwards there was more of a haunted look to them. Nothing really boyish anymore. These were men baptized by war. No longer innocent devil-may-care chaps.

They were hardened, vulnerable, wounded, withdrawn.
This was all reflected, at times, by the characters they would play in the post WWII era.
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Zackuth
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 02, 2015 8:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rocky Jones wrote:
I thought I was about the only person who didn't despise this movie. It had obvious technical flaws, but I thought it was kind of fun.

I knew I wasn't the only person who didn't despise the movie, but I really didn't think I would find a post in which so many liked the movie. I saw this in the theater when it came out and was an instant fan. Yeah, there are some flaws, but it's a great movie.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue May 16, 2017 5:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

IMDB has some wonderful trivia items for this movie.
________________________________

At one point, Peta Wilson does a humorous impersonation of Sean Connery's voice. According to Wilson, this was a last-minute addition to the scene, and she felt nervous doing it, since Connery impersonations were considered a no-no on the set.

Before the shoot she called Connery and offered not to do the accent, but he insisted she should. Afterwards, she asked him what he thought. He replied, "You were great!" She was taken aback and asked if he really meant it. He said, "Yeah, it's terrible! It's the worst impersonation I have ever heard, and it's perfect."


Note from me: The secret to imitating Sean Connery is to whistle the S's.

Give it a try. Just say the phrase above . . . and say the S's with a slight "whistle". Very Happy

LEG takes place in an alternate universe, where technology is more advanced in 1899, than it was in real-life. Aside from the use of an automobile and other advanced devices, we also see Captain Nemo's crew using sonar, and Nemo refers to solar power, many years before they were invented.

Note from me: This makes perfect sense. If you can take all these famous people and bring them together into one story, mixing in the scientific achievements from other periods is completely consistent . . . and wonderfully imaginative! Very Happy

In the original graphic novel, Alan Quatermain had written himself out of public life and become an opium addict. At the start of the story, he is rescued from a Cairo opium den by Mina Harker and enlisted as a member of the League. In the film adaptation, Sean Connery reportedly refused to play an opium addict, so the writers changed his story, so he was merely hiding from the public, and still in control of his wits and health.

Note from me: I have to admit that Quartermain as a disillusioned recluse is more appealing than as a burned out druggie! Sad

A sequel was planned, but was canceled due to negative critical reception, and the film being a grave disappointment at the box-office. A clue to the sequel's plot can be gleaned from a poster in the background which says "Volcanic eruptions on Mars". This would have been an adaptation of the second series of the comic book, where the League battled the Martian Tripods from H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds".

Note from me: This idea could have gone well. I'd love to have seen it.

The magazine on Quatermain's desk aboard the Nautilus is "The Strand", original publisher of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories.

Note from me: Nice touch. Very Happy

While the film contains numerous allusions to literary characters and places, the original comics were so thick with them that many web pages were devoted to panel-by-panel breakdowns of annotations.

Note from me: In view of this fact, I admire the producers for simplifying the concept a bit for the movie version. After all, unlike the readers of the graphic novels, the movie audiences had to absorb all this in two hours without ever pausing to ponder the complex plot or the diverse characters!

Naseeruddin Shah trained with a karate master to do much of his own fighting stunt work as Nemo

Note from me: I liked this movie's version of Nemo. He wasn't just a grumpy submarine captain, he was an exotic character with multiple skills.

Jason Flemyng was only cast as Dr. Jeykll and Mr. Hyde after several well known British actors refused the part, because of the demanding make-up effects required for the role.

Note from me: Silly as this my sound, I thought the Hyde character was very skillful CGI when I first saw the movie. I was surprised when I later learned that his scenes were filmed as an actor in make-up. Embarassed

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Fri Jan 06, 2023 11:53 am; edited 2 times in total
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 11:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

A pretty good trailer for a pretty good movie. Very Happy

Sorry, I couldn't find this one with a sharper picture. The other trailers suck. Too fast-faced paced and annoying. Sad)
________________________________



________ The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen


__________

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Fri Jan 06, 2023 11:56 am; edited 1 time in total
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Custer
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2018 7:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You make re-viewing the movie after quite a while very tempting. I've just pulled my two-disc special DVD edition off the shelf, which I see has 3 featurettes, 17 deleted scenes (!), trailers, and more... did I mention the Interactive Menus that such productions used to boast?

"Great fun... A splendid romp!" That was the verdict they quote from the Film 2003 television show, which seems fair comment.
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Pow
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2023 12:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

In M's meeting room we see a painting of an earlier League on the wall.

Members: Reverend Syn (The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh), Sir Percy Blakeney (The Scarlett Pimpernel), Nathaniel "Natty" Bumpo (aka Hawkeye from Last of the Mohicans), and Lemuel Gulliver (Gulliver's Travels).

Given M wasn't who he said he was to the current League we have to ask the question was there really an earlier League, or was that painting just used to make it all seem legitimate?
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2023 12:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
Given M wasn't who he said he was to the current League we have to ask the question was there really an earlier League, or was that painting just used to make it all seem legitimate?

Since M went to a lot of trouble to deceive the "League", it's possible that he did get an artist to make the painting of The Bogus League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Laughing
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 16, 2024 5:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

IMDB has a few more wonderful trivia items for this movie.
________________________________

~ When Quatermain, Skinner, Mina, and Nemo arrive at the East London Docks, the camera pans past a sign advertising "An Evening of Extraordinary Entertainment" with "Mr. Alan Moore" and "Mr. Kevin O'Neill", the writers of the original graphic novel. The poster is, in fact, a duplication of the title page of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 1 Collector's Edition.

Note from me: A nice tribute to the writers of the graphic novel. Very Happy

~Naseeruddin Shah trained with a karate master to do much of his own fighting stunt work as Nemo.

Note from me: In view of the fact fact that some sources state that Nemo was an Indian prince, I like the way he's portrayed in this movie.

~ In Jules Verne's original "20,000 Leagues under the Sea," Captain Nemo is not a white man but an escaped slave who has been an Asian prince, meaning that the casting of Naseeruddin Shah is much closer to Verne than actors like James Mason, Robert Ryan and José Ferrer.

Note from me: This supports what I said in the previous comment.

~ Naseeruddin Shah trained with a karate master to do much of his own fighting stunt work as Nemo.

Note from me: I loved the way Nemo was portrayed. Very Happy

~ The character of Campion Bond, British Intelligence Director (ancestor of James Bond), was supposed to appear (one media report suggested that he would have been played by Sir Roger Moore, thereby having two former James Bonds in one movie), but the character was dropped before filming began to be saved for a possible sequel, which was never made.

Note from me: I like this idea. Very cool. Cool

~ Filming was delayed due to the summer 2002 floods in Prague, Czech Republic which destroyed more than seven million dollars worth of sets and ruined countless Czech lives.

Note from me: It's a wonder this movie ever made it to the screen! Sad

~ During the battle of Venice, there is a brief shot of the footwell of the NemoMobile. Shown are three pedals; however, Tom Sawyer slams his foot on the gas pedal without ever touching the clutch. This is because, a) The NemoMobile used an automatic transmission, and b) the pedal on the left is in fact, not a clutch pedal, but rather a second brake pedal.

By having independent braking to the left and right side of the car, the stunt driver could achieve certain tricks not normally attributable to a twenty-two-foot long vehicle.


Note from me: My respect for that automobile just went up! Very Happy

~ Sir Sean Connery was paid seventeen million dollars for his role, which left the filmmakers little money to attract other big-name stars for the ensemble cast.

Note from me: I can't help wishing Sean hadn't been such a greedy so-and-so. By taking such a big bite out of the budget, he actually hurt the movie he was starring in. Frankly, that's just stupid! Sad

~ The addition of Tom Sawyer to the cast may have been meant to increase the movies appeal to U.S. audiences, but it wasn't just a whim.

After the success of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", Mark Twain wrote two little-known sequels to "Tom Sawyer". In one of which, Tom has a Jules Verne-like adventure ("Tom Sawyer Abroad") and in the other, he becomes a crime fighter ("Tom Sawyer, Detective").


Note from me: Holy crap! I didn't' know this. Shocked

~ In the graphic novel, the main mission on which Moriarty sends the League, is to recover a space travel formula (invented by Professor Cavor, an H.G. Wells character) which has been stolen by Sax Rohmer's crime lord Dr. Fu Manchu (whose name is not printed in the book, due to rights issues).

Note from me: Wow, the way this series of graphic novels combines great ideas from classic literary is amazing! Very Happy

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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