MovieChat Forums > The Dark Tower (2017) Discussion > Reading for the 3rd time and...

Reading for the 3rd time and...

posted 8 years ago by SpringheelJack_fin
36 replies | jump to latest

..this race change really does f8uck with my head and take me out of the story. I keep picturing him as Idris Elba now. Great actor who could play a great Roland but the amount of times I have to keep forgetting that image I have of him being black so my ideas stop conflicting with what the book is telling me..

It's a f*ucking nuisance. At first I didn't think the casting was that bad but now I've completely switched. With all the white actors that could portray Roland just as good, if not better, why make so many changes in order to incorporate a black actor into the role?

Could they at least just paint his face white for the sake of the narrative?

I promise I won't get offended.

[–] jerryhammond38 8 years ago

He doesn't have to look like Elba until the last page.

[–] Spider198 8 years ago

So he magically changes race at the end why exactly? Pitiful excuse for p*ss poor casting.

[–] SpringheelJack_fin 8 years ago

It really is just an excuse, it'll be interesting to see how they address it in the film for fans of the books. It'll have to be done, I hope they're smart about it. The silver lining is that if these "sequels" to the books are successful, maybe we'll get an actual movie adaptation of the books sometime.

Problem with that is they'll have already stolen too many elements from the books to use in their "sequel".

[–] Spider198 8 years ago

This will not succeed. It will bomb, taking with it the chance of ever seeing a proper adaption.
And if they ever do get another chance to do it right this will have spoiled the ending (among other parts of the story that the hack director cherry picked when he searched it on Wikipedia), to go along with the complaints it will get from clueless idiots when they cast a white actor as Roland (because their tiny minds won't acknowledge that he was supposed to be white to begin with).

[–] SpringheelJack_fin 8 years ago

If he were black in the end he would have been described so, it's not a point that would have been skipped. It's obvious by the ending that the Horn of Eld is the only difference, perhaps finally allowing things to play differently rather than the resumption of the exact same series of events.

Nevertheless, it doesn't change the fact that I keep seeing Idris as Roland in my head as I read, it has a lot to do with my anticipation of the movie. It's not always a bad thing, but there are plenty of moments where I have to shake the idea from my head.

[–] joannatn 8 years ago

Master, I'm confused...

I'm reading the books for the 3rd time as well, but the Roland I'm picturing is the same Roland I've pictured since I was 13. Same can be said when I read Harry Potter; it's not Daniel Radcliffe I picture but the Harry I pictured when I started the books 4 years before the 1st movie was released.

When I restarted The Gunslinger again it had been my intention to try and insert Idris Elba as Roland, but I couldn't make it work. Not because I don't like the actor (on the contrary - love the man), but because I've known Roland for nearly 27 years now and trying to change him was out of the question. I've resigned to the fact that I can preserve my original Roland and then view the movie as a separate entity (which, essentially, it is). Can you not do the same? I'd think you'd have the opposite issue like I did, but I guess even the psychological aspects are relative to the readers...

[–] SpringheelJack_fin 8 years ago

Maybe it's because you've been picturing him as described in the book for 27 f*ucking years 

Meanwhile, I first read the books around 5-6 years ago.

I think a lot of people that see the movie before reading the books will have the same problem.

As for Harry Potter, I only read the last 3 and from what I could tell the descriptions of Harry were pretty much as portrayed in the movie but I don't know, I'm no big fan.

[–] brett_md 8 years ago

"If he were black in the end he would have been described so, it's not a point that would have been skipped."

Imagine if you will.

"The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed. Roland paused,took a long breathe, that filled his nostrils with the ever present scent of sand and devil grass. He looked down at his dark hands. The sun beating down on the brightly bleached sand made the contrast all the more obvious. "These colors don't make a difference", he thought, "they don't change what I must do. They don't change me."
He began again.

There you go. Can we all move on?

[–] SpringheelJack_fin 8 years ago

Nice try at single handedly changing canon, you stupid f*uck 

[–] brett_md 8 years ago

Whatever, you simple minded, ignorant racist dolt.

"Mother Father, Chinese Dentist!"

[–] SpringheelJack_fin 8 years ago

You want to actually compare minds, motherf*ucker?

Or do you wanna' just throw some more recycled buzzwords around? 

[–] KeyBrains 8 years ago

When I read the books I imagine prime Clint Eastwood. I would never recommend somebody trying to picture a specific actor when reading text, just let the descriptions and your imagination work. I'm an X-Men fan and when I read the comics it's not at all confusing when I see the 5'3 ratty depiction of the character and not Hugh Jackman.

Content by KeyBrains is copyright protected not to be duplicated without accreditation (KeyBrains)

[–] SpringheelJack_fin 8 years ago

A comic book is an amusingly bad example in this context 

I have the Gunslinger Born comic. The images displayed on the page aren't going to magically transform into something else like they do in the imagination 

[–] KeyBrains 8 years ago

Well, why don't you just try imagining the comic book depiction? I mean, this whole post reeks of BS - would be more credible if you'd actually seen the movie and then went to revisit the book.

Content by KeyBrains is copyright protected not to be duplicated without accreditation (KeyBrains)

[–] SpringheelJack_fin 8 years ago

Nah, seems like you're one of those people that just goes around sticking every word under a microscope looking for any excuse to call someone racist. There's nothing hard to believe about what I've said. I don't tolerate stupidity and there seems to be a lot more than I thought there would be on this Dark Tower board.

[–] Captain_Wesker 8 years ago

Where in this thread have you been called a racist?

That aside, you do seem to be afflicted with a rather narrow imagination.

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It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing .

[–] SpringheelJack_fin 8 years ago

And you're just plain boring, white knighting this movie like it's god's gift to man, no matter how bad all the signs are.

You're like one of those boring geeks that spend way too much time speculating on what might happen in Game of Thrones or some sh*it.

[–] Captain_Wesker 8 years ago

Well, it is a message board after all, not a latrine where one is supposed to walk in and leave a fresh load every now and again.

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It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing .

[–] SpringheelJack_fin 8 years ago

You're making it a really f*ucken boring message board. And what the f*uck would inspire you to use Wesker as your avatar?

A terrible character instantly turned into some kind of Neo ripoff that does nothing but become a glowing example of how terrible Resident Evil became?

Poor taste, it's no wonder you'll be in complete denial about ANYTHING negative in regards to this "adaptation".

[–] Captain_Wesker 8 years ago

A terrible character instantly turned into some kind of Neo ripoff that does nothing but become a glowing example of how terrible Resident Evil became?

Poor taste, it's no wonder you'll be in complete denial about ANYTHING negative in regards to this "adaptation".

If you'll note my avatar, it is Albert Wesker circa the first Resident Evil game. For the record: I disliked the "supervillian" turn he took in Resident Evil: Code Veronica which lead to his Saturday Morning cartoon portrayal in Resident Evil 5.

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It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing .

[–] SpringheelJack_fin 8 years ago

Good, but even in the original Resident Evil he was a cliché so I don't care.

[–] Captain_Wesker 8 years ago

Try the REmake some time.

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It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing .

[–] SpringheelJack_fin 8 years ago

I love the REmake. Had it on Gamecube and have it PS4. Wesker is still cheesy 

[–] Captain_Wesker 8 years ago

Not in the REmake, by comparison.

Part of the fun of the original PSX title IS the B-movie cheese . I suspect the creators even intended it...well, most of it in any case.

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It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing .

[–] SpringheelJack_fin 8 years ago

Well yeah, the characterisations are definitely a massive improvement when compared to the original 

Imagine if they made a good movie adaptation of that instead of the B grade action franchise we got which eventually even effected the tone of the games. Going from horror to rescuing the President's "way too hot looking" 14 year old daughter.

[–] Captain_Wesker 8 years ago

Don't remind me. We may not agree on The Dark Tower, but we are fully in agreement over the travesty that is the Resident Evil film franchise.

The only installment I kinda sorta appreciate is the first, but even that appreciation comes to an end once Alice starts spin-kicking zombie dogs. At that moment, any tension quickly fled the scene.

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It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing .

[–] SpringheelJack_fin 8 years ago

Agreed. I wouldn't mind a REmake of RE2 but I don't care for anything after that. 4 was a really impressive game but that's where it ended, just fun exploration and combat.

It was a similar story with the Silent Hill games. We got 3 special horror games followed by a bunch of mediocre sequels that didn't quite get the point.

[–] Captain_Wesker 8 years ago

4 is a good romp on its own, but it ain't survival horror and I heavily question the title of "Resident Evil" afforded to it.

I wouldn't mind a fresh take on Resident Evil 3: Nemesis if it were in the vein of the REmake (newer graphics, new sound, good voice acting, a few additional gameplay mechanics and some extra areas to explore while retaining fixed camera angles). While not as slow paced and methodical as the original game, it does at least keep the tension on with the persistent bogeyman-like titular villain. Modern Capcom being what they are, however...well, let's just say i'm not holding my breath for the Resident Evil 2 remake let alone any potential remakes following it.

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It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing .

[–] SpringheelJack_fin 8 years ago

Yeah, The Room was actually pretty good. It might have been more appreciated if they didn't decide to change it into a Silent Hill title at the last second.

I've been thinking of giving RE0 another play through. I haven't played it since it was new on Gamecube. I liked it at the time but IGN's recent review of the ps4 release kind of turned me off of it, I think it was mostly due to the player switch mechanic, I'm not sure.

All I can remember is the nicely illustrated backgrounds, slug men and a pretty cheesy ending that had a strong hint of the tone RE4 was gonna' bring..

[–] Captain_Wesker 8 years ago

When it comes to Silent Hill, I find myself the odd man out due to preferring the first game over the second. It is a more conventional horror tale, but the atmosphere is just so damned spot on and the main protagonist being an Average Joe is a welcome change of protagonist type. SH2 is a prime example of how video games can be art, but the experience is focused on being depressing and introspective instead of thrusting you into a rust-and-blood environment that drives its hooks straight into your fear center.

I've been thinking of giving RE0 another play through. I haven't played it since it was new on Gamecube. I liked it at the time but IGN's recent review of the ps4 release kind of turned me off of it, I think it was mostly due to the player switch mechanic, I'm not sure.

Yeah, the slug man can come off as quite goofy. However, if you can push past that, you will be rewarded with a pretty spooky trek through some lavishly decrepit architecture. Don't sweat the partner switching mechanic: oftentimes you can "go it alone" and be just fine if you plan things right (occasions where two people are required to solve a puzzle are spaced out fairly well).

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It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing .

[–] KeyBrains 8 years ago

I didn't say anything about race at all. Wtf???

[–] SpringheelJack_fin 8 years ago

I'm grouping you with the likes of that Wesker bitch who are always falling back on things like that as the only reason for not agreeing with the casting of Idris as Roland, obviously.

[–] Captain_Wesker 8 years ago

Either your memory is short or you are new here. I've acknowledged that some fans are simply purists that bemoan any deviation from the source material* without being prejudicial on the issue of skin color. Thing of it is, we've received an inordinate amount of folks that imply or outright state that the only reason why Idris Elba landed the role was a "pity me" gesture towards some misguided notion of Affirmative Action and not his acting chops/impression on the director during auditions.

(* Heck, that is a place where I have been regarding other intellectual properties and suspect I will be at another point in time.)

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It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing .

[–] SpringheelJack_fin 8 years ago

Maybe one out of your 50000 posts acknowledged that. I haven't spent an excessive amount of time researching you excessive amount of posting on this board so I can't see everything posted. The impression I got from everything I did see was what I previously posted.

[–] Captain_Wesker 8 years ago

Care to point out any recent posts of the 50,000 where I called someone racist for disliking the decision to cast Elba as Roland? We can discuss it if you wish.

Note: stating someone is off-kilter for spamming "PC" and/or "SJW" doesn't count .

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It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing .

[–] SpringheelJack_fin 8 years ago

I'm not invested enough to go through your comment history. I made a statement about what's being going through my head as I read the books for the first time after Idris being Cast as Roland and all the self inflicted hype of the movie and I have this idiot coming in saying it sounds like I'm bullsh*tting.

Why the f*uck would I make it up? It's not hard to imagine, the implication is insulting and narrow minded so f*uck him, whatever that dickhead Dick Tracy avatar guys name is. Maybe it would have been more appropriate to group him with Akiva Goldsman instead of you.