Stephen King's The Dark Tower gets the green light from on high

[swordpath]

Stephen King's The Dark Tower gets the green light from on high | Film | guardian.co.uk

 

[Kasper]

I've been waiting for this to happen... dunno if it's great or terrible.

I'm sure it'll be epic.

 

[Totenkindly]

I don't know how I feel about it.

Honestly, only a very small percentage of King's works translated into visual media haven't been total shit.

And Dark Tower is one of his works that contains some of his best writing but also some of his worst. (Wolves of the Calla was god-awful.)

Ron Howard? He's done some good work but in the humanistic/hopeful sense; and the subject matter here is just damned dark, it's a hallmark of King's writing (the darkness makes any hope King interjects even more poignant), and I'd rather have seen involvement by people with more extremes in their creative range.

I honestly think it'll do better the more that the TV series and movies are based on entirely original interpretations of the characters and fleshed-in backstory rather than trying to recreate much from the books themselves.

 

[Kasper]

Honestly, only a very small percentage of King's works translated into visual media haven't been total shit.

I feel the opposite way, often I cringe when a book is made into a movie but with King's work I find it often keeps true to the book without losing much.

 

[entropie]

I don't know how I feel about it.

Honestly, only a very small percentage of King's works translated into visual media haven't been total shit.

I feel the same way. I havent read the Dark Tower yet, but since you mention it here I remember what I wanted to do .

Tho Green Mile was good as a movie, I've read The Stand too and it was one of the most awesome books I ever read. Read it in german and in english and both versions were great, but the movie was totally sucky. Left out like half the book in it and tho the book has 1300 pages in german, you cant leave out vital plot-relevant things but they did. That sucked big time.

Like to leave out trash can mans story, the inner monologue he has, when he blows up that factory is just great in the book .

 

[Totenkindly]

You're right, Kas, Maximum Overdrive and Silver Bullet were classics. Sorry.

I've read The Stand tho and it was one of the most awesome books I ever read. Read it in german and in english and both versions were great, but the movie was totally sucky. Left out like half the book in it and tho the book has 1300 pages in german, you cant leave out vital plot-relevant things but they did. That sucked big time.

Like to leave out trash can mans story, the inner monologue he has, when he blows up that factory is just great in the book .

The Stand is one of my favorites (along with IT), but it's hardcore King -- you'd better be able to dig in for the long haul... cuz, BOY, is it long!

Yeah, the whole scene where Trashie blows up the gas towers/refineries is pretty amazing and one of those I can picture King writing in one sitting... it just flowed.

My favorite excerpt from the Dark Tower (aside from the Mordred stuff in the last book) is still probably the whole gunslinger initiation with Cort, when Roland was a boy. I think it best captures who Roland is, and it's one of his formative experiences.

Otherwise, my favorite books are "The Drawing of the Three" and "Wizard and Glass."
Bird and bear
and hare and fish,
give my love
her fondest wish
That story just chokes me up.

Wizard and Glass, I'll still re-read; and it's the last one in the series he wrote before the Big Lull, it was driven organically... he took about ten years off, then realized he might die and tried to crank out the last three. This is one reason I think WotC sucked; it was mostly him throwing crap at the wall, seeing what would stick so he would know where to go, and finally he got his voice back a bit for the last two.

EDIT: ha ha, I also love typos. On King's site, here is the excerpt for the audio version of W&G:

alongside Interstate 70, an emerald palace rises enchantingly. Before Roland and the companions of his ka-tet continue along the Path of the Bean, Roland must tell his companions the tale that defines him both as a man and hero...

Bean??? Mister Bean? Green bean? Lima bean? Baked beans? Good ol' bean? Orson Bean?

It's supposed to be "Bear." bwa ha ha ha!

 

[Kasper]

I've read The Stand too and tho it was one of the most awesome books I ever read.

The Stand is awesome, The Dark Tower is better Read it!

 

[entropie]

I'll do !

"His greatest dream was to run a round thru the New York Yankees stadium naked and then masturbate on the hitters point."

 

[Totenkindly]

I'll do !

"His greatest dream was to run a round thru the New York Yankees stadium naked and then masturbate on the hitters point."

It's apparent we both enjoy different things about King's work.

 

[Randomnity]

I never read the others after the Wizard and Glass, maybe I'll wait and see how the movie is first. Could be awesome or terrible.

I liked the Stand miniseries, actually. Not as much as the book (which is probably my favourite King) but I still liked it. But didn't like the movie It, it was pretty different in mood from the book, I thought.

 

[Totenkindly]

well, I don't see a newer thread, soooo....

Releases in August 2017.

First trailer just dropped. Here's an article about it:
Dark Tower trailer decoded: Mysteries of the Stephen King epic explained

I think it would be best to at least partially view this movie as a "riff" on the series, and you have to take the movie as its own entity or spin on the story. (And since Dark Tower is iterative anyway, both can be true I suppose.) Casting seems decent, just not sure what to expect yet from the trailer. I do like the quotes/themes from the book, like the Gunslinger Oath.

 

[Lord Lavender]

Just stumbled across this thread and as a great lover of Kings works and with the Dark Tower series being possibly my most enjoyable ever series of books ever I am hyped for this movie and I can only hope the film does it good justice. I shall be watching it soon .