Have to admit I laughed outloud while watching this trailer.

Could there be a more cliched assortment of images than this? It looks EXACTLY like you would think, it has Russell Crowe reprieving his Gladiator role...the visuals and surroundings appear exactly as we thought.

When did taking the green out of movies become commonplace? This manages to make ROBIN HOOD PRINCE OF THIEVES look sunny and bright by comparison!

Hopefully the end result will be entertaining but...I am not excited.

Anyway, take a look...

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=61633

Scott does seem to have settled on a schtick -- the "strobing shutter" effect in action scenes, the desaturation and tinting, the handheld "documentary" camerawork, naturalistic light and the generally gritty, dirty-looking art direction.

I thought this made for an interesting take on a Roman epic, and was unbelievably effective in Black Hawk Down. But at the same time I'd kind of like to see him try something new (especially when so many others are imitating this style).

But to me the most devastating blow in the development of this film is the inexplicable replacement of Sienna Miller with Cate Blanchett.

AndyDursin wrote:Have to admit I laughed outloud while watching this trailer.

Could there be a more cliched assortment of images than this? It looks EXACTLY like you would think, it has Russell Crowe reprieving his Gladiator role...the visuals and surroundings appear exactly as we thought.

When did taking the green out of movies become commonplace? This manages to make ROBIN HOOD PRINCE OF THIEVES look sunny and bright by comparison!

Hopefully the end result will be entertaining but...I am not excited.

Anyway, take a look...

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=61633

Can't be any worse than the Costner version.

"By nightfall, we will be ay my Father's castle."
From Dover?? LOL
I don't think so!

This'll be an upgrade from the Costner version excepting Morgan Freeman and especially Alan Rickman.

John Johnson wrote: Can't be any worse than the Costner version.

Too true! I'm sure Crowe will be ten times better than Costner, and that the film overall will be superior to Prince of Thieves (or the Patrick Bergen version).

I have every confidence that Scott's film will have satisfying action sequences, thrills and spills. But I'd just rather Scott went for a more beautiful "Duelists" look than the gritty documentary approach for what should be old-fashioned adventure. I also think not just Marion, but Robin as well, ought have been played by younger (and better-looking) actors.

"By nightfall, we will be ay my Father's castle."
From Dover?? LOL
I don't think so!

Especially when they detour to Hadrian's Wall!

Eric W. wrote:This'll be an upgrade from the Costner version excepting Morgan Freeman and especially Alan Rickman.

Rickman was wonderful in Prince of Thieves. For all of the movie's faults, he was superb and I doubt this movie is going to have much humor in it -- especially given Scott's last few movies.

I also second Paul's take on the casting of Blanchett. Sienna Miller...even in GI JOE she was easy on the eyes. Blanchett doesn't do it for me, and never has.

AndyDursin wrote: I also second Paul's take on the casting of Blanchett. Sienna Miller...even in GI JOE she was easy on the eyes. Blanchett doesn't do it for me, and never has.

I heard different stories regarding the explanation of Miller's replacement. One was that Miller's affair with Blthazar Getty would ruin Marian's "wholesome" image (which doesn't sound very likely given the decadence of any celebrity performer you care to name).

Another rumor was that Miller would make the older and out-of-shape Crowe look bad on screen.

Whatever the reasons, it seems to me a HUGE mistake to replace Miller with Cate Blanchet.

Blanchett is a fine actress, but I can you which one of these two makes ME think of the young, beautiful Maid Marion...

Paul MacLean wrote:

AndyDursin wrote: I also second Paul's take on the casting of Blanchett. Sienna Miller...even in GI JOE she was easy on the eyes. Blanchett doesn't do it for me, and never has.

I heard different stories regarding the explanation of Miller's replacement. One was that Miller's affair with Blthazar Getty would ruin Marian's "wholesome" image (which doesn't sound very likely given the decadence of any celebrity performer you care to name).

Another rumor was that Miller would make the older and out-of-shape Crowe look bad on screen.

Whatever the reasons, it seems to me a HUGE mistake to replace Miller with Cate Blanchet.

Blanchett is a fine actress, but I can you which one of these two makes ME think of the young, beautiful Maid Marion...

I used to know someone who worked on Robin of Sherwood and he had a very good joke about Marian.

"Everybody has made Marian." LOL

Paul MacLean wrote:

John Johnson wrote: Can't be any worse than the Costner version.

Too true! I'm sure Crowe will be ten times better than Costner, and that the film overall will be superior to Prince of Thieves (or the Patrick Bergen version).

I have every confidence that Scott's film will have satisfying action sequences, thrills and spills. But I'd just rather Scott went for a more beautiful "Duelists" look than the gritty documentary approach for what should be old-fashioned adventure. I also think not just Marion, but Robin as well, ought have been played by younger (and better-looking) actors.

"By nightfall, we will be ay my Father's castle."
From Dover?? LOL
I don't think so!

Especially when they detour to Hadrian's Wall!

Yes.
When that played in the UK, it got laughed off the screen.
As for Christian Slater, Michael McShane and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio,
the less said about them the better.

Yes.
When that played in the UK, it got laughed off the screen.
As for Christian Slater, Michael McShane and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio,
the less said about them the better.

I didn't have any issue with her casting or performance. The bigger issue to me there was Costner having no chemistry with her on-screen, in addition to his being miscast.

Either way, no matter how much it got laughed off the screen, the film was a MASSIVE success. It's not a great movie, but it has its moments, and I love Rickman.

Too bad Michael Kamen's score has that great opening track, and....that's basically it.

AndyDursin wrote:Too bad Michael Kamen's score has that great opening track, and....that's basically it.

The trailers for the film were very effective, wisely containing no shots of Costner speaking, and being tracked with James Horner's music for Willow -- which actually evoked the romance and thrilling heroism of the film far better than Kamen's did, I have to say.

Paul MacLean wrote:

AndyDursin wrote:Too bad Michael Kamen's score has that great opening track, and....that's basically it.

The trailers for the film were very effective, wisely containing no shots of Costner speaking, and being tracked with James Horner's music for Willow -- which actually evoked the romance and thrilling heroism of the film far better than Kamen's did, I have to say.

Once Costner opend his gob that was it for me. Same goes for Slater. Totally wrong in the parts.

AndyDursin wrote:

Yes.
When that played in the UK, it got laughed off the screen.
As for Christian Slater, Michael McShane and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio,
the less said about them the better.

I didn't have any issue with her casting or performance. The bigger issue to me there was Costner having no chemistry with her on-screen, in addition to his being miscast.

Either way, no matter how much it got laughed off the screen, the film was a MASSIVE success. It's not a great movie, but it has its moments, and I love Rickman.

Too bad Michael Kamen's score has that great opening track, and....that's basically it.

Great theme, average score by Kamen. He's like Broughton. And yes, I do include scores like Silverado and Young Sherlock in that comment. Good themes and that's all.

John Johnson wrote:

AndyDursin wrote:

Yes.
When that played in the UK, it got laughed off the screen.
As for Christian Slater, Michael McShane and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio,
the less said about them the better.

I didn't have any issue with her casting or performance. The bigger issue to me there was Costner having no chemistry with her on-screen, in addition to his being miscast.

Either way, no matter how much it got laughed off the screen, the film was a MASSIVE success. It's not a great movie, but it has its moments, and I love Rickman.

Too bad Michael Kamen's score has that great opening track, and....that's basically it.

Great theme, average score by Kamen. He's like Broughton. And yes, I do include scores like Silverado and Young Sherlock in that comment. Good themes and that's all.

Well, all I can say is that I respectfully disagree with you on that one.

Kamen did write some wonderful scores when he actually WROTE a theme (DON JUAN DeMARCO comes immediately to mind), but he also had his off days when he was phoning it in (COMPANY BUSINESS). Even DIE HARD is not a particularly great score, it works fine in the movie, but if it wasn't for Beethoven there wasn't much thematically to grasp onto. lol

I was thrilled when I heard Kamen would be scoring Robin Hood, as I was expecting something like Highlander (one of my favorite scores). But the Robin Hood score never really seemed to take off. It had all the right ingredients -- the stalwart, well-developed main theme (similar to Highlander's in fact), a well-developed love theme, big orchestra...but the score never really drew me in as much as I wanted it to.

Then again, it is a much better score than most anything we're hearing to today in adventure epics.