Cowboys & Aliens

Forbidden Eye

Well-known member
Rocket Surgeon said:
Just heard a snippet that "Cowboys" is tanking...that true?

With $163 million dollar budget (according to BoxOfficeMojo) this will probably underperform. Shame. I may it this weekend.
 
saw it last night. not without its problems, it was pretty darned good for a summer popcorn flick.

you cant lose with Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig.
 

kongisking

Active member
Cowboys & Aliens is going to go down as a milestone in my life.

Why?

Because it is the first film I ever saw at a midnight screening. Gotcha, didn't I?

Seriously, though, I really enjoyed the film. Ironically, though, I found myself wishing it were just a classic old-fashioned Western without all the sci-fi stuff. I enjoyed the first half-hour so much, that I wished the movie had just remained that way. When the aliens show up, its jarring because Faverau sets up the Western tone so excellently. So, it could have benefited from just being an ordinary cowboy tale. Montana Smith was actually on to something when he said genres shouldn't mix! Maybe I should listen to him more often...goodness knows he's had to deal with my waffle. :rolleyes:

That said, the sci-fi elements worked fine, and the aliens are pretty sick. And, of course, Craig and Ford are gripping in their scenes together. Hell, I even liked Olivia Wilde, despite the fact that her Big Damn Twist made the entire theater roar with laughter. Ouch. But the cast is all good, even the cliched characters. And boy, was it cool seeing Ford ol' boy on a horse, shooting guns again!

All in all, an acceptable and enjoyable experiment. Not without problems, such as some crazy logic-defying moments and a little inconsistency with the tone, but a fine and fun blockbuster. Now all I want is Indy 5, Amy Adams with an Oscar in her hands, and Harrison Ford playing an evil pirate, and I'll be happy for life...:D
 
So the summation of this review is pretty true...?

Cowboys & Aliens is fun overall, but its "aliens" just aren't as rewarding or well-executed as its "cowboys." It's too bad Favreau couldn't have made a straight-up western as that's the part of the movie he's clearly most invested in.
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
Still seems to me that they needed the aliens in there to do the "everyone comes together" move in the final act. I agree that the aliens weren't that well executed, although it did treat well the notion that this is a culture that hasn't yet encountered the idea of outer space travelers.

Really though: anyone else feel like the whole point of the thing was getting the three entities, plus the three heroes who aren't really of <I>any</I> of the other groups, to fight off the aliens?
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
I haven't read the 2006 Donnelly & Oppenheimer script Spielberg spoke of, with the hilarious Mel Brooks set pieces. But so much fun stuff was left out of the 2009 Kurtzman, Orci & Lindelof script I was rather disappointed. My favorite bit: the posse passes an entire town scooped out of the ground, then later there's a shootout in that deposited town, inside the alien ship, in the air. All this was jettisoned for 2 possible reasons: the tension Favreau hoped to build, or the expensive people attached to the movie. In the end, Ford mentioned a railroad was coming... so that's where the train sequence went, to an unlikely sequel.

I'm eternally grateful Indy 4 contained everything but the kitchen sink.
 

Mungi

Member
Moedred said:
All this was jettisoned for 2 possible reasons: the tension Favreau hoped to build, or the expensive people attached to the movie. In the end, Ford mentioned a railroad was coming... so that's where the train sequence went, to an unlikely sequel.

I'm eternally grateful Indy 4 contained everything but the kitchen sink.

One of the producers got asked in an interview if they had to pass on some things because of the budget. And they said yes, and mentioned a train sequence...

Next week, I'm the very first time in our capital Berlin. Today I found out that they will be there for their German premiere on Monday. Oh, I hope I get to see them! How great would that be! :hat:
 

Nurhachi1991

Well-known member
I thought it was swell. I agree with that notion though I could of done without the aliens it was a great western probally the best ive seen since the 3:10 to Yuma remake
 

kongisking

Active member
Nurhachi1991 said:
I thought it was swell. I agree with that notion though I could of done without the aliens it was a great western probally the best ive seen since the 3:10 to Yuma remake

Agreed. Remake!Yuma was terrific. Bale and Crowe should work together more often...
 

InVader

Member
Ok, I saw this this morning. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I don't quite understand the statements about the aliens not being as "well executed" as it's cowboys. I expected them to be tin can targets that fight back, and that's what I saw. It appeared the cast was enjoying themselves, which I believe contributed to their great performances, and my further enjoyment. I liked Ford's character more than Craig's. It seemed that there was more character development with his character. However, they both did a great job. Oh, and kudos to the rest of the posse too! I wouldn't mind a sequel. A Great summer flick!
 

Spassvogel

New member
Did anyone read the comic book it was based on? The artist used to have it for free on his site, but I haven't been able to find it again. I remember it being pretty fun, but I'm a sucker for genre busting stories.
 
Saw this Saturday and enjoyed it. It wasn't the greatest movie I have ever saw but it was still good fun.

After I walked out of the theatre I realized it was the first time I have ever watched Harrison on the big screen in something besides Indy or Star wars.
 

Hanselation

New member
I saw Cowboys & aliens on Monday in Berlin at the german premiere.
A entertaining Movie with a lot of Indiana Jones mentioned moments. Great actors, great action, great sound(-track) - Pure entertainment.
I still believe Harrison could act perfect as Indiana Jones in a next installment. I saw him at the premiere and he still looks energetic and charismatic enough to do it.
Come on George Lucas, make us, Harrison, Steven and you happy: Indiana Jones 5
 

Forbidden Eye

Well-known member
I know I'm late to the party, but I finally saw Cowboys and Aliens, and I enjoyed it and am glad I didn't skip it cause of the critics.

I agree with most of what was said though, this film was great as a western and by the end of it, I wish the film was simply "Cowboys" and was a full-blown western. I saw several homages and references to The Searchers(one of my favorite movies as well as being a classic). In this day of age in cinema, westerns are standing out as a fresh of breath air, leaving many people curious(just look at the big success the Coen Brothers' True Grit was).

I think that at this point, we've seen so many movies with a sci-fi twist(including Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ;) ), that these types of films and visual effects just fails to capture our excitement and attention as they once did. These aliens in particular looked too much like the ones in District 9 and Super 8 to leave much of an impression from me.

Outside of the sci-fi angle, the only problem I had was I wish Ford was given more stunts to do(though I assume its because he's getting up there in years). He still gives a terrific performance though, with a terrific screen presence that he usually gives and he looks in fantastic shape for his age and looks like he's plenty capable of doing you know what. ;)

Overall I'd still recommend people see this despite some issues and don't think it deserves its mediocre box office. :( Surely people are getting tired of seeing the same superhero movies again and again? Oh well.

At least next year we have Django Unchained to look forward to. (y)
 

Mungi

Member
Hanselation said:
I saw Cowboys & aliens on Monday in Berlin at the german premiere.

That means I saw you there on the carpet.(y)

I was there too, but I had no tickets. I had to wait three hours next to the red carpet, and when they arrived, it was simply amazing. I got so close to all of them, I had a really good place. I got autographes from Mr. Ford and Mr. Craig, who took my camera to take a photo of him and myself, but he did it too fast so it's just blurry.:D :D
 

Hanselation

New member
Mungi said:
That means I saw you there on the carpet.(y)

I was there too, but I had no tickets. I had to wait three hours next to the red carpet, and when they arrived, it was simply amazing. I got so close to all of them, I had a really good place. I got autographes from Mr. Ford and Mr. Craig, who took my camera to take a photo of him and myself, but he did it too fast so it's just blurry.:D :D

Maybe you've seen me there...
hgca.jpg
 

oki9Sedo

New member
I saw this last weekend, and quite enjoyed it.

I liked the fact that it was played straight and had a gritty, hard edge to it. I also liked the fact that it was classically shot and edited in a fashion consistent with old Westerns while at the same time feeling modern. I also appreciated the interest it had on the characters.

And on a more personal level, I loved the Searchers-type stuff where they travel the plains in search of their stolen kin. I hadn't expected that element and as a big fan of that film that was a wonderful surprise.

The only problem I really had with it was that I felt that the last twenty minute action scene or so wasn't very compelling. Can't really put my finger on why, but it just didn't work for me.
 

Lance Quazar

Well-known member
Holy smokes, was this movie a disappointing dud.

So dull, so uninteresting, so underwritten. Daniel Craig's performance doesn't even register. Forget "The Man With No Name", in this movie, he's the Man Who Wasn't There.

Harrison Ford's character, an ostensible bad-ass, has the edges rubbed off him almost immediately, becoming a cuddly old coot almost immediately. The ending moment reconciliation is completely unearned.

The "mystery" elements surrounding Daniel Craig's lost memory barely register at all. It's amazing how little rooting interest we have in anything going on - discovering the "secret" about Daniel Craig especially. There is no secret, there is no surprise, it's a pointless waste. There is no emotional or dramatic weight to the quest to get back the kidnapped victims.

None of the characters, with the brief exception of Clancy Brown's preacher, are even slightly compelling. They are just so poorly and thinly conceived.

The aliens themselves equally so. Standard b-movie stuff, nothing fresh or clever or surprising about them at all.

Wow, what a tiresome, banal slog this was. Truly disappointing, given the talent in front of and behind the camera. What went wrong? Could the 10 credited writers have something to do with it?
 

AndyLGR

Active member
I enjoyed the movie. I agree it lacked some emotional depth, but many big summer movies struggle in this department too, so I didnt go into it expecting too much. It was just a decent action movie with different genres coming together.

I enjoyed the scene in the upside down boat, (how did it get there btw). Anyway I disagree with the criticism of the aliens, I thought they looked good and were suitably nasty. But why do aliens always have to appear naked in movies, dont they have clothes on other planets?

I thought that some scenes seemed a little out of place in the tone of the movie, the scenes in the ship where they were studying humans, specifically where Daniel Craigs woman was being disembowelled and then turned to ash. Although I have to add that it just added to the menace of the aliens for me.

Daniel Craig made a good action lead I thought. But I was more looking forward to it to see how Harrison performed and overall I thought he did well. At his age maybe hes due a renaissance like Connery enjoyed in the late 80's - late 90's. Physically he still looked in good shape too and of course it brings up the question of can he still do an Indy movie, I think so.
 
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