The Lone Ranger

roundshort

Active member
Pale Horse said:
That's a S**T trailer to be syure, highlighting only the camp, to be sure. Tell you what, when you're in town, let's hit the Ranch and The AMC and just enjoy good clean fun. Our treat.


Might have to take you up on that. I am overdue! If MJ is at the Ranch the fun will not be clean that is for sure!
 
Love the Lone Ranger, fascinated by the Wild West and western films, but im not expecting much from this...just glad im getting some more themed Lego sets for my lil Westworld

hey, look...the whole 1981 film...real explosions? FAKE!
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Le Saboteur

Active member
It hasn't been mentioned yet, but The Lone Ranger premiere will be happening @ Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim on the 22nd of June. While I had hoped they would makeover the Big Thunder Ranch for the premiere, it seems the less than spectacular Hyperion Theatre will have to suffice.

And like they did with the sequels to The Curse of the Black Pearl, the hoi polloi are invited to the premiere of the flick. You'll just need to pony up a cool thousand bucks with 100% of the proceeds going to the American Indian College Fund. Interested folks can pick up tickets here.

Note: You'll be breathing the same air as Msr. Depp, but the patricians will be seated very, very far from the likes of you.

The Hollywood Reporter said:
“We’ve had a terrific collaboration with the Native American community throughout the production of Disney’s The Lone Ranger,” said Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn in a statement. “With the world premiere of this exciting film at hand, we are pleased to commemorate the occasion by supporting the American Indian College Fund.”

Because the studio is underwriting the event, 100 percent of the revenue will go to support Native American students.

Silver, the Lone Ranger's horse, will be attending the premiere and Disney will have one of the many, many train cars available for viewing as well. No further details have been announced as of yet.

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And finally, Disney has released a featurette for the 'Spirit Platform' seen in the various trailers.

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Paden

Member
Although I was originally pleased to hear about The Lone Ranger, I have to confess that thus far, the trailers have primarily drained my enthusiasm. I don't mind camp, but this movie appears pretty over the top in that department. Almost as though the whole thing is intended as one long comedic skit with a few breathtaking actions sequences thrown in to keep things interesting.

It could be that my problems have to do with expectations. Given the almost mythical undertones of the story, I supposed I had hoped for a treatment that was a bit more gritty and serious. Oh, well. I'm sure there are plenty of folks who will have fun with this movie. But for me, it's a pass.
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
featofstrength said:
cool...but is that to buy off any criticism of Depp's Tonto?

Fun fact: The vast majority of international audiences won't care one whit that Johnny Depp isn't a genuine First Nations actor. And any criticism from the tragically hip is automatically invalid; on-line activism succeeded in Disney re-titling Pixar's Day of the Dead project, and the furor over Depp's portrayal has been... well, non-existent.

The only thing that needs be noted: Disney will be leveraging Depp's star power to put butts in seats. That is all.

Paden said:
Although I was originally pleased to hear about The Lone Ranger, I have to confess that thus far, the trailers have primarily drained my enthusiasm. I don't mind camp, but this movie appears pretty over the top in that department. Almost as though the whole thing is intended as one long comedic skit with a few breathtaking actions sequences thrown in to keep things interesting.

With a recently announced running time of about two and a half hours, I suspect the first thirty minutes will deal with the Ranger's backstory. The subsequent two hours will deal with our main narrative. And given Verbinski's most recent efforts, I expect it strike a middle ground between comedy and drama. So, probably akin to The Curse of the Black Pearl.

And for even more fun... Disney's Infinity The Lone Ranger Playset!

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Pale Horse

Moderator
Staff member
Le Saboteur said:
And given Verbinski's most recent efforts, I expect it strike a middle ground between comedy and drama. So, probably akin to The Curse of the Black Pearl.

I am in this camp as well. But, the trailers aren't helping this at this point.
 

roundshort

Active member
Pale, I hope you are right, but I am with Paden on this one. For some reason Old west movies and too much Camp just don't work. Now if they would ever make a good campy Jungle Cruise movie...
 

Pale Horse

Moderator
Staff member
One word...Blazing Saddles.

Maverick, City Slickers, Shanghi Noon?

Speaking of (and I hear that's in the pipeline)...there is also a Favreau Movie in the pipeline, you may be in the know on that.
 

roundshort

Active member
Pale Horse said:
One word...Blazing Saddles.

Maverick, City Slickers, Shanghi Noon?

Speaking of (and I hear that's in the pipeline)...there is also a Favreau Movie in the pipeline, you may be in the know on that.


OK Blazing Saddles is nothing but funny, well at least the first 45 minutes or so. They are not trying to give you an action movie between laughs. I will pretend you did not write Macrick. I don't think City Slickers is old west, and Shanghi Noon, ya got me there that is pretty funny, but again not a packed with Over the top special effects. I stand by my Big Willy Style Wild Wild West as what I except this move to turn into.
I am out of the loop on Favr though do tell...
 

Paden

Member
I think roundshort's nailed it: the trailers really evoke the same feel as Wild Wild West. To call Wild Wild West disappointing is being charitable.

That said, I will agree that the esteemed Ms. Hayek did make portions of that movie eminently more watchable.

Honestly, I hope I'm wrong and The Lone Ranger turns out to be an enjoyable western epic with a nice dose of humor thrown in. Problem is, the trailers definitely don't give that impression. I'm certainly not opposed to the Pirates formula. I'm just having real trouble visualizing it working well in the western genre.
 

Pale Horse

Moderator
Staff member
That being said, and I understand both the premise of Roundshort and Paden, I do believe that preconception bias comes into play.

If the Lone Ranger (this movie) does pander to the liberal adolescent mindset of say an 18-24 year old, following in the long shadows of Pirates, it is because there is a notion at that age that it's good to be a scoundrel.

Comparatively, to be a good solid western, one has to saddle up the notion that age and regret makes a man a grisled cowboy. In today's world, you can't be young and nobel. It doesn't compute.

That concept of nobility is long gone in today's world. I challenge the well experienced members here of the Raven to name me a noble person in the world today...beyond say the anonymous Veterans. Even more find me a nobel person in their 20's....

So as a film maker you're stuck with a dying concept and a character that needs to be remembered again. I'm not surprised the film makers went with what works.
 

roundshort

Active member
Wow - what a classy upscale conversation in this thread. Allow me to come and drag in back down (way down) to my level.

To me some of the best westerns have been 90 to 80% storyline/character development (usually following a strict western formula) with 10% to 20% humor. My favorite example is Unforgiven. Solid western epic - but some of the funniest one liners this side of Caddy Shack (yes I will find a way to bring that movie into everything). Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, same thing. Funny as hell, but that was not the bulk of the movie.

A big problem with these trailers is the amount of "Technology" let's face it it does not work in this era, but an American Western or set in London (Sherlock Holmes reference here).

Now on to Pale's point about Noble, I am sure noble people are out there and it depends how you define it. The most obvious examples of people who become insanely rich and then donate a big chunk to charity (recent example George Lucas). Noble for sure, but would they have done it if they were not so wealthy. I like to think of people like Jimmy Carter and his work with Habitat for Humanity.

But I hardly think you can give POTC credit for making scoundrels so popular. Weren't characters like Han Solo, Indiana Jones, most of Bogey's characters scoundrels?
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
Pale Horse said:
I am in this camp as well. But, the trailers aren't helping this at this point.

No, I certainly agree. I certainly understand roundshort and Paden's misgivings (I share them to an extent after Brave), but I understand what Disney is doing. They're on the hook for a reported $250-million production budget, but once the other remaining above-the-line costs are factored in those up front expenses could hover around $600-million (depending on how certain deals are structured). If those numbers hold to be true, then it needs to break $1-billion in gross receipts to even begin to be profitable. It can't be an Appaloosa or 3:10 to Yuma because of the money.

So, by linking it to the wildly successful Pirates films, you get people thinking. Well, I liked those movies, so maybe this will be good. And by emphasizing the camp, it looks like a safe movie to bring the family (excluding small children) to. We won't mention the massacre of the Tonto's tribe, or the slaughter of seven Rangers too prominently. That'll kill the box office, and even one person is too many given the amount of money involved.

One should be emboldened, though. Disney is allowing the legend of the Lone Ranger to sell the picture. Johnny Depp's face has been caked in makeup and warpaint in every trailer, and John Reid has been maskless for less than thirty seconds. They're still chuffed about the film's potential, and haven't hyped Depp's participation... yet.

From Sunday's premiere at Disney's California Adventure...

Jerry+Bruckheimer+Saginaw+Grant+Premiere+Walt+l2z5KD4knzSx.jpg


Nearly twenty minutes of B-Roll footage unseen by me. As in I didn't watch it, so tread carefully if you're looking to avoid any potential spoilers.

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Pale Horse

Moderator
Staff member
THIS ARTICLE has me supremely interested, now.

I was drawn to this intellectually property from the point of view of being able to tell the story from Tonto's perspective. Reinvent the thing with him as the way in; retelling it from the guy who was there, but he's not entirely trustworthy as the narrator. That was exciting to me.



I happen to love the underlined spoiler (I added the underline)
 

roundshort

Active member
Pale Horse said:
THIS ARTICLE has me supremely interested, now.

I was drawn to this intellectually property from the point of view of being able to tell the story from Tonto's perspective. Reinvent the thing with him as the way in; retelling it from the guy who was there, but he's not entirely trustworthy as the narrator. That was exciting to me.



I happen to love the underlined spoiler (I added the underline)


If either (or Both) turn out to be ghosts, I will be annoyed. That has been done, and done well - High Plains Drifter...
 

Dr. Gonzo

New member
roundshort said:
If either (or Both) turn out to be ghosts, I will be annoyed. That has been done, and done well - High Plains Drifter...

The draft I read had wendigo... so... who knows.
 

Pale Horse

Moderator
Staff member
I shouldn't read so much. I'm seeing one problem that we've alluded to here, and that is that the film doesn't know which audience it should have played to.

That's bad news for sure.
 
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