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clara pandy
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LXG Somontano Premiere or "What have they done to my LoEG?"
I was in holiday in Huesca and the weather was... well, it was raining all day. So when I saw that the film was being released there, it seemed a rather decent way to spend the evening... And I must confess that I was a bit curious about the film 
To start with... nothing to do with the comic, but honestly, I couldn't say that I didn't see it coming. LoEG, the comic, is a story that has stolen my heart (and my wallet, ah! the "Absolute edition" )... LXG the film, is to me like one of those James Bond flicks starring Roger Moore, that is, pop-corn entertainy, though easily forgotten... I missed a "Jaws" equivalent to have a few good laughs, though.
With all the fast-packed action and explosions the title should have been
"Gentlemen prefer Bombs".
I believe that characters were underdeveloped... OK, we all know about the characters in the "League", as well as the changes done in the film script, before we go to the cinema... But what about the average film-goer who hasn't read LoEG? Does he (or she) get the "who is who"?
Jeckyll/Hyde is/are maybe, IMHO, the one/s better treated in the film (thanks to Mr. Fleming's work) but I didn't know that they were chums, though the "clonic" Hyde looks Moore like the O'Neill design. Oh! and Allan is almost as old and jaded as LoEG Allan: he must use glasses!! ? 
I liked the nineteenth century-styled settings... Though Art-Noveau maybe is a bit overdone in the "Nautilus": it makes the submarine look like a cruise.
For a fleeting moment, when Peta Wilson and Sean Connery are having a little argument in the car, I thought: "oh! my, it's Mina and Allan" but they soon resumed their film-personnae, and the spell was broken.
As for Dorian "nail" expression... I agree with super-imp that Wilde maybe me ant Dorian to be perverse, but never ill-bred at such lenght (mind you, the translation was even worse! they used a double-sense expression used only by the most uneducated of slobs)
It's Carnival all the year?r
-I dropped my jaw when the Nautil u s reached Venezia during the carnival... celebrated IN JUNE??!! ... Rio de Janeiro's carnival is celebrated in summer, yes, but because in the southern hemisphere february happens to be a hot month... There's even the probability that the writer mistook the Carnival with other costumed celebrations, but Purim is celebrated in march, and Halloween in november, so...
Futuristic details:?
Considering that the action is set by the end on the nineteenth century, there is a lot of First World War (a n d therefore) futuristic weaponry, as the British tanks, but the german items are majority: Zeppelins, German steel helmets (the 1916 model), German body armour for Sturmtruppers (from 1916 or 1917), flame-trowers... A subliminal way to demonize the Jerries?
Anyway, since even Mr. O'Neill has drawn british soldiers wearing 1904 Service dress caps and 1903 pattern bandolier equipment, I think that I can easily forgive that... it is a fantasy film, isn't it?
Lastly, last saturday I went to see "Rendez-v ous a Belleville" (Les Tripplettes de Belleville", an animated feature which I highly reccommend, maybe, like pj ayres said, because it makes me dream of how a faithful, animated version of the League could have been.
P.S.: by the way, Somontano wines are fine 
Last edited by clara pandy, 25/9/03, 6:31
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24/9/03, 16:15
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Swedish Nightingale
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Re: LXG Somontano Premiere or "What have they done to my LoEG?"
quote:
clara pandy wrote:
With all the fast-packed action and explosions the title should have been
"Gentlemen prefer Bombs".
 That's it! That's exactly it... sums up the entire film.
--- ~A Mina Murray Menagerie~
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24/9/03, 16:41
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PJ Ayres
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The last person on these boards to have seen the film?
Ahem.
Okay, I finally got round to it last night-
What a romp!
Okay, I should begin by qualifying my enthusiasm by saying that here speaks a man who enjoyed watching Judge Dredd, if only for seeing them get the ABC warrior and Mean Machine Angel spot on (now if they'd only released it before Robocop, without Sly and that Schneider twat)
But back on the case-
I'll cut my comments short by saying I agree with the Swede-
a few things...
No-one has yet mentioned the surprise cameo by David 'Blow Up' Hemmings! Now if anyone were to slap Mina on the arse and ask her for a cup of tea, there's your man... in fact, what if he were to take up the mantle of Quatermain for the sequel... Hmmm!
to be continued...
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6/11/03, 13:51
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PJ Ayres
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Re: OPINIONS ON LXG - Post 'em Here ** SPOILERS **
So, a few random thoughts-
Characters first;
Sean is Sean (liked the "Mr. 'Q'")
Mina could have been developed further; the conflict arising from Victorian Values and monstrous (sexual) impulses was hinted at but no more.
J/H- lovely. I felt a warm glow at the 'Bravo Edward' moment. I didn't like his big top hat though.
Skinner- came across very well, apart from the scene in the snow where he would surely have been FREEZING! And what does he do to warm up? Puts his make up back on for five minutes before taking it off again. Strange.
There was also the scene where Sean threw him out of his room- what was the purpose of that, I'd like to know? It was far from convincing.
Oh, the dodgy accent comes from him being another scot- you can see him being semi-beheaded in 'Blade II'.
Dorian- Slightly wrong- to my mind he should be a delicate effete type, but no matter.
Nemo- possibly the worst of the league for me, as i was never really convinced by him; he didn't look at home with the Nautilus, and didn't have enough charisma to be a sea captain. Oh well.
As for M- he was totally screwed from the outset into being a plot device.
The Nautilus-
It was a shame they didn't use the O'Neill design, although they did reinstate the pointy front end used to attack ships in the novel. I LOVED the venice scene! It just made me giggle to see this gigantic thing slipping through the canals unnoticed. To me it looked at its best at this point in the film- the reveal in London was especially poorly executed.
Talking of the models- did they by any chance use the same models/sets for London and Venice? I'm sure I saw bridges over the road as they drove to Grey's Tardis like (tardish?) house.
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7/11/03, 9:23
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Cefo
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Re: OPINIONS ON LXG - Post 'em Here ** SPOILERS **
quote:
pj ayres wrote:
J/H- lovely. I felt a warm glow at the 'Bravo Edward' moment.
Really? I just felt sick.
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11/11/03, 13:56
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PJ Ayres
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Re: OPINIONS ON LXG - Post 'em Here ** SPOILERS **
Really 'Really?'?
I thought the character of Hyde was the best handled of all- I liked the way the elemental beastliness of Hyde was given a platform, as well as the way in which they really hated each other. In fact, Hyde was the one character who underwent true (spiritual) growth in coming to terms with his selves; I got a bit tired of the way he 'took over' from Jekyll in V2 of the book, and prefer the way he began to develop in the film- as someone who is aware of the two sides of his personality, their strengths and weaknesses.
The only part which didn't ring true was when he shrivelled down to Jekyll in the hold of the Nautilus, despite his raging temper. Though on second thoughts that could have been the serum wearing off.
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16/11/03, 9:41
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Swedish Nightingale
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Re: OPINIONS ON LXG - Post 'em Here ** SPOILERS **
Jekyll and Hyde were the only character(s) who retained the same "feel" they had in the comics -- no inexplicable personality changes. Maybe that's because the background of the original Stevenson story would probably be the best known -- everyone has heard of Nemo, but probably know little about his actually character. Tom Sawyer is familiar, but with age, they could basically do what they wanted. The others... well... 
I thought they could have done a better job with the Hyde makeup, but overall... they did a pretty good job there. In my opinion.
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16/11/03, 15:44
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Cefo
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Re: OPINIONS ON LXG - Post 'em Here ** SPOILERS **
OH FOR GOD'S SAKE!!! Hyde is EVIL. Hyde detests Jekyll. Hyde is a murderous, viscious, sunova... you know. That scene was completely out of character. Why don't we just have the two characters drink tea together at Ms Bennet's while Emma is finding a date for both of them and Oliver is polishing their shoes?
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17/11/03, 3:33
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PJ Ayres
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The nature of Hyde
Okay, about Hyde-
I'm no Stevenson expert, but I see the character as a satire on the victorian gentleman, with polite persona and suppressed bestial desires; the physical expression of these desires is evil.
As for the film, it is made abundantly clear that Jekyll loathes Hyde, bue it's the reconciliation of the two halves of his personality that I found satisfying- the alternative would be to leave him (as the book did) as two separate beings in a story already overflowing with characters.
The pairing of Hyde and Mina in the same story leads to the opportunity to experiment with both options, so where one schizophrenic accepts themselves, the other falls apart, as we were beginning to see in the film.
Come to think of it, the book does cop out somewhat by simply allowing the good side of mina and the bad side of jekyll to 'win'.
Anyway- If we don't look at these characters in such black and white terms, they can become much more colourful, don't you think?
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17/11/03, 4:47
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Swedish Nightingale
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Re: OPINIONS ON LXG - Post 'em Here ** SPOILERS **
quote:
Cefo wrote:
OH FOR GOD'S SAKE!!! Hyde is EVIL. Hyde detests Jekyll. Hyde is a murderous, viscious, sunova... you know. That scene was completely out of character. Why don't we just have the two characters drink tea together at Ms Bennet's while Emma is finding a date for both of them and Oliver is polishing their shoes?
Well, sure, it wasn't a perfect translation... but closer than Quatermain, you have to admit.
Edit: Although, now that I think about it... was it really all that clear in Stevenson's story that Hyde hated Jekyll? It's been awhile since I've read it, but... it seems like the extreme hatred was Moore's invention. (Not that I remember much brotherly love, either...)
Last edited by Swedish Nightingale, 17/11/03, 9:38
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17/11/03, 9:37
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