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Quoted: I read the first two years ago. Zero fucks given they made Roland a black guy. And bravo at trying to label me. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I read every book and I had no idea the gunslinger was black. Why does it matter if he's white or black? It doesn't matter but the film/book critics of GD will make it matter. Have you read the books mr SJW? I read the first two years ago. Zero fucks given they made Roland a black guy. And bravo at trying to label me. It doesn't really change Roland, beyond the fact that it's jarring in that the character has been specifically been described as looking kind of like a mix of Stephen King and Clint Eastwood in the spaghetti westerns. It certainly changes Susannah, in that it screws up her character arc of resolving her past and reconciling her split personality. Is it that big of a deal? I guess that depends on how much you dig her storyline. There are some other irksome qualities about it, though they are not immediately obvious unless you've really gotten into the story. Roland's appearance is one of many iconic references to American 'mythology': comics, movies, etc. There's Wizard of Oz, Doctor Doom, light sabers, Sneeches, and a ton more. Hell, in the most recent book, he even tips his hat to Game of Thrones, labeling a sudden freezing storm that kills everything in its path a "Starkblast" (because, you know, winter is coming). Click To View Spoiler Roland is a fictional character Stephen King dreamed up, it is true. But it is also true in the story itself, i.e. Roland and the others learn they are literally fictional characters at some point. Roland's appearance is "The Man With No Name" from the movies King would have watched as a kid. He's not just 'a gunslinger', he's actually that guy, kind of like how the guy in "Pale Rider" is the guy from "High Plains Drifter", though it's never spelled out. Different stories, alternate realities maybe (which is a huge thing in the series, with people having duplicates in subtly different worlds), but Roland is another reality version of the Clint Eastwood Man With No Name. That's the real source of some of the naysaying, IMO. Roland is more tightly bound to his physical appearance in a lot of readers minds because he's iconic, and the point is reinforced throughout the novels. He's a dream inspired by a very specific image from very specific cultural ideas, and pretty much any actor that didn't bear some resemblance to Eastwood would, I think, have been similarly troublesome. Okay, enough literary analysis for one day. |
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1) After getting lost for a long time in Wikipedia, I have determined that for years I have had this book and The Talisman conflated in my memory.
2) Given that there has so far only been one good adaptation of a Stephen King book into a movie (Shawshank Redemption) I wouldn't hold out much hope for this one. 3) I have a lifetime goal of never visiting Maine. That state is haunted, I know it's true, I have read a lot of Stephen King books. |
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Cliff's notes for those who didn't read the series: The story starts (and ends) with a great line. In between, there are a few good fantasy and adventure elements, surrounded by a lot of drivel about New York being the center of the universe. And lots of story written from the POV of an angry black woman. And the mythical "dark tower' that looms over the whole story for 5 or 6 books... basically turns out to be nothing at all. So the producers of this movie really wouldn't have to stoop too low to fuck up the story. View Quote So, like most of Stephen King's near constant stream of drivel drool splattering on page after page after page...? |
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Cliff's notes for those who didn't read the series: The story starts (and ends) with a great line. In between, there are a few good fantasy and adventure elements, surrounded by a lot of drivel about New York being the center of the universe. And lots of story written from the POV of an angry black woman. And the mythical "dark tower' that looms over the whole story for 5 or 6 books... basically turns out to be nothing at all. So the producers of this movie really wouldn't have to stoop too low to fuck up the story. View Quote Spoilers... The tower isn't nothing at all. There are the beams that hold it and the beam breakers and blah blah blah. In the end, Roland just doesn't have the right sigal. It is implied that the next go round he has what he needs, the horn that was lost at the battle of Jericho. Or something like that, it's been a while. |
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Quoted: So, like most of Stephen King's near constant stream of drivel drool splattering on page after page after page...? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Cliff's notes for those who didn't read the series: The story starts (and ends) with a great line. In between, there are a few good fantasy and adventure elements, surrounded by a lot of drivel about New York being the center of the universe. And lots of story written from the POV of an angry black woman. And the mythical "dark tower' that looms over the whole story for 5 or 6 books... basically turns out to be nothing at all. So the producers of this movie really wouldn't have to stoop too low to fuck up the story. So, like most of Stephen King's near constant stream of drivel drool splattering on page after page after page...? One could argue if his execution was good, but he certainly tried to do something big with these novels. They are basically his Lord of the Rings. Tolkien wrote LotR to try to capture the mythology of Britain. Kind was trying to do the same for American mythology with the Dark Tower series. |
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Funny he doesn't look at all like Eastwood from his spaghetti western days..........which is what King has stated was his inspiration for the character along with the poem.
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Quoted: Maybe they will have Odetta be distrustful of a black man. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I read every book and I had no idea the gunslinger was black. Why does it matter if he's white or black? If you had read the book you would know there were actual interactions that relied upon him being white. Such as Odetta which built a relationship that started with distrust of a white man. Maybe they will have Odetta be distrustful of a black man. |
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A couple of others would be Tom Petty or Dwight Yoakam. But they are too long in the tooth and don't have the acting chops.
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I'd buy into a black Jesus before a black Roland. Roland being white is as integral to the story as Odetta being black. Finding her center between the 2 extremes she lived in is a major part of the story. I expect this to be a lot like Starship Troopers. A decent movie bearing no resemblance to the original story. View Quote asked and answered... they just have to say "Odetta sees Roland as a white man" because she is "Crazy" easy fix |
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Oh c'mon, with as much bitchin that went on in here with The Hobbit apparently most of you guys do care about keeping the book correct. Whose the two faced ones?
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asked and answered... they just have to say "Odetta sees Roland as a white man" because she is "Crazy" easy fix View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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I'd buy into a black Jesus before a black Roland. Roland being white is as integral to the story as Odetta being black. Finding her center between the 2 extremes she lived in is a major part of the story. I expect this to be a lot like Starship Troopers. A decent movie bearing no resemblance to the original story. asked and answered... they just have to say "Odetta sees Roland as a white man" because she is "Crazy" easy fix Or just write her out. It's not as if the target audience is Dark Tower aficianados. |
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Funny he doesn't look at all like Eastwood from his spaghetti western days..........which is what King has stated was his inspiration for the character along with the poem. View Quote King also shit all over the story with his horrible ending and writing himself into the plot line as a character. |
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Or just write her out. It's not as if the target audience is Dark Tower aficianados. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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I'd buy into a black Jesus before a black Roland. Roland being white is as integral to the story as Odetta being black. Finding her center between the 2 extremes she lived in is a major part of the story. I expect this to be a lot like Starship Troopers. A decent movie bearing no resemblance to the original story. asked and answered... they just have to say "Odetta sees Roland as a white man" because she is "Crazy" easy fix Or just write her out. It's not as if the target audience is Dark Tower aficianados. my solution doesn't change the bulk of one of the books.. |
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King also shit all over the story with his horrible ending and writing himself into the plot line as a character. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Funny he doesn't look at all like Eastwood from his spaghetti western days..........which is what King has stated was his inspiration for the character along with the poem. King also shit all over the story with his horrible ending and writing himself into the plot line as a character. I might be alone in this but for my money King is the most overrated storyteller of modern times. His oft stated anti gun position might or might not have a influence on me. Why no one has taken some of the great David Drake story lines to the big screen remains a mystery top me. |
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Spoilers... The tower isn't nothing at all. There are the beams that hold it and the beam breakers and blah blah blah. In the end, Roland just doesn't have the right sigal. It is implied that the next go round he has what he needs, the horn that was lost at the battle of Jericho. Or something like that, it's been a while. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Cliff's notes for those who didn't read the series: The story starts (and ends) with a great line. In between, there are a few good fantasy and adventure elements, surrounded by a lot of drivel about New York being the center of the universe. And lots of story written from the POV of an angry black woman. And the mythical "dark tower' that looms over the whole story for 5 or 6 books... basically turns out to be nothing at all. So the producers of this movie really wouldn't have to stoop too low to fuck up the story. Spoilers... The tower isn't nothing at all. There are the beams that hold it and the beam breakers and blah blah blah. In the end, Roland just doesn't have the right sigal. It is implied that the next go round he has what he needs, the horn that was lost at the battle of Jericho. Or something like that, it's been a while. Click To View Spoiler I like to think he's dead, and stuck in purgatory until he does that one thing right or wrong that allows him to move on. Everyone from our world who joins him either dies to get to him or is on a path that would possibly kill them eventually. Everyone in his world who leaves him, even Oy, does so after helping him reach his goal.They're the ones who get to move on, and Eddie, Jake, and Susannah het the best possible outcome for their point of view. Roland is still self serving and only cares about reaching HIS goal so he has to keep trying. The story resets in the desert immediately after Tull so maybe that's where he has to change.
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I like the books, but Roland cant be black the same way last samurai cant be white. Its not the original story. Hollywood version, maybe.
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Quoted: Click To View Spoiler I like to think he's dead, and stuck in purgatory until he does that one thing right or wrong that allows him to move on. Everyone from our world who joins him either dies to get to him or is on a path that would possibly kill them eventually. Everyone in his world who leaves him, even Oy, does so after helping him reach his goal.They're the ones who get to move on, and Eddie, Jake, and Susannah het the best possible outcome for their point of view. Roland is still self serving and only cares about reaching HIS goal so he has to keep trying. The story resets in the desert immediately after Tull so maybe that's where he has to change. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Cliff's notes for those who didn't read the series: The story starts (and ends) with a great line. In between, there are a few good fantasy and adventure elements, surrounded by a lot of drivel about New York being the center of the universe. And lots of story written from the POV of an angry black woman. And the mythical "dark tower' that looms over the whole story for 5 or 6 books... basically turns out to be nothing at all. So the producers of this movie really wouldn't have to stoop too low to fuck up the story. Spoilers... The tower isn't nothing at all. There are the beams that hold it and the beam breakers and blah blah blah. In the end, Roland just doesn't have the right sigal. It is implied that the next go round he has what he needs, the horn that was lost at the battle of Jericho. Or something like that, it's been a while. Click To View Spoiler I like to think he's dead, and stuck in purgatory until he does that one thing right or wrong that allows him to move on. Everyone from our world who joins him either dies to get to him or is on a path that would possibly kill them eventually. Everyone in his world who leaves him, even Oy, does so after helping him reach his goal.They're the ones who get to move on, and Eddie, Jake, and Susannah het the best possible outcome for their point of view. Roland is still self serving and only cares about reaching HIS goal so he has to keep trying. The story resets in the desert immediately after Tull so maybe that's where he has to change. Damn, that's another reference I missed until now: Click To View Spoiler "Groundhog's Day". |
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Click To View Spoiler I like to think he's dead, and stuck in purgatory until he does that one thing right or wrong that allows him to move on. Everyone from our world who joins him either dies to get to him or is on a path that would possibly kill them eventually. Everyone in his world who leaves him, even Oy, does so after helping him reach his goal.They're the ones who get to move on, and Eddie, Jake, and Susannah het the best possible outcome for their point of view. Roland is still self serving and only cares about reaching HIS goal so he has to keep trying. The story resets in the desert immediately after Tull so maybe that's where he has to change. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Cliff's notes for those who didn't read the series: The story starts (and ends) with a great line. In between, there are a few good fantasy and adventure elements, surrounded by a lot of drivel about New York being the center of the universe. And lots of story written from the POV of an angry black woman. And the mythical "dark tower' that looms over the whole story for 5 or 6 books... basically turns out to be nothing at all. So the producers of this movie really wouldn't have to stoop too low to fuck up the story. Spoilers... The tower isn't nothing at all. There are the beams that hold it and the beam breakers and blah blah blah. In the end, Roland just doesn't have the right sigal. It is implied that the next go round he has what he needs, the horn that was lost at the battle of Jericho. Or something like that, it's been a while. Click To View Spoiler I like to think he's dead, and stuck in purgatory until he does that one thing right or wrong that allows him to move on. Everyone from our world who joins him either dies to get to him or is on a path that would possibly kill them eventually. Everyone in his world who leaves him, even Oy, does so after helping him reach his goal.They're the ones who get to move on, and Eddie, Jake, and Susannah het the best possible outcome for their point of view. Roland is still self serving and only cares about reaching HIS goal so he has to keep trying. The story resets in the desert immediately after Tull so maybe that's where he has to change. |
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Or just write her out. It's not as if the target audience is Dark Tower aficianados. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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I'd buy into a black Jesus before a black Roland. Roland being white is as integral to the story as Odetta being black. Finding her center between the 2 extremes she lived in is a major part of the story. I expect this to be a lot like Starship Troopers. A decent movie bearing no resemblance to the original story. asked and answered... they just have to say "Odetta sees Roland as a white man" because she is "Crazy" easy fix Or just write her out. It's not as if the target audience is Dark Tower aficianados. It appears that is what they did. |
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Click To View Spoiler I like to think he's dead, and stuck in purgatory until he does that one thing right or wrong that allows him to move on. Everyone from our world who joins him either dies to get to him or is on a path that would possibly kill them eventually. Everyone in his world who leaves him, even Oy, does so after helping him reach his goal.They're the ones who get to move on, and Eddie, Jake, and Susannah het the best possible outcome for their point of view. Roland is still self serving and only cares about reaching HIS goal so he has to keep trying. The story resets in the desert immediately after Tull so maybe that's where he has to change. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Cliff's notes for those who didn't read the series: The story starts (and ends) with a great line. In between, there are a few good fantasy and adventure elements, surrounded by a lot of drivel about New York being the center of the universe. And lots of story written from the POV of an angry black woman. And the mythical "dark tower' that looms over the whole story for 5 or 6 books... basically turns out to be nothing at all. So the producers of this movie really wouldn't have to stoop too low to fuck up the story. Spoilers... The tower isn't nothing at all. There are the beams that hold it and the beam breakers and blah blah blah. In the end, Roland just doesn't have the right sigal. It is implied that the next go round he has what he needs, the horn that was lost at the battle of Jericho. Or something like that, it's been a while. Click To View Spoiler I like to think he's dead, and stuck in purgatory until he does that one thing right or wrong that allows him to move on. Everyone from our world who joins him either dies to get to him or is on a path that would possibly kill them eventually. Everyone in his world who leaves him, even Oy, does so after helping him reach his goal.They're the ones who get to move on, and Eddie, Jake, and Susannah het the best possible outcome for their point of view. Roland is still self serving and only cares about reaching HIS goal so he has to keep trying. The story resets in the desert immediately after Tull so maybe that's where he has to change. That may be. |
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I might be alone in this but for my money King is the most overrated storyteller of modern times. View Quote The Dark Tower series wasn't even really a story per se, but rather a bunch of story ideas thrown together. King set out to write the greatest fantasy epic of all time. How could he surpass Tolkien and other great writers?.... How about we introduce the author as a pivotal character, upon whom the fate of the entire universe rests? And we'll include a multiverse of sorts, centered around New York and angry black women.... And we gotta include Randall Flagg, because everybody knows he's the Bad Guy. Epic. |
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1) After getting lost for a long time in Wikipedia, I have determined that for years I have had this book and The Talisman conflated in my memory. 2) Given that there has so far only been one good adaptation of a Stephen King book into a movie (Shawshank Redemption) I wouldn't hold out much hope for this one. 3) I have a lifetime goal of never visiting Maine. That state is haunted, I know it's true, I have read a lot of Stephen King books. View Quote What about... The Shining? Stand By Me? The Green Mile? Misery? |
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Quoted: I've never seen a black man that had steely blue eyes either. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Holy fuck some of you. There are 977562778940987477748887736673774893993984848848411344 pages of the various Gunslinger novels. Who cares about one vignette or other? Rejoice that they got a fantastic actor. Making a white character black is like turning a gunslinger into an archer. It doesn't work. I'd say the same thing if Roland was described as being as dark black as the man from Togo I was at Basic Training with. A white man isn't black, a black man isn't white. Changing the story to try and make it fit film better is one thing, changing the main character's race is nothing but SJW crap at work. again the only part of the story that requires him to be black is the "Odetta" story line but that can be fixed that in her "Craziness" she see him as a white man... I've never seen a black man that had steely blue eyes either. |
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Quoted: I've never seen a black man that had steely blue eyes either. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Holy fuck some of you. There are 977562778940987477748887736673774893993984848848411344 pages of the various Gunslinger novels. Who cares about one vignette or other? Rejoice that they got a fantastic actor. Making a white character black is like turning a gunslinger into an archer. It doesn't work. I'd say the same thing if Roland was described as being as dark black as the man from Togo I was at Basic Training with. A white man isn't black, a black man isn't white. Changing the story to try and make it fit film better is one thing, changing the main character's race is nothing but SJW crap at work. again the only part of the story that requires him to be black is the "Odetta" story line but that can be fixed that in her "Craziness" she see him as a white man... I've never seen a black man that had steely blue eyes either. While blue eyes are rare among blacks, there are some that have them. Michael Ealy and Vanessa Willians both have blue eyes for instance. Also, Waardenburg syndrome can produce blue eyes. |
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Me neither! You cant cram that many books into a 2-3 hour movie. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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I'll wait for real people reviews. Not much faith in this being decent. You cant cram that many books into a 2-3 hour movie. It is supposed to be a multi movie franchise, so to speak. I wonder how they'll treat the "prequel" story that Roland tells his ka-tet the story from the 4th book. |
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I like Idris Elba as an actor, but it's beyond stupid that they picked him to be Roland.
In some stories the race of a character isn't touched on and has no bearing on the story. This isn't one of them. People can SJW all they want, but I bet they would crow a lot harder if they cast Odetta as a white woman (which I would also have a problem with). Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Quoted: Why does it matter if he's white or black? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes |
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Why does it matter if he's white or black? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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I read every book and I had no idea the gunslinger was black. Why does it matter if he's white or black? Because the gunslinger being white is a major plot point with one of the characters. |
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Quoted: Because the gunslinger being white is a major plot point with one of the characters. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes |
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One could argue if his execution was good, but he certainly tried to do something big with these novels. They are basically his Lord of the Rings. Tolkien wrote LotR to try to capture the mythology of Britain. Kind was trying to do the same for American mythology with the Dark Tower series. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Cliff's notes for those who didn't read the series: The story starts (and ends) with a great line. In between, there are a few good fantasy and adventure elements, surrounded by a lot of drivel about New York being the center of the universe. And lots of story written from the POV of an angry black woman. And the mythical "dark tower' that looms over the whole story for 5 or 6 books... basically turns out to be nothing at all. So the producers of this movie really wouldn't have to stoop too low to fuck up the story. So, like most of Stephen King's near constant stream of drivel drool splattering on page after page after page...? One could argue if his execution was good, but he certainly tried to do something big with these novels. They are basically his Lord of the Rings. Tolkien wrote LotR to try to capture the mythology of Britain. Kind was trying to do the same for American mythology with the Dark Tower series. I thought "The Stand" was his LOT rip-off? Am I getting my Stephen King rip-offs confused? Dude is the Led Zeppelin of literature ..... |
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Ugh, I mean he was pretty clearly Clint Eastwood from his western movie days. King even said as much. Ideally he would play Roland, but I get it, he's way past due. I've always said his son Scott Eastwood would be a great Roland, besides being the spitting image of his sad, he also has a background in western films.
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Hell man his whole look is off his clothes are way too clean.
I really hope he's wearing something like that for a flashback or something |
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All that matters is we pretend not to notice. Idris for Bond!!!!!! View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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I read every book and I had no idea the gunslinger was black. Why does it matter if he's white or black? Because the gunslinger being white is a major plot point with one of the characters. Idris would probably have been a pretty good Bond. Better than Timothy Dalton or Roger Moore, for sure. |
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Spoilers... The tower isn't nothing at all. There are the beams that hold it and the beam breakers and blah blah blah. In the end, Roland just doesn't have the right sigal. It is implied that the next go round he has what he needs, the horn that was lost at the battle of Jericho. Or something like that, it's been a while. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Cliff's notes for those who didn't read the series: The story starts (and ends) with a great line. In between, there are a few good fantasy and adventure elements, surrounded by a lot of drivel about New York being the center of the universe. And lots of story written from the POV of an angry black woman. And the mythical "dark tower' that looms over the whole story for 5 or 6 books... basically turns out to be nothing at all. So the producers of this movie really wouldn't have to stoop too low to fuck up the story. Spoilers... The tower isn't nothing at all. There are the beams that hold it and the beam breakers and blah blah blah. In the end, Roland just doesn't have the right sigal. It is implied that the next go round he has what he needs, the horn that was lost at the battle of Jericho. Or something like that, it's been a while. Twinbrains can't melt magic beams. |
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Quoted: Idris would probably have been a pretty good Bond. Better than Timothy Dalton or Roger Moore, for sure. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I read every book and I had no idea the gunslinger was black. Why does it matter if he's white or black? Because the gunslinger being white is a major plot point with one of the characters. Idris would probably have been a pretty good Bond. Better than Timothy Dalton or Roger Moore, for sure. |
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1) After getting lost for a long time in Wikipedia, I have determined that for years I have had this book and The Talisman conflated in my memory. 2) Given that there has so far only been one good adaptation of a Stephen King book into a movie (Shawshank Redemption) I wouldn't hold out much hope for this one. 3) I have a lifetime goal of never visiting Maine. That state is haunted, I know it's true, I have read a lot of Stephen King books. View Quote Ummm... The Green Mile? |
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Article says Matthew McConnoughy was cast as the walking man. That sounds perfect.
I always pictured the gun slinger as a Clint Eastwood archetype. However, Idris Elba is a good actor. |
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I think they should have got Gay Spock or Khan Crumblesnosh to play Roland, and Elba to play Martin.
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