I was just searching videos in YouTube, when I came across this trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=EII-8Eu_Lto
So, what’s next? Pirates vs. zombies? Romans vs. Hitler? Star Wars vs. Star Trek? Godzilla vs. 2012?
This is actually based on a graphic novel: [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboys_%26_Aliens[/url]
When it comes to “Cowboys and Aliens” this is all I think about now.
Looks okay. Steven Spielberg produced it and he usally makes good films.
The graphic novel only exists because the movie never moved forward. This thing has been making the rounds for over a decade but could never get any traction, It was finally produced as a graphic novel so they could actually turn a profit on an idea that had been languishing in development hell.
Other than the central concept the movie has almost nothing to do with the graphic novel narratively speaking.
I think it looks pretty cool. It seems like a good old fashioned western that just happens to have aliens in it as opposed to being an alien invasion movie set during the Old West period. I think that method of execution will make this more memorable than it could’ve been.
I’d pay to see that!
Actually, this movie don’t look too bad, I’m actually kinda interested!
Agreed, it doesn’t look bad at all. The trailer took itself seriously, the cast sounds solid, and I’ve heard good things from people who have seen footage.
The title itself is pretty silly, but it’s an interesting concept when you think about it- generally when people write about aliens invading, it’s set in modern times, or at the very least the 1950s (which was usually ‘modern times’ when they were written). Generally alien invasion movies can be aggravating sometimes because of their lack of originality and they usually fail to give the invaders any real depth at all.
Granted this isn’t the first time I’ve seen such a thing (having humans of the PAST have to deal with aliens). One of the TMNTs 2k3 cartoons major and perhaps best antagonist was a guy who fought in the American Civil war- called Bishop (or was it the War of Independence? I forget), But anyway, during a battle, aliens abducted him- and then dissected him, changing him somehow and then set him back on earth. Being angry at this he managed to (sort of) extend his life span in the form of moving his memories into new bodies and ran a government organisation against ‘alien threats’. He even gets revenge in the sense that he gets to experiment on the same species of aliens which experimented on HIM in one shot.
“The world must be prepared and I’ll make sure it is.”
Bishop was a fascinating antagonist, he ultimately believed his higher aim was for the better, and was willing to do anything to make sure he stood between earth and ‘the alien menace’ he was willing to sacrifice everything- including other people. And I really mean anything- he even made a FAKE alien invasion AND kidnapped the American President (making the President think it was aliens) so funding and the entire organisation wouldn’t go under- and he won that battle- he ‘proved’ his organisation was needed by pretending to save him and be the hero. He did get ‘redeemed’ eventually- though how it was was disatisfying (I mean sure, an alien saved him which is great- compassion and all that, but it would have been nice to actually see that in our timeline and actually see him react differently as a result, see him gradually break down over time and the turtles not having a clue what is going on- rather than get a ghost story of a few seconds when Bishop was the President when the turtles got stuck in the future for a season in the show- yes it is as terrible as it sounds.)
The meeting of people in the past to more modern myths like aliens having already visited us is fairly interesting though. I mean ‘we’ are almost prepared- media prepares us for these other worlds as a vague possibility in some regard… People of the past might think aliens were something entirely different like angels or demons or whatever upon first seeing them- after all many people in that time would be more dogmatically oppossed to the idea of Earth not being all that ‘special’ and that there are other forms of intelligent life. Even today some people wouldn’t be, but even more people back then probably and information would be harder to get and communication more difficult. The technology would seem even crazier to them if the aliens were especially advanced as well
Though unfortuantly I think like most alien antagonists- they’ll just be monsters and that will be it. Still, the fact this involves people in the past having to deal with things they would have less idea of what to make of is interesting.
I still don’t see what’s so silly about the title. It’s just a play on Cowboys & Indians. As the trailer seems to suggest it even looks to be a variation of the “taken kin” subgenre of Westerns only with aliens instead of Native Americans.
Actually, that’s partly a reason what I DID find the title to be silly.
Though when you think about it- it’s not really the same at all- here the aliens (who replace the word ‘Indians’) are the invaders. Cowboys were the ones who kicked native americans around at the time, and their ancestors were the invaders of their land and continued to oppress them. Maybe that’s part of the appeal too? -shrugs- (Role reversal- now the cowboys are now instead the victims and have to fight against a more technologically advanced threat in terms of weapons… but I do have to wonder if the aliens have any POINT in the movie- what is their motivation? Why would they want to mess with humans or earth to begin with? What would they want? Plus why would they ARM the guy of a species they’d want to oppress if they do at all?).
Though maybe it’s a ‘not so different’ thing with regards the aliens? (Though I somehow doubt they’ll go for that angle). But invasions are at a forefront of various histories- land whether previously/currently inhabited by humans or not has all been ‘invaded’ at some point by various people throughout history. Just by humans. Then the idea of life on other planets came about and hence the idea of them invading/oppressing humans in general (or vice versa, though the former is far far more common) came about. Fantasy can be an extrapolation or extension of what’s happened in reality. It’s where the ideas and myths become spawned from in the first place- either from expanding on an occurence or events we’ve seen (so instead of wars within or between countries we have it between different worlds in alien invasion stories) or as a way of explaining things when no other explanation was available at the time. Reality can spawn and drive and inspire fantasy and myth.
Though on further research (skimming)- apparently there is something about native americans and cowboys teaming up against them. (Look at one of the postings in link below, it showed up on google in any case). So maybe, who knows? Some Native American will hopefully point this out. Though maybe not.
But then why aren’t they included in the title? (Guess on the basis of the comic since it’s involved? Plus I guess they wanted a ‘punchier’ title- which yes played on that idea- but it’s still a silly title, if only partly for that reason. )
moviehorizon.com/cowboysandaliensmovie/
EDIT!
Quote from the above link. Embarrassing given the above ramble I had, I’ll keep it though:
“The story of the comic contrasts the aliens’ colonial attitudes when they invade the Old West with those of the settlers there towards the Native Americans; it’s clever, see? And not just about cowboys and Indians teaming up against flying saucers (which, by the way, AWESOME).”
I changed my mind- the movie is now indefinitly more interesting. I’ll be watching this. It does sound clever to me! It’s like they read my mind!
Flik-E, that’s awesome. 
Guys, Steven Speilberg does not equal perfection. Did anyone see Poltergeist? Craig T. Nelson was the only good part of that turd.
I’m not sure Native Americans really fit into the movie. As I said before, outside of the central concept the movie has almost nothing to do with the comic narratively speaking. It’s been re-written dozens of times since its inception back in 97. And none of the set reports I’ve read mention anything about NA characters.
As for the actual comic, it’s fun but a little hokey and doesn’t actually live up its premise or even its description on the jacket. Your mileage may vary however…
I can almost imagine them putting out a comic adaptation of the movie rather than push the already existing comic simply because of the huge disconnect in the stories in both.
Unless it’s really good I’ll wait for Blu-Ray
With the link I provided, they talk about Native Americans being in it in April 10, 2010. (It’s the Noah Ringer casting post and describes a bit more about the movie there in addition to this news, though it doesn’t say what he’s playing- are there any possible child characters on the cowboys end he could be playing?). Granted it could be wrong (I haven’t exactly completely verified the source myself- no time), but still, this site seems to have quite a bit of information and I don’t think they have a reason to lie. Though to be fair the trailer doesn’t seem to suggest NA characters either. -Sighs- They’re probably just background characters if in it at all.
If they don’t however manage to at least mention the weirdness of the situation it will seem kind of off to me though. I mean at least throw in a line there of some description. I mean imagine if you will (probably some cowboy) calling these aliens ‘monsters’ coming and taking their land/attacking them and acting incredibly self-righteous and indignant about it. And no-one calling him out on the irony (hypocrisy?) of his indignation. Because that’s what it would be after all.
That actually sounds a lot like the subtext of War of the Worlds, the novel not any of the adaptations which usually gloss over the subtext quite easily.
Wells wanted to depict what it would be like if the imperialist/colonialist boots that Britain stomped with all over the world were to come crashing down on Britain itself.
But as I said that’s usually glossed over in any of the adaptations. So that pretty much goes without saying that we probably won’t get it here.
-Note to self: evetually read War of the Worlds it sounds pretty cool and while I’m more fantasy than Sci Fi- I still really like it and I really should read some of the classics-
(I only have seen parodies or joke related to War of the Worlds- the apparent subtext regarding imperalist Britain sounds great though)
Ironically I did consider bringing up the idea of Britain (since I’m from there), that it would be like them complaining of the same thing while oppressing India and other countries during the old empire days. Looking at the wiki article, I’m even more interested now.
So yeah, I’ll be checking that out. Thanks!
Skating over the idea would be a shame in this, but I guess it can’t be helped.
Hmm . . . how about “Plastic Cowboy vs Pink Teddy Bear”? Sounds ridiculous right?
[quote=“mentalguru”]
-Note to self: evetually read War of the Worlds it sounds pretty cool and while I’m more fantasy than Sci Fi- I still really like it and I really should read some of the classics-
[quote]
Oh yeah, you should definately read it , is one of the best alien invasion strories ever written and is one of the best HG Wells books
I will say this though, to their credit every adaptation of War of the Worlds I’ve seen or heard lost the subtext of the original novel but added their own that tapped into the zeitgeist of whatever era they were produced.
I know it gets a lot of guff but just look at Spielberg’s version starring Tom Cruise. The colonial/imperialist elements would’ve felt out of place. The movie offered something else instead, seemingly vast networks of “sleeping” giants positioned all over the world. That seems a bit familiar and it should. The thought that multiple terrorist sleeper cells were scattered at key points around the globe just waiting to strike when the time came permeated the public consciousness in the last decade.
Or let’s take the 50s adaptation. The Martians could be seen as standing in on what the public thought of the USSR at the time. A seemingly unknowable other that will stop at nothing to destroy their way of life.
Of course that mindset evolved over time and you can see it throughout many sci-fi movies such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers where the invaders were no longer unknowable, they were us, and they were going to co-opt our existence to fit their ends.
And even that story’s adaptations have different subtext if you look at the various versions. From the loss of individualism in the 70s version to the fear of biological attack in the most recent.
Of course I could be wrong, and probably am, but that’s just my take on things.
If you really want to go on a Wells kick I’d also suggest you pick up The Time Machine. The subtext there is Wells take on classism. In the future the working class evolve into the monstrous Morlocks who toil underground while the upper class evolve into the beautiful but helpless Eloi who live in “utopian paradises” on the surface.
I once read back in the 30s, a radio version was broadcast and people thought it was real/ They thought aliens came to earth and invaded us.
That story is absolutely true. It was a special Halloween episode of the Mercury Theater on The Air back in 1938. Orson Welles who had been somewhat unknown before practically gained notoriety overrnight. You can find out more about it here. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of … lds_(radio