paizo.com - Messageboards / Movies / Solomon Kane

Aberzombie (Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber) Jan 10, 2008, 05:18 AM

Saw this on the Scifi Channel Website:

ScifFi Channel wrote:

Max Von Sydow and Pete Postlethwaite are joining star James Purefoy in the cast of Solomon Kane, a film based on the pulp novels of Robert E. Howard, Variety reported.

Rachel Hurd-Wood, Alice Krige and Mackenzie Crook have also been cast, according to Paris-based producer-distributor Samuel Hadida, head of Davis Films, the trade paper reported.

Planned as the first in a trilogy, Solomon Kane is an epic tale of a 16th-century soldier tormented by his past evil deeds, seeking redemption by battling a sinister power threatening the kingdom.

The movie will be adapted from the books by Howard, author of Conan the Barbarian. The Kane books were first serialized in the 1920s and '30s.

Michael J. Bassett (Deathwatch) will direct from his own script for co-producers Hadida and Paul Berrow, head of Epic Tales. Shooting is due to begin in Prague this month.

Considering the disparity between Howard's writing and the Conan movies, I am worried. At least it has Max Von Sydow in it. He kicks ass.

Larry Lichman (Pathfinder Charter Superscriber) Jan 10, 2008, 05:31 AM

Solomon Kane rules!

But I, too, am skeptical about how he will be portrayed in the film. The first reason to fear is that Kane is referred to as a "soldier", not a "Puritan."

Krypter Jan 14, 2008, 09:56 AM

Excellent casting though. Sydow is pretty much exactly as how I would picture a Puritan adventurer.

Mactaka (Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Companion Subscriber) Jan 14, 2008, 11:18 PM

Actually James Purefoy is going to play Solomon Kane according to the entry at IMDb.

Purefoy played Marc Antony in HBO's Rome. He did a very good job in my opinion.

Mairkurion {tm} (Pathfinder Adventure Path, Tales, Battles Case Subscriber) Feb 4, 2011, 02:59 PM

Rise...RISE!

It's ridiculous that we can't get a US release for this.

Mark Moreland (Developer) Feb 4, 2011, 04:14 PM

I had to get the PAL DVD from England to see this. Good thing I have a PAL converting region free DVD player.

Too bad the movie wasn't really worth the effort.

Mairkurion Jr. Feb 4, 2011, 04:47 PM

I'll drink the wormwood cocktail you just poured me like a man...but I won't like it!
:(

Greg A. Vaughan (Pathfinder Lead Developer, Frog God Games) Feb 5, 2011, 03:49 PM

Von Sydow's in it for about 7 minutes and Kane is some kind of reformed pirate. The plot is circular and doesn't exactly explain itself

Spoiler:

is the Devil owed Kane's soul because Kane was bad, is he owed it simply because his father bargained it, is Kane bad because his soul was sold, would he have been bad anyway, if he had stayed good would his father been able to bargain it, his only real crime on the path to badness was accidentally "killing" his brother while trying to defend a helpless girl and refusing to join the clergy, is that what got him in hot water with the Devil to begin with, blah, blah, blah.

Unfortunately, Mark is right and the more I think about the movie the less I like it. It's almost like if David Lynch was going to make a movie of some big time book and cast Von Sydow in it in a bit part--like, say, Dune perhaps...but with less whispering. The greatest disappointment is how good it could have been if they had just used one of Howard's stories or combined a few together.

Mairkurion {tm} (Pathfinder Adventure Path, Tales, Battles Case Subscriber) Feb 5, 2011, 05:03 PM

Ugh.
So...you're saying even if I liked DL's Dune, I still won't like this.

Robert Little (Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Battles Case Subscriber) Feb 5, 2011, 08:46 PM

I saw this two years ago with the director present for a Q&A. He wanted to do a Howard story (and the sequel if he had gotten to make one would have been one of the Africa stories), but the producers wouldn't go for anything less than an "origin" story. Given the choice of origin story or not at all, he went for origin story, just to be able to make the film.

SwnyNerdgasm Mar 6, 2011, 11:29 PM

Movie wasn't bad per say, but it was good in the same way the Star Trek remake was good, if it wasn't a Solomon Kane story I feel I would be able to have enjoyed it more, as it is, it's serviceable.

yellowdingo Mar 7, 2011, 09:39 PM

SwnyNerdgasm wrote:

Movie wasn't bad per say, but it was good in the same way the Star Trek remake was good, if it wasn't a Solomon Kane story I feel I would be able to have enjoyed it more, as it is, it's serviceable.

How did you like 'the hall of mirrors' at the beginning of the film and the BBEG?

A 100' long, 50' wide hall with a 50' high ceiling.
Description: This long Hall has 999 full height free standing mirrors in heavy frames. Each Mirror is a Permanent Gate to one of the lower planes.

SwnyNerdgasm Mar 13, 2011, 05:29 PM

yellowdingo wrote:

SwnyNerdgasm wrote:
Movie wasn't bad per say, but it was good in the same way the Star Trek remake was good, if it wasn't a Solomon Kane story I feel I would be able to have enjoyed it more, as it is, it's serviceable.
How did you like 'the hall of mirrors' at the beginning of the film and the BBEG?
A 100' long, 50' wide hall with a 50' high ceiling.
Description: This long Hall has 999 full height free standing mirrors in heavy frames. Each Mirror is a Permanent Gate to one of the lower planes.

Honestly? I thought the mirror room was awesome and will probably steal that for my campaign at some point.

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