Nearly on red. Please keep reading. Off on holiday on Saturday to Thorpe Park Holiday Park at Cle...
Nearly on red. Please keep reading. Off on holiday on Saturday to Thorpe Park Holiday Park at Cleethorpes.
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There have been many attempts over the years to transfer books into film and although many are quite good it is rare to find any that are as good as reading the book. Some of the most famous films of all times - Gone with the Wind, Oliver, Spiderman have been adaptations from novels, books or short stories. So when it was announced that a film was planned to band together a group of individually famous literary characters into one film expectations were of course high.
~ The Characters~
Allan Quartermain - Allan appears for the first time in Henry Rider Haggard's wonderfully dramatic King Solomon's Mines. Published in 1886, it was to rival Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was first published in 1886 and is one of the best known of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novels. It concerns the way in which an individual is made up of contrary emotions and desires: some good and some evil.
Dorian Gray - The Picture of Dorian Gray was the only novel written by Oscar Wilde and was published in 1891. An artist paints a beautiful picture of a young man and the subject wishes that the picture age rather than he. As long as he never looks on the portrait he will never age, but as soon as he does the roles will reverse and it will be he who ages.
Captain Nemo - Published in 1870 Captain Nemo appeared in the book Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea about his voyage onboard the submarine
"Nautilus". Written by Jules Verne.
Mina Harker - character from Bram Stoker’s Dracula published in 1897. Whilemina Harker is married to Jonathan Harker and when she travels to Transylvania to meet him she is bitten by Count Dracula and turned into a vampire.
Rodney Skinner (The Invisible Man) - Written by H G Wells and published in 1876, an obscure scientist invents a way to render skin, bones, and blood invisible, and tries the formula on himself. Now he can go anywhere, menace anyone. Unfortunately there is no antidote so he can never be visible again.
Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain’s enduringly popular tale of frontier life on the Mississippi, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, was filled with elements of the author’s own young life. The tales of Tom and his young friend Huckleberry Finn was published in 1876.
~The Plot~
Legendary hunter Allan Quartermain is retired from his rigorous life of adventure and residing happily in a gentleman’s club in Africa when he is sought by the British government to assist them in one last task. After an assassination attempt on his life Quartermain agrees to travel back to Britain, the country he has turned his back on and meet the head of the British Secret Service ‘M’ (character from the James Bond novels). At the meeting Quartermain is informed that a mysterious villain known as The Phantom has stolen secret plans and is causing mayhem whilst trying to take over the world. ‘M’ wishes Quartermain to recruit certain members of an extraordinary nature to combat the threat and become the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
The first people that Quartermain recruits are the legendary Captain Nemo, Mina Harker and Rodney Skinner who have already been called together to attend the meeting. The four of them head to the home of the immortal Dorian Gray and the whole group including Dorien are attacked by The Phantom and his henchmen. The fight their way out of the attack with the help of a young, gunslinger from the American Secret Service agent Tom Sawyer who manages to join the team, but The Phantom escapes. Quartermain says that there is one final member of the team to recruit and heads to Paris where they manage to capture Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde from the rooftops and promise him a return to England from where he is outcast.
Now that the League is complete they travel to Venice onboard the Nautilus in order to stop the Phantoms plans of attacking World leaders at a conference. This is only a diversion to the true plans of the criminal or so we are led to believe.
~The Cast~
Allan Quartermain - Sean Connery. Sean found fame as the first and in my opinion best ever James Bond. Since those days he has gone on to appear in some great movies including Finding Forrester, Hunt for Red October and Entrapment. He earned an Oscar for his portrayal of Jimmy Malone in the Untouchables in 1987. He was knighted in 1999.
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Jason Flemyng. Jason has appeared in Rob Roy, Stealing Beauty and Lock, Stock and Two smoking Barrels. It took 8 hours to put the suit for Mr. Hyde on and 3 to take it off.
Dorian Gray - Stuart Townsend. Stuart appeared mainly in England and his native Ireland on the stage before a part in Queen of the Damned. He was originally cast as Aragon in Lord of the Rings but was replaced because he was too young.
Captain Nemo - Naseeruddin Shah. A big star in his native India, and has appeared in Monsson Wedding but still relatively unknown in English speaking roles.
Mina Harker - Peta Wilson. Relative unknown Australian Peta has appeared in a couple of small movies and TV programmes before winning this role.
Rodney Skinner (The Invisible Man) - Tony Curran. Although Tony Curran’s name is not in the league of the big stars, he has made appearances in Gladiator, Pearl Harbour and Blade II and appeared in the first 2 series of Ultimate Force on UK television.
Tom Sawyer - Shane West. Shane has appeared in films, Dracula 2000 and Get Over It but is currently seen on television as Dr. Ray Barnett in ER.
~Conclusion~
I found the plot of this film weak and some of the acting even weaker. Sean Connery was by far the best performer in the film, but at times he struggled because of the weaknesses of the others. There were reports of arguments between the cast throughout filming and this does appear to have had an effect on teh overall film as there does seem to be a frostiness in certain scenes.
Behind all the cast was a disappointing script. There seemed to be more emphasis on the history of the group and there particular traits than any real plot for a crime. So the real intentions of The Phantom are pretty predictable.
I am a book reader but have to admit that I did need to look up the significance of some of the characters. Dorian Gray to me was just a name and although the story of his portrait is highlighted if you know nothing of him, you may miss this believing it to be insignificant.
Allan Quartermain ‘Ah, you're missing a picture, Mr. Gray.’ Dorian Gray ’And you don't miss a thing, do you, Mr. Quartermain? Allan Quartermain ‘Oh, sometimes.’
“The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen” starts well, The Phantom is reaping havoc throughout Europe and and Connery returns to his suave Bond roots but from then on the film deteriorates into a story with so many inconsistencies, that it was a real disappointment.
As there are some mild sexual references and moderate violence the film is given a 12A certificate.
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The heroes of 1899 are brought to life with the help of some expensive special effects ... more
inThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. From the pages of Victorian literature come Captain Nemo, Dr Jekyll (and his alter ego Mr Hyde), Dorian Gray, Tom Sawyer, th...
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The heroes of 1899 are brought to life with the help of some expensive special effects ... more
inThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. From the pages of Victorian literature come Captain Nemo, Dr Jekyll (and his alter ego Mr Hyde), Dorian Gray, Tom Sawyer, th...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
The heroes of 1899 are brought to life with the help of some expensive special effects ... more
inThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. From the pages of Victorian literature come Captain Nemo, Dr Jekyll (and his alter ego Mr Hyde), Dorian Gray, Tom Sawyer, th...
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Feb 24th, 2005
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