Honestly it isn't as bad as people kept saying, and keeping in mind that I have not read the books. I'm just fan of Idris Elba and I enjoyed Mathew McConnahay as a bad guy.
There are a few incoherent moments but it's a fun movie worth watching if you have the time. You could tell there are gaps which could have been handled better for sure but it's a fun action packed movie with a few twists. But it should have been darker and not PG13 that's for sure.
I actually liked the way the movie was, and yeah, it's not identical to the book series, but come on - what movie is?
Elba made a fine gunslinger, and McConaughey did well as a villain. Sure, some bits could have been executed better, but it's not as bad as people have been saying it was. I set off to see the movie expecting to be disappointed, but ended up enjoying it quite a bit.
I thought Roland would be more a Clint Eastwood than an Idris Elba?? What are they thinking? Daniel Craig would be a good fit.
'What's this?"
"Hot dog'
'Savages'
I didn't find as bad as it was depicted. Maybe because I haven't read the books.
It was a fun movie, with some small inconsistencies. I enjoyed McConaughey as the bad guy. Not the best, but his character definitely had charisma. Idris Elba was a great Roland.
Even with such a short runtime (95 min), the movie explained everything quite well and didn't leave me with doubts about what's what.
The action scenes were great, fast paced but not confused. Really liked those.
The story did feel a little bland, but honestly sometimes you just want a simple movie.
Overall I'd give it 7/10, not perfect but definitely enjoyable.
To everyone who's trash talking his film, loosen your sphincters guys. In the tradition of The Neverending Story, this move is excellent. I haven't read the books, and never will, so I don't frankly care how different the movie is. Why should anyone?
My advice: Don't be a grown up when you watch this film, because it wasn't made for the "mid life crisis", "all grown up and got bills to pay" version of you.
It was made for the young you (or your kids), back when life was full of possibilities, and you craved youthful adventures of morality and fantasy. If that isn't how Stephen King's wrote the books, then to hell with them. This film is a goodhearted tale of a young boy's magical adventures and struggles, and Idris Elba is special treat to watch.
When you were young, did you enjoy The Neverending Story? The Dark Crystal? Flight Of The Navigator? The Adventures of Baron Munchausen? The Last Starfighter? Well I loved those films, and The Dark Tower brought me back to the same special place. Indeed, my 14 year old self is just absolutely delighted. My adult self is wise enough to know that this film was not made for me, no hard feelings!
The Dark Tower
It's said "To break is divine" but there is nothing divine in the way this film broke me.
How they managed to make a colossal fuck up of The Dark Tower is a feat in itself.
The only thing worth seeing was the reloading trick.
0.5/10
#NicksMiniReview
https://t.co/Mz6xh7qU8p
This has been a run-of-the-mill Hollywood action film targeting YA audience who have probably never read the books it is based on. It lacks the character development and intricacy of Stephen King's source material. Rather disappointing.
Disappointed... no more to say
Produced by Ron Howard? Really? I loved the books although I'm not caught up. I felt that the movie was weak and corny, not at all the intense story that King was weaving. Not that I expected it to follow my imagination in the book, but I had expected a movie that was more tight. Matthew did a fantastic job in True Detective but even he felt unimaginative in his acting.
What looked like an interesting science-fiction movie finally turned out to be an entertaining youth adventure.
90% of the viewers didn't read the books, and don't care. Why others comment about books on this site is weird.
The movie was very nice. Fun movie to watch, loved the actors, obviously. Sorry was very cookie cutter, and it works, since the main draw is there lead actors and science fiction.
I loved watching this movie! The music was great, the characters were interesting and the SFX was amazing! Idris Elba is such a great actor for Roland and I really loved the characters' dialogues.
The story was a bit vague at times, but it didn't bother me. I haven't read the books so I can't say whether the movie was "how it's supposed to be" or "like the books", but I loved it anyways.
9/10 would watch again (and again)!
What a wasted opportunity. In the age of Game of Thrones, we get a 95 minute movie condensed down from over 4000 pages in 9 books.
I haven't read the books so i will judge this as an action movie which was mediocre. I read that this is a series of 7 books so it was very difficult to squeeze it in 90 minutes, the ending battle happened very fast and a bit rush. The character development was flat and the story didn't win me over, it needed more time
Its fine. There is a lot of room for improvements but its entertaining enough. Not knowing the story probably made it better for me because I wasn't mad about how they are changing it. Idris Elba is a great gunslinger. Matthew McConaughey does a fine job, not sure if he is the best for a villain but he does have charisma. I found Tom Taylor's character, Jake, dull and boring. Yeah he has problems as a kid so what. The best part of the movie is when the Gunslinger came to New York and was a 'fish out of water' that had a few good laughs. This could have been a bigger and better movie with more world building and backstory. At just 95 minutes I was like, oh that's it?
The world is so far from the book. However Elba is a good Gunslinger.
Waiting so long for this movie! or should i say movies...
In my mind it is not possible to catch the whole story in one movie and one tv show. that is not the right way.
this story should be realized like Harry Potter or Lord Of The Rings.
PLEASE don't ruin this fantastic story!!!
I've read quite a few Stephen King novels, novellas, and short stories but have always found the "Dark Tower" series to be a little more than I wanted to tackle. However, I made a plan to start reading the series at the beginning of the year so that I would be ready to watch this, the film version of the beloved tale. But I didn't start it, choosing to just see the movie instead.
"The Dark Tower" is a train wreck. I'm going to assume that the seven or eight books in the series were just condensed into this 95-minute mess because there's no way that many books could have been written into a story so slight. This movie appears to have been made to simply couch references and provide Easter eggs for King fanboys to consume.
Seeing this movie has extinguished my desire to read the "Dark Tower" books.
All the features of a good film without actually bothering to be a good film. Proof that movie making is a lot more than chucking stuff into a blender.
Another multiverse with endless possibilities, plus all the creative talents of Stephen King and Ron Howard. Here's a great article on the process that lead to this movie which opened, today, in Canada (https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/3/15528554/the-dark-tower-stephen-king-film-adaptation-explainer). I enjoyed this - how could I not - I have such an appreciation for Idris Elba's talent. The screenplay was tight, the plot interesting. No great surprises- good guys and bad guys. I thought the cinematography and CGI was crisp and clear, which is not the trend in action films (they seem to prefer blurred, high speed images - with this movie, they let us see what happens, which is my preference). I give the film a 7.5 (satisfying) out of 10, and if it does well at the box office expect to see a TV series and more movies.
I'm a huge Stephen King fan but I'll admit I never read these books. They seemed very westerny and I hate western. This movie is definitley not anything like a western other then gunfire. For a movie that covers 3 books (I believe) it moved way too fast. There was no build up. No time to fall in love with any of the characters.
Quite disappointing.
Well I thought it was a super film and defo has been underrated on IMDb. I thought before watching this that Matthew was gonna play a cheesy bad guy but he proved me wrong with a good performance. Stephan Kings film adaptions based on his books are always a great watch. Looking forward to the amazon series based on it.
I really hated this movie when it first came out. I was among the first to see it in theaters (publicly, not counting screenings and whatnot), and as a fan of the books, it was obviously a huge disappointment. But look — two things:
One, they're not gonna adapt all eight books faithfully. This is what we get. The books are not ruined. They're still where they were last year, on your shelf or maybe on your Kindle, and you're free to read them again whenever you like. This is the 90-minute quick version.
Two, and anyone who's a fan knew this going in, this isn't even an adaptation. It's a sequel. You know that thing that happens at the very end of the final book? That's happened a few more times. This is Roland's last time around. It's a sequel. They can still adapt the original 8 books or any part of them.
Yeah, this movie has some flaws, but overall, it's a lot of fun. That said, I can't recommend it to readers of the books. But I can recommend it to anyone who hasn't read the books. That seems to be the group of people who actually enjoy this.
I wish they didn't call this an adapdation. And it wasn't named Dark Tower. It should be just a movie that has nothing to do with King's Dark Tower. They took 7 books of material and 4 main characters. And adapted it to 1h30min movie with 2 characters. They didn't tell anything about lore of the mid world.
The worst thing was they added things like shooting brain-laser beams to tower or something. What was that? I dont remember Walter had a full organization about wrecking the tower. And child-brain thing was about Calla and Susannah. They messed up pretty bad.
I thought the Dark tower was a Wilt Chamberlain documentary
Had no idea what was happening and the child actor was pretty bad.
This movie is just okay, nothing much... just like a good low budget movie.
I haven't read the books, so I'm commenting on The Dark Tower film solely as it's own entity - that being said, it's pretty entertaining for an action film. A problem I seem to have with recent films is that they feel the need to surpass the 2 hr mark, and end up lagging badly halfway through the film. Dark Tower succeeds in that it is a fast paced, action packed adventure, plain and simple. In terms of being an action movie, the film succeeds, but it's more of a guilty pleasure enjoyment than a truly gratifying film experience. My main complaint is that Elba & McConaughey's characters could have been largely improved and elaborated on - no one except for Jake seems like a fully fleshed out character, merely plot devices.
Being a fan of Stephen King's works, when I read The Dark Tower books, I'm sure I'll be horrified with the simplification of the film adaption, but for now, I can enjoy the film and it's simplified adaptation.
I enjoyed it, but I needed something more (it was too fast).
Well, that was interesting... It really needs two reviews for two different kinds of people.
For those who have NOT read The Dark Tower books: Go for it! Fun, action-packed, sci-fi/fantasy stuff, plus Elba is great in everything and McConaughey was alright (alright alright). It's not going to win any awards, but The Dark Tower is a good popcorn movie. Please go see it so they can make more! Then, go read the books!
For the book readers: Understand one thing - You are not the target audience. Set your expectations, and you can still enjoy this movie for what it is: a starting point. It's a fancy lure to test the waters, hoping to reel in enough fish to make the rest of the trip worthwhile. It is not an adaptation, it's kind of sequel, and they shove that damn horn in your eyeholes 5-6 times to make sure you know it. If you expect an adaptation, you will be very disappointed. There are many allusions and references for the constant reader, and only you will pick up on them. It's still a fun movie if you are able to separate it from the books, and I hope it makes enough money for the studio to continue the story in a more serious and extended manner that the series deserves. My hopes are high for what the future can be.
I took the kids and they liked it pretty good. They would not have enjoyed the movie I wanted (and still want) to see.
Political correctness is a form of control and a weapon.
Noooo ,black Roland !?!?! This is so wrong. A bad joke.
It's gonna be The Stand debacle all over again... Damn Molly Ringwald...
Nowhere near as bad as everyone seemed to be saying on release, actually enjoyed it and would watch a follow-up.. No, I've never read the books, but I now have a taste of The Dark Tower, so I might track them down and give them a go. It's worth a view if you, like me, have avoided it for a long time?
Only inspired by The Dark Tower saga. Nothing to do with it. Enjoyable film but approximate and far away from the books and the story they tell.
Even though I didn’t read the book it feels like half of the story is missing. I think Idris Elba is good here.
A relevant quote: "I took a speed-reading course and read War and Peace in twenty minutes. It involves Russia." Woody Allen
Also
* It has nothing to do with the books
* It makes no sense
* I will never watch anything that involves Akiva Goldsman as a writer anymore
* My eyes and my brain hurt
* How can people get budget for that?
* At least it's only 1h34 long
.. what have I just watched?
A turbulent big budget adaptation of Stephen King's well-regarded literary series, merging elements of fantasy, western and science fiction. I don't have a particular attachment to the books (I've read the first installment more than once, but it never grabbed me), so I can't say I noted any essential changes to the source material. Actually, maybe it should've gone a bit further in that respect, because the finished product feels awfully dry and basic, like the first two or three chapters of a much bigger story. Whilst our bare-bones good versus evil saga bathed in the afterglow of its final showdown, I wondered "is that all?"
Idris Elba is a bold, effective casting as the central hero, The Gunslinger. He's gruff and no-nonsense, a reliable badass with just a hint of feral intensity in his eye, but his character isn't interesting beyond the standard grunting action scenes and a few easy fish-out-of-water bits. Much more promising is the film's foil; the mysterious, malevolent, reality-shaping, portal-jumping "Man in Black" played by Matthew McConaughey. It's a crucial (if difficult) part, and McConaughey's complete failure to elevate himself effectively dooms the picture. He's downright bad in this film, frequently crossing the line from creepy to campy and whiffing on all the major dialogue points.
There's potential here: some wonderful effects work (an impressive, if fleeting, showdown with an aggressive wooden house springs to mind), the right mood and atmosphere, but it's excessively cryptic (lazily relying on audiences to draw their own conclusions) and doesn't pack enough punch. Not one I'm likely to revisit.
Not one scene lasts more than two minutes. I started timing it, like I got a calculator out and starting counting the amount of time each scene had. As someone who's becoming a professional editor, this movie offends me. This is beyond embarrassing. This is a marvel. It needs to be shown in film and editing classes on what not to do. You could study this. Sony's lucky they had Jumanji last year. I almost want them to fail after this pile of predictable, formulaic, mediocre, bland, and sensory-raping trash. I started laughing my ass off at one part where Matthew McConaughey's dialogue didn't match his lips at all. I had to take frequent breaks every ten minutes just so I could stomach this hour and a half disaster. Like, just, fuck this movie and everyone who edited it.
I never thought it was a bad movie while watching it. I guess it's good? It's okay at best, entertaining. It does have that feel like it was adapted from a YA novel (note: I watched this not knowing it was a Stephen King novel, and I know King is not in the YA genre). ALSO, how come Matthew McConaughey never gets old? That dude's lookin good for his age! :open_mouth:
-1 for pretending to be related to King's book, with which besides names there is NOTHING common.
I haven't read the book so I didn't know what to expect. The movie is not bad, but it feels like it could have been a lot better. It lacks depth, needs more background info and should have been longer.
Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey are both great in their roles.
The movie was awful
When i saw the trailer for this movie i was so excited to watch it, and boy was it disappointing everything in the movie you can predict. No twists and turns. Nothing. It felt like the movie was rushed and short. All i can say is it is certainly NOT Stephen King's 'The Dark Tower'. So many better movies out there for you to watch, don't waste your time on this one.
I don´t know why I keep watching anything King. Never read any of his books but it is always the same story. Like painting the same picture all over again in different colors. Good against evil, end of things, throw in some monsters and demons and put a kid in it. He must have had a weird childhood. And I´m sure a psychologist would have a field day in explaining why King puts a huge dark tower at the center of the universe.
My wife is a huge King fan so I know the complexity in his storys and I know not to expect anything grand out of a 95 min movie that is based on thousands of pages of paper. But even if this would have been an original script it is very thin. There is no depth in either the characters or the plot. Little to no background info, just the usual there-is-evil-that-wants-to-take-over-the-world. The characters are all cliché and aside from the slight ray of light that is Idris Elba you can pretty much forget the rest. Taylor´s acting is weak, he´s just not selling it. McConaughey is trying so hard to be cool that it´s totally uncool. For the casual viewer there isn´t much in it and the King fans say it´s a bad adaptation. So, why bother ?
Heard it wasn't that good. I still gave it a shot, and kind of have to say it's actually really shallow-feeling. Feels like a kiddy Van Helsing with overkill CGI gone wrong. The concept is really cool tho. It just needed some raw and darker tones and a more "depressive mood". The movie didn't build it's world well enough to actually feel empathetic towards the characters. To finish the balance of the cast wasn't that well-done. Individually most of them are really amazing; but in this context it just didn't work. Maybe just an unlucky balance overall. Was an OK-watch, but nothing more than that.
It's not a deserving adaptation, but it explores some of the interesting ideas from the books. This story deserved better, it should've never been a movie. A TV series or at least miniseries was where it belonged. Still though, it's a decent time waster, even if it's not remarkable.
Is this a pilot for a TV series?
It needed to be at least a trilogy or a 3 seasons tv show...
I was shocked to learn that this was based on a series of books written by Stephen King since this movie was a horrible waste of my time and attention span. I am pleased that I am able to read this story because it seems like it could be a good read. The first two comments on here pretty much sums up this movie so I won't get into that. All in all there are worse movies out there to waste your time but I would recommend that you use the hour and a half that you would have spent watching this and use it to search for an epub of the series and begin reading it with the 85 mins you have left over. 4.5/10
This is an utterly forgetful film. A good premise, which was squandered, as with everything else in this dreadful film. Don't see this.
The movie was not well explained, they didn't tell us the kind of evil the were fighting. The child actor*** I will rate him 3/10. he was the wrong choice I will say. and I wonder y the director didn't see that. all the same I enjoyed watching it.
If you are a fan of the novels on which this is based; you'll need to take a deep breath before going into this one.
A bit too much of hollywood in this one I think. It feels much like one of those crappy modern big budget movies (Avengers etc). But it was at least entertaining.
If this film is a standalone adaptation of the books, I am disappointed. If, however, they plan to continue the stories in film and tv, then I am a little more optimistic. I've only read the first two books in the series to date, and the film doesn't compare well. However, it was enjoyable enough, but a longer running time would have done the stories greater justice.
Why this being a sequel to the books doesn't work. Is that the books end with Roland having to go on his quest for the Tower all over again. So if he did. Then this sequel movie should still be completely based on....book 1.
Which it is not, at all.
I would like to see Clive Owen or Eric Bana as roland i mean the first book was written in what the 60s?
I look forward to it less due to Akiva Goldsman involved and the fact he is calling anyone racist who doesn't want Idris Elba miscast as Roland.
Review by Jim222001VIP 6BlockedParent2017-08-04T02:06:09Z
Stephen King's best work, gets a watered down adaption. That feels like the director and screenwriter, both never even read the books. Roland (Idris Elba) in the books is obsessed with getting to the Tower. Here he only cares about revenge on the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey) who killed his father.
While Jake's (Tom Taylor) backstory is a bit tampered with too. I am pretty sure in the book, he got to Roland's world by being shoved in front of a car by a mad man. I am sure Jake being obsessed with drawing Roland and his world is from like the 2nd or 3rd book.
The books were quite violent and graphic. With a Western like feel to them. There's not much screenwriter Akiva Goldsman got right. The plot is a incoherent mess that doesn't feel like any of the books. While none of the books are close to PG-13.
The best things about this movie is the Idris Elba and Tom Taylor chemistry. As well as the humor of when Roland tries hotdogs or Soda for the first time.
McConaughey tries hard to play a cold hearted bastard and succeeds on some levels. Maybe because his character does some evil things. Otherwise I think they needed someone like Willem Dafoe who could play evil in his sleep.
All in all, Sony and Akiva Goldsman are where this adaption went wrong. As well as being too short. King's prized possession shouldn't be in the hands of the studio that brought us the Ghostbusters reboot and the Emoji movie.
While Goldsman hasn't adapted one book well. The screenwriter of Batman & Robin shouldn't be allowed near anything Stephen King. Especially The Dark Tower. Adapting the Dark Tower, proved he shouldn't have been near it. What a mess with so much potential to be more.