Lone Ranger trailer

This is starting to really look good...

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/disney/theloneranger/

new trailer...

http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2012/12/11/latest-lone-ranger-trailer-lays-out-origins-of-man-behind-mask/

Saw it today.

Go see it, it is fantastic fun. Fantastic. Both the lady and I (and the rest of the audience by the sounds of it) had a great time. Highly, highly recommended.

Good to hear!!! I've really been looking forward to this one and I have already read and saw a few John Carter reviews of the Lone Ranger, they all seem to start with the same sentence, "Even Johnny Depp can't save this one..."

Bah, don't listen to that drivel.

I liked John Carter too, but Lone Ranger blows it away. Other than some people being sick of Johnny Depp, I have a hard time understanding why this movie is getting the level of negative feedback it has been. As usual though, those who didn't like it are far more vocal than those who did. Maybe it's just the wrong time for a big fun adventure film? Maybe people in general are just turned off by Westerns, or can't get behind a lesser known actor like Armie Hammer (who is very good), despite the A-list presence of Johnny Depp.

Go see it anyway, I'm betting you'll enjoy it. I honestly want to see it again in theaters, which is something I very rarely do.

I saw Lone Ranger last night and loved it too!

I'm not really picky about my movie choices nowadays, but I really don't understand any of the complaints I've heard from reviewers about this one. They complain it's too violent? All the worst bits are off-screen or in shadow so as not to be gory. They complain about the story? For my money, the story is as well-told and logical as any big budget action film of the last decade or two. The characters and their emotional arcs were all well-done. The action was portrayed clearly and excitingly. The scenery was gorgeous and beautifully photographed. The ethical and political conflicts were all well-staged and thoughtfully portrayed.

The one objection that might have some traction was Johnny Depp's portrayal of Tonto as being too stereotypical, but even that is explained in the film, as Tonto is actually an outsider from his own tribe and not typical of them.

So in summary, go see it! It's awesome!

I wonder if it's just another case of critics just being hardbon any potential new Disney franchise, like John Carter?

I genuinely have a hard time understanding both the box office numbers and the amount of negative feedback. Not that I get too invested in this sort of thing, I loved the movie and that's good enough for me, it's just such a strange reaction. By all rights The Lone Ranger has everything going for it, it should be one of the biggest films of 2013...and yet here we sit with low box office numbers and a surprisingly large negative reaction. What the heck happened? Are people really that uninterested in the Western setting now?

Why would film critics be more unfavorable to a Disney project? It's not that I doubt it or anything and I could even think of a few axes they might have to grind with Disney. But, is this something that has an actual track record with critics slamming Disney productions more than others?

Not that I pay too much attention to critics. you guys seem pretty universal in giving The Lone Ranger a thumbs up, good enough for me!

When JC first came out their was this wave of extremely bad reviews. All from mainstream media. I saw one on MSNBC say it was "Walk out the theater bad." Some even called it "the worst movie ever."

That means the thing shoukd be really bad right?

I remembered the same critic not bring so harsh with Ghost Rider 2, and that got me looking around.

There was this extreme disparity. Most online/genre critics liked it. Nobody "walked out" of the showing when i saw it.

I was reading some sci fi message board at linked-in, whete several people where asking, why the extreme hate by some critics when this thing was obviously no better or worse than similar movies like Battleship, Green Lantern,,,

Some guy with Hollywood in his resume, explained it was all about the budget, and other petty stuff. How many rival studios didnt want Disney to have another Pirates of the Carribean, stuff like that...

Disney's 'Lone Ranger' Could Lead to $150 Million Loss (Analysis)

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disneys-lone-ranger-could-lead-581503

Yeah, it does seem that whenever a big budget blockbuster movie comes around, the critics suddenly become accountants demanding every set and special effect be justified against their expense. If they don't advance the entire medium as a whole, then the flick's a ' failure'. While it's hard to replace opening week returns, the public is the final arbitrator. These days, film's have an extended life via DVD, overseas box office, ect. I'll bet John Carter will land in the black if it hasn't already. Of course franchises have an additional marketability factor over time.

I guess productions houses should have tighter budget control, but personally I'm grateful they are willing to take some risks. If they didn't, we'd be left with them remaking 3 or 4 low risk movies endlessly.

I haven't seen anything Lone Ranger-related since the Christopher Lloyd movie - which I loved, but I was four years old, so shut up - but I would suspect that the failures have more to do with how difficult it is to reconcile Tonto into the mythos. Western hero with a mask, shoots silver bullets and rides a horse... got it. Faithful Indian companion... full stop. Does not compute. BAD BAD BAD EVIL RACIST AMERICA!!! Even though Tonto was (probably) created for reasons no better than Robin or Jimmy Olsen, to give the lead character *someone to talk to* so that the audience knew what was going on. "White man speak with forked tongue" indeed.

Tonto could have mentioned that his tribe butchered some white men, kidnapped their women and raped the fuck out of them, and would have been as historically accurate as anything else. Primitive tribes are primitive tribes for a reason, and Tonto suffers as one who tries to raise himself from a degraded state usually does. And he's such an intrinsic part of the Lone Ranger mythology that it becomes impossible to show the characters in an entertaining way, because political correctness stifles them both. It's contrary to the spirit of the Western genre, which encompasses action [showdown at dawn] romance [riding off into the sunset] and a pioneering spirit [duhhhhhh] and more, but the complainers won't hear anything against their particular mythologies. "What you mean 'we', paleface?"

I don't know, Chris, I think the story range in Western films is more flexible and encompassing than you give it credit for. I think we could all come up with a favorite Western that was far from the stereotype you mention and did good box office numbers as well. Little Big Man comes to mind.

Besides, isn't this Lone Ranger flick actually just as much or more a Tonto movie?

I don't know. When I was just little, I loved the "Lone Ranger Storybook" based on the Christopher Lloyd movie, and vaguely remember liking the movie too. I also love the episode of "Night Court" where the (ahem) Red Ranger refuses to give up the mask even though the evil corporation wants to promote the new movie. ["The new Red Ranger, he drinks! He curses! He... sleeps with women! Forty-two movies, and I was happy with my horse!"]

Sure, the Western genre is more versatile than the Lone Ranger mythos ["Unforgiven", "Young Guns" I and II, "Blazing Saddles" and "Preacher" come to mind] but I'm not sure the Lone Ranger himself is so flexible, especially considering Tonto is a crucial part of the mythos. I'm only a disinterested party when it comes to the Lone Ranger himself. I don't know or care enough about him to have any interest in his success or failure. I care much much more about Superman and yet can't be bothered to see the new movie.

So it's only my speculation that the Ranger's current problems stem from the relationship with Tonto. Nothing against Tonto. The Ranger needs someone to talk to and a sidekick to make things happen. Batman needs Robin for the same reason. Unfortunately in this day and age, it's easier to picture an adult man choosing a young boy in short shorts for help than the Ranger needing a worthy supporter like Tonto to hunt down desperados on the plains.

Good points, Chris. Well, Peter U. did mention that Johnny Depp's portrayal of Tonto retained some of the stereotypical parts of the character, but that it is explained in the movie as resulting from Tonto's outsider status in his tribe. I only know that Jay Silverheels as Tonto was me and the other kids favorite part of the Lone Ranger show. He was way cooler than the white bread series lead in much the same way that Bruce Lee as Kato outreached the Green Hornet on the coolness barometer. So, a Tonto whose character is updated beyond its previous restrictive paradigm and focused on equally with the Lone Ranger seems like a great idea to me. I don't see any reason that a good or even great Lone Ranger or Zorro or Robin Hood movie can't be made now. Is this one? I'm looking forward to finding out!

That last Robin Hood movie was pretty good. Starring Jor-el.

that's right!

I didn't like that one. The nitty-gritty version of Robin Hood didn't fly, and there was nothing memorable or engaging going on. I want my Robin Hood to be a swashbuckling adventurer type, not a grizzled soldier.

Terry M (Ditko Fan) wrote:

That last Robin Hood movie was pretty good. Starring Jor-el.

I preferred the one starring Pa Kent.

Ted Kilvington wrote:

Terry M (Ditko Fan) wrote:

That last Robin Hood movie was pretty good. Starring Jor-el.

I preferred the one starring Pa Kent.

and Easy Reader. 

Ted Kilvington wrote:

I preferred the one starring Pa Kent.

I really wanted to like that one, but Costner going in and out of his bad British accent made it tough to like. There was a better film a few years earlier with Patrick Bergin and Uma Thurman that looks like it was made for tv but is much more watchable.

If i had to pick an all-time favorite, it'd likely be the Disney cartoon or Men in Tights. There was a British series back in the eighties that was really good if memory serves, it had quite a bit of magic in it.

We just saw The Lone Ranger this afternoon.

Geat fun. I loved it.

They tried to handle the ranger very similarly to whatcwas done in the recent Green Hornet remake, but this one worked much better. And i thougt the odd Tonto stuff worked as a way to incorporate the old indian "fakelore" without being insulting.

It must be tough to write these over the top boyscout heroes without making fun of them and still make the suits happy at the same time. Do kids even have anything comparable to the old style shows like Clayton Moore's Lone Ranger or George Reeves Superman?

I think you're right about those type of live-action heroes being out of vogue, Joe. Looking through the Disney channels, where I thought they might be hiding out, there's really nothing like that. The only thing that comes to mind for me is the Xena and Hercules, The Legendary Journeys shows. Updated versions of heroes to be sure, but similar in that they're larger than life action characters that couched morality and life lessons in their storylines. But those are hardly recent examples! I don't know, I don't watch Twilight and other vampire shows, but they're aimed at tweens and older and mostly concerned with romance & angst rather than a search for justice or lessons in life and they just teach kids to be broody and pale. I guess I can't come up with any likely examples, anybody?

I was thinking of playing hookey tomorrow and going go see Pacific Rim, but after looking at the three theaters nearest me there are barely any non 3D times and only one theater has one that starts and ends before 5pm, but there ard still lenty of showings for The Lone Ranger. I may just go again.