I am pretty sure I was Anne Bonney in a previous life so pirate movies are my jam. I must recommend The Romance…
If you feel a connection with Anne Bonny, I highly recommend "Anne of the Indies". It's loosely based on Anne Bonny's life. As for c-drama / c-movie, a nice pirate drama is "Wrath of the Sea" and you'll surely like "River Pirates", too. And if you'd like to dive into the material, I highly recommend the travel reports of Alexandre Exquemelin. He sailed with pirates like Sir Henry Morgan and wrote travel diaries about his adventures and experiences.
Pirate movies will always manage to get me involved. There are amazing ones like Errol Flynn's "Captain Blood", "The Seahawk" and "Against all Flags". There are hilarious ones like Burt Lancaster's "The Crimson Pirate" and dramatic ones like Jean Peters' "Anne of the Indies". And there is Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow! The best pirate I've ever seen.
The first South Korean "Pirates" movie starring Kim Nam Gil was great, because Kim was amazing as pirate turned bandit, the effects were cool, the pirates and bandits looked like that - dirty, rough and wild - and the humour was hilarious in big parts.
This second attempt at doing a pirate movie fell flat from the very beginning. They tried so hard to copy POTC, and the first "Pirates" that they failed from the first minute on, that even the 5th POTC movie (which really only is watchable because of Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush) is still a better choice to watch. And, please, who would ever have seen a pirate crew that clean ???
Thank you for commenting, you have some really interesting points here! If you're looking for a great Western…
Kirk Douglas rocks, even after his passing. What a man! And John Wayne, no need to dicuss about a legend, right. ;)
Hm, if you want to set sail, there are some truly amazing movies. My faves are: "Against all Flags" - starring Maureen O'Hara, Errol Flynn & Anthony Quinn (The wonderful Errol Flynn starred in two more pirate movies: "Captain Blood" and "Sea Hawk") "The Crimson Pirate" - starring Burt Lancaster and Eva Bartok (also a big inspiration for Pirates of the Caribbean) "Anne of the Indies" - starring Jean Peters, Louis Jourdan and Debra Paget "Pirates of the Caribbean 1-3" - starring Johnny Depp (he's amazing), Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush and Keira Knightly (personally, I do not like POTC 4 & 5)
There is also a series - "Black Sails" - which many like, but I haven't watched that one, yet.
Thank you for commenting, you have some really interesting points here! If you're looking for a great Western…
Oh, thanks for the tip! I'll have a look! I know, there is another series***, which is also highly praised, but I can't remember the title, right now (will search for it).
Some of those old movies, I can watch over and over again: "Gunfight at O.K. Corral" - hell, I love Kirk Douglas as Doc Holliday. "Rio Bravo" & "El Dorado" - they never get old. "The War Waggon" - John Wayne and Kirk Douglas at their best. Sergio Leone's "Dollar Trilogy" - Cult! And there are so many more. A fantastic genre, same as the great Pirate and Monumental movies.
Oh well, they already did a great attempt on doing something in the vibes of Sergio Leone's Western "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" (starring the glorious Clint Eastwood, Lee van Cleef and Eli Wallach) when they did "The Good, the Bad and the Weird" (starring Jung Woo Sung, Lee Byung Hun and Song Kang Ho).
The thing with filming a Western is: It needs character actors. The best Western, back then, had amazing character actors like James Stuart, Dean Martin, Kirk Douglas, John Wayne, Burt Lancaster, Robert Michum, Gary Cooper, Clint Eastwood, Lee van Cleef, Eli Wallch, Steve McQueen, Yul Brynner or Charles Bronson).
The thing, why Western do not work, today, is, because, even though they do have good actors, they do not have the right actors for a Western. Some exceptions were Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" (an hommage to the original "Django") and "The Hateful Eight" (an hommage to King Hu's "Dragon Gate Inn") and Antoine Fuqua's "The Magnificent Seven" (an hommage to the original "The Magnificent Seven" and to Akira Kurosawas "The Seven Samurai", which was the inspiration for "The Magnificent Seven", back then). Babyfaced young men do not work for a weathered cowboy, so, flwoer boys won't either. The thing about the great Western of the1940s, 1950s and 1960s was that the actors were men between their 30s and 50s. They were credible in their roles. The genre also had the right directors and the right screenwriters. Not to mention the guys, who did the incredible soundtracks - for example Ennio Morricone, Dimitry Tiomkin or Elmer Bernstein.
Personally, I think, a Western is not meant to be a 20, 30 or 40 episode drama series. A Western is a movie telling a dramatic story in 90 - 120 minutes up to the longest three hours. It needs tension, not a dragged out storyline.
Are there still people out there, who are watching this, because it's based on a "Novoland"-tale, who are watching this, bacause they like the "Novoland"-Universe and who are NOT A BIT interested in ANY kind of fanwars about Yang Mi...???
2. "The Stand-in" (2014) 3. "Heroes in Sui and Tang Dynasties" (2013) 4. "The Patriot Yue Fei" (2013) 5. "The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" (2015/2018)
6. "The Longest Day in Chang'an" (2019) 7. "Novoland: Tribes and Empires - The Storm of Prophecy" (2017) 8. "Shaolin Wendao" (2017) 9. "The Legend of Qin" (2015) 10. "Day and Night" & "Evil Minds"
why do you have to be so negative? you literally remind me of my nine year old spoiled bratty sister, its pretty…
It's an international story about a legend that attracted many great minds to become creative. When I hear "Turandot", Puccini's music speaks to me and his amazing talent to add original Chinese music to the plot: parts of the original Emperor's Hynm, for example, several traditional Chinese melodies and songs, which I recognised when I listened to traditional Chinese music. So, what makes me feel disappointed about this movie is, that an Italian composer of the late 19th and early 20th century spent more effort in finding Chinese music, background and traditions to add to his opera and that the Chinese made it look like just another Disney live action movie. As you said, the tale has many sources - and this movie adaptation was all the Chinese were able to come up with? I really expected more...
why do you have to be so negative? you literally remind me of my nine year old spoiled bratty sister, its pretty…
In the opera, I always wished, Calaf would kick the Princess' ass and choose Liu. Puccini died before he could finish the opera. His work ends with Liu's death - and like many people I think, the final "love duet" doesn't fit at all and seems forced. So, I go with conductor Toscanini, who stopped the premiere performance where Puccini's music ends. Would have made sense to leave it that way.
why do you have to be so negative? you literally remind me of my nine year old spoiled bratty sister, its pretty…
This comment, my dear, is not negative, but a summary of what I observed. If I'd be negative, trust me, my comment would have been reported and removed. So, you want it to be your way, I want it to be my way, others want it to be their way. Deal with it, honey, I have a right to write my thoughts down as much as you have a right to write down yours. And if you find it to be too negative, dig out the comments that please you more. Don't like what I think and write? Hit the block button...
This is apparently based on an Italian opera, written by an Italian, but set in China. The opera is also based…
The plot of this movie has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with the plot of the opera or the play, but the names of Turandot and Calaf.
The libretto of "Turandot" (premiere in 1926) got written by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni, the music got composed by Giacomo Puccini (competed by Franco Alfano after Puccini's death).
Adami and Simoni based their libretto on the theatrical play named "Turandot" (premiere 1762) by Carlo Gozzi.
Gozzi based his play one of the seven tales of the "Haft Peykar" by Persian poet Nizami ( ca. 1141–1209) with each tale dedicated to one of the seven days of a week. The seven stories in the tale get narrated to the King of Iran, Bahram V (reign 420–438), by one of his comapions.
The name "Turandot" origins from Turan-Dokht, which means "Daughter of the Turan" (the Turanians were and Iranian tribe)...
"The opera's version of the story is set in China. It involves Prince Calaf, who falls in love with the cold Princess Turandot. In order to obtain permission to marry her, a suitor must solve three riddles. Any single wrong answer will result in the suitor's execution. Calaf passes the test, but Turandot refuses to marry him. He offers her a way out: if she is able to guess his name before dawn the next day, he will accept death. In the original story by Nizami, the princess sets four conditions: firstly "a good name and good deeds", and then the three challenges."
Turandot sets up the three riddles to take revenge for one of her female ancestors who got raped by a stranger when the Kingdom/Empire got invaded and who committed suicide in the aftermath... (source: Wikipedia and numeorus opera guides)
I'm torn if it comes to this one. Actually, I love the tale of "Turandot" ever since I first came to listening to Giacomo Puccini's wonderful opera of the same name and even more so since I came to watch the splendid production of the opera at the New York Metropolitan Opera House, directed by legendary Italian director Franco Zeffirelli. A feast for both, eyes and ears.
The beautiful story of Chinese Princess Turandot and exiled Tartar Prince Calaf with all its beauty and tragedy, is definitely one of Puccini's masterpieces filled with some of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written for an opera.
And now, I look at the pics of this movie and at the trailer(s) for it and I can't help, but wonder. What is this? A CGI based fantasy tale with a plot that sounds like a mix of "Sleeping Beauty" and "Snow White" and with leads that look as if they just jumped out of an average Disney movie? With cheap special effects and 08/15 costumes? Oh man, how did first class actors like Hu Jun, Collin Chou and Jiang Wen end up here? And why, the heck, is Calaf white and obviously from the West, while he's supposed to be a Tartar???
It says a lot, if a Greek soprano (Maria Callas 1923-1977 ) and an Italian tenor (Franco Corelli 1921-2003) look more like a Chinese Princess and an exiled Tartar Prince than an actual Chinese actress and a little boy who doesn't look like a Tartar Prince at all but way more as if he's not yet dry behind his ears.
In case, you want to know, how Maria Callas and Franco Corelli looked like as Turandot and Calaf - google them in these roles, you'll be surprised!
That is correct. "The Magnificent Seven" is based on "Seven Samurai". If you haven't watched either, you definitely should watch both. "Seven Samurai" (1955) for being one of Director Kurosawa's masterpieces starring the incredible Toshiro Mifune (amongst others) and "The Magnificent Seven" (1960) for its incredible all-star cast consiting of Yul Brynner, Steve Mc Queen, Charles Bronson, Horst Buchholz, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter and Eli Wallach (as the amazingly evil baddie) and its fantastic soundtrack. Both movies are thrilling from the first to the last minute and always good for a rewatch. Here's a link for "The Magnificent Seven" main theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yulmgTcGLZw
Yep, I agree! These two together would be a hit. No doubt about it.
As for c-drama / c-movie, a nice pirate drama is "Wrath of the Sea" and you'll surely like "River Pirates", too.
And if you'd like to dive into the material, I highly recommend the travel reports of Alexandre Exquemelin. He sailed with pirates like Sir Henry Morgan and wrote travel diaries about his adventures and experiences.
There are amazing ones like Errol Flynn's "Captain Blood", "The Seahawk" and "Against all Flags".
There are hilarious ones like Burt Lancaster's "The Crimson Pirate" and dramatic ones like Jean Peters' "Anne of the Indies".
And there is Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow! The best pirate I've ever seen.
The first South Korean "Pirates" movie starring Kim Nam Gil was great, because Kim was amazing as pirate turned bandit, the effects were cool, the pirates and bandits looked like that - dirty, rough and wild - and the humour was hilarious in big parts.
This second attempt at doing a pirate movie fell flat from the very beginning. They tried so hard to copy POTC, and the first "Pirates" that they failed from the first minute on, that even the 5th POTC movie (which really only is watchable because of Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush) is still a better choice to watch.
And, please, who would ever have seen a pirate crew that clean ???
And John Wayne, no need to dicuss about a legend, right. ;)
Hm, if you want to set sail, there are some truly amazing movies. My faves are:
"Against all Flags" - starring Maureen O'Hara, Errol Flynn & Anthony Quinn (The wonderful Errol Flynn starred in two more pirate movies: "Captain Blood" and "Sea Hawk")
"The Crimson Pirate" - starring Burt Lancaster and Eva Bartok (also a big inspiration for Pirates of the Caribbean)
"Anne of the Indies" - starring Jean Peters, Louis Jourdan and Debra Paget
"Pirates of the Caribbean 1-3" - starring Johnny Depp (he's amazing), Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush and Keira Knightly (personally, I do not like POTC 4 & 5)
There is also a series - "Black Sails" - which many like, but I haven't watched that one, yet.
Some of those old movies, I can watch over and over again:
"Gunfight at O.K. Corral" - hell, I love Kirk Douglas as Doc Holliday.
"Rio Bravo" & "El Dorado" - they never get old.
"The War Waggon" - John Wayne and Kirk Douglas at their best.
Sergio Leone's "Dollar Trilogy" - Cult!
And there are so many more. A fantastic genre, same as the great Pirate and Monumental movies.
***"Hell on Wheels"
The thing with filming a Western is: It needs character actors. The best Western, back then, had amazing character actors like James Stuart, Dean Martin, Kirk Douglas, John Wayne, Burt Lancaster, Robert Michum, Gary Cooper, Clint Eastwood, Lee van Cleef, Eli Wallch, Steve McQueen, Yul Brynner or Charles Bronson).
The thing, why Western do not work, today, is, because, even though they do have good actors, they do not have the right actors for a Western. Some exceptions were Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" (an hommage to the original "Django") and "The Hateful Eight" (an hommage to King Hu's "Dragon Gate Inn") and Antoine Fuqua's "The Magnificent Seven" (an hommage to the original "The Magnificent Seven" and to Akira Kurosawas "The Seven Samurai", which was the inspiration for "The Magnificent Seven", back then).
Babyfaced young men do not work for a weathered cowboy, so, flwoer boys won't either.
The thing about the great Western of the1940s, 1950s and 1960s was that the actors were men between their 30s and 50s. They were credible in their roles.
The genre also had the right directors and the right screenwriters. Not to mention the guys, who did the incredible soundtracks - for example Ennio Morricone, Dimitry Tiomkin or Elmer Bernstein.
Personally, I think, a Western is not meant to be a 20, 30 or 40 episode drama series. A Western is a movie telling a dramatic story in 90 - 120 minutes up to the longest three hours. It needs tension, not a dragged out storyline.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRBClVey5Bqw5V8NfkNmVZfBXfpnvzgOc
1. "All Men are Brothers: Water Margin 2011"
2. "The Stand-in" (2014)
3. "Heroes in Sui and Tang Dynasties" (2013)
4. "The Patriot Yue Fei" (2013)
5. "The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" (2015/2018)
6. "The Longest Day in Chang'an" (2019)
7. "Novoland: Tribes and Empires - The Storm of Prophecy" (2017)
8. "Shaolin Wendao" (2017)
9. "The Legend of Qin" (2015)
10. "Day and Night" & "Evil Minds"
Bonus: "Missing Persons"
When I hear "Turandot", Puccini's music speaks to me and his amazing talent to add original Chinese music to the plot: parts of the original Emperor's Hynm, for example, several traditional Chinese melodies and songs, which I recognised when I listened to traditional Chinese music.
So, what makes me feel disappointed about this movie is, that an Italian composer of the late 19th and early 20th century spent more effort in finding Chinese music, background and traditions to add to his opera and that the Chinese made it look like just another Disney live action movie.
As you said, the tale has many sources - and this movie adaptation was all the Chinese were able to come up with? I really expected more...
If I'd be negative, trust me, my comment would have been reported and removed.
So, you want it to be your way, I want it to be my way, others want it to be their way.
Deal with it, honey, I have a right to write my thoughts down as much as you have a right to write down yours. And if you find it to be too negative, dig out the comments that please you more.
Don't like what I think and write? Hit the block button...
The libretto of "Turandot" (premiere in 1926) got written by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni, the music got composed by Giacomo Puccini (competed by Franco Alfano after Puccini's death).
Adami and Simoni based their libretto on the theatrical play named "Turandot" (premiere 1762) by Carlo Gozzi.
Gozzi based his play one of the seven tales of the "Haft Peykar" by Persian poet Nizami ( ca. 1141–1209) with each tale dedicated to one of the seven days of a week.
The seven stories in the tale get narrated to the King of Iran, Bahram V (reign 420–438), by one of his comapions.
The name "Turandot" origins from Turan-Dokht, which means "Daughter of the Turan" (the Turanians were and Iranian tribe)...
"The opera's version of the story is set in China. It involves Prince Calaf, who falls in love with the cold Princess Turandot. In order to obtain permission to marry her, a suitor must solve three riddles. Any single wrong answer will result in the suitor's execution. Calaf passes the test, but Turandot refuses to marry him. He offers her a way out: if she is able to guess his name before dawn the next day, he will accept death. In the original story by Nizami, the princess sets four conditions: firstly "a good name and good deeds", and then the three challenges."
Turandot sets up the three riddles to take revenge for one of her female ancestors who got raped by a stranger when the Kingdom/Empire got invaded and who committed suicide in the aftermath...
(source: Wikipedia and numeorus opera guides)
The beautiful story of Chinese Princess Turandot and exiled Tartar Prince Calaf with all its beauty and tragedy, is definitely one of Puccini's masterpieces filled with some of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written for an opera.
And now, I look at the pics of this movie and at the trailer(s) for it and I can't help, but wonder.
What is this? A CGI based fantasy tale with a plot that sounds like a mix of "Sleeping Beauty" and "Snow White" and with leads that look as if they just jumped out of an average Disney movie? With cheap special effects and 08/15 costumes? Oh man, how did first class actors like Hu Jun, Collin Chou and Jiang Wen end up here? And why, the heck, is Calaf white and obviously from the West, while he's supposed to be a Tartar???
It says a lot, if a Greek soprano (Maria Callas 1923-1977 ) and an Italian tenor (Franco Corelli 1921-2003) look more like a Chinese Princess and an exiled Tartar Prince than an actual Chinese actress and a little boy who doesn't look like a Tartar Prince at all but way more as if he's not yet dry behind his ears.
In case, you want to know, how Maria Callas and Franco Corelli looked like as Turandot and Calaf - google them in these roles, you'll be surprised!
If you haven't watched either, you definitely should watch both.
"Seven Samurai" (1955) for being one of Director Kurosawa's masterpieces starring the incredible Toshiro Mifune (amongst others) and "The Magnificent Seven" (1960) for its incredible all-star cast consiting of Yul Brynner, Steve Mc Queen, Charles Bronson, Horst Buchholz, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter and Eli Wallach (as the amazingly evil baddie) and its fantastic soundtrack.
Both movies are thrilling from the first to the last minute and always good for a rewatch.
Here's a link for "The Magnificent Seven" main theme:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yulmgTcGLZw