Best swashbuckler films?

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #31
    Re: Best swashbuckler films?

    I actually like Cutthroat Island quite a lot. It has obvious problems, like Geena Davis and Renny Harlin, but otherwise, it's a pretty solid prelude to Pirates of the Caribbean.

    Comment


    • #32
      Re: Best swashbuckler films?

      Originally posted by entlassen View Post
      I watched Ridley Scott's The Duellists over the weekend. Phenomenal film in every way; the best adaptation of Joseph Conrad I've seen. Highly recommended.
      Finally got around to seeing this. Surprisingly good. Excellent, in fact. I haven't enjoyed any of Ridley Scott's period films in quite a while, so to see him do such a fine period-action film early in his career was a revelation. The cinematography very much evokes Barry Lyndon, which is fine.

      I was especially pleased to see the aristocratic character as the hero of the piece and the commoner as the villain -- an inversion of the standard Hollywood trope. Honor was very much the issue of the film, with the protagonist exhibiting genuine honor and the antagonist exhibiting only a superficial understanding of the concept, which in the end turned out to be a distortion. The storyline functioned as an excellent metaphor for Europe under Napoleon, with the antagonist representing Bonaparte himself in so many ways, and the protagonist representing the traditional European nobility, upon which the Corsican wrought such havoc.

      Comment


      • #33
        Re: Best swashbuckler films?

        Originally posted by karsten View Post
        Finally got around to seeing this. Surprisingly good. Excellent, in fact. I haven't enjoyed any of Ridley Scott's period films in quite a while, so to see him do such a fine period-action film early in his career was a revelation. The cinematography very much evokes Barry Lyndon, which is fine.

        I was especially pleased to see the aristocratic character as the hero of the piece and the commoner as the villain -- an inversion of the standard Hollywood trope. Honor was very much the issue of the film, with the protagonist exhibiting genuine honor and the antagonist exhibiting only a superficial understanding of the concept, which in the end turned out to be a distortion. The storyline functioned as an excellent metaphor for Europe under Napoleon, with the antagonist representing Bonaparte himself in so many ways, and the protagonist representing the traditional European nobility, upon which the Corsican wrought such havoc.
        Yes, the film stayed true to Conrad's novella, in which D'Hubert represents pre-revolutionary France while Feraud represents the new France. The book too ultimately takes the side of D'Hubert, and ends in exactly the same way.

        The film left out only one crucial scene from the book, in which an elderly chevalier lectures D'Hubert and convinces him that the duel needs to end. The chevalier, a member of the Ancien Regime, tells D'Hubert that by repeatedly engaging in these duels with Feraud, he's lowering himself to Feraud's level (Feraud basically being a street punk). That's what ultimately leads D'Hubert to agree to that final duel in the forest. Since the movie leaves it out, it makes it seem as if he came up with the idea himself, which I guess works on screen. It's not a big complaint.

        But aside from all that, I loved the film. Good acting, gorgeous cinematography, crisp direction.

        Comment


        • #34
          Re: Best swashbuckler films?

          Heard you guys talking about THE DUELLISTS.

          Still my favorite Ridley Scott movie. And I think it was his first feature.

          His commentary on the DVD is good stuff, too. Believe they didn't really have a lot of money so they specifically looked for something in the public domain, and used existing locations. Great, beautiful film.

          Comment

          Working...
          X