Jack the Giant Killer
The trailer for a new fairy tale based movie has hit the internet and I was so excited by it, I just had to share with everyone. If you have not seen it yet, check out the trailer for Jack the Giant Killer.
Here’s the synopsis from the website: “Jack the Giant Killer” tells the story of an ancient war that is reignited when a young farmhand unwittingly opens a gateway between our world and a fearsome race of giants. Unleashed on the Earth for the first time in centuries, the giants strive to reclaim the land they once lost, forcing the young man, Jack, into the battle of his life to stop them. Fighting for a kingdom, its people, and the love of a brave princess, he comes face to face with the unstoppable warriors he thought only existed in legend–and gets the chance to become a legend himself.
This movie looks fantastic all around. Lots of fun action and adventure seems to be in store for us with this one. Then there is the fact that is directed by one of my favorite directors, Brian Singer, who also directed the first two X-Men movies as well as The Usual Suspects. I have high hopes for this film.
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Snow White & the Huntsman
I also watched the trailer for the new Snow White interpretation set for next year, Snow White & the Huntsman.
Here’s the synopsis from the site: In the epic action-adventure Snow White and the Huntsman, Kristen Stewart (Twilight) plays the only person in the land fairer than the evil queen (Oscar(r) winner Charlize Theron) out to destroy her. But what the wicked ruler never imagined is that the young woman threatening her reign has been training in the art of war with a huntsman (Chris Hemsworth, Thor) dispatched to kill her. Sam Claflin (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) joins the cast as the prince long enchanted by Snow White’s beauty and power. The breathtaking new vision of the legendary tale is from Joe Roth, the producer of Alice in Wonderland, producer Sam Mercer (The Sixth Sense) and acclaimed commercial director and state-of-the-art visualist Rupert Sanders.
I can’t quite place my finger on it, but I am less excited about this one. It has a decent cast, Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth, though that’s not always a guarantee for a good movie. It looks epic and has beautiful CGI. It’s giving Snow White a much stronger role as a warrior-ish character. Still, it left me wanting something else.
I had been given hints at this with the TV show “pit boss” in which the two assistants, sebastian and ronald land parts for dwarves in the new “live action snow white”. I was so eager to see it, I wanna see how they do. Then you said, Kristen Stewart and now I’m upset because now I can’t watch it. She’s a horrible actress and I’m really disappointed she got “Snow White” such a bummer.
There’s just something not quite right with that Jack and the Giant Killer trailer, maybe it was the modern music with the medieval setting or just that they were taking the whole story so seriously.
Snow White and the Huntsmen doesn’t look quite right either, especially since the trailer focuses more on the Queen than either of the titular characters, but that one looks like it should have some nice visuals at least.
I know what you mean, however it looks, and I hope it is, like the darker counterpoint to Mirror Mirror, which is the other new snow white adaption coming to the big screen. I’ve seen the trailers for both and Mirror Mirror certainly seems to be stressing the comedy side more, it does have a nice twist in it though!
I know there is another snow white movie coming out…. I think it’s called Mirror Mirror.. its the one with Julia Roberts as the queen. I think seeing them both might have what you are looking for
You know, I’m not too sure about either of these. The thing is, I’m not crazy about the idea of trying to turn fairy tales “epic”. I actually gave up on epic fantasy when I realized they were all just great, big war stories. After reading the Lord of the Rings and a couple other series, all I could see was the bodies being stacked up in my head. Then I turned to folk tales, fairy tales and classic children’s stories for my fantasy fix. The violence in those is just rarely on such a large scale. Oh well, I may cave and see Jack the Giant Killer as I’m a sucker for the Jack Tales.
Ha, I actually saw the classic Jack the Giant Killer film from the 60s over the summer when Rifftrax Live took a pass at it. It wasn’t high art, but I think I’d have probably had good fun with it even if I wasn’t watching the guys from Rifftrax making fun of it. There was once a time when fairy tale films were all the vogue back in the 50s and 60s, so it’s not really “new” to make them epic.
This version seems odd though. They’re using the name from the old Cornish tale, but the presence of a beanstalk seems like they’re jamming in the OTHER Jack story where a boy kills a giant.
I’ve seen trailers for both upcoming Snow White films and they left me cold. The serious one has the Kristen Stewart factor to overcome for me, and the comedy one just didn’t make me laugh.
Yeah, well those old ’50s and ’60s stop motion movies are actually fun. While newer movies can be kind of hit and miss for me. Really, I just watched the trailer for the ’62 Jack the Giant Killer and came away thinking ” Man, I’d really like to see that.” while seeing the trailer for the new one made me think “meh. Not sure.” I had a similar reaction to Clash of the Titans. Love the old one, hate the new one. Of course, it might just be that I have a love of old things. Old music, old technology, old stories, old special effects, etc.
Anyway, I think the new Jack movie is going to have far more to do with Jack and the Beanstalk than any of the other Jack tales. People know the title “Jack the Giant Killer” but they’d be hard pressed to know the actual story. So, they use the “Giant Killer” name because it sounds more badass and action-y.
I was wicked excited about Snow White & the Huntsman when I was watching the trailer. And then I saw Kristen Stewart and my heart broke. The amazing evil stepmother, the apparently awesome visuals, everything, all gone to waste in that one moment. Because Stewart is incapable of acting, I could only tolerate this movie, perhaps, if Snow White is shown as little as possible. They took a potentially great idea and completely ruined it to try and draw in the Twilight fans. Rubbish.
Late to the discussion here, but thought I’d add my two cents.
A memorable “Snow White” film with dark overtures was 1997′s “Snow White: A Tale of Terror” (TV movie) starring Sigourney Weaver as the Queen – and she did a superb job of it. Never was I more disturbed watching someone eating stew as I was during this movie.
Oh, I absolutely love that movie. It’s actually one of the next on my list that I’m planning to review!