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Christina
Deerslayer
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
May 27 2002
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 Posted - October 13 2003 : 3:27:39 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by CT•Ranger
The trailer for this film can now be seen at http://movies.yahoo.com/movies/feature/coldmountain.html
So what do you guys think? The consensus on another board is that the trailer is incredibly boring(but I think they were probably looking for fast paced action packed crap). I happen to disagree with those folks. I think it will be an interesting movie, but am afraid Minghella has taken too many liberties, and may have strayed too far from the book. For example, one detail they got wrong, which has really bugged me so far, is Ada's hair color. Ada was not blond in the book, she is described as having dark hair. Trying to picture Ada, one of the most important characters, as a blond, just doesn't work. If Kidman could change her appearance for "The Hours," why couldn't she do the same for this? To me, getting the visual details right is more important than any other detail, since movies are primarily visual communication. Anyway, just some thoughts.
And if I recall correctly, Inman's hair was dark and he's described as being dark and wiry. Jude Law looks blonde and at least relatively fresh faced in this. From the stills he looks in remarkably good shape considering what the character of Inman goes through.
I don't know what to feel about this movie. The book itself was such an emotional gut-wrencher for me I don't think I can handle the film, but if you haven't read it, PLEASE do. It's not a walk in the park but you'll be glad you did.
Christina (who is picky about hair color.) |
See this face? This is the face of a woman on the edge.
Whoopi Goldberg, "Jumping Jack Flash"
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Wilderness Woman
Watcher of the Wood
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
November 27 2002
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Posted - December 22 2003 : 5:02:44 PM
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The Discovery Channel will be showing a program Tuesday evening, Dec. 23rd about Cold Mountain. I'm not sure whether it is a "behind the scenes", a "background info", or a "history vs. Hollywood" type of thing. At any rate, it sounds interesting. It runs at 9:00 pm Eastern and 8:00 Central time.
Also, an hour before it is a program about Pickett's Charge. I don't know if this is new or a repeat. |
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Theresa
Bumppo's Tavern Proprietress
USA
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May 17 2002
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Posted - December 23 2003 : 08:16:29 AM
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Also, I was surprised to learn that some of the music is performed by folks right here in my state, The Sacred Harp singers from Liberty Baptist Church in Henegar, Al. If you get a chance to see A&E's special on the movie, it is worth a look.
As for the book, the only negative thing about it that drove me absolutely nuts was the absence of quotation marks. Now, how in the world could you have a movie when nobody in the book said anything? Just kidding! |
Theresa |
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Lady Ann
Pioneer
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
May 20 2002
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Posted - December 23 2003 : 08:45:43 AM
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| We saw Cold Mountain last night. I was not impressed overall, although Jude Law and Renee Zellwinger did some Oscar-worthy acting. I thought the movie, as compared to the book, was filmed in a rather sticky sentimental mode, with way too much photography concentrated on Nicole Kidman's pretty face. Lots of gore and blood-letting as well, with plenty of bad guys roaming around. The book was stark, cold and practical and much of its power was derived from that tone; the movie wanted you to feel warm and weepy, and inappropriately I thought, makes Ruby and her father completely comic figures. The two hours in the movie theater seemed like weeks to me (as opposed to the nearly 4 hours for The Return of the King, which seemed like minutes! OK, I am biased..The Lord of the Rings trilogy is, in my opinion a phenomenal achievement in filmmaking that just simply hasn't been topped in the three years of its release). If you want your money's worth from Cold Mountain, use the $8.50 to buy the book rather than the movie ticket. |
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daire
Colonial Settler
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
November 17 2002
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Posted - December 23 2003 : 11:15:26 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Theresa
As for the book, the only negative thing about it that drove me absolutely nuts was the absence of quotation marks. Now, how in the world could you have a movie when nobody in the book said anything? Just kidding!
I tried to read some James Joyce and it was the same way! Between that and I couldn't figure WHAT was going on, I ended up giving up after about 20 pages.
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daire
_____________________________________
"I do not call myself subject to much at all."
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Diana
Pioneer
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
May 18 2002
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Posted - December 29 2003 : 09:17:26 AM
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The book.
I picked up this book a couple of years ago. I could only endure about half of it. Boring. I saw the promos for the movie too. Was not impressed. This just is not my favorite genre.
We shall see what OSCAR has to say. Personally, I am rooting for Master and Commander.
Diana |
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Kaylynn44
Mohicanite
USA
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July 13 2002
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Posted - December 29 2003 : 12:43:48 PM
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I will be waiting for Cold Mountain to come to PPV. Renee Zelwegger is one of my favorite actresses. She is just a fun person to watch. Her facial features are very unique!!! I like
Nicole too. She is a very talented actress.
Kay |
~ An Infinite Zephyr~
Some things never end
As long as goodness exists
Winds shall always soothe
www.cloudsbooks.com
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Wilderness Woman
Watcher of the Wood
USA
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November 27 2002
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 Posted - January 04 2004 : 1:19:07 PM
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Well, we went to see it the other night; we both thought it was excellent.
The acting: I was very impressed with Jude Law, thought his performance was nicely understated... a simple but effective portrayal. Although I am not particularly a fan of Ms. Kidman, I thought she did a very nice job with the practical but helpless Southern Belle type of character that Ada is. Her character evolved nicely, and she did a great job with the change of accent. Renee's Ruby?... comical, yes. Very funny, but I felt it was quite realistic. My only complaint was that I had a difficult time understanding her very thick back-country accent, at times.
The photography: visually stunning scenery; horrifyingly realistic battle scene of The Crater at Petersburg; altogether beautifully done.
The storyline: I have not yet read the book, but my husband has, and he felt the movie followed the book quite well. Of course things were left out, as they always are when a book is consolidated into a movie. I was never bored! The story moved and flowed in a very clear manner, using flashbacks that were not at all confusing. For me, the two-plus hours went very quickly and I was very deeply involved in the story. I did not find the love story to be overly sentimental. It was sweet, yes, but inspirational in their devotion to each other through horribly, crushingly hard times.
The music: Excellent soundtrack score! I thoroughly enjoyed the Harp Singers in the church scene, as well as the good, old-fashioned type of back-woods country fiddle music. This will be a good one to add to my collection.
All in all... two fiddle bows up from me!! |
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richfed
Sachem
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
May 13 2002
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Posted - January 05 2004 : 6:56:30 PM
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Thanks for the excellent recap, WW. I figure I'll probably agree with you on most counts. Will have to wait till the DVD release to see it, though.
One thing that sort of bugs me. Michael Mann chose western NC to film The Last of the Mohicans in because of the wilderness settings he could find here. Why in the world did this production choose Romania to shoot in when the film is set right here? They say it's because they couldn't find wilderness enough in western North Caolina! Huh?!? |
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CT•Ranger
Colonial Militia
USA
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October 14 2002
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Posted - January 05 2004 : 7:38:29 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by richfed
Thanks for the excellent recap, WW. I figure I'll probably agree with you on most counts. Will have to wait till the DVD release to see it, though.
One thing that sort of bugs me. Michael Mann chose western NC to film The Last of the Mohicans in because of the wilderness settings he could find here. Why in the world did this production choose Romania to shoot in when the film is set right here? They say it's because they couldn't find wilderness enough in western North Caolina! Huh?!?
Rich, I know they used Romanian army conscripts for the Battle of the Crater. Maybe they got them for free. I know there are thousands of Civil War reenactors in the US who would have volunteered as extras, but generally they have to feed if not pay extras in the U.S. Who knows? I did see an interview with Minghella and he said that one of the reasons they shot in Romania is because there are still areas that have been untouched by modern machinery (farming equipment, logging etc.) Again this reason doesn't make much sense either. In 1860s NC there would have been very little land untouched by man. Virtually the entire U.S. has been logged once or twice, if not more. You have to look very hard to find the rare areas that have forests more than 100 years old. I bet in the end, the main reason was that it was probably just cheaper to film there.
One thing that really stuck out in CM where the mountains. Way too tall to look like NC. It looked more like the the Sierras or Rockies. Also another thing about the film; virtually the first half was completely made up by the director or very loosely based on a couple passages, and ironically that was the part of the film I liked most. The second half of the film could have down without the explicit gratuituos sex. As always the book is much better. |
YMHS,
Connecticut•Ranger
Thomas Thacher
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Ro
Pathfinder
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
December 08 2003
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Posted - January 07 2004 : 08:46:13 AM
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| I'm looking forward to see Jay Tavare's character in the movie. If anyone saw Adaptation, he was excellent in his scene with Meryl Streep. He chooses his roles very carefully and stays true to his craft. |
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SgtMunro
Soldier of the King
USA
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September 23 2002
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Posted - January 14 2004 : 08:34:37 AM
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Seen it, Lady Munro loved it. I did not care for the fact that every soldier, who was not a deserter, was portrayed as either a blind fool or an outright criminal. Just my thoughts...
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Serjeant-Major Duncan Munro
Capt. Thos. Graham's Coy.
42nd Royal Highland Regiment of Foote
(The Black Sheep of the Black Watch)
"Nemo Me Impune Lacessit"
-Or-
"Recruit locally, fight globally." |
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daire
Colonial Settler
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
November 17 2002
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Posted - February 23 2004 : 4:45:36 PM
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I finally saw this a few weeks ago. I think Renee Z stole the show, the music, cinematography and the battle scenes were great; otherwise, I thought it was very flat in character development and acting. I wasn't induced to care about Inman or Ada at all, and I'm usually the hopeless romantic. But by time Inman made it back, I couldn't wait to get up and let feeling back into my butt.
It sucked that Inman died in the end, but from the moment he went after that blonde Home Guard guy, the rest of the movie was extremely predictable right down to the child-from-one-night-of-passion and Ruby and Georgia gettin hitched.
I couldn't see any chemistry between Ada and Inman the characters or Nicole and Jude. The love scene was choppy, like watching a scrambled tv station, lol. And it also seemed somewhat choppy between the past/present/him/her scenes; Minghella needs editing lessons, IMO. I will say he did a better job with CM than he did English Patient (oye).
JM2C
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daire
_____________________________________
"I do not call myself subject to much at all."
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moonandstar
Lost in the Wilderness
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
February 25 2004
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Posted - February 25 2004 : 9:50:29 PM
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| I recently watched this movie, it is excellent, destined to be another one of my all time favorites. Very sad,though, as was the book. Really interesting cast of characters. |
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richfed
Sachem
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]:
May 13 2002
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Posted - October 24 2004 : 07:25:49 AM
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Finally saw this ... on DVD ... I was told by many that I would not care for this film because it was more a love story than a Civil War tale ...
That is true, but I did enjoy it immensely!
Overall, very good film ... cast, scenery [I now understand why they chose Romania! Besides financial considerations, it has that non-Industrial look to the landscape ... ala the 19th Century. Parts were filmed here in NC, SC, & VA.], cinematography, musical score, story ...
My only "gripe" ... when the newly formed regiment of Confederate soldiers marched out of Cold Mountain after the onset of war, they were all dressed in regulation Confederate uniforms ... at that early stage, and particularly for a regiment formed in the hills of western NC, this would hardly have been the case. A regiment out of the Virginia Military Institute maybe, but not Cold Mountain.
Anyway, good flick that is worth a look! |
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Cold Mountain
