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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Widescreen Edition)

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Widescreen Edition)

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $15.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Pretty Bad
Review: If you loved "Doc Savage - Man of Bronze" you'll love "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen." 'nuff said.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best moive of 2003
Review: This is one of the best moives I ever saw. This is a must see moive. Sean Conory does a great acting role. It's a little funny and has good special effects, it also has alot of action. So please come and see this great moive!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The First- - Not The Last
Review: The fifth of it's kind this year--a comic movie I mean. specific. But one of the best. Anyone who know anything about comics knows that superhero teams are a dime a dozen. How ever, the more well known teams would be the Fantastic Four, JLA, Avengers, Etc. But this team, this is a different type of well known. Wherea's X-Men are not the usual super team, they are a school, this is a group of heroes, individually well known, banding together. The first comic super team to make their way to the big screen, LXG feautures seven characters from literary history that are almost house-hold names. Sawyer, Nemo, Jekyll Hyde, Bride of Dracula, Alan Quartermain, and the Invisible Man, characters who dazzled readers for one hundred plus years. An excellent film albeit the frequent use of equipment 50 years prior to the tools creation--If you don't mind extremely far fetched films--you'll love this. If you're looking for an action or comic book film--forget the Hulk and hop on the Nautilus--and prepare to be taken out of this world by the LXG.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best movie I have seen all year
Review: This movie takes you by surprise, it has more twists and turns than a pretzel and it is so stylish. It does have that wonderful Victorian feel and it blew my mind. The special effects were amazing and the characters were really well done. Sean Connery is wonderful at any age and Shane West was great as Tom Sawyer. The Invisible Man provided a good zip while Dr. Jeckyl was sympathy invoking. The talented Stuart Townsend sizzled with bad boy sex appeal as Dorian Grey. He is one actor I really recommend watching out for, he is amazing. Then last but not least I have to commend Peta Wilson for her portrayal of Mina Harker. She was really cool and she could stand her own amongst the boys of LXG. Trust me, this movie was worth it.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Extraordinarily awful
Review: I have to admit that the basic premise of the story is a good one: bring together several of the extraordinary characters of Victorian literature in an league of "superheroes." But what was done with the idea was not worth watching.

First, the characters as they are portrayed are not consistent with the way they are portrayed in the original stories. Mr. Hyde, for instance, is described in the original story as smaller in stature than his "good" counterpart, Dr. Jekyll. Dorian Gray is killed by destroying the picture, not by seeing it. Then, there was Mina, who is never portrayed as becoming a vampire in Dracula. She isn't even done right as a vampire. They have her reflecting in a mirror, for instance.

And then there is Agent Sawyer. If we are to believe that he is Tom Sawyer, his age is totally wrong. Tom Sawyer was set in pre-Civil War, which would make closer to 60 than 20 in 1899. (Unless the gentleman in question is his son or grandson, which does not seem to be indicated).

Then, there is the fact that several of these characters should actually be dead in 1899, including Jekyll/Hyde, Dorian Gray, and Moriarty. They have mysteriously been resurrected.

Then, there is the technology. While I can accept the presence of a submarine (actually available during the Civil War), machine guns (primitive versions were around then), and blimps, other things were There is a 1930s roadster in 1899. Way out of time. Tanks and flame throwers show up over a decade too soon. And being able to track the car from the sub in order to aim the bomb at it? Decades ahead of when that technology was available.

The plot also needed revision. If the whole point of bringing the group together was to obtain genetic samples to use in reproducing their talents, there are much simpler ways of obtaining the samples than sending them to stop the bombing of Venice (which they only half prevented) and putting a traitor in their midst.

The only aspect of the movie that was actually convincing was Sean Connery's portrayal of an aged Alan Quartermain.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not Even Ordinary
Review: I'd been looking forward to this since I first saw the teasers a few months ago. I've never read the comic or anything, but the previews looked awesome. I do give this five stars for premise, because I think the story has incredible potential. And maybe its fully realized in the comic. I don't know. But as a movie, I give it only one star for execution. Take the average, round down, and you get two stars, which is what I gave it here.

So, like I said, I think the story has huge potential. I've always liked to think of literary characters as 'real,' and have wondered in the past how they would react to one another. That's what I expected to see here, and in the middle of a cool action flick to boot (which I am also a fan of.) Instead, the characters are about as flat as the pages they were born upon, and the plot about as riddled with holes as Dorian Grey (you'll know I mean if you've seen it!) The plot really made no sense, and there was little to no attempt to justify many actions - even, to some degree, the creation of the so-called 'league' of 'extraordinary' people. Maybe I would have understood it more if the shots weren't so short and choppy. Especially during fight scenes, I could not follow the action at all. Most shots were not long enough to even give you enough time to identify the characters, at were at times even edited to be seizure-inducive (especially if they involved 'hulkish' Mr. Hyde.) It was not a complete disappointment though. I actually enjoyed the Invisible Man. I attribute this to the fact that his past was never touched. He didn't have any depth, and he didn't need any to be amusing. But in the end, even he couldn't save his fellow 'extraordinaries' from falling just short of ordinary.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: 2.5 stars because it's half-way good
Review: As other reviewers have noted, LXG is based upon a brilliant concept (classic 19th Century fantasy/action characters banded together), but the ultimate execution is somewhat unsatisfactory. The makers of this movie let us know in one early scene (when Tom Sawyer picks up Jeckyll's hat) that tongue is firmly in cheek. However, to make entertaining fantasy adventure, there has to be some believability and inner consistency to the alternate world created. My main problem was the technology. Rather than taking the "future" technology and making it appear turn-of-the century, we get a fully developed W.W.I style tank, a 1930's style automobile, and a Polaris missle shot from the Nautilus, even.

Setting aside other problems noted by other reviewers, such as the impossibility of the Nautilus navigating the canals of Venice, or the age of Tom Sawyer (he should be at least in his fifties), it's an o.k. superhero action flick. Sean Connery is the obvious highlight as Allan Quatermain (not "Quartermain"), and there are some good supporting performances. Some of the special effects are pretty good, and some leave something to be desired. I didn't agree with the decision to make Mr. Hyde look like a cross between The Hulk and Popeye the Sailor Man, but I guess they felt they needed to embellish some of the characters to try to make them appeal to today's audiences. If you're a fan of the superhero genre and/or you've read a lot of 19th Century fantasy fiction, this might appeal to you. Otherwise, you should probably skip this.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Huge Disappointment
Review: Being a HUGE fan of Sean Connery, I have been looking forward to this movie for months. I could not have been more disappointed. I thought the acting was great but the movie and the plot [bad]. For example the bad guy was trying to get the world to go to war but it never explained why. What was his reason? There was also a lot of jumping from scene to scene and not explaining where they were or why they were there. Mr. Hyde was another HUGE disappointment. It was just as bad as the hulk. There was very little character development; I never grew attached to any of the characters. They also left some things open ended. The movie was over and you go "wait a minute. What happened to that guy?" Or "What was going on here?" Very poorly done and it is a shame to waste any money to go see it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Different - not worse - Slant on a Great Story
Review: The X-Men never wore black leather outfits in the comics but they do in the movie. I didn't like the idea at first - but it works and the movies are great. Batman's suit isn't made out of rubber armour in the comic, and the Joker isn't the guy who shot Bruce's parents - but in the movie it works and is great. Sawyer and Grey aren't in the comics, but they work in the movie. Mina is the strategist and leader in the comic, and is a serious butt-kicker in the movie - and it really works. Q is a dope-addled misanthrope in the comic, and is a man beset by guilt and grief in the movie - to be honest this didn't work that well for me, but Sean connery makes anything look good. And Q is the natural leader of the group.

And they switch around some of the villain characters from the comic, so there are still surprises for us comic book fans.

Comics aren't about static chracters and hard-wired story-lines(the gray Hulk, the many versions of Beast, the ever changing Green Lantern) and I really don't want them to be. LEG is probably too young a comic book for fans to accept the evolution that the movie represents.

The movie is more violent, more action packed and less thoughtful, intellectual and literary than the book, but it is a thrilling yarn for boys and girls. And that, for me, is what the spirit of the comic is.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: "Extraordinary" gentling puts film into an ordinary "League"
Review: The premise is exquisite. Take some of 19th century literature's most iconic figures, and revisit them in a unique and innovative way that captures the spirit of that era. That is the inspiration for "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", both the film and Alan Moore-penned graphic novel upon which it is based. The characters in question (Nemo, Quartermain, Harker, etc.) come from stories that helped define pop culture in the 20th century. The exercise of putting these characters together holds the promise of adventure unparalleled and a meditation on the themes that defined the works of Verne, Stevenson, Wells, et al.

Unfortunately, that promise remains unfulfilled, and it is a great pity. The roles are extremely well-cast, and the world in both its Gothic/Victorian stylings and faux-future imaginings are well-done. The beginning of the movie shows promise, with a rousing opening in Africa where Quartermain is recruited, and when appraised that a character named "The Fantom" lurks beneath the sewers of Venice and plans to blow up an important gathering, Sean Connery (in the Quartermain role) growls, "How operatic." Alas, that is about as deep as the film goes in plumbing the rich literary origins of its heroes and villains.

It is said that Leonard Nimoy turned down an intended cameo in "Star Trek: Generations" by complaining that any character could have spoken his dialogue and that it simply had the name "Spock" above it. This qualification would cover much of what goes on in "LXG". Each character is given brief, tantalizing moments to discuss their origins and a scene or two where they deal with their issues, but such scenes are fleeting and stand alone from the plot. The fertile backgrounds of the characters are used to establish motivations, but are thrust aside by the mechanics of the plot. The quasi-exception to this being a very inspired imagining of Jeckyll's relationship with Hyde, but all that does is serve as a reminder of how much source material is going neglected.

The plot itself is a victim of its origins. The works of these 19th century giants inspired 20th century popular culture to the point where everything in this film has been seen before in one fashion or another. It is the return of these characters that is the main draw of the film, and though the actors inhabit the screen constantly, the characters' time on the stage is all too brief. We see Captain Nemo, we see Tom Sawyer, we see Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, but only in quiet moments and then they are lost as backdrop against set pieces that demand their traits, not their essences. Increasingly as one watches "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", it is harder to focus on the story being told and instead to ponder the stories that were not.


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