Comments on: Movie: The Lone Ranger

Post: Movie: The Lone Ranger

ruben — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 11:37:00 -0800

The Texas Rangers chase down a gang of outlaws led by Butch Cavendish, but the gang ambushes the Rangers, seemingly killing them all. One survivor is found, however, by an American Indian named Tonto, who nurses him back to health. The Ranger, donning a mask and riding a white stallion named Silver, teams up with Tonto to bring the unscrupulous gang and others of that ilk to justice.

By: Gin and Broadband

Gin and Broadband — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 14:55:58 -0800

This movie seems to be getting a renewed appraisal after being slaughtered on release, and I'm here to say: balls to that. Shambolic, over indulgent, racist garbage. There's a sequence which intercuts slapstick shots of Tonto with the mass murder of Native people, and it's among the most tasteless things I've seen in my lifetime.

(And I don't even mind Armie Hammer! But he's just a lump of wood here)

By: bartleby

bartleby — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 17:16:10 -0800

It's bad. So bad I'd recommend people watch the shot-through-vaseline 1981 snooze fest version (Legend of the Lone Ranger) if they want to be bored for free on YouTube.
BUT!
The 10 minute train chase finale, when we finally get to hear the William Tell Overture for the first time to start the action, is a fucking literal masterclass in editing, and especially scoring, a complex action sequence on film.
It's the only worthwhile part of the movie. But don't watch it.

When you have 20 minutes, watch this instead.
Skip past the intro to where the action sequence begins at 4:00.
Watch the big action finale with some subtitle comments on action visual editing; then continue, to see it again with just the musical score, to have a little film school demo of how much heavy lifting a musical score can do. (Although I admit that matching trains, horses, gunshots, and action with the William Tell Overture gives one a head start.)

By: sammyo

sammyo — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 11:10:05 -0800

Went to a preview before reviews, grew up thinking LR was just the greatest, so so very disappointed. It was at the height of Depps pirate craze and the most profound observation was someone in the industry was sure dressing the actor in even sillier costumes would be 'uge, just 'uge. The awful scenes were mostly incoherent, the film was mostly incoherent, made no sense even in comic book logic.