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New sherlock holmes movie

vintage68

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Remember what a fuss everyone made about Daniel Craig taking over the role of 007? I think this is more of the same. Give Downey a chance.

I'm a huge Holmes fan and I for one thought the trailer looks very promising. If you read the cannon closely and not just watch the old Rathbone movies, Holmes was very much a man of action as well as a complicated human being (slob, drug user, etc).
 

ron521

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It's good to bear in mind that Doyle was writing for an audience who lived 100 years ago and longer, and it is very likely that if he was writing for a modern audience, he would write the stories to appeal to them instead.
I have read the complete canon, and still have the three volume set, with all the original illustrations as originally published. However, I can also imagine that the character Holmes might have had adventures that Doyle didn't write about...perhaps this movie is one of those.
I don't think the handcuff scene is part of a bondage game, but rather how Holmes finds himself after losing consciousness at the hands of Ms. Adler. One scene in the trailer shows his "view from the floor", apparently lying on his side gazing up at Irene just before he blacks out.
 

Brian Sheridan

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Why not just give Holmes magical powers or the ability to fly? Or better yet - make him a vampire! If you are going to "reinterpret" the canon, just go for broke. Why set it in the dreary, polluted Victorian era? The swinging 60's might be more popular. Watson? What an fart. Let's cast Seth Rogan - he's pretty popular and funny.
 

Edward

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I do0n't much trust trailers to be representative of the films any longer - not after such oddities as them making Sweeney Todd not look like a musical, or making Watchmen look like an action flick.... I'll give it a go. I seem to remember Sacha Baron Cohen was also cast in an alternative Holmes picture also being made for a 2009/2010 release. Not heard anything about that recently, though.
 

bobalooba

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Edward said:
I do0n't much trust trailers to be representative of the films any longer - not after such oddities as them making Sweeney Todd not look like a musical, or making Watchmen look like an action flick.... I'll give it a go. I seem to remember Sacha Baron Cohen was also cast in an alternative Holmes picture also being made for a 2009/2010 release. Not heard anything about that recently, though.
I do believe this flick is going to be comedy and guy ritchie stated that competition with this film is why he put in "Funny parts"
 

Tiller

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bobalooba said:
I do believe this flick is going to be comedy and guy ritchie stated that competition with this film is why he put in "Funny parts"


That makes sense. I can't see "Bruno/Borat" doing a Jeremy Brett version of Holmes. I wonder if it's a remake of The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother. According to Cohen's IMD it is simply "Untitled Sherlock Holmes Project" which is coming out in 2011.
 

blacklagoon

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I think it is a comedy,judging by the clip.A sort of Mel Brooks type joke of the character and the times.The film makers would have been aware,as would the actors,that giving Sherlock Holmes a Steampunk Van Helsing look,would be a far removal from the original character.The fight scenes are definately in a comedic vein,as are the actors expressions and reactions.
 

lindylady

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What's wrong with depicting Sherlock the way Sir Arthur Conan Doyle described in the novels? Intelligent, highly logical and rational, energetic, goes into varying moods, cultured, prim dresser, etc. Why does Hollywood have to tart everything up to something almost unrecognizeable these days? Yeesh :rolleyes: But with that being said, I probably will check the movie out to see what Robert Downey Jr. brings to the Sherlockian table.
 

Steve

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The trouble with translating Holmes into a visual form is that the Doyle left just enough mystery to the character that we fill them in with our own interpretation of Holmes' omnipotence. Any screen translation eliminates the mystery left by the writing and we're left with a human being who cannot possibly fulfill our expectations of a god-like Holmes. All the translations I have seen onscreen always over-emphasize one part of the character and sacrifice another. It's always either a totally logical Holmes that lacks an ironic sense of humor, or a smug Holmes who takes too much pleasure in being a step ahead of everyone else, which looks like the route Downey Jr. has chosen.
 

Nick Charles

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holmes info from Wikipedia

Weapons and martial arts
Pistols On occasion Holmes and Watson carry pistols with them, in the case of Watson often his old service revolver. However, Watson only describes these weapons as being used on seven occasions.[28]


Holmes brandishing a weapon.Cane Holmes, as a gentleman, often carries a stick or cane. He is described by Watson as an expert at singlestick and twice uses his cane as a weapon.[29]

Sword In "A Study in Scarlet" Watson describes Holmes as a expert with a sword - although in none of the stories is Holmes mentioned as using a sword. [30] It is mentioned in "Gloria Scott" that Holmes practiced fencing.

Riding crop In several stories, Holmes appears equipped with a riding crop. In "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" he uses it to lash out at a venomous snake and in "A Case of Identity", he comes close to thrashing a swindler with it. Using a "hunting crop," Holmes knocks a pistol from John Clay's hand in "The Red-Headed League."

Fist-fighting Holmes is described as a formidable fist-fighter. In The Sign of the Four, Holmes introduces himself to a prize-fighter as:

“ "The amateur who fought three rounds with you at Alison's rooms on the night of your benefit four years back." McMurdo responds by saying, "Ah, you're one that has wasted your gifts, you have! You might have aimed high, if you had joined the fancy." ”

Holmes engages in hand to hand combat with his adversaries on several occasions throughout the stories, inevitably emerging as the victor.[31] It is also, once again, mentioned in "Gloria Scott" that Holmes trained as a boxer.

Martial arts "The Adventure of the Empty House", Holmes recounts to Watson how he used martial arts to overcome Professor Moriarty and fling his adversary to his death at the Reichenbach Falls. He states that "I have some knowledge, however, of baritsu, or the Japanese system of wrestling, which has more than once been very useful to me." The name "baritsu" appears to be a reference to the real-life martial art of bartitsu.

So I can see this new movie as entertaining and based on the print Holmes to a degree.
 

bluewyvern

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Brooklyn, NY
I can't say Holmes and I have ever had even a glancing familiarity (a situation I must at some point redress), so I can't speak to the fidelity of this version. My guess is it's a loose interpretation, at best -- which is fine, really.

But what strikes me is this seems to be a bit of a feedback effect from House; the emotionally hardened, devastatingly rational, wise-cracking, drug-addicted doctor whose character was inspired by Holmes (he even lives at apartment 221B) now seems to be the prototype for this new Hollywood Holmes -- sharp-edged, sexed-up, and post-modern.

I'm very interested to see the movie. I'm not expecting a faithful literary take, but I'm looking forward to an entertaining reimagining. It's okay as long as you don't expect it to be THE Sherlock Holmes. Once you've accepted the concept, it's all about the execution.
 

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