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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 31, 2017 12:48:21 GMT -5
Actually, I wouldn't bother with Bad dreams. It wasn't even published in book form for the longest time in Europe; just like Tintin in the Congo, it was dropped and the Valérian series "officially" started with The city of shifting waters. You don't think I'll miss the first book when reading The City of Shifting Waters? I guess I can always pick it up later if I like the series. No, not at all. Bad dreams introduces Valérian and Laureline, but he at least is not yet the character he will grow into -think Tintin in the land of the soviets (only with much better story and art!) It's also more of a comedy adventure than an adventure with humour in it. It has no impact on the rest of the series, and frankly I didn't miss it at all in the thirty years I went without it (having read every other Valérian story). The city of shifting waters, at least, features an important concept: that of the great 1986 cataclysm that made the XXI, XXII, and XXIII century a temporal no-fly sone. In a later book (published when the series reached that fatidic year!) it was obvious that 1986 had come and gone and that civilization was still there, triggering the events from Métro Châtelet onward. (There is time manipulation involved, as you can expect, which is fine in this case since Valérian and Laureline are sort of space-time law enforcement officers. It doesn't feel like a retcon). Prompted by the trailer, I am currently re-reading the series... And thanks to the CCF's own antoine , I have access to early stories published in the journal Pilote before Valérian made it into hardcovers. I was surprised to see that The city of shifting waters, which was initially published as two stories, lost a few pages when it was collected in book form. It's like a director's cut of the comic! |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2017 13:04:29 GMT -5
Looks like a cross between Avatar and Star Wars with some elements that I'm not quite keen to it. I'm not an Avatar fan because it was too much of a visual impact - but it's has some Star Wars appeal that I can relate to. Looks intriguing, and it's also have some little bit of The Last Starfighter - a movie made in 1984 that I've liked. In short, when I watch that clip - It's a combination of Avatar, Star Wars, and The Last Starfighter all rolled into one! Sold. Good news It's also noteworthy that Valérian predates both Star Wars and Avatar by at least one decade, and that another movie ( The fifth element) was set in a universe very, very, very much alike that of Valérian. I just hope that Besson does as good a job with this one! It's based on one of the books, ambassador of the shadows, so at least it won't be a rehash of some old Hollywood recipe. I have never, ever seen Fifth Element and I have no problems that it's predates both Star Wars and Avatar. I'll see it without the 3-D effects - I get a headache after watching a movie with 3-D effects of which I don't care for. I will try to have an open mind about it - I'll try to track down the book Ambassador of the Shadows and read it before the movie on the big screen this Summer. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 31, 2017 13:08:47 GMT -5
Good news It's also noteworthy that Valérian predates both Star Wars and Avatar by at least one decade, and that another movie ( The fifth element) was set in a universe very, very, very much alike that of Valérian. I just hope that Besson does as good a job with this one! It's based on one of the books, ambassador of the shadows, so at least it won't be a rehash of some old Hollywood recipe. I have never, ever seen Fifth Element and I have no problems that it's predates both Star Wars and Avatar. I'll see it without the 3-D effects - I get a headache after watching a movie with 3-D effects of which I don't care for. I will try to have an open mind about it - I'll try to track down the book Ambassador of the Shadows and read it before the movie on the big screen this Summer. It's a very good book, and the fifth element is also a very entertaining movie... Both are recommended! |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2017 13:11:33 GMT -5
I have never, ever seen Fifth Element and I have no problems that it's predates both Star Wars and Avatar. I'll see it without the 3-D effects - I get a headache after watching a movie with 3-D effects of which I don't care for. I will try to have an open mind about it - I'll try to track down the book Ambassador of the Shadows and read it before the movie on the big screen this Summer. It's a very good book, and the fifth element is also a very entertaining movie... Both are recommended! Got it and I will try to read the book and watch Fifth Element before I get a crack on Valerian ... |
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 31, 2017 21:27:23 GMT -5
Actually, I wouldn't bother with Bad dreams. It wasn't even published in book form for the longest time in Europe; just like Tintin in the Congo, it was dropped and the Valérian series "officially" started with The city of shifting waters. You don't think I'll miss the first book when reading The City of Shifting Waters? I guess I can always pick it up later if I like the series. The first thing I got my hands on was iBook's collection, Valerian: The New Future Trilogy. it collected On the Frontiers, The Living Weapons and The Circles of Power. All were relatively recent and late in the series. I had no trouble diving right in. I then hunted down the Dargaud USA editions, that came out in the late 80s: Ambassador of the Shadows, World Without Stars, Welcome to Alflolol, and Heroes of the Equinox. Those were early ones and I enjoyed them even more. Heroes of the Equniox was a really fun one, as Valerian competes against heroes representing other groups and all were pastiches of Marvel characters. There was also a fun twist, at the end. Laureline is one of the best female characters, written by a male, that I have ever come across, and that includes Claremont's X-Women, and Modesty Blaise. Mark Twain is an apt comparison, as far as the joy of reading it and I would add that it compares well to Terry Pratchett, though with fewer outright gags. The humor is very character-driven and ironic, rather than jokey. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2017 10:03:44 GMT -5
Roquefort RaiderI'll be watching Final Element later on today at my friend's house today and if I liked it - I will let you know by tomorrow of my opinion of it. And, I'm also going to ask him where I can get a copy Ambassador of the Shadows at a reasonable price too.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2017 11:55:03 GMT -5
I'll be watching Final Element later on today at my friend's house today and if I liked it - I will let you know by tomorrow of my opinion of it. I am so envious of you Sir. I would love to be able to go back and watch it again but for the first time. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 1, 2017 13:08:14 GMT -5
I remember watching it in the theater, cracking up at the Princess Leia braids that the general's female aide had, marveling at the city (like watching a live version of an issue of Heavy Metal), enjoying the comedy, feeling the suspense. I was already a fan of Luc Besson (ever since La Femme Nikita) and he brought European space opera to life.
I have no doubts about this.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2017 14:48:39 GMT -5
I'll be watching Final Element later on today at my friend's house today and if I liked it - I will let you know by tomorrow of my opinion of it. I am so envious of you Sir. I would love to be able to go back and watch it again but for the first time. I will be seeing it very shortly in a couple of hours from now and have dinner afterwards with more friends ... I haven't seen Final Element yet ... just to let you know that. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2017 0:08:50 GMT -5
I just watched Final Element in my preparation in watch Valerian and I was very surprised to see Bruce Willis and Chris Tucker in this movie and they were great as Korban Dallas and Ruby Rhod in this movie. I find it rather a weird movie in a way and before I went to his house - my girlfriend wanted to see this movie and we made it a double date affair with my friend and his wife that been wanting to see this movie again.
I find out my girlfriend likes it more than I do and I was shocked that she had a copy of the book Ambassador of the Shadows and I did not know that she likes Science Fiction, Adventure, Special Effects type movies at all. She never really talk about Movies because she was into Art, Drama, Clothing, and Cooking as her main hobbies.
However, this movie is very excellent and has lots of humor into it and has some nice drama as well. I liked the storyline of this movie and I had a little difficulty understanding the role of Leeloo that was being played by Milla Jovovich and it's took me awhile to understand the complexity of this character. So, having said that I asked my friend if I can borrow the movie and watch it at home to understand more of it because this movie has so many characters in it that I just was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of great supporting characters that you need to watch it again to get the full impact of it.
I'm thinking of watching it again in two weeks from now and hopefully get a better understanding of this movie - The Final Element.
Regarding the Book - Ambassador of the Shadows, both my Girlfriend and my friend advises me to watch the movie Valerian 1st, then the book because it's would be easier for you understand the appeal of Valerian from the get go. So, when this movie comes out in July we all decided to see this movie together and make it a fun day at the theatres.
I really liked the movie Final Element and I need to watch it again to get a better feel of it.
My girlfriend will hand me the book after we see Valerian together.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,202 
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Post by Confessor on Apr 2, 2017 4:58:06 GMT -5
I've never seen the Fifth Element, but it's one of my girlfriend's favourite films. I really should watch it one of these days.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2017 16:02:44 GMT -5
I've never seen the Fifth Element, but it's one of my girlfriend's favourite films. I really should watch it one of these days. You really should. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 5, 2017 18:15:23 GMT -5
The Fifth Element, to me, captures the flavor of Valerian quite well (helped by Jean-Claude Mezieres working on the design team), as well as adds the flavor of Moebius (who also worked on it) as the incal is an obvious influence (or copy, as argued, unsuccessfully, in court). I saw some reviews, at the time, in the uS that were puzzed by the film. I found it to be very European in style, very much the kind of thing I read in Heavy Metal and in various Catalan, NBM and other translated graphic novels. The humor is mixed well with the drama, giving you a fuller experience. Besson has always mixed humor and drama; it's part of life. The problem, as I saw it, with the reviewers was that they only understood Hollywood's way of doing space opera, which is the Star Wars and Star Trek method. Everything has to be spelled out for you.
I liked the fact that the Fifth Element left you to interpret some things. We don't get much detail about Corbin's military past; and, we don't need to. besson plants few things and lets your imagination fill in the rest. He does the same in other films. With Nikita we don't know much about her life before her arrest, apart from having a mother and being addicted to drugs.
Besson is a definite visual stylist, sometimes overly so; but, he usually does a very good job of letting the characters grow through a film. Well, at least, when he directs the thing. I'm not as big on him when he is writing or producing for someone else; it seems like he doesn't put as much care into things (or else, he builds more of the story in production and editing, rather than writing).
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2017 20:07:46 GMT -5
The Fifth Element, to me, captures the flavor of Valerian quite well (helped by Jean-Claude Mezieres working on the design team), as well as adds the flavor of Moebius (who also worked on it) as the incal is an obvious influence (or copy, as argued, unsuccessfully, in court). I saw some reviews, at the time, in the uS that were puzzed by the film. I found it to be very European in style, very much the kind of thing I read in Heavy Metal and in various Catalan, NBM and other translated graphic novels. The humor is mixed well with the drama, giving you a fuller experience. Besson has always mixed humor and drama; it's part of life. The problem, as I saw it, with the reviewers was that they only understood Hollywood's way of doing space opera, which is the Star Wars and Star Trek method. Everything has to be spelled out for you. I liked the fact that the Fifth Element left you to interpret some things. We don't get much detail about Corbin's military past; and, we don't need to. besson plants few things and lets your imagination fill in the rest. He does the same in other films. With Nikita we don't know much about her life before her arrest, apart from having a mother and being addicted to drugs. Besson is a definite visual stylist, sometimes overly so; but, he usually does a very good job of letting the characters grow through a film. Well, at least, when he directs the thing. I'm not as big on him when he is writing or producing for someone else; it seems like he doesn't put as much care into things (or else, he builds more of the story in production and editing, rather than writing). Well Written Cody!  |
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