Da Vinci Code

[AlecWest]

I went to the opener at 11am today ... partly out of curiosity ... partly because I've only seen one Tom Hanks film I consider lame (Joe VS the Volcano). Well, today I saw the second Tom Hanks film I consider lame. Hate to admit it but the critics are right on this one. Some of the parts were so tedious I almost snoozed off.

[Supreme2k]

We opted for "Over The Hedge" instead. A delightfully funny movie. Great for the whole family. And no Tom Hanks greasy-looking creepy hair to boot.

[Abbadon]

Hey Alec,

You must consider two points before you nail the poor Tom:

1. The novel is actually based on ancient texts, those ancient texts have the ability to drive a sane person crazy. The texts have been edited left and right through history, so who knows what crazy things were included.

2. Converting a novel into a movie is a very risky task, take by example a movie called "Dagon", based on one of H. P. lovecraft literary works, the story is very nice when you read it, but the movie, according to the public, sucked.

P.S.

I am not a fan of Tom.

[Conquest10]

Isn't the novel a murder mystery? Also having to do with the Mona Lisa and Last Supper paintings? I have not read it or really tried so I'm clueless except for what hey say about it being about Jesus' offspring.

[AlecWest]

Hey Alec,

You must consider two points before you nail the poor Tom:

My problem with the film didn't involve actors, though. I've had a number of short stories, articles, and op-eds published (one by US News & World Report) - and have attended and taught classes in manuscript marketing. And, there's one cardinal rule to writing good fiction:

Show, don't tell.

Large parts of the film seemed more like a lecture than a story. And while the dialogue seemed good and in the right places, there was a lack of emotion behind them. It's kind of like having all the recommended ingredients to a good casserole ... but giving food preparation duties to a bad cook. Even veteran actors like Hanks can only do so much with a bad script and non-existent direction.

However (grin), in defense of the film industry, there was a recent article I read about "why bad books sell better than good books." I assume it applies to films as well. Filmmaking is big business ... and making money is the name of the game. The bottom line is "the take" at box offices, regardless of the film's quality. And, the public has been known to frequent some critically lousy movies if they've been properly primed with hype. Columbia Pictures (and Random House) have both done good jobs on that score ... though this can't be Ron Howard's finest hour as a director, nor Akiva Goldsman's finest hour as a screenplay writer.

[AlecWest]

P.S. The one good thing about going to the film was seeing a trailer for the upcoming James Bond film (November release). Of course, the trailer could have included all significant film action - with the rest of the film being plodding and tedious. But, the sequences seemed interesting enough.

[thecoalman]

Isn't the novel a murder mystery? Also having to do with the Mona Lisa and Last Supper paintings? I have not read it or really tried so I'm clueless except for what hey say about it being about Jesus' offspring.

Without giving too much away... Man gets murdered who is last man on earth that knows location of Holy Grail, his daughter and another guy set out to find it through the clues left by him and other places... that's the gist of it. Mona Lisa only plays a small part in it at the beggining. Although not central to the story... The last Supper concerns the woman/man to Jesus's left... Is it a man or woman? (don't answer that :P ) The premise of the book is that it's Mary Magdeline and there is other examples of things like this through time. In the book it's supposed that
Da Vinci was one of the keeprs of the secrets of the Grail hence many of the things like this example you will find in hs artwork. Quite an interesting read.

http://fits.depauw.edu/aharris/Courses/ArtH132/galleries/images/fullsize/fs_da_Vinci_L...er_cleaned.jpg

Haven't seen the movie nor do I plan too... Very few movies live up to a good book.

[guns1inger]

Or a bad one. My father called this a real page turner. He couldn't wait to turn the page because he knew it would bring him closer to the end of the end of the book. He rarely ditches a book he starts, but he was tempted with this one. I suspected it wasn't very good when, within a month of it hitting the best seller list, all the publisher runout discount stored filled their shelves with 2 or 3 other Dan Brown hardcovers that they hadn't been able to move at all prior to this one being published.

And it's not even new. The basic premise was behind the book and mini-series 'The Word' in 1978. The so-so reviews at IMDB seem to indicate very little has changed with this version of the story.

[offline]

2. Converting a novel into a movie is a very risky task, take by example a movie called "Dagon", based on one of H. P. lovecraft literary works, the story is very nice when you read it, but the movie, according to the public, sucked.

Hold it. Dagon was produced by Fantastic Factory, a Mexican based Film Co that means well, but does not have the budget to attract the sort of screenplay writing talents its product deserves. Despite this they managed to do a pretty good job imo - but the lack of "star" power and the fact that it was a "horror" meant the majority of viewers were always going to be your standard teen slasher/saw type of audience. That group would struggle to pronounce, let alone digest the multilateral complexities of a great Gothic writer like Lovecraft. Hence the undeserved reviews IMHO.

The Da Vinci Code, on the other hand, had piles of money and a wide selection of expensive directors and actors to choose from. While I respect Ron Howard as a director, he was clearly a bad choice, and casting Hanks was just plain stupid. Add to that fact that the book is really not that great; and the result is there for all to see.

[smearbrick1]

Hey Alec,

You must consider two points before you nail the poor Tom:

My problem with the film didn't involve actors, though. I've had a number of short stories, articles, and op-eds published (one by US News & World Report) - and have attended and taught classes in manuscript marketing. And, there's one cardinal rule to writing good fiction:

Show, don't tell.

Large parts of the film seemed more like a lecture than a story. And while the dialogue seemed good and in the right places, there was a lack of emotion behind them. It's kind of like having all the recommended ingredients to a good casserole ... but giving food preparation duties to a bad cook. Even veteran actors like Hanks can only do so much with a bad script and non-existent direction.

However (grin), in defense of the film industry, there was a recent article I read about "why bad books sell better than good books." I assume it applies to films as well. Filmmaking is big business ... and making money is the name of the game. The bottom line is "the take" at box offices, regardless of the film's quality. And, the public has been known to frequent some critically lousy movies if they've been properly primed with hype. Columbia Pictures (and Random House) have both done good jobs on that score ... though this can't be Ron Howard's finest hour as a director, nor Akiva Goldsman's finest hour as a screenplay writer.

Large parts of the book seemed more like a lecture than a story. When I read the book, I could have cared less about the "story" which was, to me, secondary to the history (whether true or not). This is what made the book so popular. I thought the movie followed the book religiously (pun intended) as far as pacing, but did fail in a few areas.

I believe people were a little over zealous in their lauding of "The Da Vinci Code" the book. It is, at best, a mediocre detective story written by a mediocre writer. It reads as though it were written for sixth graders. I wouldn't expect a movie made from such material to be any better.

Personally, I thought it felt a bit rushed. It almost seemed as though the screenwriters took it for granted that everyone who was to see the movie must have read the book. The movie lacked the detail of the book and failed to emphasize why "The Da Vinci Code" was named a such. The whole Da Vince aspect was sort of sidelined.

Overall, not too bad. For those people who have not one iota of interest in religion, you may want to skip this one.

[lordsmurf]

It's a historical film, meaning they took actual history and twisted it to their fictional use (maybe even added some things), much like The Mummy or the Indiana Jones films. I'd say the film was about on par with National Treasury, in terms of quality and content style. Decent, fun little film. Nothing spectacular, but not crap either. I don't regret my $5.25 daytime ticket.

I'd agree on it being rushed, lecture-like, and having not a whole lot to do with Da Vinci aside from a few paintings.

[BJ_M]

DVD already on sale in china (though poor quality) for 60 cents - to as much as $1





sales world wide (of tickets that is) are off the scale - 224$ million , almost as much as the last starwars for a opening weekend ($77 million worth of tickets at movie theatres in the United States and Canada alone)...

[Abbadon]

Dagon was fun to watch, the rape scene was a little hentai anime like, but hell, that's what the Deep Ones do better.

And remember boys and girls, the Church does not want you to watch The Da Vinci Code, stick to the official version of the Catholic Church regarding Jesus Christ, at present in the Bible, or face the consequences.

You are in breach of the forum rules and are being issued with a formal warning. please see rules regarding religion and politics .... thanks ...
/ Moderator BJ_M

[Jester700]

I'm with LS. A decent book (heavy handed at times, but a decent thriller) and a decent movie (heavy on the exposition at times and overlong, but a decent way to pass 2.5 hrs). The worst thing was Hanks' hair, but whadda we want, his curly hair from BIG? Our local theater had its share of sign holding protesters, and we're a liberal college town (though central PA itself is an extension of the bible belt).

[Abbadon]

My previous post was supposed to be a joke, but I guess it was a really bad joke.

Regards,

[thecoalman]

They prefer you keep the political and religious commentary out of topics, hence my "don't answer that" comment above. To a point it's a good rule as it keeps many of the comments such as the one above you made from starting a flame war. It's a fine line especially when dealing with a topic like this.

[Craig Tucker]

I enjoyed the film

[shelbyGT]

I enjoyed the film

Agreed, I thought it was quite good. But I also watched Cats & Dogs because I find talking animals hilarious.

[SquirrelDip]

I enjoyed the film

Agreed, I thought it was quite good. But I also watched Cats & Dogs because I find talking animals hilarious.

'Tis good to have a qualifier when making a statement...

[DePutoMadre]

i don't like this film either.and didin't understand all the "fire" about this story, etc

[guns1inger]

Predictable in all respects

Predictably slick
Predictably plotted
Predictably written

And now being released on DVD with an extra 25 minutes. For all of it's pace, it was almost completely bereft of any real substance. How they can fill an extra 25 minutes I don't know, unless they have decided to pad out the travel scenes with stock footage so they actually like like they have travelled, instead of being teleported from point to point.

[FulciLives]

I've read Dan Brown's ANGELS AND DEMONS and I have THE DA VINCI CODE but have not read it yet ... nor have I seen the movie.

I do plan to read it first before renting the DVD which is scheduled to be released in the USA on November 14, 2006 which is not too far away at this point.

So why am I chiming in on this then?

Well the "story" behind the book/film THE DA VINCI CODE is not new as someone else has already pointed out.

I first heard about it myself back around 1999 when I read a story in a video/computer game magazine regarding the game GABRIEL KNIGHT 3 - BLOOD OF THE SACRED, BLOOD OF THE DAMNED

The woman behind all three of the GABRIEL KNIGHT games was explaining how she read this book entitled HOLY BLOOD, HOLY GRAIL and how she found it so fascinating that she made it into the third GABRIEL KNIGHT game (which I did play but never got to finish).

So if anyone found the ideas/concepts in the book/movie THE DA VINCI CODE to be fascinating then I highly suggest you get HOLY BLOOD, HOLY GRAIL.

There is also a sequel called THE MESSIANIC LEGACY although I have yet to read it (even though I own it). I have read HOLY BLOOD, HOLY GRAIL and find the whole concept to be rather fascinating as there does appear to be something to it. At least all the stuff about Rennes-le-Chateau and the priest Sauniere.

Last thing I would like to bring up ... ANGLES AND DEMONS by Dan Brown seems very similiar to THE DA VINCI CODE in theme and even the main character is the same in both stories but while I found the story and plot etc. to be very good in ANGELS AND DEMONS it was as if it was written by someone that doesn't really know how to write. Like the ideas were good ... the story good ... the plot good ... but the actual writing style sucked.

ANGLES AND DEMONS was written first so I am hoping THE DA VINCI CODE is a bit better but from comments here it doesn't sound like it LOL

- John "FulciLives" Coleman