Monday, October 1, 2012

Previewing Solomon Kane

Please note that I have yet to see the movie, though I hope to fit it into my schedule at some point in the near future. Please also note that I am not an REH connoisseur, nor have I ever read any of his tales about Solomon Kane. Therefore, I do not approach the recent release of the 2009 movie here in the U.S. from the perspective of whether or not it is representative of the source material. (Though, Maliszewski noted some relatively positive reaction from REH partisans back when the film was originally finished).

I do want to point out, however, that it is a huge departure from a majority of recent film making, particularly from the fantasy genre (the Narnia movies aside), where the good guy is ostensibly a Christian and that one of the key quotes from the trailer is “There is evil walking this earth and I will hunt it down and send it burning back to hell” — where that evil seems to be the devil and his minions.

Beyond that, I am struck by both the trailer for Solomon Kane and the 10 minute preview available via You Tube. I have never really seen a movie that evokes the kind of spiritual warfare and the feel that I strive for in my FRPG campaigns. Though these don’t necessarily look exactly as one of my campaigns might, this is the closest thing I have to point to when it comes to “this is what it is like to play in one of my campaigns.” Enjoy:



6 comments:

Gordon Cooper said...

"...this is the closest thing I have to point to when it comes to 'this is what it is like to play in one of my campaigns.'"

That's a good enough recommendation for me!

Archaeopteryx said...

I really wanted to like this film. The first part shown in the preview, along with the part immediately after were very good. Unfortunately the rest of the movie didn't hold up for me. The save-the-girl plot mostly just distracted from the kill-the-evil-wizard plot, not to mention Kane's almost bipolar desperation during it. The theology regarding Kane's soul that comes up later also irritated me.

Archaeopteryx said...

Also, the awesome mirror demons and that fire sword wielding reaper in the opening were criminally underused. The mirrors make an appearance later, but nope! No mirror demons. And they should have used the much cooler reaper again instead of that giant fire golem thing.

Unknown said...

Hey FrDave, you should check my Moldvay + 4e mashup campaign blog Against the Pagans (http://againstthepagans.blogspot.com); I imagine you'll find it interesting. It was inspired by reading about your own historically and religiously based campaign world. TL;DR: PCs are monks sent by Gregory the Great in 597 BC to evangelize Britain. Problem: there are dungeons and dragons there now.

FrDave said...

I am not a 4e guy, but this sounds cool! I look forward to reading up on your efforts.

FrDave said...

This is disappointing news. I still plan to see it, and I'll try to give a critique then.