Now, I know this is probably "IMDB Credibility Suicide", but... Not that I'm saying it's a good idea, but...
Just for fun...
If they're was a remake of Major Dundee... Who would play who?
For,
Major Dundee, I've been thinking of - Michael Madsen or Gary Oldman.
Lieutenant Graham, - Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Trooper Ryan, - Hayden Christiansen or Keiran Culkin
Sgt. Gomez, - Luis Guzman (heehee.)
Captain Tyreen, - Clive Owen
I had another thread of this a few posts down. I gave this a lot of thought, and I'm willing to repost some of the better ideas, along with a few new ones:
Dundee - Viggo Mortensen (Harrison Ford would be perfect, but he's about twenty years too old)
Tyreen - Liam Neeson (though part of me also likes Sam Neill)
Graham - Jeremy Davies
Potts - Ron Perlman (don't know why but he strikes me as an interesting choice)
Ryan - Daniel Radcliffe (if he can do an American accent)
Teresea - Sophie Marceau (even though she's French)
Sergeant Gomez - Benicio Del Torro or Luis Guzman (Guzman looks more like Mario Adorf though)
Aesop - Will Smith or Taye Diggs
O.W. Hadley - Matthew McConoughey or Barry Pepper (though to be honest I feel dirty replacing Warren Oates, even in jest)
Sergeant Chillum - something tells me Sam Elliot would be perfect for this part
Reverend Dahlstrom - Christopher Walken for a conventional choice, William Forsythe or R. Lee Ermey for a perhaps more interesting one.
Jimmy Lee Benteen - Giovanni Ribisi (maybe too young though)
Wiley - William Sanderson
Priam - Judd Nelson
Sierra Charriba - James Remar
Riago - Jesse Borengo
Captain Waller - Let's go with David Clennon
"That scarf belonged to Lieutenant Brannin." "It's for you, Major!"
I don't know. I think you and I differ on what we both took away from Major Dundee.
It might be because I just saw the new restored version with the different soundtrack. It was a much campier film.
I also saw that Major Dundee was actually the bad guy, in the sense that Captain Ahab was the "bad guy" in Moby Dick. Harrison Ford and Viggo Mortenson are too heroic of characters, rather than psychotic characters.
If you don't mind me saying, I also see a lot of parallels with Major Dundee and the Vietnam War, which I kind of have the feeling you and I wouldn't really agree on.
I also thought you had some great ideas like Liam Neeson. When I read that, and thought of him as Tyreen, I thought it was brilliant.
I think that the Vietnam parables are there if you look into them, but I hardly think they were intentional. I personally think (as do many of the DVD commentators) that a better analogy would be the War on Terror/Iraq War (from a liberal point of view, of course) - I've even written a short treatment for a remake (which I do hope never gets made) set in 2004 Afghanistan, with Taliban POWs subbing for the Confederates.
Harrison Ford would be great because he's a talented enough actor to pull off a role such as Dundee (Mortensen I'm not 100% sure about, to be fair). The role of Dundee is a profoundly negative character who disguises himself as a hero. Even Charlton Heston figured this out. Anyone could pick this out without even trying.
I have the DVD and I have watched it about ten bajillion times in the last six months. I've seen it several times with both the new and old scores. Hell, I actually have over half of the movie's script memorized! So, forgive me for saying so, I'm a damn big expert as to this film.
What would you say you took away from this film, as opposed to what I did? I liked it because, even though it's flawed, it's more of a fun movie than a truly great one (like Peckinpah intended). It isn't a masterpiece, but take it as it is, and it's very enjoyable. If you're expecting "The Wild Bunch", then you're looking at the wrong film.
Until The Apache Is Taken Or Destroyed
This movie was released in 1965. Meaning it was probably written/filmed earlier. We were not that deeply involved in Viet Nam at that time, at least not enought to be "philosophical" about it. No, no. No allusions to Viet Nam.
sharertrafton-1:
YOU GOT IT! Not the parallels to DUNDEE and Vietnam, but MOBY DICK. When R.G. Armstrong got his script, he called Peckinpah, saying, "Sam, this is MOBY DICK on horseback." Peckinpah swore, then informed Armstrong he was only the second one to figure it out.
"So what else is on your mind besides 100 proof women, 90 proof whiskey, and 14 karat gold?"
That analogy doesn't really hold water either. Dundee isn't obsessed about catching the Apache, he's concerned pretty much with own his promotion. It's only similar in the vaguest sense, like any adventure story in similar to Moby Dick.
Stone, you can watch me or you can join me. One of them is more fun.