The Lone Ranger ?

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I saw the recent , Johnny Depp , movie THE LONE RANGER t'othre nit .
Anyone else wanna talk about it?
Or other versions of the character/concept?

From what I gather, most people (my family included) went to see the movie because of Johnny Depp. He moves the show along. Without him, it never would have taken off. Especially as so many younger people now don't know who the Lone Ranger was. Wow, now I sound old.

149 minutes of what looks exactly like Pirates of the Caribbean 5. No thanks.

Not my cup of tea, I'm waiting for Elysium

To me the Lone Ranger looked like another ill-thought out attempt of Bruckheimer's to replace the shrivelling cashcow that's Pirates of the Caribbean (not saying the series isn't popular, it's still a moneymaker but Disney have been making less and less profit with each successive film). He tried and failed with The Sorcerer's Apprentice, John Carter and the Prince of Persia, so I'm not exactly sure why The Lone Ranger was greenlit - Westerns don't really seem to sell that well nowadays (at least, not for family-aimed franchises, both within and outside the US), and I would've thought Disney would've taken a lesson from losing so much money on the three aforementioned projects and even Cowboys and Aliens (co-funded production).

I'm not sure whether the cold reception to the Lone Ranger had anything to do with it, but Johnny Depp, upon promoting the film here suddenly came out with wanting to retire from acting for a bit - I don't blame the guy for saying that; eight movies within a decade is quite a feat, and essentially just playing the same character over and over again (something he didn't deny when pressed about the glaring similarities between Tonto and Jack Sparrow on BBC Breakfast - but that could also include Willy Wonka in the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory remake and the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland)... in an odd way, I almost felt rather sorry for him.

But I digress (even if Depp did practically carry the Lone Ranger movie on his own compared to the comparatively bland titular character).

I'm doubtful the Lone Ranger will garner an audience internationally to make up for the less-than-stellar American opening (though, that could be my personal taste speaking there). I don't think Disney will hurt too much from it though, what with their being able to squeeze Star Wars and Marvel and all to more than make up for the loss.

To end on a positive note though, I guess the only thing going for it is that it didn't pretend to be anything other than a light popcorn fluff romp. So in that respect, it delivered.

Johnny Depp and his movies used to be my main special interest, for a couple of years (2010 to 2012). I was so crazy in love with Depp and his characters that it wasn't even funny. If this movie had come out during that time frame, I might have defended both it and Depp himself.

But after I experienced serious burnout and dropped him as my special interest, I have been able to see why people aren't crazy about him like they used to be. All he does is throw on makeup and a costume and act like a lunatic. And it's not like he actually enjoys it either - in many of his interviews (especially later ones) he seems almost spiteful of his profession; I get the impression that he only continued acting for as long as he did for the same reason everyone else goes to work: money.

In a weird schadenfreude kind of way, I'm glad that The Lone Ranger bombed and Johnny Depp is retiring from acting. These things help reassure me that I'm not missing out on much since becoming disillusioned with Depp and his movies.

I'm hoping that at least the visuals will be good.

From what I heard from a friend who lives there, they used the most picturesque areas of Utah for filming (despite the film being set in Texas), but I heard it's almost Man-of-Action-like directing; i.e. no breathing room for anything to sink in until the next threat/attempt at comedy comes flying in.

Anyway, Depp still has to perform in Disney's Alice in Wonderland 2 (yes, it's getting a sequel), Pirates 5, a recently confirmed musical titled Into The Woods (no idea what that's about) so it probably won't be likely until 2018 or even beyond that maybe when he steps down.

Isn't Into The Woods a Stephen Sondheim Musical?
Did anyoneelse here see The Rum Diaries?

They're already throwing the blame around on this one:

‘The Lone Ranger’ Cast & Filmmakers Blame Critics for Box Office Failure

"This is the deal with American critics. They’ve been gunning for our movie since it was shut down the first time. And I think that’s probably when most of the critics wrote their initial reviews. [...] They tried to do the same thing with to ‘World War Z,’ it didn’t work, the movie was successful. Instead they decided to slit the jugular of our movie." - Armie Hammer

"I think the reviews were written when they heard Gore [Verbinksi] and Jerry [Bruckheimer] and me were going to do ‘The Lone Ranger.’ Then their expectations of it that, you know, it must be a blockbuster. I didn’t have any expectations of that. I never do. Why would I?" - Johnny Depp

"It’s one of those movies that, whatever critics missed it this time, will re-review it in a few years and see that they made a mistake. [...] The critics keep crying for original movies. You make one, and they don’t like [it], so what can I tell you?" - Jerry Bruckheimer

I don't think these guys could sound any more delusional. World War Z got good reviews, didn't it? And calling The Lone Ranger an "original movie" is a joke. It's based on a worn-out property that's nearly 100 years old, and it was made firmly in the Pirates of the Caribbean cookie cutter mold. Depp's defense may be the funniest: "It's not supposed to be successful!" Something tells me that critics 20 years from now won't be looking back on this one as some kind of underrated masterpiece that was ahead of its time. And even if they genuinely think it's a good movie, the classy thing to say would be, "Well, we did our best and we're proud of the film, and we're sorry if it didn't really connect with people."

Westerns & Masked heroes are two of my obsessions......

But all it took was the first trailer to convince me to give this a pass.

I'll wait for the DVD.

...Any audio or DVD releases of the earlier Lone Rangers on the market cheap of note ???
I remember the Filmation-produced animated series of the mid-1960s (Filmation apparently made another LR series around the early 80s , about the time of , too ,) the " Legend Of The Lone Ranger " EARLIER attempt at a " modernized " version , which everybody at the time hated...

You can access the Lone Ranger radio shows for free. Try archive.org or get the Old Time Radio app for your phone/tablet.