William Tell movie

[boneio]

Yeah, that looks like fantasy, and not very good at that. I don't like rivet-counting attitudes to historical films but they could try to make it reasonably period-accurate. The clearly much-later stately home as a castle in one shot in the trailer was particularly jarring.

That's before considering the extremely generic dialogue and plot beats in the trailer 

Still, I agree that sometimes pure entertainment is fun, we don't need every film to be a masterpiece, and I'm quite glad it's been made as there's a lack of fantasy/medieval films in general. I just wish they'd make more good ones...

[Von Trinkenessen]

For me it has to be the 1950's TV version with Conrad Phillips I watched as a child.

[Pan Marek]

One can only offer advice.  For many historical wargamers, the only way to avoid agida and frustration is to never, ever watch any films set before, say, about 30 years ago.  Stick to rom-coms and police procedurals.

[terrement]

(how has such a good actor been in so much dross)

It's called "I spend too much" syndrome.

[terrement]

You're right about folks wanting entertainment rather than history.  And that's what they'll pay to see.

Can you say "Braveheart?"

At the same time, can you say the historical record would have made for a great movie?

I'm sure we can all come up with lists of other films that illustrate the same point.

[TWD]

another Hollywood turd

English producers
Northern Irish writer/director
Filmed in Europe
Largely European cast and crew

I'm not sure we can pin this one on Hollywood.

Resemblance to faecal matter is of course subjective.

[Dice Roller]

I don't go to the cinema expecting history.
I'm not naive.
I fully accept that film makers and production companies need to recoup their money and for that need something that puts bums on seats and not play to a small, and anally retentive, audience.
That's NOT what I'm looking for.
But I am looking for originality. I am looking for character (not caricature). I am looking for interesting plots. I am looking for acting. I am looking artistic interpretation. I am looking for challenging ideas.
Not the same tired old formula.
Maybe, as I've got older, I've seen it all before so I become harder to please.
Certainly, the 14 year old me would have been ejaculating like a stallion over this. But 40 years later I've seen this kind of thing many times before and it no longer does anything for me.
But, no, I'm not expecting history.

[FifteensAway]

Well, for a rare change, a number of people are piping up about movies as entertainment, and that is refreshing.  Movies are not - and NEVER history (though they might have historical elements) - historical (unless a really old movie as itself being historical) and they certainly are not documentaries. 

You want an interpretation of history, read a book or watch a documentary. 

Movies are meant to entertain and, hopefully, make a buck (a LOT fail on that point). 

The most telling comment of all in this thread, for me, is Dice Rollers "14 year old me" reference.  Mass market movies are targeted to a very narrow age range that tops out at around 24.  Other ages are incidental to the movie makers and their marketing expertise.

If movies set in historical periods (known as costume dramas in general - aka, the actors wear 'funny' clothes) depended on history buffs and historical miniatures enthusiasts in particular approval, I can give you an exact count of how many more such movies you could expect in the future: ZERO.

Who gives a shit if the movie is exact in detail - go find how much it costs to get say, a real Sherman in a move or get the owner of a perfect structure to agree to let you use their property in a movie (I've done some small scale location scouting, it isn't as easy as you might think), then you will understand why so many compromises are made despite the best of intentions, when those intentions exist - as long as the movie is entertaining in its story.

I'll gladly take the compromises to get costume dramas to the screen.  They are amongst the hardest movies to get made because of the built-in extra costs required.   So, give the movies a break and just enjoy them as entertainment; that is all they are in the end. 

[Ninefingers]

English producers
Northern Irish writer/director
Filmed in Europe
Largely European cast and crew

I'm not sure we can pin this one on Hollywood.

Resemblance to faecal matter is of course subjective.

It is subjective and also the work of several hundred production crew who worked hard to create something.

[Captain Harlock]

Looks like William Temu 

[Iain R]

Looks like William Temu 

Underrated comment. 

[mweaver]

I watched the trailer a few weeks back and was underwhelmed.  Not so much worried about historical accuracy, but it just seems like a lazy script.

-Michael