"47 Ronin - As Expected, a Huge Flop" Topic

Apparently, it made $20 USD million, or so back, after a few days of its opening, but nowhere near what the studios wanted, for the $175 USD million project.

Not really sure why they seem surprised, since I predicted it, as soon as I heard Keanu was one of the main, if not the main "actor" (yes, I know that last word is hyperbole, but can't think of another appropriate descriptor right now, that is kid friendly).

More info here:

link

Apparently, the movie is selling well in certain markets, so I guess there is no accounting for taste.

Hopefully, this won't prove too devastating to the fantasy roleplayers out there, and they'll be able to pass their morale check, and carry on.

If not, I guess there is always historical gaming, unless Keanu decides to do a movie in that genre, as well. I suspect that to be unlikely, after this performance.

Keanu is a decent actor for some roles. Why they chose him for this one is beyond me.

Any role where he is supposed to spend the entire time looking befuddled works well for him. He did well in the first Matrix movies. He was also good in Bill and Ted.

"47R" Bombs in Japan". Well, no . Is Hollywood REALLY that stupid?

[Rhetorical question]

As a pure fantasy movie with samurai I found it quite enjoyable.

Please try to keep your 'spoilers' off the Title line!

Others may wish to view this film and form their own unbiased opinions.

If it had ANY other title than 47 Ronin, I suspect it could have been pretty good.

But that title carries a lot of weight, and had nothing to do with the movie.

But that title carries a lot of weight

Carries a lot of weight for WHOM?

Wargamers? History buffs? Chambara fans? Yes. General movie going public, probably not.

Look how well 300 did, despite being a lot of junk on screen (yes, I realize it was supposed to be about the myth of the battle, but that revelation doesn't make the movie more appealing…IMHO). In short, the average American movie goer probably has NO IDEA what the 47 Ronin were about, has never seen any of the various Japanese versions (I have…), and probably don't care about it either.

If the movie is tanking, I suspect it has to do with something other than the title or source material.

Damon.

Carries a lot of weight in Japan, at least.

And it bombed in Japan.

^^^ Yes, there is no way you can see the previews and expect anything other than a fantasy movie that doesn't share much of anything with the 47 Ronin tale other than the title.

I'll see it on the cheap (Netflix/$1 night). But count me as one how had no idea 47 Ronin means anything other than, uh, there are 47 ronin fighting the bad guys.

"Please try to keep your 'spoilers' off the Title line!".

As if that wasn't a sure thing, given his record, and "acting" style.

To be fair to me, I haven't seen it either, so, perhaps the reviewers got it wrong, and it is the best movie ever!

Quite a few people in Asia seem to be enjoying it, based upon attendance in some countries there, though I suspect the Japanese are probably more on target with the quality of the flick, given their ticket sales.

The other issue, apparently, is that the movie teased by the previews is not the movie that was actually made. Howard Tayler's review is here: link (No real spoilers in the review; stay away from the comments if you are avoiding spoilers.)

I thought Hollywood already took on historical Japan with Tom Cruise and "The Last Samurai??"

47 Ronin…..means something entirely different to me, another story altogether. :(

After talking with Stephen Turnbull, the famous Samurai historian, about the film and the way the studio handled it, I really had no desire to see it. It's funny that they had Turnbull advise on the sets (castle etc) and some cultural and weapons aspects of the movie, but ignored him on costumes and armor. The first test showings in Japan went very badly and caused scenes to be redone or cut. This is nothing but a fantasy movie hiding behind the title of a classic Japanese tale. Similar to World War Z where the only thing that was the same between the movie and the book was the title and zombies.

I thought it was a samurai fantasy movie with an unfortunate title. My expectations are no higher than that.

I expect Keanu to suck as usual, but there's a dragon, a fox woman, huge demon samurai and the troll from The Hobbit, so what's not to like?

Hollywood does another country's history badly. No great surprise :)

Hollywood does another country's history badly. No great surprise :)

No surprise at all, really. Hollywood can't even do its own history, let alone that of an entire country, its own or another.

Hollywood and history……two mutually exclusive terms.

I thought it was a samurai fantasy movie with an unfortunate title. My expectations are no higher than that. <--This is it, right here.
Hollywood has gotten it wrong far too many times in the last few years.
All of the movies and TV shows they've remade lately have had serious flaws.

Saw it today. There was something definitely off about the movie… It should have either removed all the fantastical stuff and gone for more character development or pushed the fantastic much further.

Just havin Keaneaueau in it is enough to keep me away… but I otherwise would probably be interested in an Asian-themed fantasy movie.

It might be wiser to read what people who've seen the movie have to say about it instead of going by the very misleading marketing.

The people I know who saw it said they were disappointed because it seemed to be too much story and not enough action. I was told I would probably like it for the very reason they disliked it.

Apparently Reeves isn't anywhere close to the main character they want the potential audience to think he is.

He was good in Speed and I ashamedly actually like him in that surfer movie, Point Break (although a lot of acting on that flick was really bad)

I think he was picked as his name is known and to put it in rather racist terms, he is the most anglo looking asian actor that Hollywood has these days. I hate to say that but that is the impression I get. I am reminded of the older Hollywood flicks that have all of the non-Asians playing Asian roles and am disgusted by such attitudes. Hopefully it is just my slanted view on things. And it may be that the decent Asian actors out there saw the script and where it was going and said a resounding "no" to the part?

If anyone expected an historical film, I really would be shocked. I for one enjoyed 300 but more because it came from the comicbook overdone background and I knew it was going to be over the top. I don't mind changes for entertainment value but the film has to stand on its own. If it stinks, it doesn't matter whether it stuck close to history or not.

I will wait for DVD probably to watch this, although some of the special effects do seem to warrant big screen viewing. I am still amazed that the cost of movies like this don't go down with computers. It seems that they get MORE expensive rather than less. Avatar is a prime example of this.

47 Ronin wouldn't be the first movie I enjoyed for its special effects and entertainment value while being disenchanted with the overall quality of the movie. I had the same feelings with Episode II of the Star Wars franchise and partially so with Episode I (III, I grudgingly admit to being an improvement over I and II)

Keanu has never been able to carry a movie by himself. I think there is a decent actor in there somewhere, it's just his placid facial expressions that seem to make him less than believable in so many roles. He has been in some really terrible movies too.

I did like him in Point Break, now that you mention it, but that was a wild anomaly……

Here's the thing: 300 is a story about the legend of the Spartans.

"47 Ronin" is a story about history.

47 Ronin was OK. Thats high praise considering what I expected going in. There was nothing that made it stand out as anything more than a generic fantasy movie.

The marketing for it was crazy and paints it very differently from what it actually was. The tattooed guy who is in all the posters for example only appears in the film for a few seconds and has a single line. The big Samurai guy in the metal armour is equally quite unimportant if not to the same extent.

Its not the story of the 47 ronin and would have been better received under a different name. It would have been a better film without Keanu's character and the fantasy elements too.

Still its not terrible its just distinctly average.

Reeves isnt the main character in terms of importance but I think he had the most screen time.

And it may be that the decent Asian actors out there saw the script and where it was going and said a resounding "no" to the part?

Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. Even Connery wanted to disown Highlander 2, but he was contractually obligated to make it.

The story of the 47 Ronin doesn't have to be fixed in Edo-period Japan. In fact, there's a huge tradition of relocating the story.

The studio could have made a great film using the 47 Ronin story and just setting it in a fantasy world or even in Mythic Japan.

Instead, Whollyweird seems to have gone all 13th Warrior on the story of Beowulf!

Can't wait for 48 Ronin.

Read three-quarters of the novelization. From that I expected 47 Ronin to have about as much in common with Samurai era Japan as Peter Jackson's movies have to do with Tolkien's Middle Earth, or 300 to do with Thermopylae.

I will probably watch it when it hits netflix.

Honestly, I'm not even going to bother with this version.

I don't mind people playing with history or re-setting classic stories if the resetting is well done and they have good actors in it. A good story demands a good job 'localizing' it. For example, the various takes on Yojimbo (Fistfull of dollars, Last Man Standing, Kaze no Yojimbo) or the Samurai 7 anime. Heck, even the Romeo+Juliet anime was believable as shown.

ANYTHING with Keaneeeeeew is extremely unlikely to meet the good job localizing requirement.

This is quite late to this thread but I watched it yesterday and found it to be incredibly bad. To spend this much money on a movie this atrocious is criminal. What were they thinking? Ed Wood could have done a better job.

I don't understand all the bile. I just watched it and found it cool and entertaining….. Shakespeare no, but solid entertainment. Just my two cents, no harsh critisism intended.

If you shot a movie called "Lincoln at Ford's Theater" and then made a movie that focuses on a love story between a dry goods clerk and a mermaid that happens in new york, with occasional telegrams to his family, who live across from Ford's Theater, and in one scene they glance out the window to see the president in a cab across the street, that's how closely related 47 Ronin the movie is to the original story.

FAR better to call it what it is instead of using a title with no relevance to their story AND plenty of history on its own…