The League of Extrordinary Gentlemen

[Mark S]

I'm seeing the previews of this movie and am not sure what I think of it yet. Has anyone here read the comic books? Was it any good? Did it stick fairly well to the individual novel's characters? I ask because I just finished reading Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and the Mr. Hyde I think I'm seeing in that preview is NOTHING like Mr. Hyde is supposed to be.

[Ghost Rider]

Alan Moore did some really nice books.

Seriously not Top Ten for me, but really good stuff...and he stuck very close to the interpretations of the characters.

That is almost what's grabbing me about the movie.

[RogueIce]

I've never read it, but I am curious...

Did they really have a female in there? The name would seem to preclude it, but I thought I'd ask.

[Ghost Rider]

Yeah Mina Harker.

But wasn't a Vampire since it didn't end that way in Dracula.

[Mark S]

Yeah Mina Harker.

But wasn't a Vampire since it didn't end that way in Dracula.

You never know. She drank D's blood. She still could have became a vampire after she died according to Van Helsing.

[Ghost Rider]

Yeah Mina Harker.

But wasn't a Vampire since it didn't end that way in Dracula.

You never know. She drank D's blood. She still could have became a vampire after she died according to Van Helsing.

True...I guess Moore just decided not to.

Though for the most part they Dr J/Mr H bit wasn't quite as dramatic as say the Movie version...closer to persay a psycho, not Hulk bursting.

[Tsyroc]

Yeah Mina Harker.

But wasn't a Vampire since it didn't end that way in Dracula.

You never know. She drank D's blood. She still could have became a vampire after she died according to Van Helsing.

True...I guess Moore just decided not to.

Though for the most part they Dr J/Mr H bit wasn't quite as dramatic as say the Movie version...closer to persay a psycho, not Hulk bursting.

Really, in the clip I saw I thought Mr. H looked modeled after the artwork from the first tpb. He might be a little bit bigger but he looked the same which was pretty big.

I like the idea of Mina Murray (divorced from Harker) being a vampire. I suspected that she was a vampire in the League books but certainly in the first story she never shows any vampiric abilities, plus she nearly got raped before Quartermain stepped in. That seems odd if she's a vampire. Certainly the character, as Brahm Stoker wroter her, is intelligent and strong willed enough to make it into the League on those merits alone. I just like the more fantasical version to go with Hyde and the Invisible Man etc...

[Ghost Rider]

I just didn't like it as much...but the Invisible Man is nice in the movie. And really it was the first with Quartermain that made me question whether Mina was a Vampire.

[Tsyroc]

I just didn't like it as much...but the Invisible Man is nice in the movie. And really it was the first with Quartermain that made me question whether Mina was a Vampire.

I didn't care for the design on Hyde much in either the comic or the movie. He is too Hulk like. I liked that he had some animalistic abilities but he has so much more mass than Dr. Jekyll that it doesn't fit in with the orignal book.

I'm kind of partial to vampires and stuff related to Dracula in particular so I like the idea of Mina as a vampire but that bit with Quartermain does pretty much squash that idea in the comic for me as well.

The movie group is turning out to be pretty formidable looking.

[Mark S]

Yeah Mina Harker.

But wasn't a Vampire since it didn't end that way in Dracula.

You never know. She drank D's blood. She still could have became a vampire after she died according to Van Helsing.

True...I guess Moore just decided not to.

Though for the most part they Dr J/Mr H bit wasn't quite as dramatic as say the Movie version...closer to persay a psycho, not Hulk bursting.

That's the thing. Hyde is not supposed to be The Hulk of the Victorian era. He's actually the opposite. Edward Hyde is a TINY little, disgusting, depraved man that is the embodiment of everything that was evil about Dr. Jekyll. There was a physical change, but NOT to a bigger form. People around him have a natural fear and loathing not because he's a huge monster, but because he is the darker side of humanity that people like to lock away. I guess they needed a Hulk Smash character for the movie.

[Mark S]

...Certainly the character, as Brahm Stoker wroter her, is intelligent and strong willed enough to make it into the League on those merits alone...

I always found it interesting how Stoker seemed to discribe Mina's intelligence so grudgingly. As if he wasn't just saying 'she was intelligent', but that 'she was actually intelligent for a woman' or 'she was a woman that was as intelligent as a man'.

[Tsyroc]

I always found it interesting how Stoker seemed to discribe Mina's intelligence so grudgingly. As if he wasn't just saying 'she was intelligent', but that 'she was actually intelligent for a woman' or 'she was a woman that was as intelligent as a man'.

I missed that to some extent. I always thought the group of men or at least Van Helsing seemed to go to great lengths to constantly praise how great a woman she was, and how strong etc...

I just never thought to take some of that as "Mina is soooo smart....for a woman". It certainly could have been meant that way. It's been awhile since I read the book I might have to check it out again.

[Mark S]

I missed that to some extent. I always thought the group of men or at least Van Helsing seemed to go to great lengths to constantly praise how great a woman she was, and how strong etc...

I just never thought to take some of that as "Mina is soooo smart....for a woman". It certainly could have been meant that way. It's been awhile since I read the book I might have to check it out again.

I guess it was those great lengths that got me thinking that. The lengths almost reached condiscention. The way he wrote it and the time he wrote it in, just screamed to me that he had a smart female character in a book who's male readers thought women should be in the kitchen.

[Oddysseus]

I guess they felt the need for a muscleman on the team. And Hyde, the notion, is a potential tool. I guess Moore wanted to really play out the Hulk. But still it is interesting to see the animalistic side played out.

I do wonder what Stoker's attitude on women was. As a man of the times, to see women as limited would be the norm. Maybe her being so strong (will and mind), resisting Drac's power as long as she did, is a testiment from him, or an act of fantasy. From when and where I sit, I just had assumed she was an equal among the men. I may have to reread it.

So, what about the rest of the characters. How do people feel they Moore's versions compare to the orginals?

[Tsyroc]

I do wonder what Stoker's attitude on women was. As a man of the times, to see women as limited would be the norm. Maybe her being so strong (will and mind), resisting Drac's power as long as she did, is a testiment from him, or an act of fantasy. From when and where I sit, I just had assumed she was an equal among the men. I may have to reread it.

It's hard to say since most of the time Mina was part of the group trying to take down Drac was after he had attacked her so the rest of the group was a bit protective.

[Vendetta]

Edward Hyde is a TINY little, disgusting, depraved man that is the embodiment of everything that was evil about Dr. Jekyll. There was a physical change, but NOT to a bigger form.

In the book Jekyll mentions that Hyde used to be 'much smaller', I can't remember the line exactly, but I think he even says 'smaller than me'

As for Ms. Murray's vampirism, it's hinted at in the book. She has power over people (even Hyde) that approaches direct mind control, and she hints that she has some kind of inner strength, and 'will not allow' matters to continue.

In the movie, alas, it's likely that it will be explicit that she IS a vampire, with all the movie stereotypes that entails.

[BlackWarMewtwo]

Edward Hyde is a TINY little, disgusting, depraved man that is the embodiment of everything that was evil about Dr. Jekyll. There was a physical change, but NOT to a bigger form.

In the book Jekyll mentions that Hyde used to be 'much smaller', I can't remember the line exactly, but I think he even says 'smaller than me'

I don't remember the exact line either, but it was in volume 2 book 5, right after he raped and killed Griffin.

And he went further to say that the reason he grew so large and Jeckyl relatively small is that Jeckyl is all restraint while Hyde is devoid of restraint.

[Lonestar]

I don't remember the exact line either, but it was in volume 2 book 5, right after he raped and killed Griffin.

.

No, he said that in Volume 1 too.

[neoolong]

Quatermain also is different in the comics and the movie. He's now Mister Badass instead of some wasted old man.

[Dalton]

Quatermain also is different in the comics and the movie. He's now Mister Badass instead of some wasted old man.

In other words, Indiana Jones.

[Typhonis 1]

hmm a nice Steampunky movie

[neoolong]

Quatermain also is different in the comics and the movie. He's now Mister Badass instead of some wasted old man.

In other words, Indiana Jones.

Henry Jones actually. Considering that it is Sean Connery.

[Jadeite]

Id never even heard of the League before the movie previews. The thing that got my attention was the steampunk stuff.

[Pablo Sanchez]

Henry Jones actually. Considering that it is Sean Connery.

Henry Jones Senior or Henry Jones Junior?

[neoolong]

Henry Jones actually. Considering that it is Sean Connery.

Henry Jones Senior or Henry Jones Junior?

Senior. Sean Connery.