Gods of Egypt (Post-release)

[AJTaliesen]

I'm actually interested in seeing this one.


and I'm kind of psyched that it looks like I may end up getting a theater to myself, based on how little interest anyone else seems to have in it :lol

 

[Father]

I like the two lead actors, but it does lead to a question: are there any Egyptians in this film?

Were there any Russians in Enemy at the Gates... or Germans for that matter?[

I'll wait for the Rifftrax :thumbsup

Haha... this movie seems to beg for that treatment. My first thought when I saw the trailer was "Why?"

So glad Deadpool beat it on its opening weekend.

 

[dbuck]

The lack of Egyptians in the cast doesn't bother me any more than not hearing old English in King Arthur movies.
Now, John Wayne was horribly miscast as Genghis Kahn once, but no studio was ever going to cast an actual Mongol. You still have to sell the movie to an audience and you're going to use the most marketable actors you can find.
It's nice when movies are historically correct, including the casting, but so rarely done I can't even take the incredibly loose 'based on a true story' claim seriously anymore.

 

[jarroth]

It's nice when movies are historically correct, including the casting, but so rarely done I can't even take the incredibly loose 'based on a true story' claim seriously anymore.

hehe, yeah a true story about a hobo jumping on freightrains to travel across america. except he has millions and uses a private concorde :lol

 

[ecl]

Scottish Egyptian. Very cool!

 

[The Mad Professor]

Scottish Egyptian. Very cool!

In the fine tradition of Sean Connery, yesh...

 

[Riceball]

The lack of Egyptians in the cast doesn't bother me any more than not hearing old English in King Arthur movies.
Now, John Wayne was horribly miscast as Genghis Kahn once, but no studio was ever going to cast an actual Mongol. You still have to sell the movie to an audience and you're going to use the most marketable actors you can find.
It's nice when movies are historically correct, including the casting, but so rarely done I can't even take the incredibly loose 'based on a true story' claim seriously anymore.

I think that in the case of this movie it wasn't that big of a deal that they didn't cast any brown skinned people in lead or prominent roles, given that it was some sort of fantasy setting Egypt I'm OK with the casting. Would it have hurt to cast someone like Ben Kingsley who's both brown skinned and English, no, but it wouldn't have made a difference and the movie would have still bombed.

 

[Solo4114]

That said, there's a whole range of actors out there who often as not simply aren't considered for roles because they aren't big names....and aren't big names because they aren't considered for roles.

I'll give you an example: Pej Vahdat.

This guy is a terrific actor. He's primarily known for his role as Arastoo Vaziri on the TV show Bones, but he's done some other work as well. He's charismatic, he's really good looking, he's talented...and he was, I would bet, NEVER considered for the lead in "Prince of Persia," despite actually being of Persian/Iranian descent.

Why? Simple. He's not a headliner. He's not a movie lead. He's not a face that middle America is going to say "Oh, Pej Vahdat is in that? I like him. I'll go see that."

And, quite simply, Hollywood execs really only care about that. Gerard Butler's name sells tickets. Nicolaj Coster-Waldau's name...well, doesn't sell tickets, but his face does because he's Jaime Lannister. Jake Gyllenhall's name and face sells tickets. Pej Vahdat? Not so much.

It's stupid, but then, so is Hollywood. Well, about some stuff. About making money, they're generally pretty decent. Because, when you think about it, when you think about the absolute garbage that people willingly pay to see, you have to admit a certain grudging admiration for how good at their jobs Hollywood execs are. The content they make may suck, but they sure know how to sell it to folks (catastrophes like this movie and the recent Fantastic Four notwithstanding, of course). I mean, freakin' Battleship made money.

BATTLESHIP.

AND THEY DIDN'T EVEN SAY, "YOU SANK MY BATTLESHIP!"

So, hey, they suck, but I'll respect their ability to sell ice to eskimos.

 

[kalkamel]

From Wikipedia: "According to Papyrus Chester-Beatty I, Set is depicted as trying to prove his dominance by seducing Horus and then having intercourse with him. However, Horus places his hand between his thighs and catches Set's semen, then subsequently throws it in the river, so that he may not be said to have been inseminated by Set."

That scene's not in the movie, is it?

 

[AJTaliesen]

I finally saw this and I really enjoyed it.

BUT: it's a silly-fantasy movie. If you go in looking for Citizen Kane meets Glory meets Lord of the Rings, you're going to be disappointed: it's not that kind of movie.

This one is more like Xena Warrior Princess meets Sword and the Sorcerer meets Kull the conqueror. If you like those classic silly fantasy movies, then this is for you. You're going to get big scenery, great costumes, cheesy one liners, and a D&D style adventure where the heroes meet, then go find the guy, to convince the girl, to help beat the maze, to get the thing, to fight the bad guy...story.



On casting: first off, they're not all white. It's mixed. White, Asian, Black, and even a couple who could actually pass for Eqyptian in the right light...but it DOESNT matter because this story has nothing to do with actual Egypt. It's a fairy tale. At one point they actually fly above the clouds and you see that the world IS flat, and they visit Ra's ship where he LITERALLY tows the sun across the sky every day while fighting off the demon snake trying to eat creation. This is not the movie to look for realism in casting.


What they did get is some surprisingly decent actors for what is basically a very pretty B movie.

By the way: not only are they not playing historicly accurate Egyptians, but they are not playing Humans: They are twice as tall as humans and bleed gold. Actual liquid molten gold comes out of their bodies when they get cut. Soooo in context, stressing about how one guy has blonde hair or the accent isn't accurate for 21st century Cairo is a bit silly.



What it really is: a fun adventure fantasy, with all the elements you should expect from that: big over the top fights, a silly story where the hero is trying to get the pieces together to beat the bad guy, but is really just on a journey to learn about himself, and ultimately a happy ending.

It's never going to win any prizes...it's predecessors didn't either: LadyHawk, Sword and the Sorcerer, Krull...these aren't great cinema as such, but some people enjoy them for what they are: fun fairy tales. And thats what this movie is. If you like that kind of movie, then try to catch this one. But like I said: don't go expecting life changing oscar worthy exploration of the human condition...go in expecting fun/silly fairy tale.