Its not as much the headress, as it is Johnny Depp, as Keith Richards, as Jack Sparrow, as Tonto.

Since I was talked out, on this forum, of seeing the Long Stranger movie, I'll go by

the dead (ripe?)crow photo above, but I did see the capitol dome statue tonight, and

I thought that was of some fanciful Greek deity of freedom, and not of a native

American.  Or is that what they call a Roman nose?  Does not look native American

to me.  I'd bet the sculptor studied in Italy.

If you were persuaded to not see The Lone Ranger by comments on the forum, then you have missed out on seeing a really enjoyable film.

 

Not only did I go to see it at the cinema, but I have also purchased the Blue-Ray disc,

 

In my opinion, it is a really good film, with excellent acting, a good script and stunning  cinematography. It's well worth seeing for the train scenes alone.

Johnny Depp may have single-handedly killed the western genre for a long time. Maybe worst then "Heaven Gates" which caused for decades producers and studios to stay away from western filming. If a more seriousl western had been filmed, maybe more westerns and scenes with trains would be forth coming. Johnny Depp was given to much control of this film, and used his clout to turn it into a Pirates of the Caribean style western. Glad I turned down a chance to work on this one.

The helmet design on the statue is an artistic reference to native Americans.

 

As for Depp, also an artistic design, most certainly added by him. I have always enjoyed Depp's portrayal of any character.

 

i thought the movie was fun.

Still the worst movie of last year and that makes 3 flops in a row for Depp. 

 

I saw the movie and it was as bad or more as the reviews said. I had high hopes for the movie but they really screwed it up. 

 

Where was Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheel when they made the trash they did. 

I admit that I have not learned to appreciate Johnny Depp and therefore it's hard for me be very enthusiastic about his work.  That being said, I watched a video about how they filmed the train scenes in the movie and it was very interesting.  I wish they had not labeled it a "Lone Ranger" movie and then we could have tried to evaluate it on it's own merits rather than complain about how it didn't follow the original.  As a LR movie it sucked, but as fantasy western spoof it wasn't bad.  Just my two cents worth.

 

Art

 

I probably have the problem of many who read the Fran Stryker books, read the

comic books, and watched the TV portrayals, back in the dim, distant geologic past,

for whom, if it ain't Jay Silverheels, it ain't Tonto.  Since I have not seen the movie,

I am not qualified to critique it, but I understand this movie was not a roaring, blockbuster success?  Opinions above, as in previous threads on this subject, seem to

differ.  "Artistic license", if it was used to depict native Americans on the capitol dome, as is often the case with such license, was lost on this viewer.  (to me it looks

like Lady Liberty was trying to steal eagle eggs and got pounced by the nest's owner) I have only seen Johnny Depp in parts of "Pirates if the Carribbean", and thought the attempts at humor were adolescent and hokey. But...different strokes....I guess I take

my westerns and other movies seriously...

Interestingly enough, a "flock" of crows is referred to as a "murder of crows." That may be connected with the crow being interpreted as the messenger of death.

 

In that context, a group of baboons is referred to as a "Congress of Baboons." That clearly explains Washington, D.C.

The fact that I'm easy to please when it comes to action movies or any monster/sci-fi offering makes most all my trips to the movies or the video library fun. I just dial my brain down a few notches and have a good time, as I did with the Lone Ranger.

 

Guess I wouldn't do very well as a critic, but I have a lot more fun than the more demanding types.  

 

Jim

 I have to throw in with Art here - Taken as a modern interpretation of a fast action western, I really liked the film. Especially the train scenes. What more do people want from a movie?   

Was it ever portrayed as a 'sequel/prequel' to the original TV series? Seems the viewing public gave it that designation anyway...

I can watch the train scenes all day.....I want to build the work train in O 3 rail......projects....too many!

Definitely wasn't as painful as majority say, but compared to Gore Verbinski's Academy Award winning animated feature Rango,  it didn't live up to its hype.

Johnny Depp and his flamboyant costume wasn't what really bugged me (even though it would've been better if it tried not to be Pirates of the Carribean 5). I wished that the Lone Ranger himself was a much stronger character for the middle (majority) of the film - I don't blame Armie Hammer since he was still a strong actor, I blame the writers. William Fitchner, Tom Wilkinson, and Helena Boham Carter were great, though, and the huge train action for the finale in the end made it worth it, and it was a lot better than all the other movies that ended up at the 2014 Razzie Awards.

I will stick with the b-western movies that were produced mainly between 1932 and 1952.

 

Anyone remember Bob Livingston as the Lone Ranger?

I thought the film was a lot of fun.  Don't compare it to what went before; just enjoy it for what it is.  It has awesome effects and lots of witty one-liners.

He was in the second one, Lee Powell being first. Later Livingston used a similir mask in several westerns as the Lone Rider series, and also a 3 Mesquiter film in which he was the original Stony Brooke, which John Wayne later played.

 

"Depp's Tonto headdress not so far fetched"

I agree.  Folks, please learn about history (or other facts) prior to commenting on it (or them). 

As to the History, even though fiction, of the Lone Ranger and Tonto, as written by Fran Striker, and later adding more to each character over the early years. Established a background that was used by all future writers of the Radio program, TV show, 2 early movies, and even the 1980s Lone Ranger movie.

It was established that Tonto was Apache, and early radio programs, and the 80s movie, established also that both Tonto and Lone Ranger met when young. But the Johnny Depp, costume was designed with a "Pirate of the Caribean" style to his character, not the Tonto dress nor headdress of an Apache. Disney main reason for budgeting this movie was to use the movie, characters as part of re-establishing their Frontiers Land part of their original Theme park. By having Johnny Depp character dress as part as his Pirate movies did.

If this movie had been made in a serious vein, I'm sure it would have gone a long way as being a hit and successful. Be surprised what many people, those on the side had to say about the failure this film was headed on the first day of shooting and Johnny Depps outfit. There was a lot of laughter, most could see that this film would fail, which it did.

Train sequence were great, but some really out of this world only conceived through computer generated special effects.

Personally, if the film had been made without a known and by many a respected fictional hero, it would very well may have been successful.

 

It needed a script rewrite and re-casting wouldn't have made any difference whatsoever.  You can only work with what you are given, and the grandiose tonal shifts from dead serious one moment to slapstick comedy the next just didn't mesh.

 

Maybe at one point, there was a good movie in there.  There are some good scenes that remain.  At some point though, something went terribly wrong....and a bunch of bad publicity pre-release didn't help either.

Kevin

I had the pleasure of working on the 1980s Lone Ranger. It would take a lot of space just writing why it failed, some unwanted publicity, etc. But it went through several directors, interference by the studio, etc. But in re-watching just the first part, and until he puts the mask on wasn't bad. Its after that, when re-writes, changes in directorial, editing that it falls apart. Those of us that worked in the Cavendish canyon massacre of the Texas Rangers part, were very proud of the final product. Michael Horse who played Tonto, did an excellent job, though his riding skills did improve, a couple months more on a horse and many cut scenes would have gone a long way.

If you get a chance, watch just the first hour, its very good.

The original Clayton Moore Cavendish ambush was filmed in the Alabama Hills near lone Pine, Ca. Glenn Strange plated the part of Butch Cavendish.

 

Hard to improve on that.