Cowboys And Aliens

COWBOYS AND ALIENS (CINEMA)
Paramount Studios

Release Date (US): July 29th, 2011
Release date (UK): August 19th, 2011
Certificate (US): PG-13
Certificate (UK): 15
Running time: 139 minutes

Director: Jon Favreau
Writers: Mark Fergus, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Landeloff, Hawk Otsby, Roberto Orci
Producers: Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Jon Favreau, Steven Spielberg, Robert Orci, Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, Alex Kurtzman.

Cast: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Sam Rockwell, Clancy Brown, Keith Carradine, Olivia Wilde

Official Movie Site

Why do we go to the movies? We go to the movies so we can escape the real world for 2 hours or more, for in the real world we cannot do the things that the characters on the screen does or sometimes there are unbelievable moments on screen that cannot be seen and experienced in real life.

For example; if a skyscraper falls in real life everyone runs away and if a skyscraper falls on the big screen you watch the details with passion and without blinking. That’s why we go to the movies. We go to see something magical, something unbelievable… And we go to the movies also to see a film like Cowboys And Aliens.

I have been an aficionado of western genre since The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), The Quick And The Dead (1995), The Unforgiven (1992). Of course, my love for western films, which is still alive, led me to 3:10 To Yuma (2007). I have to give the western genre a credit as well, for it taught me how to look at films. The atmospheric details of films mentioned above, and not to forget the concentration of the makers on the costumes and style of a western film.

There are about seven basic plots in the westerns according to the western writer Frank Gruber – The Cavalry and the Indian story; the homesteaders or Squatter themes; the Union Pacific; the Revenge story; the Cattle Empire story; the Lawman story and the Outlaw story, yet we never saw a western film with a sci-fi taste or a sci-fi film with a western taste up until now.

Director Jon Favreau and his team of writers and producers took this awesome idea from the graphic novel by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg. A story written skilfully and adapted by a team of sagacious men who merged an alien incursion story into a western genre. The reason I am bringing the spotlight on the western genre more and not on the sci-fi genre is because the story is mainly focused on the western genre. About 80% of the film is western and the remaining 20% concentrates on the aliens showing off their technology to the men on their horses.

It’s 1873, in Arizona, Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) awakens in the middle of the desert with a peculiar shackle on his left wrist and not a single memory of his past. When he enters the town of Absolution, he learns he is a notorious criminal wanted by many, including Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford) who rules the town with an iron fist.

The town soon faces a greater threat when alien spaceships take over Absolution. Lonergan and Dolarhyde learn that the shackle is holding the key to overpower these mean, hardcore creatures. So, they become allies to make a stand against the invaders from space.

I personally would like to thank all the artists and visionaries involved with this such a magnificent project. Few men whose names I like to mention includes, Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and of course, Mr. Favreau himself. Truly they have created a film full of joy and adventure.

Director Jon Favreau’s take on Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010) presented his passion for bigger projects. With Cowboys And Aliens he has managed to create that contemporary blockbuster, it’s a substantial Sci-Fi/Western film. A solid winner. Favreau has cleverly cast his film and as a smart director at that perfect moment, he has stepped outside the frame to let his actors work freely by giving them enough room to act. Besides the cool looking, stylish and mouth watering special effects, you will get to see how much time Favreau has invested in the story and characters.

I adored every bit of this film. It’s a beauty and it must be cherished on the big screen. When I walked out of the dark room few things were remained in my mind. Most importantly, the characters stayed with me, for Favreau has consecrated a great amount of his time on the characters. And, besides the film’s impressive visual effects, it is the action sequences, the dialogues and Daniel Craig’s cool wrist assistant stole my heart… I was truly entertained. So be prepared to be astonishingly entertained as well.

Rohan Mohmand

Rohan is the lead US correspondent for Static Mass. Graduating from High School in Atlanta, Georgia in 2003, Rohan fell in love with the environment of the cinema hall and moving images on the big screen, watching Bollywood, American and Iranian films.

As an aficionado of film noir, mysteries, drama and thrillers, he enjoys the films of Alfred Hitchcock, M.Night Shyamalan, Steven Spielberg, David Fincher, Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan. Engrossed by the originality of his favourite filmmakers it opened a door for him to take on writing scripts as well.

The reverence of directors, actors, stories, art and cinema allows him to experience films with an open mind and leads him to believe strongly in the correspondence of films with the occurrences of the real world.

Rohan writes about the work of directors on his site Masters of Cinema, and you can follow him on Twitter @nightwriter22.

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