The Lone Ranger (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy)

When I was a kid I watched the Lone Ranger everyday after school. It was in black and white, the Lone Ranger had a trick horse and could do amazing trick shots that foiled the bad guys, he always used silver bullets. At the end of every episode he waved his hat and said "Hiho Silver! Away!". Tonto was his faithful friend and they brought justice to the old west. Yeah, Tonto said things in a corny way, but it's the 40's and 50's and I doubt Tonto talking like a college graduate would have been very convincing at that time. Try to translate that into present day and you have a challenge. I liked that they made pointed references to the the things that made the Lone Ranger what he was. I like how they viewed it with humor because now a days those things aren't perceived as being realistic. Would an actual American Indian playing Tonto been more authentic? Sure, but aren't actors supposed to be playing a part that isn't them? I was actually impressed with Johnny Depp's performance in that he DIDN'T channel Jack Sparrow into his performance. People are so tied up with not offending minorities these days we never stop to think things like, "Did the actor treat the character with respect?" First of all, ask a American Indian if they were offended. Secondly, this is a period piece and Indians were seen as uncivilized and savages. Lastly, Tonto had a way of speaking that marked him as Tonto so yeah, he said the "Me um's" and spoke with broken English. If they made the movie politically correct it would be boring! I also think it's a good thing to remember that there was a time people thought that way and it should remind us now how we need to look beyond what we see and try to truly understand the people around us for who they are and not what we perceive them to be by their surface appearance. I think that Tonto's reason for being locked up made that point very clear when he said his crime was, "Indian". I was thoroughly entertained by this movie, yes it is over the top but I don't go to the movies for a repeat of the television show. Good solid story and acting by the entire cast and it is one of those movies I have watched more than once and still enjoyed the same each time. When the William Tell overture played I got excited, it really took me back to those times of watching the TV show and hearing the music play whenever the exciting part of the show began. I'm 42 years-old and I still got up and pranced around like I was riding a horse enjoying the memories and giving my family a laugh. Awesome Movie!

As always, johnny Depp was great! The movie has a great plot,easy to follow and funny at times. Great movie for movie night if you need a laugh

This is an awesome movie. Yes, it is long and yes, it's very similar "Pirates of the Caribbean" in a western setting with cowboys and Indians instead of pirates and ocean. And I do not mean this in a bad way. It has action, and very humorous, deadpan scenes that one comes to expect out of Johnny Depp. His take on Tonto does remind a bit of the tipsy pirate but who knows, maybe he is one of Jack's ancestors. (Why not, The Mad Hatter seemed to be Willy Wonka's orange haired second cousin.) But again this is not necessarily a bad thing, as fans of Jack will find his Tonto to be an old kemosabe. They are NOT the same of course...the character has his own unique quirks as well. But this is not your father's Lone Ranger. There is a masked man, a cowboy and an Indian with the names Tonto and Lone Ranger, and some horses but that's where the similarities end. It is a movie, meant to be enjoyed and entertain for a few hours, and it does this. It is a very enjoyable film despite what the critics say. Now I want to say a few words about peoples' opinion of Tonto. Those who claim that it is wrong of Johnny Depp to play an Indian, unfortunately aren't aware of the fact that he's more Cherokee than white. He was well received and was dubbed an honorary Commanche and had the blessing of many of the tribes. The film's proceeds helped many Native American children receive a quality education that they wouldn't have otherwise gotten. This movie deserves ten stars for that principle. Johnny has played a Native American before. (In the film he co-wrote, directed and starred in, "The Brave". Unfortunately very few people have been fortunate enough to have seen it.) With that said, the critics who like to nitpick about that have missed the whole point entirely. This is a fun movie,and it's very funny. While a few scenes are tedious and drawn out, they aren't awful. Die hard Johnny Depp fans will of course want to add this one to their collection. Since it was shot on location in several western and southwestern states, the scenery is breathtaking and beautiful, especially in high definition. It is a film that sadly didn't do as well in theaters as it could have, simply because critics and reviewers had their minds made up to dislike it before they got a chance to even see it. (A few recanted after they saw it.) They were determined to hurt this film before it got out of the starting gate. It is a highly misjudged film. Just get a snack and sit back and enjoy it. We're in the midst of the holiday season, along with nasty winter weather and it is an excellent diversion for a cold day.

Here I was all set to hate this movie. I had put off even watching this movie because of all the negative comments I'd heard along with all of the negative reviews I’d read about it. Since I couldn’t find anything else to watch last night, I decided to give it a go. The first half hour or so had me almost convinced that the critics were right and I was ALMOST prepared to shut it off and go watch something else. I’m glad I didn’t. The next two hours were absolutely entertaining stuff, swinging wildly between some extreme action and some VERY funny dialogue. Johnny Depp played his part wonderfully. I had heard nothing but criticism about him playing Tonto, but he played it so deadpan that I had to laugh. This version of Lone Ranger was, in many respects a throwback to many older films. The Marx Brothers “Duck Soup”, for example, is the one that most frequently came to my mind. At first, I suffered from what I believe might have tainted many reviewers negative sense about this movie: perhaps a kind of “sacred” notion of who and what the Lone Ranger “should” be. I have experienced this before with the Batman and Robin TV series that turned the Dark Knight into a kind of campy idiot. I thoroughly despised that series in turning one of my favorite childhood heroes into this utterly un-Batman-like fool. So it was that my initial reaction to this version of the Lone Ranger was entirely negative. Here, another one of my childhood heroes was being depicted as a complete nerd-like dork and Tonto, his faithful sidekick was this rather insane, outrageous Comanche who walked around with a dead bird on his head. This was enough to make any hard-core Lone Ranger fan foam at the mouth. But then, as the movie progressed and the old stereotype of what the Lone Ranger “should” be was rapidly dashed to pieces, the true nature of this film began to emerge as an absolutely fun movie with some truly great slapstick, puns, and really good action. In short, by the end of the movie, I was converted from a hater to a complete appreciator of this movie. Many critics complained of it’s length—two and half hours—and it’s true; two and a half hours is ridiculously long for a funny action movie. But you know what? I didn’t even realize it was that long until I read those reviews afterwards. It seemed to be just as long as it needed to be in order to complete the movie properly. There was not one part of it that I would cut, even though the beginning didn’t make any sense to me at first. Having watched it all the way, the beginning was essential in bringing the movie full circle. I am given to suspect that many of those harsh critics of this Lone Ranger movie would probably have given “Duck Soup” or other Marx Brothers or WC Fields absurdities high marks as some of the great movie comedy classics. So why not this Lone Ranger? It was every bit as funny. The photography and acting were first rate. It was full of some excellent action sequences (unlike what several critics have alleged). Bottom line: The Lone Ranger was one fun movie. I would recommend this movie to anyone capable of suspending their personal notions about the "sacredness" of the Lone Ranger & Tonto characters. This Lone Ranger is a funny parody; a what-if kind of speculation in an alternate universe where the heroes are turned into a kind of goofy buddy-movie that for me, at least, was very funny and highly entertaining. It's also a kind of speculation and prequel as to how the Lone Ranger became the great Lone ranger.

In what seems to have become an annual event, the movie I enjoyed most in 2013 didn't do terribly well at the box office. In 2010 it was SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD. 2011: COWBOYS AND ALIENS (the extended cut on the Blu-Ray is better than the theatrical release by the by). 2012 was of course the year of JOHN CARTER. Now just in time for 2013 we have THE LONE RANGER. Sigh. What can I say? Some people say they want something different at the movies. I genuinely do. The press leading up to its release was awash in negativity. The snark came in basically two kinds: Those who thought it was racist to cast Johnny Depp as Tonto, and those who thought it was racist to make the movie at all. Johnny Depp having some amount of Native American blood and being proud of that part of his ancestry in interviews going back at least twenty-five years counted for nothing. The film production courting the Commanche community and Depp being made an honorary member of the tribe didn't matter. The biggest movie star on the planet wanted to play the role and was the only reason the movie got greenlit at all, but you don't understand, he lacks the requisite genetic bona fides. He's no Jay Silverheels. Yeah, about that. Jay Silverheels played Tonto on The Lone Ranger tv series of the 1950s. Somehow in some people's heads Silverheels' performance is better and worthier than Johnny Depp's could ever be because you know, he was a full blooded Mohawk. But have you watched episodes of The Lone Ranger lately? Silverheels did the best anyone could with what is a total nothing part. Tonto is basically only there to serve his Caucasian kemosabe. The fact they got a real Native American to play that doesn't mean we should accord it more praise than it deserves. Ideally what the complainers wanted was for someone like Adam Beach or Lou Diamond Phillips to be cast. They mean well, but that line of thinking is creatively limited and leads to hewing too close to crappy tradition. I've seen Depp's performance criticized variously as being a racist cliche and as being nothing more than Jack Sparrow in the Wild (Wild) West. It can't be both, so which is it? Actually? It's neither. Depp famously took Rolling Stone Keith Richards as inspiration for his career defining role as Captain Jack Sparrow in the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN movies. Once that was pointed out, it was obvious: He seems permanently intoxicated, is always slightly slurring his words, he dresses a bit like a gypsy, and his body language is loose and fluid like the rum he clamors for. Depp's Tonto is miles away from that. He's quiet and determined where Sparrow was flamboyant and dissolute. He moves with smooth precision while all around him is chaos. He's a planner not a schemer --the definition being that a planner focuses on how to solve a problem, while a schemer's focus is on manipulating someone else in solving it. In short: Depp plays Tonto as Buster Keaton, "the Great Stone Face" of silent film comedy, with a left turn at the Jay Silverheels. You can see it in the deadpan facial expressions (the white warpaint helps with this tremendously and more about that later), the body language, and if you still don't get it: The finale is an extended tribute to the two train chase in Keaton's THE GENERAL. What Depp takes from Silverheels are his speech patterns. It's a nice nod because to millions of people, that what Tonto sounds like. Depp's turn is a more interesting conversationalist though. It all builds to subversive effect when the Lone Ranger meets some Commanche elders and none of them talk like Tonto. In fact, they think he's a bit touched in the head. They're saying, "We know our ways are strange to you, white man, but Tonto is an eccentric weirdo even by our standards." Here Tonto's given a backstory and motivation of his own ala Sergio Leone's ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST. He's a man without a tribe, separated from his people and society because of a tragedy he feels responsible for. He's given --dare I say it-- a personality. Which is refreshing. Unlike every other depiction of the character on screen, Tonto is shown to be more than just his race, more than just the Lone Ranger's trusty Indian companion. Not being a full blooded Native American himself, Depp doesn't see the character as a spokesperson for Native Americans everywhere. Which frees him to do what real artists always do: Take inspiration and use it to create something new. The complainers went on about Tonto's strange look, saying it wasn't in accordance with any tribal tradition, but they missed the whole point of it: Like the Lone Ranger this Tonto has his own mask. It's one he wears for his own reasons and one he never takes off. If you doubt what I'm saying, just look at the advertising logo and tell me whose eyes those are behind the mask. Which brings us to the Lone Ranger himself, played by Armie Hammer. I've heard criticisms about how the movie treats the character, saying it's not respectful and he's not cool enough. If you go back to the tv and radio shows though, you see the Ranger was never cool. He didn't shoot to kill --ever. Didn't drink, smoke, cuss, or show an interest in the ladies. He's the man who'd go into the toughest saloon in town and order a glass of milk. Despite what you might've heard, the movie doesn't ridicule the character. What it does is stay true to the "straight arrow" children's hero created by Fran Striker in 1933. The twist is everyone else (including Tonto) react to it the way people actually would. Which is funny. In the end, he still wins against the bad guys on his own terms --which is even better. What else? The movie tells the story of how John Reid became the Lone Ranger. It sticks very close to the story detailed in the original radio show (and later tv series). The cinematography is beautiful and shows off Monument Valley better than anyone since John Ford. It has an old fashioned sense of storytelling informed not just by Ford but by Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns. Also: Not an overabundance of CGI. Those are real trains and horses, people. The movie runs a bit long, but it's a feast for all that. There's adventure, humor, a touch of the gruesome, some intense action, and heart and spirit to spare here. Do yourself a favor and see it.

Strangely enough, this movie reminds me of Clint Eastwood's High Plains Drifter. Not because of plot -- there are NO similarities, not because of the characters either -- nothing in common there. They are similar because both movies understand that the Wild West, the Gunslinger, the Loner who saves the day -- these are and always were myths, stories that had nothing to do the reality of plains life: hard, back-breaking work lasting years that could be wiped out a few months of disastrous weather, disease, hunger -- no glamor there to be found. The Western was written for the city slickers back East that dreamed of adventure and that promised something more in their lives than wage-slavery. So for all those reviewers who complain about 2013 movie not being true to the original story, HINT!! -- there never was any "original" story, the original story was just as made up out of fantasy as those penny novels that sold so well in the 1880s about the "Wild West". So get over it. That said, there are authentic villains in the movie who are just active today as they were back then: villains whose grasping, clutching greed will destroy everything they touch, including the land, because these robber barons can never get enough. Today it's clear-cutters, frackers, miners -- they steal all they can and leave desolation behind. While tycoon Latham Cole may have gotten his comeuppance in the movie, and maybe Butch Cavendish was not his biological brother, they were brothers all the same, at heart, and that race of brothers lives on today. In the face of such evil, we need myths -- stories and legends that will inspire us to face the evil. That's why Johnny Depp's last line was: "up to you". Is the story of The Lone Ranger, Tonto really true? "Up to you" So I find this movie a serious treatment of the myth of the West. About the movie itself, its style, pacing, cinematography: it is a rip-roaring ride. That keeps it up for 2.5 hours. There are too many movies that drag after 15 minutes. Plenty of humor, some sly, some witty, some slap-stick. It has got it all. And Depp excels in each aspect. And there is the serious side, the Indian chief's statement: we are already ghosts. Pretty amazing for what could be taken as a mere summer popcorn movie. And the last stand of Commanche as the movie shows it (not meant to the most factual, but the most true) will haunt you after the ending credits have rolled by. Plot twists, wild chase scenes that keep you on seat's edge, uncertain romance. Hubris, vanity, greed. Even character growth: Armie Hammer's John Reed (the Lone Ranger) undergoes a painful, tentative transformation of growing up away from a dopey, smug idealism to the reality of an adult. I also appreciate the several times the movie criticized itself, breaking the flow through the sceptical questions of young boy-cowboy Will (Mason Cook) who not sure what to believe. Those moments (aside from the mischievous humor implied) brought me back to the movie theater: it's just a movie, use it for Escapism, hero worship, or maybe something else. "Up to you"

Love this movie full of action packed scenes and just really keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time

When The Lone Ranger was released I was eager to see it but there was a lot of criticism saying the movie was a bit confusing. I told myself I would wait for it to be available at home. I watched it last week, I liked it, but they were right there does seem to be a lot of unresolved issues in how this story was to be told. After watching it the viewer walks away wondering what it is he has seen and what it was the producer was trying to do. I think it was supposed to be intellectually humorous... Tonto was supposed to have wisdom laced with irony - sometimes it worked, most of the time it didn't. The Ranger was supposed to be less than a hero, transformed into the archetypical western hero - yeah, well, kinda-sorta, maybe. It was supposed to develop a bond between the characters and the audience, origin stories that would help you identify with them and that worked... Tonto's backstory was unique (for me) and the Ranger's ride into a vicious trap that cost the lives of seven men (including his brother) helped us feel his obsession for justice. But the lasting effect of these elements "burst" as the confusing slap-stick elements of the film poked at the bubbles of connection and seriously threatened the viewer's suspension of disbelief. There is some really good stuff in the movie leaving the viewer, afterwards, feeling like he had a really exciting dream that now seems absurd.

Compré la película porque en los foros decían que tenía castellano, pero finalmente no es así y sólo tiene Ingles, frances, polaco y creo que lo otro era alemán. En castellano (ni sudamericano) no lleva ni los subtitulos. Es una pena, pero me costó 4€ así que se la daré a un amigo polaco.

Eigentlich kann ich sie ja nicht mehr hören und lesen, die ständigen Vergleiche zwischen der inzwischen ja durchaus legendären Piratentrilogie aus dem Hause Disney und dem ebenfalls dort entsprossenen Action-Western-Komödien-Mix "The Lone Ranger". Dummerweise trifft dieser den Nagel genau auf den Kopf, denn im Grunde ist die gut 145minütige Hatz durch Prärie, Wüsten und Wild-West-Städte vom Rezept her ganz klar ein legitimer Nachfolger des "Fluch der Karibik". Erzählt wird die Geschichte des gesetzestreuen John Reid, der sich der Jagd auf den entflohenen Gesetzeslosen Cavendish anschließt. Begleitet wird er dabei durch seine Zufallsbekanntschaft Tonto, der wiederum eine alte Schuld begleichen möchte. Beide geraten in des Geflecht einer Verschwörung rund um ein verborgenes Silbervorkommen, den Eisenbahnbau und einen provozierten Konflikt mit den Indianern. "The Lone Ranger" ist aus meiner Sichtweise eine volle Unterhaltungsbreitseite, garniert mit zotigen Sprüchen, einem herrlichen Pferde-Sidekick und vor allem sympathischen Helden. Insbesondere Johnny Depp als Tonto ist über alle Zweifel erhaben, aber auch der mir bis dato unbekannte Armie Hammer (den ich bereits als einen weiteren typischen Hollywood-Schnösel-Schönling abgetan hatte) hat trotz mangelnder schauspielerischer Herausforderung so seine Momente. Auch die Schauwerte, so insbesondere das actiongeladene Finale und die beeindruckenden Landschaften, stimmen. Musikalisch sorgt Hans Zimmer für die passenden Klänge und auch wenn er sich offensichtlich im ganzen Westerngenre bedient und auch vor der Oper in Form der Overtüre aus "Wilhelm Tell" von Rossini nicht zurückschreckt, passt das einfach zur Gesamtpackung herausragend. Warum mittelmäßig selbst machen, wenn man gut adaptieren kann? Das dem Streifen trotz der passenden Zutaten nicht der von Disney gewünschte Erfolg beschieden war, liegt insgesamt wohl weniger an der filmischen Unterhaltungsqualität, sondern viel mehr an dem Umstand, dass es mittlerweile generell einen zu hohen Mainstream-Anteil bei Kinofilmen gibt und die Leute trotzdem immer wieder Außergewöhnliches erwarten, was "The Lone Ranger" so gesehen nicht bietet. Vielleicht ist der finanzielle Misserfolg aber auch ein Segen, denn so muss man sich nicht auf halbgare Sequels wie bei "Fluch der Karibik" einstellen, welche aus einem herausragenden Film eine eher durchschnittliche Trilogie (eigentlich ja sogar Quadrilogie, aber den zu miesen vierten nehme ich mal raus) machten. Technisch bietet die Scheibe, wie von Disney gewohnt, tolle Farben, super Schärfegrad und einen vernünftigen 5.1.-HD-MA-Ton - wie man es auch vom Medium erwarten kann. Die Extras sind ok, aber bieten eben nicht mehr als die obligatorischen Hintergrundinfos. "The Lone Ranger" ist unterm Strich somit weder ein genialer Western, noch ein brillanter Actionfilm oder gar eine schmissige Komödie, aber bietet durch die bunte Mixtur aller möglichen Elemente, trotz seiner mitunter als zu lang kritisierten Spieldauer, kurzweilige Unterhaltung. Wer also nach exakt dieser sucht, macht mit Disneys Wundertüte nicht viel falsch - und besser als das ähnlich unernste "Cowboys & Aliens" oder der bereits erwähnte lahme vierte Teil des Karibikfluches ist der Streifen allemal!

Western loufoque, beaucoup d'humour surtout avec Johnny Deep déguisé en indien et cela lui va bien. Plein d'actions, distrayant, amusant. Film bien joué avec un bon scénario. A voir

Blood thirsty for a kids show. The scenes are action packed. Actors demeanour and pairing excellence. End a bit long winded. Runs out of steam.

jw