Queen of the Damned

[Merrie]

Thought I'd open up a thread to gush about the movie in :)
Anybody else fall in love with Lestat de Lioncourt all over again? <<purrrrrr>>

[SimplyStrange]

Ok, so I haven't seen the movie, but correct me if I'm wrong, but um...wasn't Lestat's hair blonde??? :D (stewart townsend is still a hottie, blonde or no blonde, but he should have been blonde :D)

[flar7]

true, but they took some other liberties with the book. And it was
sort of a combination of "The Vampire Lestat" and "Queen of the
Damned"

Still, was a very good movie.

[Lunamoth]

...that's all I have to say about it, "Eh."

It was loosely based on Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned. Characters were completely changed from their original concept, etc. ANd I know how that stuff happens and I'm not here to scream about film makers sticking to canon or anything. But, if the story they did come up with had been better, then I would have enjoyed it. As it was, it was just eye candy for the current MTV generation, IMNSHO.

[Eudaimonia]

Personally, I want to MURDER the director!

Anne Rice is easily my favorite author. Yeah, Interview didn't stay with the book that well either, but they did an excellent job of compressing the book. Besides, the actors were damn good!

Now for damned..... ARRRRGH! None of the background history, which is at least half the story! Marius DID NOT MAKE LESTAT, he made Armand! Yeah, Lestat has blonde, long hair. And what of Maharet? They left her and her sis out almost entirely! "Loosely based" is an understatement! And no one ate brains.. what the freak? They didn't tell any about his past, w/the violin, the wolves, the theatre, ANYTHING! They don't explain about Lestat's love of the limelight. And were was Armand? Or Louis? Or the reporter? Or Gabrielle? And why is David Talbot so freakin' young? He's supposed to be about his 60's!

Ok, I'll stop... But there's plenty more ARRRRGH where that came from!

(PS: at least the soundtrack will kick some bloody rear!)

[manstranger]

I have been hearing ALOT of bad things about it from people that read the book. With no brain eating, that completely ruins a whole concept of the books, that without the spirit's core, they would all die. That makes me mad. I guess I'll go see it.

Also mad about marius being lestats maker. Marius' whole allure was that he was unknown and hidden. If lestat was his fledgling ... hes none of that! Grr.

[Eudaimonia]

Nope, Marius did not make Lestat. He made Armand. The vamp who made Lestat (and I can't recall his name) threw himself into a bonfire afterwards. Lestat had no instruction... those scenes were based on Armand's experience. Perhaps that's why they made his hair dark.....

[Yvonne Belisle]

Well if they took the history out they screwed themselves out of a real sequel. The whole book series had wonderful potential for a series of good movies. Queen of the damned put all of the history of the vampires as per this series of books into perspective. There was only so much deviation that could occur with that and still make a good movie. Also much of that history explains the queen herself and her motivations. I think I will wait for video with what I am hearing it shouldn't take that long to hit the shelves.

[Merrie]

Ok, ok, so maybe this is going to be less of a gush-a-thon than i thought....I, too read the books first and adored them, and i knew everything that was wrong in the movie as i watched it-but still, i loved it. It was really a totally separate entitiy from the books...dark, gothy and absolutely delicious :)
I loves stuart's rendition of Lestat, just as i loved Tom Cruise's...but when i read the books and picture lestat, he's like niether. The movies are different from the books in a lot of ways, but no less wonderful :)
i dunno,....jus my humble 'pinion...

PS, Eudaimonia? It was Magnus.

[mato]

I havent seen a movie for a year now and this is the one that I am going to go see (If I have to Kill some one to do it! but that doesnt mean much I am a bit blood thirsty this week month year whatever...) if only to see alia

[amberlaine]

I'm disappointed to hear they left ou Maharet and Mekare. THat, to me, was by FAR more interesting than the Akasha plot. In fact, I foudn the Akasha plot dreadfully trite and dull. The history lesson Maharet gives would have made a much better flick!

I hadn't planned on seeing this anyway, but now I"ll definitley wait for the DVD.

[manstranger]

Exactly. It opened up a whole world of new beings and charaters, not to mention explaining just about everything. Which I guess is why they left the brain eating out, because they couldn't not have the brain eating with Maharet and Mekare. Its the climax of the book, and they cut it out?!
I'm much more a fan of her stories of the past than the present, which is why I refuse to read Tales and Memnoch. The story of the twins is by far the most interesting part. After all, Lestat being .. .well, lestat gets boring after awhile. O, he got a bunch of power? Who cares, it doesn't change him. Akasha isn't that good of a bad-lady, imo, either. Maharet was the person I personally finished the book for.
If theres no M & M, than whos gonna be the new Queen?

[flar7]

Dude! "Memnoch" rocks! It ties all the series together, and has
some very nice(awesome) encounters! Lestat vs. D was cool.
Vampires suiciding in broad daylight? awesome. Would make a
good movie. Tales of a Body Thief, was good and bad. I dont
think Lestat would ever be that stupid.

[manstranger]

What time period was it set in? I'm not much for people that weren't remotley Darwin's law y. As in survival of the fittest.

Hmm ... maybe all the vampires had a lapse of stupidity when Akasha's brain was eaten! And Lestats stuck around, because, well, hes lestat! Err. i liked him a little in Lestat, much more so than queen. Now I'm all for Gabrielle and Jessi.

[MammaStar]

Well, I'm guessing I'm not gonna run out & see the movie. Queen of the Dammed was by far, my fave book in the series.

And if there is no M & M, well, what's the point?

[Demona Lissa]

If any of you are interested in what I think come read my LJ:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/demonalissa/

PS: The eye candy thing I totally agree with. I loved the concert scene otherwise...the movie was OK. When I say it does not mean I loved it, liked it or anything but OK.

Unforunately, I really thought it could have been better.

And that is my 2 cents :)

[manstranger]

Just have to say .. great name!

[mato]

Didnt read the book and the movie was good, the best thing in the movie was Allayah (still cant spell her name) :drool: I mean DAMN! I usually (read never) dont go for chicks but I wouldnt kick her out of bed (ok I would probably run for the hills today but when she was alive... or even her vamp character... hey I could get into the undead thing [bad joke, very very bad...]). Too bad she died :( The one real woman I would do and she had to go and die...

[Illuminatus]

Originally posted by Eudaimonia
Personally, I want to MURDER the director!

Anne Rice is easily my favorite author. Yeah, Interview didn't stay with the book that well either, but they did an excellent job of compressing the book. Besides, the actors were damn good!

Now for damned..... ARRRRGH! None of the background history, which is at least half the story! Marius DID NOT MAKE LESTAT, he made Armand! Yeah, Lestat has blonde, long hair. And what of Maharet? They left her and her sis out almost entirely! "Loosely based" is an understatement! And no one ate brains.. what the freak? They didn't tell any about his past, w/the violin, the wolves, the theatre, ANYTHING! They don't explain about Lestat's love of the limelight. And were was Armand? Or Louis? Or the reporter? Or Gabrielle? And why is David Talbot so freakin' young? He's supposed to be about his 60's!

Ok, I'll stop... But there's plenty more ARRRRGH where that came from!

(PS: at least the soundtrack will kick some bloody rear!)

Yeah, same here. At least Pandora was there :).... they murdered Marius's character, it was terrible.

Also there was the whole plots where the Queen was going to kill EVERY LIVING MALE in the world! And Lestat was remorseful for causing Claudia's death, and he haunted her throughout the book... that was good stuff... I'll stick to the books THANK you very much!

[MistOfTheSea86]

Alleyah did look real sexy, With all her snake like movements. I was in awe more of drooling. I say the same about a flower that flows in the wind. My drooling was spent ALL ON LESTAT BABY. He could bite me anytime. And yes I am getting the soundtrack too... I have no idea why, I usually hate hard rock but It was just so damn awesome!

[mato]

Originally posted by MistOfTheSea86
Alleyah did look real sexy, With all her snake like movements. I was in awe more of drooling. I say the same about a flower that flows in the wind. My drooling was spent ALL ON LESTAT BABY. He could bite me anytime. And yes I am getting the soundtrack too... I have no idea why, I usually hate hard rock but It was just so damn awesome!

Funny he was far to pale for me...lol

[Eudaimonia]

The books are always better than the movies; it's a given. Still, some movies stay pretty damn good. Cutting out 90% or so of the origional storyline... well, it shouldn't even have the same name! If this was you're book, would you have given permission?

Thanks, people, for reminding me of the names. I'm really not that great with them.

I really do love ROCK, so I'll get the soundtrack anyway. Music can be great even if the movie sucks (Bride of Chucky, for example).

I forgot about her destroying every male on earth. Hee hee. Guess I like them around.

M&M have the best story, I agree. And where was Pandora? I didn't see her anywhere. And who was the blonde boy(?). Was that supposed to be Armand? If you give us characters who take part in the climatic scene, the least you could do is tell us their names! Maybe some background also. ARRRRRGH!

Didn't Akasha show up after the Concert, right before the sun? Isn't that where Queen starts? They should have just make two, three movies. Perhaps when my friend Frederick is a director, I'll force him to re-do all of it for me. (Wishful thinking).

Right about the MTV gen, the Millenials... I can't believe how much prison bait was in the theatre when I went? What the f*** is going wrong here?

(Breathe in... breathe out... breathe in... breathe out...) **sigh** :'(

[manstranger]

Originally posted by mato
Didnt read the book and the movie was good, the best thing in the movie was Allayah (still cant spell her name) :drool: I mean DAMN! I usually (read never) dont go for chicks but I wouldnt kick her out of bed (ok I would probably run for the hills today but when she was alive... or even her vamp character... hey I could get into the undead thing [bad joke, very very bad...]). Too bad she died :( The one real woman I would do and she had to go and die...

Well, you might think that only because you haven't read the books.

[mato]

Originally posted by manstranger
Well, you might think that only because you haven't read the books.

Ya but I out grew anne rice... Same with stephan king and koontz... I cant get into them any more because the formula they use is soooo predictable and after a while boring.

[stormyray]

I don't even plan on seeing the movie. I will stick with the books. I just finished reading-- Blood and Gold.... the story of Marius. It rocks!!!!!

[Lunamoth]

....about that bathtub scene with Lestat and Allyah (uhm, I thought AR's vamps were, you know, non-functional in that respect, but whatevah!).......

Why did they shave his chest hair? I mean, why not waxing? And if shaving was unavoidable, why not film it right after the shaving occurred instead of waiting till Stewart had time to "sprout"? And WHY oh WHY leave behind the Nipple hair??


*shudder*

Yeugh.

[flar7]

in Anne Rice's books, Lestat is very "functional" in the romance
department. Its just not as good as the blood he take during.

[Nect]

The movie isn't out yet here in HK...

So we're all Anne Rice fans, eh? So Maharet and Mekare aren't the focus? I loved them both, so it'll be disappointing...but I don't even try to compare any movie to the book anymore - they're completely different things... And I love eye candy!!! *drools* Stuart Townsend!!!!!! Aaliyah is hot, too!



The vamp who made Lestat (and I can't recall his name) threw himself into a bonfire afterwards.

Magnus was the vamp...

Nect

[manstranger]

Originally posted by Lunamoth
....about that bathtub scene with Lestat and Allyah (uhm, I thought AR's vamps were, you know, non-functional in that respect, but whatevah!).......

Why did they shave his chest hair? I mean, why not waxing? And if shaving was unavoidable, why not film it right after the shaving occurred instead of waiting till Stewart had time to "sprout"? And WHY oh WHY leave behind the Nipple hair??


*shudder*

Yeugh.

I'm pretty sure the guys just can't make babies ... and as long as they have blood :eek: i would assume that part of them is fully functional.

That also explains why helena's mom didn't want to take us to see it. Thanks!

O, and the hair might just been the result of cold air ... no matter how steamy it was in the tub, because the cold air might have been in enough amounts to push through it, and not just keep it down. Anyway, the cold air makes the stubble pop up a little ... it has to do with the contraction of some part of your skin, i think, i forget about the science lesson we had on it tho.

[Lunamoth]

I'm pretty sure the guys just can't make babies ... and as long as they have blood :eek: i would assume that part of them is fully functional.

Okay, I think I just never completely understood which it was as it seemed kinda vague in the books. Makes sense tho.

O, and the hair might just been the result of cold air ... no matter how steamy it was in the tub, because the cold air might have been in enough amounts to push through it, and not just keep it down. Anyway, the cold air makes the stubble pop up a little ... it has to do with the contraction of some part of your skin, i think, i forget about the science lesson we had on it tho.

Which just goes to show that if they wanted him hairless, they should have waxed the boy. ;) Including the nipple hair. :lol:

[AradiaSupernova]

I read the book, and saw the movie.

I loved the movie. Of course, I was sitting through the whole thing going "oh my god, thats wrong!" but the concept they used was still really good. I'll have to agree that I fell in love with the character Lestat again. Even if Stuart Townsend is a brunette, he still did an awesome job as Lestat and he's extremely HOT! They ruined the chances of any more sequels though..atleast with the Vampire Chronicles.

[Illuminatus]

Originally posted by mato


Ya but I out grew anne rice... Same with stephan king and koontz... I cant get into them any more because the formula they use is soooo predictable and after a while boring.

What??? Who are YOU reading? You're probably just flipping through looking through the pictures. You can't convince me that Memnoch the Devil was not a uniquely incredible addition to the vampire chronicles, or King's Gunslinger trilogy is not also fantasticly unique.

[Illuminatus]

Originally posted by Lunamoth
....about that bathtub scene with Lestat and Allyah (uhm, I thought AR's vamps were, you know, non-functional in that respect, but whatevah!).......

Why did they shave his chest hair? I mean, why not waxing? And if shaving was unavoidable, why not film it right after the shaving occurred instead of waiting till Stewart had time to "sprout"? And WHY oh WHY leave behind the Nipple hair??


Waxing your chest hurts like a bitch... like twice as bad as your back I hear. And that hurts!

[EbonyRiver]

I can't wait til the film is released over here (UK) and i haven't the faintest idea when that will be. I only heard about it coz they mentioned it on a tribute/documentry about Aaliyah.

Have to say, after reading this thread, my expectations are low... no Armand? But i LOVE Armand, he's so sweet and vulnerable - much prefer his character to Lestat. And the sub-plot between him and Daniel, i take it that's been cut out? Part of the beauty of the book was all the little sub-plots and the seperate lives of the many characters that finally came together for the big brain eating finale. Sounds like they've cut all that out, though. So they've squashed Lestat and Queen into one film? That explains it then, i thought i'd missed a film in the series when i heard they were doing Queen of the Damned! What a stupid thing to do though, there's enough meat in Lestat and Queen to fill 3 or 4 films, they are bound to loose the point if they try to squash it all into a couple of hours.

Having done all that moning though, i'll still go see it at the cinema, waiting for the video is just too long,

Eb xx

[Lunamoth]

Originally posted by Illuminatus


Waxing your chest hurts like a bitch... like twice as bad as your back I hear. And that hurts!

Okay, how about Nair then? :lol:

[manstranger]

Originally posted by Illuminatus


Waxing your chest hurts like a bitch... like twice as bad as your back I hear. And that hurts!

Yeah, i heard that to. Its cause your chest had more nerve endings than your back does ... cause your back is amoung the toughtest parts of your body. At least, you can sink hooks into the skin and drag around cars by them. Or so they did on the discovery channel.

They could have used that spray thing, tho, than rubbed his man booby. Sorry, just feeling immature today. o well, i don't really mind.

Ehh, howed i get his off topic? better stop now.

[AradiaSupernova]

Armand is in the movie. People just missed him. He's the blonde one with the curly hair, standing next to Pandora at the end. It sucks that they screwed up that character...but oh well. Its still supposed to be Armand.

[JuNiPeR]

I haven't read the book yet.

But I did like the movie. However Lestat reminded me too much of my ex boyfriend. :razz:

[ManyBlessings]

I didnt like the movie.
Ive read the book and its much better than the movie..ofcourse.
but the movie left alot out and it was as if they
were in a hurry to make it.
It just didnt seem right

[Lunamoth]

Originally posted by AradiaSupernova
Armand is in the movie. People just missed him. He's the blonde one with the curly hair, standing next to Pandora at the end. It sucks that they screwed up that character...but oh well. Its still supposed to be Armand.

THAT is supposed to be Armand??

No, I just can't accept that. Why the heck did they dress him like a 60's hippie? Better to think of him as some anonymous vampire, since they didn't really put much effort into introducing the others anyway.

[ManyBlessings]

Yea alot of the characters looked competley different thant the way the book describes them.
the movie was way off..

[manstranger]

Please ... tell me the old wrinkly man(men?) is not Marius.

[Lunamoth]

Originally posted by manstranger
Please ... tell me the old wrinkly man(men?) is not Marius.

Not sure who you're thinking of...Marius was played by Vincent Perez, a youngish guy (40 y.o.).

[Lunamoth]

Originally posted by JuNiPeR
I haven't read the book yet.

But I did like the movie. However Lestat reminded me too much of my ex boyfriend. :razz:

You'll have to read both Lestat and Queen of the Damned...heck you might want to read Ramses too, for all I can tell.

Sod it, read them all. It's much more satisfying. I think I almost could have been happier with an Armand movie, but then I'm about sick of Lestat as a character. Arrogant git. :lol:

[manstranger]

Originally posted by Lunamoth


Not sure who you're thinking of...Marius was played by Vincent Perez, a youngish guy (40 y.o.).

I looked at the photos again, and it appears i mentally added wrinkles to some red headed man's face. It wasn't lestat, so i would assume its either David ... or Daniel ... or, y'know, someone else.

[Merrie]

Originally posted by manstranger
Please ... tell me the old wrinkly man(men?) is not Marius.
I think the old wrinkly man was supposed to be Mael...? Maybe?

[manstranger]

O yeah. i forgot about him. maybe .... But wouldn't being wrinkly defy vampire stuff? The sun makes wrinkles, after all.

[Merrie]

Musta been old before he was changed...then there are still lines, but fewer and more defined..

[Illuminatus]

Originally posted by Merrie
Musta been old before he was changed...then there are still lines, but fewer and more defined..

He was the one who only wore animal skins, he only wore hides and not material made of plants or synthetics.

I don't think he was supposed to die in the battle with Akasha, which sucks. But hey, whatever.

[Amethyst Rose]

As a person who's never read the books (only interview with a vampire, and Merrick), I have to say that I loved the movie. I loved the characters, I loved the feel, I really loved the sound track. I'd see it again in an instant.....
Reading all of the opinions posted in here, I have something to offer..... Can you imagine just how long the movie would have been if all of the history and all of the subplots were included?? It was 2 hours long to begin with. And yes, the director and screenplay writer veered away from the books, but you have to consider that they were writing a story to appeal to the general public....the majority of which haven't read the books, and probably wouldn't care if all that history etc. was in there (like me, for example :) )
So, I guess what I'm saying is that no, it doesn't stick with the story, and yes tons of details were left out or changed, but what was left over was still a great movie.

[AradiaSupernova]

I'm assuming that when you are talking about the "wrinkly old guy" you mean the one that was told to find Jesse at the concert. Thats Mael. The one who was Marius was the one always in the red velvet cloak. Mael wasn't old when he was made, but he wasn't young either *shrugs*

I enjoyed the movie. I had a hard time not saying "that didn't happen!" during the whole thing, but I liked the movie all the same :)

[Eudaimonia]

You're on the right track Amethyst. I told a lot of my friends that they shouldn't read the books before going to see the movie. I can't help being pissed at the director tho'. I really love Rice.

[Lunamoth]

As a person who's never read the books (only interview with a vampire, and Merrick), I have to say that I loved the movie. I loved the characters, I loved the feel, I really loved the sound track. I'd see it again in an instant.....
Reading all of the opinions posted in here, I have something to offer..... Can you imagine just how long the movie would have been if all of the history and all of the subplots were included??

Perhaps then they should have done the next book in the series before taking on Akasha's story. This is the feedback they're going to get for smushing two books together.

It was 2 hours long to begin with. And yes, the director and screenplay writer veered away from the books, but you have to consider that they were writing a story to appeal to the general public....

2 Hours is not that long for a film, it's average. Lord of the Rings was 3 hours, Black Hawk Down was 2 1/2 hours...

Yes, you are right, it was a good movie in and of itself. It was made to appeal to a specific audience and that worked, to a point. (apparently it was made specifically for an audience that didn't read the book) But, as you've mentioned that you haven't read the books, let me just tell you that they did not just "veer away from the books", they effectively wrote a whole new plot. It ceased to be the story that Anne Rice wrote and became funded fanfiction, in my not so humble opinion.

Yes, it was a good film. No it was not the story that we expected to see when we went to the movies to see it. Sure, I'd see it again...maybe not at full cinema prices, but it was entertaining enough to maybe catch a matinee or rent it later on. But the point is, some of us feel kinda ripped off. We went expecting to see at least some semblance of a story that we were familiar with. This was not it.

[random]

Anne Rice is by far my favorite writer. I have not seen the movie yet, but i will. I will, i will force myself to watch it, no matter what is wrong... Lestat isnt blonde in the movie?! and armand??? He's auburn haired! Armand is my favorite character!!!!!!!

That is wrong... magnus was lestats maker. MAGNUS! then again, what do we know of magnus? there should be something more on magnus.

did someone say daniel wasnt in it? and louis wasnt either? no mekare or meharet? WTF? daniel and louis and armand are by far my favorite characters... AHHH! --shakes head in despair--




chris