Inspirography!
-
OK, folks -- you've seen the inspirography posts on the main site. Here's your opportunity to sound off about stuff that we *haven't* covered.
What's can't-miss in the world of films, comics, books, etc.? -
I don't think you guys have covered this one
Brotherhood of the Wolf. (Le Pacte Des Loups)
This is a link to the trailer :
It's not exactly a western, or wuxia, being set in Europe, but it has a native American as a main character, and the lead character has had much experience in the American colonies. To me, it very much captures the same sort of "culture clash" feel that Far West exemplifies, between the culture of the French court, the culture of the peasants and lords on the border, and that of the combat masters who have their own type of honor.
It's very gritty, but has wuxia-style combat scenes.
One could easily translate the plot to the Far West, just by replacing the film's French court associations with the Jade Court (apologies if you're using a different term in Far West, I haven't read everything yet!) and translating the location.Plus: lithicbee, Doomedpaladin, Yuutousei, TheRedRanger, Nate
-
Go figures I spent to much time typing up my own message that you snuck this one in here ;)
Great movie though.
Copied from my other post
Movies:
- The Good, The Bad, The Weird. It's hard to say what doesn't inspire me about this picture.
- Warriors Way. Again there's a lot to like about this movie when mining for the setting. But some standouts for me were the name of the assassins group 'The Sad Flutes' was just inspired. Also the epic battle on the fairest wheel was so well done.
- Jonah Hex. I won't lie the movie was terrible. But the steam punk/gadget aspect of the movie, while horribly out of place for a Jonah Hex tale did give me some excellent ideas for a game. I also prefer that level of tech then what we got in Wild, Wild West.
- Magnificent Seven. Not because it really inspires this setting more then any other western. But the concept of a western that's really focused around the group dynamic I think is excellent. There are many great and arguably better westerns out there. But most are focused around the lone gunman or perhaps the duo. Magnificent Seven showed the importance of the group better then any others that I can think of.
Books:
- Jonah Hex. In particular the mini-series put out by Vertigo because they really introduced much more of the Weird West concepts into the game. They also modernized Jonah Hex slightly. Though honestly hard to go wrong with any Jonah Hex.
- Jon Shannow trilogy by David Gemmell. It's the lone gunman story in a Weird West/apocalyptic setting. What I enjoyed about this setting from a game perspective was how much freedom you could have as a GM in running things there. You could pretty much drop in any kind of tech or magic and make it fit. Plus in terms of geography to discover the world was as big as it needed to be and for a game you could do pretty much whatever you want there without having to worry about making sense of it
- Border Empires trilogy by Ralph Compton. I actually liked the original Nathan Stone trilogy better as an overall story. But Border Empires I think has better gaming potential. There's more of a group dynamic, the enemies they are going after are campaign worthy and I guess the trouble they get into and the mistakes they make seem like something I can envision happening to my players.
I could list more but I'll stop now. -
When explaining the idea to one of my friends, she noted that the idea is similar to "Firefly".
After a bit of thought, I can see a lot of parallels between the Far West and Firefly (or, well, the hour and a half or so long pilot episode, which is the only part of Firefly I've seen). Anyone who has a good grasp of the series feel the same? -
Firefly is essentially the sci-fi equivalent of Far West. Similar sense of mashup, but with a different origin story. It and Deadlands are my starting points for Far West.
-
少林門 (Hand of Death, a.k.a. Countdown in Kung-fu)
This is an early John Woo film (he appears in a minor role) and has supporting roles for Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung.
But the reason I think it's interesting for FAR WEST, rather than just for cinema history reasons, is that its plot is very much like a Western, yet it has more than one protagonist and is solidly in the wuxia/jianghu genre.
@WHassinger - only yesterday I was attempting to describe the setting to my wife and said "Imagine Firefly without the spaceships!" -
High Plains Drifter, The Five Deadly Venoms, I have a whole campaign in mind based on the Venoms movies. When is the RPG book coming out again?
-
OK I know that this is quite the genre that give the feel of the setting, but I REALLY hope that the "Crippled Avengers" story from Tales of the Far West is somewhat based on this.
This movie was a favorite from the VHS bargain bin from when I was in high school. May be in bad taste, but man its fun to watch.
-
Ooh ooh, I just thought of something. The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks. I listend to the audiobooks. This is often easier for me while driving the great maze in my 18 wheeler. Anyhoot, I like how www.graphicaudio.net produces thier books with music, full cast, and digital effects. The overall setting has more spellcasting in it, but I think it might be a great parallel to Far West.
-
I mentioned this as just generally interesting more than directly inspirational - I think?
The recently "released" Bunraku. On Netflix.Plus: rexroad33, Doomedpaladin
-
Burning Paradise by Ringo Lam
Starts in a familiar Western scenario - the heroes galloping on horseback across a desert, pursued by the authorities, then gets all wuxia and seriously weird.
Available on YouTube with a fairly bad English dub:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=h-npYUEF3XE#t=104s
Actually, listening further, for a film with pretty high production values by HK standards, that's a *really* bad dub. Shame. -
Since reading about the Chartered Houses I've been wondering/hoping for a while that you guys have one for the "intellectuals" of your world, the professors-come-to-study/steal, Indiana Joneses, and his literary pappy Allan Quatermain, inventors/quacks, institutionalized doctors/ field medics, teachers (school marms who might overlap with church organizations), administrative persons, and maybe even early adventure journalists who did newspapers, dime novels, penny dreadfuls, and pulp fictions.
So, inspiration-wise:
Alan Quatermain (not Quartermain)
Indiana Jones
Anything by Mark Twain
The life OF Mark Twain
The Alvin Maker series by Orson Scott Card (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_Maker)
The City of Lost Children for steampunkyness, mad science, and circus creepyness (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_City_of_Lost_Children)
Speaking of creepy circuses: Something Wicked This Way Comes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Something_Wicked_This_Way_Comes_(novel) )
Portions of both Fullmetal Alchemist and Steamboy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steamboy) might work as well. -
Netflix just suggested 'Bunraku' to me, and good grief if it isn't a delightfully Far West sort of piece. Admittedly more Japanese than Chinese, but the juxtaposition of the dirty-fighting cardshark and the honorable warrior seems like something likely to come up often in Far West.
Plus: Doomedpaladin, rexroad33
-
I think "Peace Hotel" with Chow Yun-Fat fits nicely. Here's a link to the trailer on YouTube:
No subtitles on the trailer, but it's not really necessary. The Western and gun-fu influences come together just fine. -
Anything by William W. Johnstone, J.A. Johnstone, or Elmer Keaton. They have some really good western books. I did the audiobooks from Graphic Audio. A recent book from "The Last Gunfighter" has a really fun plot that I am thinking about tuning and running. For a taste of living on the frontier or in a wild west setting, all of them present thier stories with good flavor.
-
Savate (1995)
R. Lee Ermy actually plays an uncredited role in this tale of a former French soldier, master of Savate (French kickboxing) on a quest for revenge in the American Old West c. 1865. -
The Stranger and the Gunfighter (1974)
Shaw Brothers and and Italian company team up for a kung-fu spaghettie western starring Lo Liegh and Lee Van Cleef. -
Red Sun (1971)
Charles Bronson & Toshirô Mifune. Of course, I'm not sure if any of these I posted comes near the mark that the Far West is doing. -
The wife (Laura) and I watched THREE KINGDOMS on Netflix Streaming tonight. Holy crap, go watch this.
Great film, and a soundtrack directly influenced by Morriccone's spaghetti western scores.
The English Trailer:
and the opening music, so you see what I mean about the Morriccone-ness:
-
Wowzers! So many good recommendations... This thread has officially become my new Queue! :D
Wife has recently discovered that she loves westerns/westernish stuff, so that's good. Speaking of which, we can't get enough "Hell on Wheels" on AMC - great show!
Plus: rexroad33
-
I caught the first two episodes of HELL ON WHEELS and then got too busy. Looks like I may have to fire up the On-Demand this weekend.
-
GMSkarka said:
I caught the first two episodes of HELL ON WHEELS and then got too busy. Looks like I may have to fire up the On-Demand this weekend.
You are in for a wild ride. Before I got back on the truck, there were a couple I had to watch again.
-
I was certain somebody might beat me too this. A PS2 game that I had fun playing. I got dizzy from it. I still say check it out. The second video shows the gameplay. Stay Safe, and Happy Gaming!
-
Don't forget, there are 635 episodes of the Gunsmoke television series. There's also the Virginian, Bonanza, etc. And do I even need to mention Kung Fu... PBS did a great documentary called "Pioneers of Television: Westerns" which is a good place to start your research. Seems like every western series had a slightly different vibe and lots of social commentary.
Also, the Trailsman book series by various artists also have nuggets of cowboy awesomeness. -
Absolutely. ...but here is a crashing shift into reverse gear from this Truck Driver... I know this movie, though modern, deserves a little recognition based on plot. Quick and the Dead? Maybe not. Then how about the second merit, casting.
Maggie Q, I recently seen in Three Kingdoms (per GMSkarka's suggestion) looked really familiar to me. I didn't catch it at first. Then I remembered this movie.
Also James Hong, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagowa, and Jason Scott Lee all made apperances. I remember thier interviews. They all had fun making this movie. Even Christopher Walken had something to say about his participation.
Just something to think about. Stay Safe. -
After watching the new Three Musketeers movies. I can totally see using it as inspiration for Far West. Air ships, sword fighting, Intrigue and guns of course - perfect.
-
kryyst said:
After watching the new Three Musketeers movies. I can totally see using it as inspiration for Far West. Air ships, sword fighting, Intrigue and guns of course - perfect.
And Milla Jovovich as a deliciously treacherous member of the Foxglove Society. -
For those of you who are more familiar with wuxia films than the novels which form the basis for the genre, here is a great article on the elements and structure of the genre:
The Anatomy of a Wuxia Novel. -
Wow, that was a great article. Very thorough. Keeping this for reference.
-
hewhowalks said:
Wow, that was a great article. Very thorough. Keeping this for reference.
exactly... on another note, that fella in the second (shoe?) ad sure looks like he could be Ray Romano's stunt double. Then again...
-
Some games i believe were not mentioned before:
RIFTS China vols 1 & 2, New West & Spirit West.
Dragon Lines for BRP. -
I was working on putting a list together of quotes that give me inspiration for the various characters and flavors of Far West. I've got a few so far, but it's always growing! :)
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." - George Orwell
"A true woman always loves a real soldier" - Belle Boyd
"No growth without assistance. No action without reaction. No desire without restraint. Now give yourself up and find yourself again." - Li Mu Bai from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
"Kill one or a hundred. You only hang once." Orin from Yojimbo
"Now remember, when things look bad and it looks like you're not gonna make it, then you gotta get mean. I mean plumb, mad-dog mean. 'Cause if you lose your head and you give up then you neither win nor live. That's just the way it is." - Josie Wales from The Outlaw Josie Wales
"Truth always sounds like lies to a sinner." Boyd Crowder from Justified -
Saw this in the store today. Might go pick it up tomorrow. Let me know if someone has seen it and likes it.
-
Moonshine said:
Saw this in the store today. Might go pick it up tomorrow. Let me know if someone has seen it and likes it.
That looks like fun, thanks for the heads up. I ordered it from Amazon based on that trailer. I probably won't get to watch it for a couple of weeks, tho. Busy busy.
-
Just wanted to mark the passing of Jean Giraud, known better by his nom de plume Moebius. He died today at age 73. His spaghetti-western graphic novel series, Blueberry is definitely part of the FAR WEST Inspirography (although I hadn't gotten around to writing the post about it yet):
-
Moonshine said:
Saw this in the store today. Might go pick it up tomorrow. Let me know if someone has seen it and likes it.
It's the US release of a 2004 Hong Kong film which was originally titled "Twins Effect II". Interesting note: Jaycee Chan is Jackie Chan's son. -
BLUEBERRY!?! Yeah I know that one. Seen the movie based on it too.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0276830/ Renegade (2004)
-
Moonshine said:
Yeah...looks like another to add to the collection. The wait will suck.
The best part about this? It's the first film of a trilogy! (The sequels will be TAI CHI HERO and TAI CHI SUMMIT.)
http://www.kungfucinema.com/news/kung-fu-steampunk-mash-up-in-tai-chi-0-2013 -
GMSkarka said:
I've always heard that was awful, so I've avoided it. How was it?
I have seen better. It has the foundation of good elements. I did enjoy it for the detail in wardrobe, sets, and some props. The music is good by itself, but the cues during the movie are a little off thier mark. As a whole, the story is slow, and very broken up. The pace is off.
There are many good scenes. I can watch it again so I can make note of certain elements. Research value is pretty high. However, for the entertainment value, I'd say watch something else. I watched it thru my Netflix account, so the dollar value wasn't missed.
I seen Vince Vaugn in better roles. Where did it get lost in the movie? Maybe during editing. As For Billy Bob Thorton's character, uhh scary. I have a very few favorite characters. U.S. Christmas has maybe three scenes. Not the best, but he left an impression. Others, the jury still has to be called for.
I seen mistakes left, right, over, under, and thru. I put it in the post because it has some useful merits. It has both examples of what to do, and what not to do. It could use a remake, but I would want to see a lot of the same good parts kept. Overall, maybe 3 out 5 bullets. -
I take from the real world http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandbar_Fight is as accurate as any other account of the Sandbar fight.
A western inspiration is Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch
-
[img] http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/6th-gun2.jpg [/img]
The comic 6th Gun is a fantastic little Fantasy Cowboy setting. It inspired me to write down a few ideas for a possible adventure. -
Ni hao, gang.
I am all over the western side of the resources. I believe the book The Day The Cowboys Quit by Elmer Keaton is pretty good. I got into the Graphic Audio version, so I can't tell you what the reading is like.
Right now, I am taking a break from Cotton Pickens: Blood Valley by William W. Johnstone. Soon, I will be starting disc 3. I am pretty glad that I picked it up. It is sounding good too.
Laters. Stay Safe.
Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!