# Cowboys & Aliens **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 21, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-aliens/589885 "2011-07-21T17:57:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Big\_Norse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/big_norse/32/9954_2.png) [@Big\_Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Norse)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-aliens/589885/21 "2011-07-22T05:25:18Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > What’s the buzz on this movie? I ask because I just found out that Clancy Brown is going to be in it, and now I kinda have to go see it. Wait, so it’s got Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, _and_ Clancy Brown? Yeaahh, I’ll probably see it on opening weekend. _sigh_ The things we see for crushes on actors… Wait, someone else has a crush on Clancy Brown? Go Rawhide! I was more confused than interested until I saw that he was involved (just now, when you mentioned it, I haven’t seen him in the trailers). ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-aliens/589885/22 "2011-07-22T09:31:59Z")
The trailer reminds me of Firefly. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-aliens/589885/23 "2011-07-22T12:01:45Z")
> [@Big\_Norse](#): > > Wait, someone else has a crush on Clancy Brown? Go Rawhide! I was more confused than interested until I saw that he was involved (just now, when you mentioned it, I haven’t seen him in the trailers). I haven’t seen him in the trailers, either, but he’s listed on the [imdb page](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0409847/) for the movie and vice versa. Oh, wouldn’t it be funny if I went to see it just for him, and it turned out his scenes had been cut? I love Rawhide too, how could one not? 🙂 That’s one of the few roles I’ve seen him in where he’s a decent guy. He’s also a decent guy in [Normal](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338290/) with Tom Wilkinson (who’s playing someone who goes through a male-to-female transformation in middle age) and Jessica Lange, but his character is kind of a sad sack (he was cast very much against type) and he plays him so well I was cringing through most of his scenes. A bittersweet viewing experience for a fan. Good movie, though. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-aliens/589885/24 "2011-07-22T13:32:56Z")
It needs dinosaurs. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-aliens/589885/25 "2011-07-22T13:48:54Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I know this is heretical, but I read the graphic novel and thought very little of it. One long string of the same tired cliche about how the good guys can win over insanely more powerful and numerous bad guys because the bad guys can’t hit anything with their guns. I was struck by the extremely weak, limited effect of the alien attack in the trailer. Cowboys are riding o n horses and the aliens cause a few, small, widely-spaced explosions that don’t appear to have defeated the cowboys. In fact, the few, small, widely-spaced explosions seem roughly consonant with light, horse-drawn artillery from the American Civil War – stuff that would have been well-known to cowboys. Where’s the imagination when moviemakers portray advanced alien military technology? Right _now_ we do much more destruction than was shown in that trailer. A modern military would probably drop a cluster munition on those galloping cowboys, shredding them and their horses for hundreds of feet in all directions, missing pretty much nobody. What would spacefaring weaponry do? Well, it’s characteristic of modern weaponry to rapidly put overwhelming physical destructive force against many targets at once, but the most notable trait of modern weapons is their great precision – not a lot of missing. I realize they have to portray a scenario in which the humans have a fighting chance, but it’s so bizarre to see the effects of the “super weaponry” portrayed as worse than something the cowboys themselves would have considered old-fashioned. The alien attack in the trailer wouldn’t have deterred any Civil War soldier from either side…unless he was George B. McClellan, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-aliens/589885/26 "2011-07-22T14:34:12Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > I was struck by the extremely weak, limited effect of the alien attack in the trailer. Cowboys are riding o n horses and the aliens cause a few, small, widely-spaced explosions that don’t appear to have defeated the cowboys. In fact, the few, small, widely-spaced explosions seem roughly consonant with light, horse-drawn artillery from the American Civil War – stuff that would have been well-known to cowboys. > > Where’s the imagination when moviemakers portray advanced alien military technology? Right _now_ we do much more destruction than was shown in that trailer. A modern military would probably drop a cluster munition on those galloping cowboys, shredding them and their horses for hundreds of feet in all directions, missing pretty much nobody. What would spacefaring weaponry do? Well, it’s characteristic of modern weaponry to rapidly put overwhelming physical destructive force against many targets at once, but the most notable trait of modern weapons is their great precision – not a lot of missing. > > I realize they have to portray a scenario in which the humans have a fighting chance, but it’s so bizarre to see the effects of the “super weaponry” portrayed as worse than something the cowboys themselves would have considered old-fashioned. The alien attack in the trailer wouldn’t have deterred any Civil War soldier from either side…unless he was George B. McClellan, of course. Probably because “we will defeat these al…” _KABOOM_ {fin} wouldn’t have made a compelling trailer, much less entire movie. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-aliens/589885/27 "2011-07-22T15:26:15Z")
I don’t for one moment have any expectation that this will be a good movie, just like I never for one moment had any expectation that _Snakes on a Plane_ would be a good movie. Both movies, though, are the sort that doesn’t really need to be good, so long as they’re fun. _Snakes_ lived up to that, and I expect _Cowboys and Aliens_ will, too. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-aliens/589885/28 "2011-07-22T15:34:43Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I don’t for one moment have any expectation that this will be a good movie, just like I never for one moment had any expectation that _Snakes on a Plane_ would be a good movie. Both movies, though, are the sort that doesn’t really need to be good, so long as they’re fun. _Snakes_ lived up to that, and I expect _Cowboys and Aliens_ will, too. Exactly - I am hoping that this is the \*right kind \*of silly. Like a good Big Dumb Rock Song™ that comes on the radio when you need one. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-aliens/589885/29 "2011-07-22T15:48:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I don’t for one moment have any expectation that this will be a good movie, just like I never for one moment had any expectation that _Snakes on a Plane_ would be a good movie. Both movies, though, are the sort that doesn’t really need to be good, so long as they’re fun. _Snakes_ lived up to that, and I expect _Cowboys and Aliens_ will, too. _Snakes on a Plane_ was intended to be a cheesy b-movie. This is an A-list movie, made on a $100,000,000 budget with A-list stars, made from an original with a wildly rabid fan base. It’s closer to something like _Julia and Julie_ or maybe _X-Men_, one of the few superhero movies with big-name leads. Snakes on a Plane had a budget of $33,000,000 and a domestic gross of $34,000,000. I’m sure it made money in the aftermarket, but that’s generally considered to be a major flop. _Cowboys and Aliens_ is way too expensive to be a cheesy cult movie. It has to be a global hit. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-aliens/589885/30 "2011-07-22T15:55:15Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > Probably because “we will defeat these al…” > _KABOOM_ > {fin} > > wouldn’t have made a compelling trailer, much less entire movie. Dude, that’s the point of the criticism. If you set up a story whose entire premise is a failed one, you didnt do a very good joob at writing. You’re supposed to twist the story so the flaws are not glaringly obvious. It would be like doing a time travel story without ever giving any thoughts about time paradoxes. You picked the wrong genre to tackle with if you dont understand its constraints. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-aliens/589885/31 "2011-07-22T16:02:30Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > _Snakes on a Plane_ was intended to be a cheesy b-movie. This is an A-list movie, made on a $100,000,000 budget with A-list stars, **made from an original with a wildly rabid fan base**. It’s closer to something like _Julia and Julie_ or maybe _X-Men_, one of the few superhero movies with big-name leads. Snakes on a Plane had a budget of $33,000,000 and a domestic gross of $34,000,000. I’m sure it made money in the aftermarket, but that’s generally considered to be a major flop. _Cowboys and Aliens_ is way too expensive to be a cheesy cult movie. It has to be a global hit. I don’t know if that’s the case. [This article](http://www.bleedingcool.com/2010/11/20/the-great-cowboys-aliens-scam-has-unexpected-result/) describes how the comic was created solely as a foot-in-the-door for a movie deal, and that the creator rigged sales figures by getting stores to buy huge quantities of the comic and sell them for cheap or even for free. > [@](#): > > And as part of that venture he tried to game the system. Giving cheques to the bigger comic book shops of the day, if they would order thousands of the graphic novel in question. The cheques would cover the amount it would cost to order them, plus a bit extra on top. These comic shops complied, sold the already-below-cost 115 page $3.99 graphic novel for 50c, or free with any comic, or just free if you walk in, to help shift the thousands they had, and it worked. They reported the sales, Entertainment Weekly called Cowboys & Aliens the number one graphic novel of the week, and they made a splash. > > However my investigation of this at the time deprived them of one thing they really wanted, Diamond Comics Distributors calling them the number one best selling graphic novel of the month. This is literally all I know about the situation, so if there is indeed an actual rabid fan base, consider me schooled. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-aliens/589885/32 "2011-07-22T16:07:45Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > I don’t know if that’s the case. [This article](http://www.bleedingcool.com/2010/11/20/the-great-cowboys-aliens-scam-has-unexpected-result/) describes how the comic was created solely as a foot-in-the-door for a movie deal, and that the creator rigged sales figures by getting stores to buy huge quantities of the comic and sell them for cheap or even for free. > > This is literally all I know about the situation, so if there is indeed an actual rabid fan base, consider me schooled. Actually even with the faked numbers, Cowboys and Aliens has never been considered a cult graphic novel. And certainly never had a “rabid fan base”. As for Fred Van lente, while he is definitely an interesting writer (part of that new trend that tries to inject back humor in comics, definitely something needed), but he is far far far from being a big name in comic books, a name that could generate a fan base. ETA: and the whole concept of the series was clearly always intended as a “publish comics - get a movie deal” plot. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-aliens/589885/33 "2011-07-22T16:37:35Z")
All I know is that I’ve heard much more love and anticipation for this film than for most of the others this summer. Harry excepted, of course. I’ve been hearing so much about it for so long that it got me to read it. That’s how huge it’s been. And the cited article also says this: > [@](#): > > And in an ironic twist – those tens of thousands of extra four dollar Cowboys & Aliens that were printed and ordered by these shops – the ones that they had to give away for free they had so many… > > Well, actually now selling for up to $36 on eBay. And somebody decided to spend $100,000,000 on it. Nine figures is not b-list, no matter how you slice it. That somebody wants the money back. They won’t be getting it from me. I’m just an interested observer from the sidelines. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-aliens/589885/34 "2011-07-24T02:56:09Z")
Ok, so the world premiere is _tonight_ at ComicCon. People are settling in waiting for it to start. Should be getting “Me first! ME FIRST!!” Twitter reviews in a couple of hours. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-aliens/589885/35 "2011-07-24T03:03:22Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > And somebody decided to spend $100,000,000 on it. Nine figures is not b-list, no matter how you slice it. That somebody wants the money back. > > They won’t be getting it from me. I’m just an interested observer from the sidelines. And you have no taste in movies. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-aliens/589885/36 "2011-07-24T03:10:29Z")
> [@Icerigger](#): > > The trailer reminds me of Firefly. Is that supposed to be a negative? 'Cuz here I’m pretty sure it’s a positive. 😃 I’ve explained it before: Space travel is expensive. Transporting fertilized eggs is far cheaper than transporting John Deere tractors. Terraformed planets will very possibly start out worked by horses, mules, and oxen. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-aliens/589885/37 "2011-07-24T03:43:19Z")
I’ve seen tons of trailers for the movie, for months now; why do people think there’s been no advertising? Just because they didn’t invite critics to pan it first? Who cares about the critics? I think that’s a question worth a whole new thread, actually… ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-aliens/589885/38 "2011-07-24T03:48:03Z")
Find your quiet place, accept it as it is (aliens and cowboys), and fuck the critics. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-aliens/589885/39 "2011-07-24T03:51:38Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve seen tons of trailers for the movie, for months now; why do people think there’s been no advertising? They don’t think that. The “no advertising” comments were part of the hijack about _Attack the Block_. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-aliens/589885/40 "2011-07-24T03:57:06Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > They don’t think that. The “no advertising” comments were part of the hijack about _Attack the Block_. Holy cow, and I’m not even the first one to goof up like that. Thank you for being gentle. :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-aliens/589885.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-aliens/589885.md?page=3)