# LXG Question (Possible Spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 7, 2003, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lxg-question-possible-spoilers/186718 "2003-07-07T05:22:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lxg-question-possible-spoilers/186718/1 "2003-07-07T05:22:32Z")
Okay, I’m utterly unfamiliar with the comic book on which the film’s based, but it does look interesting. I noticed in the preview that the car being driven in the film makes a low rumbling noise. Curious about this, I hied myself over to the [official website](http://www.lxgmovie.com/) for the movie and started poking around. I find out that the car belongs to Captain Nemo and that it pumps out 140 HP from a straight 8 engine. Now, this is surprising to me. As I’d figured that the car would be a steamer (a steam powered car would be cutting edge technology at the time), but when I saw that it was Nemo’s car, I thought, "This guy’s got a nuclear powered sub 100 years (or so) before the first one ever hits the water and he’s driving an _internal combustion engined car?_ Anyone got the story on this? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lxg-question-possible-spoilers/186718/2 "2003-07-07T05:49:35Z")
The car is an invention of the movie: no such vehicle exsisted in the comic. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lxg-question-possible-spoilers/186718/3 "2003-07-07T05:52:16Z")
On preview, that may be totally irrelevent to the OP. Sorry, been a long weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lxg-question-possible-spoilers/186718/4 "2003-07-07T08:04:11Z")
Much has changed from comic book to movie. Mina Murray is renamed Mina Harker for those who need to be hammered over the head with her Dracula origins, and they’ve made her a vampire. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lxg-question-possible-spoilers/186718/5 "2003-07-07T08:11:32Z")
And for the American audiance they’ve added Tom Sawyer to the mix. Cause Go knows we just won’t watch it unless there are Americans in it. (F’ing Hollywood) ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lxg-question-possible-spoilers/186718/6 "2003-07-07T11:53:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Mina Murray is renamed Mina Harker for those who need to be hammered over the head with her Dracula origins, This makes some sense. Not many people remember the last name of Mina from “Dracula”, so unless they went and did some serious explaining, which they may or may not wish to, it would be totally lost. Besides, she was supposed to get married. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lxg-question-possible-spoilers/186718/7 "2003-07-07T15:49:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by smiling bandit \* > \*\*This makes some sense. Not many people remember the last name of Mina from “Dracula”, so unless they went and did some serious explaining, which they may or may not wish to, it would be totally lost. Besides, she was supposed to get married. \*\* Yes, but making her a vampire? She was a human in the book, a bit different perhaps, but with no powers. ---
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lxg-question-possible-spoilers/186718/8 "2003-07-07T16:03:08Z")
Mind you, the notion that Nemo’s sub is nuclear powered was an invention of the '50s Disney film. All Verne himself said about the sub’s power system was that it was electrical (electricity being to the 1870s what nuclear power was to the 1950s–i.e. cool, high tech, and totally mysterious to the majority of the population.) ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lxg-question-possible-spoilers/186718/9 "2003-07-07T17:01:01Z")
And where exactly does adding Dorian Grey as a character fit in? I realize he’s a character that many of us Americans would recognize from English Lit in high school or college, but he seem like an odd fit, even compared to Tom Sawyer. “Hello my fine fellows, would you nasty rascals like to see a portrait of what I should really look like? Boo!” ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lxg-question-possible-spoilers/186718/10 "2003-07-07T19:15:38Z")
Apparently, from the advert, he seems to be… well, rather unhurtable. He appears to get riddled with gunfire and be unharmed. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lxg-question-possible-spoilers/186718/11 "2003-07-07T20:05:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mahaloth \* > \*\*Yes, but making her a vampire? She was a human in the book, a bit different perhaps, but with no powers. \*\* Kinda sorta. Her character is presented as ambiguous; I can remember a couple of panels in the first collection where it’s clear she has an unexpectedly strong stare-down power, for example. Maybe she’s just amazingly magnetic; it’s also possible to interpret this as slightly otherworldly. So it’s conceivable that Alan Moore was going that direction, setting up a character whose background was being left unexplored on purpose in order to support later revelations, until the Hollywood production totally jumped the gun. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lxg-question-possible-spoilers/186718/12 "2003-07-07T20:41:22Z")
**Cervaise** , Alan Moore has stated in non uncertain terms that Mina is not a vampire and has none of the powers of a vampire, not even the hypnotic ability you allude to. I’m unable to find a cite for this. You’ll just have to trust me until someone else comes along with it. Regarding the OP, were there really internal-combustion engines in the mid-1890s? Not that it matters. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lxg-question-possible-spoilers/186718/13 "2003-07-07T22:53:25Z")
Thanks, the ads jump around so much with quick cuts and MTV style montages that I have a hard time telling who’s who at some points. I can’t always tell when it’s supposed to be Tom Sawyer and when it’s supposed to be Gray. I just hope Nemo isn’t as buried in the movie as he seems to be in the ads. He was my favorite character in the first series, haven’t read the second one yet. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lxg-question-possible-spoilers/186718/14 "2003-07-07T23:50:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fiver \* > \*\ ***Cervaise** , Alan Moore has stated in non uncertain terms that Mina is not a vampire and has none of the powers of a vampire, not even the hypnotic ability you allude to. > > I’m unable to find a cite for this. You’ll just have to trust me until someone else comes along with it.\*\* Huh. Okay, I’m just going by what’s in the comic. I await further clarification with interest. (For the record, I’m a fan of the comic and am rather queasy about the apparent divergence of the film.) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lxg-question-possible-spoilers/186718/15 "2003-07-08T00:22:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fiver \* > \*\ ***Cervaise** , Alan Moore has stated in non uncertain terms that Mina is not a vampire and has none of the powers of a vampire, not even the hypnotic ability you allude to. > > I’m unable to find a cite for this. You’ll just have to trust me until someone else comes along with it. > \*\* I see this sort of “cite” used all the time, and I always react the same way: Why on Earth do you believe what Moore tells you? If I were an Alan Moore, or a Joss Whedon, or a Warchowski brother, I would make it a habit to lie _constantly_ about what I was planning to do, story-wise, with my on-going projects. “Mina? A vampire? Of course not; don’t be ridiculous.” Next issue: Mina tears out someone’s throat with her teeth. Especailly if the plot point is meant to be a “surprise.” ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lxg-question-possible-spoilers/186718/16 "2003-07-08T01:04:14Z")
I think it’s hinted at in the comic. Afterall, she always has that scarf around her neck and, IIRC, got pretty peeved when someone suggested that she remove it. I’m probably really reaching with this but it may be an indication of Moore’s intention to keep things rather ambiguous wrt to Mina. As for the movie, I was initially excited to see it but I, too, am worried about the iffy changes. I mean, Tom Sawyer?? ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lxg-question-possible-spoilers/186718/17 "2003-07-08T01:16:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Mind you, the notion that Nemo’s sub is nuclear powered was an invention of the '50s Disney film. All Verne himself said about the sub’s power system was that it was electrical (electricity being to the 1870s what nuclear power was to the 1950s–i.e. cool, high tech, and totally mysterious to the majority of the population.) Quite right; although I haven’t read Verne’s novel in decades, I seem to recall that the _Nautilus_ was powered by electrical fuel cells, replenished with chemicals which Nemo filtered out of seawater. So the young man driving the roadster is supposed to be Tom Sawyer? The comic book is set in 1898; that would make Tom in his fifties. It’s possible the movie’s producers expect an American audience to be ignorant enough to accept a Tom Sawyer born after the Civil War. Alan Moore reworked Mr. Hyde into a sort of Victorian Hulk (perhaps an inside joke, since the Hulk is partly inspired by Jeckyll and Hyde). So I can’t really fault them if they’ve reworked Dorian Gray so that he’s immune not only to aging and the effects of his dissipated lifestyle, but also to bullets. (Man, his portrait must _really_ look like shit!) Don’t know what Oscar Wilde would think. Too bad they couldn’t throw in Professor Challenger. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lxg-question-possible-spoilers/186718/18 "2003-07-08T02:12:57Z")
They’re about fifteen-twenty years too early for Challenger, aren’t they? Although, there’s no reason why we couldn’t meet him as a young (but already crotchety) scientist. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lxg-question-possible-spoilers/186718/19 "2003-07-08T03:43:53Z")
Tom Sawyer is the sandy haired punk, Dorian Gray is the long-black-haired goateed dandy. DG’s power is that he seems to be immortal/constantly rejuvenating. ---
**Author:** ![Old\_Shellhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e56c9b/32.png) [@Old\_Shellhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Old_Shellhead)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lxg-question-possible-spoilers/186718/20 "2003-07-08T05:12:40Z")
Spoilers for Volume 2 here… I think in the latest volume (volume 5?) Mina’s scars are actually shown to the audience & she discusses them w/ Quatermain. It’s not explicitly said if they marks have given her supernatural powers (although the ‘stare down’ thing is right… her & Hyde have a bizarre relationship, to be sure), because she only talks about them in a sexual context (with some truly creepy illustrations. Eeek) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lxg-question-possible-spoilers/186718.md?page=2)