I just foundout lastnight my fiance stole my Volume II of Sherlock Holmes. Once I finish off "A Dance With Dragons" I'll have to steal it back lol.
Sherlock Holmes
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Basil Rathbone will always be the definitive SH, for me. I have seen the Downey films and find them rather poor. He turns the character into a mixed martial artist who does moves that are pretty unlikely for an actor his age. Watson seems interested in showing he is as important as Holmes, which is silly. And the story is intentionally made confusing, a recent trend in cinema. I give them a c.
I don't know Foggy, Holmes was a practitioner of martial arts in the books, so the fight scenes make sense to me. But I'm curious about: "He turns the character into a mixed martial artist who does moves that are pretty unlikely for an actor his age." So you're saying DOWNEY has his character HOLMES doing moves that are unlikely for an actor (DOWNEY) to do?
And Watson was a combat surgeon, so it's believable that he'd be intelligent, knowledgeable of weapons and tactics, and fairly fit despite his injuries.
I think both portrayals were pretty interesting.
And Watson was a combat surgeon, so it's believable that he'd be intelligent, knowledgeable of weapons and tactics, and fairly fit despite his injuries.
I think both portrayals were pretty interesting.
Actually what he does in the movies is almost pure wing chun of which RDJ has been a practitioner for quite a few years. They make it clear in the books that Holmes is quite a handy fellow in a fight so I didnt mind that. Lastly I wish people would quit saying mixed martial artist whenever anyone throws a punch.
The Ronald Howard series was in 1954. A full 39 episodes that can be had on DVD.
Another wonderful Holmes was Arthur Wortner (the man who preceded Rathbone).
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Another wonderful Holmes was Arthur Wortner (the man who preceded Rathbone).
Guy Ritchie's Holmes series are pretty well done. They're pretty close to who Holmes and Watson actually were in the stories. Watson was a partner to Holmes and helped him on numerous occassions with his knowledge of medical things and the current happenings of London. As far as the martial arts go, yes Holmes did practice a version of Japanese wrestling and I don't think Downey would appreciate you saying he probably couldn't do the moves in the movies because he's very well versed, not sure if black belt is relevant here, in a martial arts. It's what helped him get through his substance abuse problem if memmory serves me correctly.
This is exactly why I don't like the Rathbone versions. They created a completely different story than what Doyle wrote and some people take the Rathbone/Bruce portrayals as who the characters of Holmes and Watson really were which actually isn't the case.
This is exactly why I don't like the Rathbone versions. They created a completely different story than what Doyle wrote and some people take the Rathbone/Bruce portrayals as who the characters of Holmes and Watson really were which actually isn't the case.
I have been reading Holmes almost every night before bed. This week I was out on the deck, smoking Blue Mountain, and reading the Return of Sherlock Holmes. A nice combo!! (ran out of scotch though... )
Jason
Jason
I have the two volume set from Barnes & Noble and am currently working on The Adventure Of The Solitary Cyclist. I made it through the first volume and then was side tracked by George RR Martin's "A Dance WIth Dragons" for about six months. Now that I'm done with that and the sixth book is yet to be released I've decided to head back to Holmes.
Here's a photo of Ronald Howard as Sherlock Holmes. Notice how much he resembles his father.
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I started with the stories first, and read them before I ever saw any filmed versions. I think because of that I never really like the Basil Rathbone films because they varied so far from the original canon, though his performance in and of itself was a great portrayal, but everything else about those films I didn't like (as one poster mentioned, Nigel Bruce as Watson was just terrible).
Jeremy Brett is my #1 Holmes by a mile. The entire Grenada series was excellent, and they never deviated from Conan Doyle stories in any material way. Cumberbatch is also good, and I really enjoy the various references back to the Conan Doyle stories that pop up all the time, very well done. One plot point "Sherlock" didn't have to change was that Watson was a former British army physician who had been wounded in Afghanistan.
Jeremy Brett is my #1 Holmes by a mile. The entire Grenada series was excellent, and they never deviated from Conan Doyle stories in any material way. Cumberbatch is also good, and I really enjoy the various references back to the Conan Doyle stories that pop up all the time, very well done. One plot point "Sherlock" didn't have to change was that Watson was a former British army physician who had been wounded in Afghanistan.
I periodically re-read the Doyle cannon. The print edition from the Strand magazine with Sidney Paget's illustrations. No better reading with a pipe.
Now that I've read a great deal and saw most of the Rathbone-Brett stories there is quite the disparity in some of the stories. 5 orange pips in the Rathbone version was nothing like the original. All excellent stories though and very entertaining to be sure.
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