'Immortals' Trailer, Official HD Version
The official release of the trailer for Tarsem's Immortals is now out. Now you can see just what Tarsem meant when he said he was going for a sort of "Caravaggio meets Fight Club" approach — really, it looks more or less like established Tarsem style as seen in The Cell and The Fall, filtered through 300. There is some real beauty in this trailer, but as has been the case with the director's movies in the past, it's probably too early to make a call about whether the movie will be more than a great slideshow or not.
Images like the header pic are the great side of this trailer — there's some stuff in here that is just jaw-dropping. But that's what we expect from Tarsem, who has always been an ambitious visual stylist. (And occasionally shameless in his appropriation of other artists' work.) Some of the processed colors and textures in this footage are just perfect for the subject matter. What the hell is that wild 'zodiac battle in the sky' shot at 0:37? I can't wait to find out. I also can't wait to find out if some of the other shots look as thin and artificial in the final edit as they do here.
And can Immortals tell a story? The trailer is deliberately obscure, choosing to show the aggressive nature of King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) and the contrasting heroism of the stonemason Theseus (Henry Cavill). We get the sense of a story rather similar in some ways to that of Clash of the Titans, but the trailer is very shy about showing off the more fantastic elements like the Minotaur. And when even the most mundane element of the movie looks stylized and outlandish, what is the Minotaur going to look like?
If nothing else, some of Tarsem's images are worth seeing in the best possible quality, so head to Apple for the HD trailer.
Visionary director Tarsem Singh (The Cell, The Fall) and producers Gianni Nunnari (300), Mark Canton (300) and Ryan Kavanaugh (The Fighter) unleash an epic tale of treachery, vengeance and destiny in Immortals, a stylish and spectacular 3-D adventure. As a power-mad king razes ancient Greece in search of a legendary weapon, a heroic young villager rises up against him in a thrilling quest as timeless as it is powerful. The brutal and bloodthirsty King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) and his murderous Heraklion army are rampaging across Greece in search of the long lost Bow of Epirus. With the invincible Bow, the king will be able to overthrow the Gods of Olympus and become the undisputed master of his world. With ruthless efficiency, Hyperion and his legions destroy everything in their wake, and it seems nothing will stop the evil king's mission. As village after village is obliterated, a stonemason named Theseus (Henry Cavill) vows to avenge the death of his mother in one of Hyperion's raids. When Theseus meets the Sybelline Oracle, Phaedra (Freida Pinto), her disturbing visions of the young man's future convince her that he is the key to stopping the destruction. With her help, Theseus assembles a small band of followers and embraces his destiny in a final desperate battle for the future of humanity.