Sci-Fi Movie Harrison Ford Didn’t Get It (But He Starred Anyway)

Actor Harrison Ford has been very selective about his roles over the years, carefully choosing roles that fit his cocky charm, but he hasn’t always made perfect choices. While the actor has dozens of truly great films under his belt, he also has a few stinky ones, e.g Historical submarine film “K-19: The Widowmaker” And the drama that builds the utopia of “Mosquito Coast” nonetheless Ford has fully defended both. There’s a box office bomb he wasn’t excited about, however, largely because he was never on the film’s wavelength.

The 2011 sci-fi film “Cowboys & Aliens” had all the ingredients needed to be a huge box office hit. Based on the 2006 graphic novel of the same name by Platinum Studios’ Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, Jon Favreau directed “Cowboys & Aliens,” the first of two “Iron Man” films. It starred Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, Paul Dano, Walton Goggins, Keith Carradine, and Clancy Brown, making for a diverse collection of great acting talent. Unfortunately, it was a massive financial failure, grossing $174.8 million at the global box office, only about $11 million more than its $163 million budget. While some critics (including Roger Ebert!) praised the film’s central performance, Ford and Craig were unable to rescue the film from its convoluted script Or confusing tonal shifts, and in the end, “Cowboys & Aliens” was relegated to the cinematic garbage heap. In interviews discussing the film, Ford has said he never really understood it at all, and honestly? I can kind of relate.

It was easy to be skeptical about “Cowboys & Aliens” when it was first announced because its genres seemed so disparate, but as production began and… People got their first look at Ford and Craig in vintage costumeIt looked like it might work. Favreau showed that he can mix sci-fi action and comedy well with the “Iron Man” films, and the cast was put together perfectly. The biggest problem was the screenplay, which went through numerous rewrites with multiple screenwriters, ultimately ending with a script credited to Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Damon Lindelof. (Kurtsman and Orci have often been credited as a writing duo, having worked together on films such as “The Island” and the 2009 “Star Trek” reboot, while Lindelof is best known as the creator of “Lost” and co-wrote “Star Trek”: In Darkness” with Kurtzman, Orci, and J.J. Abrams.)

In an interview with Cinema mixFord explained that he was initially confused by the script and wanted to stop after reading the first 30 pages, but his agent pushed him to continue:

I thought it was ambitious. So I said: Why don’t I go talk to John? Then I met Jon Favreau, and I was impressed by what he said and by his esprit de corps and I met with the writers and they made it clear to me that it was still a work in progress. They were generous about sharing a little more room for the character, and then I started to see an opportunity to play a different character than I was used to to have the joy of having a character that didn’t need to have any Someone like It’s Your Chance tried to bring some texture to the piece, I’m having a great time, so I said, “I’m in. This should be fun.” And it was.”

Ford rarely played villains during his long careerand his role in Cowboys & Aliens was definitely in line with that of traditional Western villains, so it’s a good thing he enjoyed breaking the bad. It’s a shame it wasn’t really enjoyable for the fans.

While mixing all these great actors with both cowboys and aliens seemed like a potentially great idea, the end result was frustratingly muddled, and Ford probably should have ignored his agent’s insistence. There were too many cooks in the kitchen, with the script being tweaked a lot, and clever producers giving great notes (e.g. Steven Spielberg promotes the main antagonist) and what seems like a loose stance on the film’s overall vision given Ford’s comments that it’s “very much a work in progress.” What could have been a very enjoyable mix of genres is instead a story that stumbles through the plot rather than giving its characters any development, which is a shame, because Ford and Craig are at least trying to make it work. Dano is good as Ford’s character’s son, although it would have been interesting to see A.J A young Glen Powell in the roleand he also auditioned for the performance (while channeling his inner Ben Foster). Then again, that might be too jaw-dropping for one movie, major Hollywood blockbuster or not.

Fortunately, this experience did not bother Ford in seizing opportunities in the world of cinema, and he will appear as William “Thunderbolt” Ross in Marvel’s “Captain America: Brave New World,” bringing his distinctive personality with him. A special brand of movie star charisma in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ford is one of the all-time greats even when his films don’t meet expectations, and it will be great to see what he does in the superhero world. At the very least, I hope he has a good time.