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May 25, 2017 10:45 AM   Subscribe

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets Official Trailer [YouTube] is an upcoming English-language French science fiction action-adventure film co-produced, written and directed by Luc Besson. [wiki]
posted by Fizz (73 comments total) 30 users marked this as a favorite
 
I am very excited for this. Hopefully not too excited because it could be a big disappointment.
posted by GuyZero at 10:48 AM on May 25, 2017 [6 favorites]


Looks like The Fifth Element + Avatar + John Carter + Spy Kids.
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:51 AM on May 25, 2017 [12 favorites]


Pretty much all of humanity needs this movie to be good. Besson always deserved another crack at this particular aesthetic of European comics and whatever the outcome I imagine I will enjoy the goofy aliens.

My greatest optimistic thought about this film so far is that the trailers make it seem like the leads are having good fun.
posted by selfnoise at 10:52 AM on May 25, 2017 [12 favorites]


I want to see this so much. I don't remember being out-and-out excited about a movie in a pretty long time.
posted by curious nu at 10:52 AM on May 25, 2017 [4 favorites]


Looks like The Fifth Element + Avatar + John Carter + Spy Kids.

Go on...
posted by Fizz at 10:53 AM on May 25, 2017 [19 favorites]


Okay, and Jupiter Ascending.
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:54 AM on May 25, 2017 [13 favorites]


If I liked The Fifth Element am I going to like either John Carter or Jupiter Ascending? I'm in the mood for this flavor of silly shit now.
posted by selfnoise at 10:59 AM on May 25, 2017


John Carter probably not, Jupiter Ascending probably yes!
posted by curious nu at 11:00 AM on May 25, 2017 [9 favorites]


I'm not sure I can forgive them from changing the name from Valerian and Laureline to just Valerian. Apparently, the other, exactly-as-important character doesn't need to be named in the title? I wonder why........
posted by xingcat at 11:01 AM on May 25, 2017 [45 favorites]


I thought John Carter was pretty great. At least the extended version I watched on bluray. It was lots of fun. Just turn off your brain and enjoy the aliens.
posted by Fizz at 11:04 AM on May 25, 2017 [16 favorites]


Yey to more Besson happy crazy space future!
posted by leotrotsky at 11:05 AM on May 25, 2017 [7 favorites]


How clever to cut the trailer so as to set our expectations low.
posted by Nerd of the North at 11:06 AM on May 25, 2017 [2 favorites]


Seeing as The Fifth Element is literally my favorite movie ever, Yes to all of this.
posted by Twain Device at 11:08 AM on May 25, 2017 [16 favorites]


Jupiter Ascending would have been a lot more fun if the other actors had gone the way Eddie "and the Oscar for *Most* Acting goes to..." Redmayne did with his role.
posted by The Card Cheat at 11:09 AM on May 25, 2017 [15 favorites]


I'm really looking forward to this. If nothing else, it's exactly the kind of eye candy I enjoy most.
posted by Cranialtorque at 11:12 AM on May 25, 2017 [1 favorite]


Well, this feels the movie Besson was born to make. I don't like how green-screeny it all looks to the point the actors don't even look they exist in the same space (this really feels like one of those movies that should be classified as animation) but heh. Not seeing how they'd do it otherwise without looking very cheap or becoming very expensive.

I also have the impression if Valerian is a hit, EA will have a designated area for executives to kick each other in the balls for not delaying Mass Effect Andromeda to fix bugs and coincidentally release it with the movie because if someone told me the trailer was for a ME movie, I'd totally bite it.
posted by lmfsilva at 11:12 AM on May 25, 2017 [3 favorites]


Literally the only thing that's disappointing about this trailer is that Cara Delevigne is wearing boobplate. Well, and that they had to remind us that Lucy exists.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:12 AM on May 25, 2017 [6 favorites]


I'm not sure I can forgive them from changing the name from Valerian and Laureline to just Valerian.

I hear what you're saying, but I would suggest that part of the change was more the felt need to add "and the City of a Thousand Planets" to clue the US in that it's a space/action film. Leaving both names and that tag would be more than cumbersome. I"m not really sure Valerian reads as a lot more male than Laureline in the abstract, though they certainly could have just made it Laureline and the City of a Thousand Planets, but chose to err on the usual side of manly hijinks instead. So on that front your point is well taken.
posted by gusottertrout at 11:12 AM on May 25, 2017 [5 favorites]


Dane DeHaan is doing a fun Keanu Reeves impression it sounds like
posted by dismas at 11:14 AM on May 25, 2017


Agreed that it's very Mass Effect. So much that the logo has the exact same swoop through it! Is this going to result in another Lockout/Escape From New York plagiarism lawsuit for Besson?
posted by ejs at 11:17 AM on May 25, 2017


Luc Besson could show vacation slides and I'd be A-OK with it.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:22 AM on May 25, 2017 [8 favorites]


Besson has so far rolled my hopes for his recent movies in crushed glass, deep fried them in boiling oil and thrown them out in the back alley. Let's see what he does this time...
posted by Rabarberofficer at 11:23 AM on May 25, 2017 [2 favorites]


Really disliked Eddie Redmayne in Jupiter Ascending. Could barely hear what he was saying and he seemed utterly bored. Otherwise, it was a universe with a lot of potential.
posted by idb at 11:24 AM on May 25, 2017 [2 favorites]


Jupiter Ascending is great... for what it is. Don't expect it to be a good film, do enjoy the visuals and fun action. It's also a Whispers and Explosions movie.

I also got the Mass Effect Citadel vibe from the trailer, but I think "place where aliens all meet to cooperate" is a bit of a vague thing to found a lawsuit upon.
posted by borkencode at 11:33 AM on May 25, 2017 [2 favorites]


Literally the only thing that's disappointing about this trailer is that Cara Delevigne is wearing boobplate.

I noticed that too, but then then I looked left. DeHaan is too! Granted, it's less…sculptured…but it IS there. That amuses me for some reason.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 11:34 AM on May 25, 2017 [5 favorites]


Bear in mind the film is based on a comic that predates Mass Effect significantly. Also, Mass Effect is just a giant ripoff/pastiche of a million surface level SF tropes like so many games so I doubt they would have much basis.
posted by selfnoise at 11:38 AM on May 25, 2017 [5 favorites]


This is clearly going to be an action movie, but I would love to see a fauxumentary version. How does Alpha work? Is there an air/space traffic control system? What are the glowing pods the frog-fingered creatures are harvesting? Food, information, offspring? What is the governing body of the city of a thousand planets? How does it represent all these species fairly, but avoid a deadlock? How do they handle all these species basic needs, like air, water, food, waste handling? Their sewer system has to be pretty complex. How about gravity, are there variations for the different species?
posted by Cranialtorque at 11:43 AM on May 25, 2017 [4 favorites]


I loved everything in the background of Jupiter Ascending, but I didn't really care much for the story itself.

I grew up on Valerian as a pre-teen (as the slightly more mature successor comics to after I inhaled a bunch of Asterix and Tintin when Iw as younger) and am excited for this film, but as others mention, I'm a bit disappointed that Laureline got dropped from the title billing. A great hallmark of the original comics were that Laureline always held her own against Valerian and I am hoping that she will continue to be more than a sidekick in these films.

And if we're going to start talking about who influenced what and whom: how Star Wars may or may not have been influenced by the Valerian et Laureline comics
posted by bl1nk at 11:48 AM on May 25, 2017 [7 favorites]


And if we're going to start talking about who influenced what and whom

An interview with Christin on the same topic: "That’s how it goes in sci-fi: It’s all about copying from one another. Or, in other terms: You borrow something from someone else and develop it further."
posted by effbot at 11:54 AM on May 25, 2017 [2 favorites]


(also, this post needs a Mézières tag :-)
posted by effbot at 12:09 PM on May 25, 2017 [3 favorites]


Jupiter Ascending featured a roller-skating space werewolf. How can you hate that?
posted by blue_beetle at 12:21 PM on May 25, 2017 [6 favorites]


(Guardians of the Galaxy but even whiter.)

(Avatar but even the Navi are white.)
posted by tobascodagama at 12:22 PM on May 25, 2017 [7 favorites]


Super excited about this, and also super excited that my wife is actually eager to see a sci-fi movie for the first time since, like, X-Files: Fight the Future or something. Truth be told, it's only because she is obsessed with Rihanna, but I'll take what I can get.
posted by Rock Steady at 12:24 PM on May 25, 2017 [2 favorites]


I'm gonna love this movie on principle, even if it turns out to be really bad.

It may be all greenscreened and digitally jigsawed together, the actors may not be acting or even looking at anything real half the time, the story may not make sense--but if it's wildly imagined enough, if it's got enough HOLY COW WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT in it, all will be forgiven.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 12:34 PM on May 25, 2017 [1 favorite]


Literally the only thing that's disappointing about this trailer is that Cara Delevigne is wearing boobplate.
I noticed that too, but then then I looked left. DeHaan is too! Granted, it's less…sculptured…but it IS there. That amuses me for some reason.


Yes, that was my exact reaction to that shot. "For fuck's sake...why do they...oh...hmm, well that's pretty funny." Given that we both had the same reaction, I'm going to chalk it up to the joke being mainly on my own image scanning priorities and feel more chastised for that than angry with Besson.
posted by howfar at 12:42 PM on May 25, 2017 [6 favorites]


The secret to John Carter of Mars is to pretend that it's a sequel to HBO's Rome and yell Julius! and Anthony! when Hinds and Purefoy come on screen. Like the Fifth Element, the joy is in watching such great talents chew scenery like it was licorice whips (and so clearly having a good time doing it). There's good rewatch potential here.

Jupiter Ascending is a gorgeous movie in search of some good writing. I wouldn't even say that Kunis and Tatum are miscast so much as completely without a clue who they're playing or why they're there. Still, the visuals and technical bits are fun to watch. But it's not really interesting enough to watch twice.
posted by bonehead at 12:47 PM on May 25, 2017 [3 favorites]


I was a big fan of the Valérian and Laureline comics when I was growing up so my inner 10 year old is really hoping it doesn't suck. I can get past the fact it is in English but it'll be harder for me if it is too dumb. I do think this poster art is terrible.
posted by Ashwagandha at 12:50 PM on May 25, 2017


If I liked The Fifth Element am I going to like either John Carter or Jupiter Ascending?

John Carter
is made with a level of craft, intelligence, and humor that really ought to be the bare minimum for a big-budget action movie, but is sadly a rare treat. Deja Thoris is smart, well-written, and has agency and goals (and realistically mixed motives) of her own independent of John Carter's. It has some nifty superhero action and some really gorgeous bits of design (like the sunships). It has great bit parts by James Purefoy and Eileen Page that almost steal the movie. It has clever bits in the plot. It's comfortable showing instead of laboriously explaining. The editing hits some pretty good comedic timing in places. It puts some thought and creativity into creating low-gravity aliens. I really enjoyed it.
posted by straight at 12:50 PM on May 25, 2017 [17 favorites]


Well, this feels the movie Besson was born to make.

Agreed. He's just the right guy for this.

He'd also be pretty right for a Corto Maltese adaptation. Just sayin'.
posted by Capt. Renault at 12:59 PM on May 25, 2017 [4 favorites]


Corto Maltese live action? I'd be down with that though as long as it wasn't jokey and camp (the animated films/series are pretty good I think).
posted by Ashwagandha at 1:02 PM on May 25, 2017 [2 favorites]


It's good to see the Astronef and quite a lot of stuff from Ambassador of the Shadows in there.

On the other hand Cara Delavigne is not as beautiful as the real Laureline, who is the most beautiful woman ever, and it's ridiculous that Laureline got dropped from the title, and that they seem to have American accents.
posted by Mocata at 1:03 PM on May 25, 2017 [2 favorites]


I'm not at all familiar with the comic, but I am curious to see what Dehaan and Delavigne look like in their action scenes. Both of them have such delicate features, almost sickly in kind of a runway model/thin-blooded aristocrat way, that I want to see how Besson makes them into a convincing action-hero/heroine pair that audiences will root for.
posted by Strange Interlude at 1:08 PM on May 25, 2017 [1 favorite]


Bear in mind the film is based on a comic that predates Mass Effect significantly. Also, Mass Effect is just a giant ripoff/pastiche of a million surface level SF tropes like so many games so I doubt they would have much basis.

Totally, and Star Wars didn't do anything interesting because The Hidden Fortress already existed. V&L is a comic, this is a blockbuster movie.. I bet there's been a lot of audio-visual art created since this 60s comic came out that JUST MIGHT have influenced both this film and Mass Effect, and I wouldn't be surprised if the huge cultural artifact that is ME affected this film regardless of the source material.
posted by thedaniel at 1:10 PM on May 25, 2017


UK publishers Cinebooks have been cranking out English editions of the original books. The ones I have read are older English editions of the first few books.
posted by mwhybark at 1:17 PM on May 25, 2017


"Both of them have such delicate features, almost sickly in kind of a runway model/thin-blooded aristocrat way, that I want to see how Besson makes them into a convincing action-hero/heroine pair that audiences will root for."

What? I thought turning young thin models into action heroes was what Besson does.
posted by floppyroofing at 1:24 PM on May 25, 2017 [3 favorites]


I'm not sure I can forgive them from changing the name from Valerian and Laureline to just Valerian.

I feel the same way, although surely it should be Valerian and Veronique (I was introduced to the comics by my German-speaking boyfriend).

Nonetheless, I'm very very excited for the film!
posted by daisyk at 1:29 PM on May 25, 2017 [2 favorites]


Also hoping this will be good big-screen fun, though Besson creeps me out a bit. And I'm not forking over for a ticket till I've read a review or two.

(The only album I ever got hold of was "Les Oiseaux du Maitre", and it didn't do much for me. Should I try the others, or is there no hope for me if I didn't encounter it at a formative age?)
posted by floppyroofing at 1:31 PM on May 25, 2017


I feel the same way, although surely it should be Valerian and Veronique (I was introduced to the comics by my German-speaking boyfriend).

They're "Linda and Valentin" in the Scandinavian translations. The smarter character first. (Mézières was a bit puzzled as to why they named her after his wife, though, instead of using the original made-up name.)

(as for the film name, the comic was called "Valérian: Spatio-Temporal Agent" from the beginning. Laureline didn't make it into the title until 2007 in France, iiuc.)
posted by effbot at 1:46 PM on May 25, 2017 [5 favorites]


I was immediately turned off by yet another sci-fi movie staring some white kids. But what the hell, it looks like it might have some good visuals. And I have no knowledge of the source material so I'll just take it for what it is.
posted by numaner at 2:21 PM on May 25, 2017 [2 favorites]


One of thirty Summer "Whiz! Bang!" CGI movies. They all seem to run together anymore.
posted by hairless ape at 2:29 PM on May 25, 2017 [1 favorite]


CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS!
posted by k8bot at 2:34 PM on May 25, 2017


Oh, I guess I'll give it a shot. The city looks cool.

(Fun fact: 70s punk musician Gary Webb adopted the stage name Valerian when he started, because he thought it sounded science fiction. When he learned that it was a kind of flower, he changed it to Gary Numan.)
posted by Devonian at 3:10 PM on May 25, 2017 [3 favorites]


Yes, I'm really looking forward to this movie! Probably too much. It's always best to have lowered expectations. Got to remember that.

It's just that Valerian and Laureline was my first exposure to French comics, way back in the the early 80s. I knew about American comics of course, and thanks to the library I was also familiar with these strange, large format magazines (nobody called them "graphic novels" yet) from Europe that starred characters like Asterix and Obelix and Tintin. I loved them, but they always seemed more "cartoony" than the American comics. Then one day I found a graphic novel in the library that was drawn in a more realistic style, and it was science fiction! It was part of the Valerian and Laureline series (I think it was Volume 4: Welcome to Alflolol.), and because it was a serious attempt at doing a comic in my favorite genre it became my very favorite thing that summer. I read it over and over, and the frenchness of it seemed so strange and fascinating, adding a layer of sophistication to a genre that didn't get treated very seriously at that time. Later, Valerian and Laureline became a sort of gateway to other artists like Mobeius, and even later on anime creators like Leiji Matsumoto. So it was an important milestone, and an indication that people in other parts of the world besides America could do great science fiction.

The movie better be good.
posted by Kevin Street at 3:20 PM on May 25, 2017 [3 favorites]


Wife says the male lead "looks like he needs someone to feed him a steak, and maybe give him a haircut ... but otherwise looks cool!" I can't really top that assessment.
posted by freecellwizard at 3:21 PM on May 25, 2017 [2 favorites]


I'm interested in this because I like the color! Except for the cast. Not much color there. I know nothing about the series so I figure this could be a decent movie,,, or a dull one. But the color is nice!
posted by rebent at 3:24 PM on May 25, 2017


Except for the cast. Not much color there.

I dunno, there's been black human characters in all the main trailers, and not just Rihanna and Herbie Hancock; human guards and officers seem to be fairly mixed crowds. Skimming the IMDB listing, there's a bunch of black and asian actors in the cast list, but of course not clear from that list who plays humans and who's hidden by prosthetics or painted green or mocapped; the film is about a thousand different kinds of aliens, after all...

Also, the film is produced by Virginie Besson-Silla and the executive producers all have Asian names, so seems Luc Besson himself is the only white guy at that level on the production side of things.
posted by effbot at 4:43 PM on May 25, 2017 [4 favorites]


I want a space romp. I want something that makes me want jetpacks or want to live in a city built upside down. Something with strange creatures that make me wish the world was not so... ordinary. I want something that makes me feel like dreams after watching a Saturday morning cartoon... I want to feel the shock and awe of imagination and youth and stories we could be...

Boy, I hope I haven't set my expectations too high for this movie.
posted by Nanukthedog at 5:09 PM on May 25, 2017


It looks pretty, but I'd be more excited if Besson had ever made a film I liked.
posted by kyrademon at 5:14 PM on May 25, 2017 [1 favorite]


I know what you mean, Nanukthedog. It's hard not to expect a lot, particularly when the trailers look so pretty. My strategy is to geek out as hard as I can in advance as a sort of exorcism, then try to go to the actual movie with lower expectations. Don't know if it'll work, but that's the plan.
posted by Kevin Street at 5:24 PM on May 25, 2017


Look I've waited my entire life for brightly colored goofy space adventures with 70s soundtracks to be em vogue and I'll take every single last one of them I can get
posted by The Whelk at 6:04 PM on May 25, 2017 [8 favorites]


Truly I don't give a rat's ass whether it's any good or not. It's gonna be gorgeous, and if the story is also good, then sweet.

Worst case scenario? I come stumbling out into the afternoon sun after watching this and am asked how the movie was. Meanwhile, I gaze dreamily into the sky and idly wave my hand to one side in dismissal. Bright and colorful Sci-Fi goofy crazy European flavored space-opera? Yes, please!
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 6:10 PM on May 25, 2017 [2 favorites]


I would love so much for another 5th Element. I don't know if it's me, I find Delevigne a truly terrible, wooden actor who is reliably stilted. But I'll let it slide for the kind of fun I got from 5th Element.
posted by smoke at 6:24 PM on May 25, 2017 [2 favorites]


What? I thought turning young thin models into action heroes was what Besson does.

Point taken, although I stand behind my assessment of the two leads (who each look like they might subsist on milk, red peppers and cocaine like Bowie in his Thin White Duke phase) seeming even wispier-than-usual for Besson protagonists. Like, Anne Parillaud could have probably bench-pressed both Dehaan and Delavigne one-handed in La Femme Nikita.
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:18 PM on May 25, 2017 [3 favorites]


Needs more Ruby Rhod.
posted by lagomorphius at 8:17 PM on May 25, 2017 [11 favorites]


No mention so far of the fact that the whole thing seems to pretty much ONLY have the orange and teal color scheme that's all over movies anymore? It's so over the top that it's made it hard to even pay much attention to anything else.
posted by evilangela at 8:44 PM on May 25, 2017 [1 favorite]


Ha this movie coming out made me look up the English name of the Valerian comic I liked so much. It's called The City of Shifting Waters and this article has a write up and a nice high resolution image of a page to give you an impression. Even though I read the album 30+ yrs ago I remember so many scenes.

I'll get a copy for my daughter. Tx for reminding me.
posted by jouke at 10:20 PM on May 25, 2017 [2 favorites]


I'm interested in this because I like the color!

Same; the opening seconds with the bizarre colors, and the beach shots look properly fantastic.

Except when it goes into space everything turns monochromatic blue and then it looks like the worst garbage.
posted by fleacircus at 3:40 AM on May 26, 2017


"I don't know if it's me, I find Delevigne a truly terrible, wooden actor who is reliably stilted. But I'll let it slide for the kind of fun I got from 5th Element."

Well, unfortunately, even if what I remember is the sci-fi trappings, a lot of the actual fun may have been the responsibility of Willis & co.
posted by floppyroofing at 6:25 AM on May 26, 2017


Except for the cast. Not much color there.

I dunno, there's been black human characters in all the main trailers, and not just Rihanna and Herbie Hancock; human guards and officers seem to be fairly mixed crowds.


Lol. See there, non-white people? You're background characters, crowds, and the entertainment for the white leads! What more do you want?
posted by greermahoney at 6:38 AM on May 26, 2017 [4 favorites]


A bunch of us went to see The Fifth Element in the theater last week, as part of an anniversary thing. The crowd was great and super into it. They showed a trailer for Valerian, as well as a sort of behind-the-scenes making of, and we all got super stoked. Those of us familiar with the comics were all cautiously optimistic, and those who had never heard of the series were excited to see the film. High hopes. :)
posted by xedrik at 6:40 AM on May 26, 2017 [2 favorites]


Note that the trailer in the FPP is the second one. The final (and 3rd) trailer is here. According to Valerian's author Jean-Claude Mézières, the plot is loosely adapted from Ambassador of the Shadows (some of the shots in the trailers are right from the comic). Interestingly, Ambassador is not just one of the best in the series, it's largely a Laureline solo adventure where she kicks all kinds of ass and saves the day, and if this shot of a (female?) Bagoulin is any indication, some part of that plot has survived. Besson being Besson, I'd expect Laureline to play a larger part in the movie than shown in the trailers (btw, the inspiration for the Valerian character was singer Hughes Aufray).
posted by elgilito at 8:04 AM on May 26, 2017 [3 favorites]


Does the music at the beginning of that third trailer remind anyone else of Stevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise?"
posted by dismas at 12:15 PM on May 26, 2017


I think it's an operatic adaptation of either that, or Gangsta's Paradise (which of course samples Pastime Paradise). Considering the target demographics of a film like this, it's probably gonna scan as the latter.
posted by axiom at 7:30 PM on May 26, 2017


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