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I'm just wrapping up reading this book (the third in the series) and it's pretty fun. I really like this series. It reminds me of Indiana Jones, but instead of an archeologist, Robert Langdon is a symbologist. Anyway, pretty excited about the film adaptation now in the works. It's still in the very early stages, but I'm glad to see it's in the works anyway. I enjoyed the Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons. I do however, regret that Ron Howard will not be directing this time.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/07/LostSymbol.jpg

THE LOST SYMBOL (IMDB)

And shit, I just discovered today that Dan Brown has already released the next step in the series, called Inferno. Got that to look forward to. Shit, I wish Ron Howard was directing and that they'd just go ahead and film them back-to-back. Darn.

The second film was beeee-oring. I hated the singular setting of Vatican City and really felt the whole thing was beyond contrived. Perhaps this shall be a little better, but I doubt I'd see it in theaters.

Really? I actually thought Angels & Demons was better paced and had a urgency that the first one didn't. Huh..

read both novels.. love both da vinci code and angels & demons..

haven't read the lost symbol yet, but going too, looking forward to the film adaptation

Inferno is AWESOME. Obviously based off of "Inferno" from Dante's "A Divine Comedy."

It doesn't really have much to do with religion like the first two . It was brilliant.

It's out on hardback only, now - got it from Amazon.

Nobody can be on the run from three different factions while stealing precious relics and pieces of art quite like Robert Langdon.

I'm actually going back to read The Da Vinci Code before I read Inferno. I never actually read The Da Vinci Code before, just saw the movie. Good to hear Inferno is good. When was it released exactly, anyway? Did it just come out?

Is Angels & Demons actually a prequel to the Da Vinci Code? I had forgotten that. They switched it for the movies, I think?

Originally posted by Patient_Leech
I'm actually going back to read The Da Vinci Code before I read Inferno. I never actually read The Da Vinci Code before, just saw the movie. Good to hear Inferno is good. When was it released exactly, anyway? Did it just come out?

Is Angels & Demons actually a prequel to the Da Vinci Code? I had forgotten that. They switched it for the movies, I think?


Da Vinci Code is a damn good read.. in fact just about everything in the movie is also in the novel... Angels and Demons yes actually came first in the series but film wise its a sequel

It was released May 14th. I had it on hold on Amazon, and got it for a really good price.

The Da Vinci Code has always been my least favorite of the series. At that period of time, people were starting to discover the gnostic gospels over in the Dead Sea - and that became a trend really quickly. I always saw that story as Dan Brown's way of completely rushing a book to publish so he could catch that trend wave.

You have mentioned great information, I like thanks for sharing it.

I think that "Angels and Demons" was made as a prequel, because Langdon mentions that he basically has the power of the Vatican behind him - because he's just saved the future pope and a terrible tragedy that would've changed the world.

Originally posted by siriuswriter
I think that "Angels and Demons" was made as a prequel, because Langdon mentions that he basically has the power of the Vatican behind him - because he's just saved the future pope and a terrible tragedy that would've changed the world.


film wise Angels and Demons is a sequel, but the novel came first before The Da Vinci Code

I bought and watched the Extended Cut of The Da Vinci Code (2006). I know it was received with lackluster reviews at the time, but with many years now separating the hype and expectation I thought it was an excellent film. There are certainly some differences from the novel that make it more accessible and that also perhaps soften some of the irreverent blows, but I didn't think they hurt the story or characters at all. I enjoyed it. And the Extended Cut did flow much better than I remembered, better pacing etc. I liked the extensions added here and there, for example more background flashbacks on Silas like there is in the book, I think there was some extended background history on Constantine revealed through Teabing and Langdon. The historical shots were brought to life very well and I think they, along with the emotional backbone involving Sophia Neveu, contribute greatly to the strength of the film. Ultimately, I think I would disagree with people who were disappointed by it because now that I am familiar with the book I actually enjoyed it more and got much more out of it. The Extended Cut is almost 3 hours, but it's only about 25 or 30 minutes longer than the Theatrical Cut. Well worth the extra time.

I think it's perhaps still a bit disappointing in that it doesn't have as many details as the book does, but it's of course impossible for the movie to include everything. I give Ron Howard and company major kudos. It's extremely well done. Sorry to hear they're not doing #3.

Watched the Extended Cut of Angels & Demons.

I actually think it's a better movie than it is a book. They imbued it with such a sense of urgency and excitement. It certainly lends itself more to a filmic thriller than The Da Vinci Code does, that's for sure, but the The Da Vinci Code is still a great movie for what it is. I thought the changed made for the Angels & Demons book-to-film were very good decisions. Ron Howard said that he typically doesn't like to do sequels, but that Angels & Demons was really quite different in execution and pacing and presented much different challenges. Watching the special features on the A&D disc I am blown away at the work they did to recreate not only the Vatican (The Sistine Chapel, etc), but also parts of Rome and sculptures like St. Peters Square and Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers. Not to mention the climactic antimatter explosion (that whole sequence is phenominal). The mix of practical sets, CGI, and matte painting is beautifully done. It's the same sort of techniques they used for the historical exposition in Da Vinci, but it seemed quite a bit more elaborate.

It's cool, because I was in Rome while they were filming Angels & Demons. I remember seeing a film crew, probably some second unit or something, but I still remember it very vividly.

Originally posted by Patient_Leech
Really? I actually thought Angels & Demons was better paced and had a urgency that the first one didn't. Huh..

Hey man, How much did you pay for the book. Looks interesting

They're completely skipping The Lost Symbol and instead they're doing Inferno

http://www.hitfix.com/motion-captured/ron-howard-and-tom-hanks-are-both-back-for-dan-browns-inferno-for-2015

Holy shit...

Well, I can see why Ron Howard would pass on The Lost Symbol, because it doesn't really offer any new challenges as far as storytelling goes. But does this mean that the other director isn't going to do The Lost Symbol? That's kind of a bummer.. I mean, structurally it is a bit formulaic, but it's the details that are great and that's what makes a Dan Brown thriller interesting anyway. I haven't read Inferno yet, but it does sound a bit different. Glad to see that Ron Howard is back on board.

Well, and it's not like they're dedicated to filming the books in order - we got the second one first, and there's "Deception Point" which even Dan Brown doesn't like to mention. But it is a Robert Langdon adventure.

must read lost symbol as well as Inferno

There's a great villain in "The Lost Symbol." I found it very exciting, finding all those double-meanings in the construction and some of the basic symbols of the United States. A lot of people have compared it negatively to National Treasure - and in some ways, it's like that, but much more intelligent.

I've been waiting for news on this for years and what do I stumble upon last night?

This...


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I was hoping for another Ron Howard/Tom Hanks film for continuity, but I guess this will have to do. At least as a TV series they'll really be able to do the story justice.

^ I know absolutely no one from the show. All new faces to me.

I watched the first episode last night and while I liked it okay so far, I am missing the gravity and weight that Hanks/Ron Howard brought to the world. The new, young Langdon is fine, I guess, but he's not Tom Hanks. Probably not fair of me to say because he's a hard act to follow.

I did read that Hanks and Howard decided not to adapt The Lost Symbol because it would come across as a little repetitive with similar elements that they already covered in the other films, and that's fair enough. I can definitely see that. So turning it into a prequel show makes sense. But I'm a little confused about it being a prequel... if it is they don't seem to care about references to Twitter and such. But I guess that's fine. Just odd.

But I do look forward to continuing the show.

I just hope this season wraps up the book. Are they planning to do more seasons?!

No idea on future seasons, sorry.
Maybe the lack of gravity/weight is due to things being paced w. an eye towards episodic storytelling as opposed to a movie?

Yeah, there's some good elements, but I think that's right, tension gets sort of deflated due to so many episodes. After reading a little I think season 1 will probably cover the book and depending on the success of the show they may do some separate stories, because Dan Brown is involved, a producer or something. I'm not sure if it's still meant as a prequel, I'm guessing not with the current modern setting.

I've seen the first 4 episodes so far. The budget seems noticeably low at times. Especially when Langdon was doing some super low budget Indiana Jonesing to find the capstone. It was actually pretty cringy and honestly should have just been scrapped due to budget.

I finished the show. I'll just post my IMDB review...

"I was really looking forward to an adaptation of this for like the last 7-8 years after reading the book. I was really hoping for another Ron Howard/Tom hanks film because I love them and can watch them again and again, but they had good reasons for not doing a 4th film. Those films benefit from great momentum and tension, and this new show, while it has it's strong points, much of that is deflated too frequently with the episodic series. But overall I did enjoy the show, aside from some distracting low budget elements (I mean, c'mon, I thought digital hand removal would be pretty easy these days?! We can still tell his hand is under there, ugh)"

I was generous and gave it 7/10.

Yeah, I mean, the positive aspect of the long series adaptation is that the characters are developed pretty thoroughly, so it's a give and take. I'd still prefer the Hanks/Howard take, though. The low budget is kind of unforgivable.

Oh, and honestly I don't remember a lot about the book to know what was and wasn't changed.

(I need to re-read The Lost Symbol...)

BUT, I'm currently reading Origin! Apparently a new Robert Langdon book released in 2017! I had no idea it existed! And I read that Dan Brown is working on another Langdon story currently.

Anyway, I'm saddened to see that Origin apparently hasn't attracted the attention of Howard and Hanks for another film either. But I'm enjoying it quite a lot so far. It's more of the same, so I get it, I guess that's why Ron Howard isn't all that interested. But I'm hoping he and Hanks can get together for another Da Vinci Code film at some point as they are some of my favorite re-watchable films. (Angels and Demons being probably the best of the films so far.)

Origin, so far, is very much about Catholicism vs. Atheism, so I can see how a studio may be too hesitant to invest in it due to the controversy. But hell, who gives a crap... The Da Vinci Code already introduced some major controversy, so I feel like that cat's out of the bag. But anyway...

Maybe Dan Brown's next book will spawn another Howard/Hanks film... **crosses fingers**

Oh shit, I meant to bump a thread for this in the Movie Forum...