Disney's Failed Next Big Thing: The Lone Ranger

In the early 2010's Disney tried to recapture the magic of Pirates of the Caribbean by pumping out big budget blockbusters that went on to bomb at the box office. 2013's The Lone Ranger is a perfect example of this. In this video essay I examine what exactly went wrong, and offer some of my thoughts on the film.
Music Attribution:
"Study And Relax" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensecreativecommons.org/licenses/b...
"Apero Hour" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensecreativecommons.org/licenses/b...
"Smooth Lovin" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensecreativecommons.org/licenses/b...
"Sincerely" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensecreativecommons.org/licenses/b...
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[@fusetunes]

it’s really funny to me that this movie got a huge disney infinity playset and world and frozen just got two figures who didn’t even reflect the final designs of the characters. it’s a really good example of this phenomenon

[@maymayman0]

Loner Ranger in Disney Infinite.... failureception

[@FTChomp9980]

I had that set at one point.

[@markvicferrer]

They weren't expecting Frozen to be a hit, let alone a cultural phenomenon. They couldn't make those Frozen figures fast enough.

[@richardbeater8915]

Fuck frozen

[@juliamavroidi8601]

I went to a Toys R Us about a year after the movie came out and they had that giant crate of Lone Ranger Disney Infinity Figures on clearance sale for literally 1 Euro.

[@robvegas9354]

The lone ranger could have been a really tight fun 100 minute film.

[@DigontoZahid-lc7kt]

Its not bad its a decent action flick

[@Clownboy15]

Yeah, it was way too long and over bloated.

[@VERsingthegamez]

There's a fan edit that does do something like that, and it's a lot of fun in that lense now.

[@TheRealNTM]

You know that a film is in trouble when it needs to gross *800,000,000 Dollars* just to break even. I think the rest of Hollywood learned that the hard way just last year.

[@thibaud1832]

Hollywood is a tax credit and money laundering scheme

[@StarSparkleofficial]

Budgets are crazy nowadays. Hollywood is being delusional when every movie need to earn 1 billion to be considered a success.

[@houndofculann1793]

Disney itself had to learn it again, _FOUR TIMES_ , last year with the Little Mermaid remake, Quantumania, Indiana Jones and The Marvels all having budgets of about 250+ million, all of them losing money. How much money was lost depends on the added costs after the budgets, generally a movie needs at least 2-3 times its budget to break even and out of those four only The Little Mermaid grossed almost double its budget while definitely having enough marketing costs that the triple budget mark is probably closer to the break even point.

[@pedrorojas0116]

It's gonna take them a while for them to get their s#$t together before they stop force feeding us mediocre movies that nobody wants.

[@carlosrivas1629]

so tthe only problem is they spent too much money? it was a fun movie. stop over anal-lyizing it.

[@Shockwave-ob2tx]

The biggest flaw was that the movie didn't know what it wanted to be. It was trying to be gritty, comedy, drama, adventure, all rolled into one. I lt was all over the place.

[@planetdrull1701]

Like everyone else has said, they were trying to make it into pirates of the Caribbean but it’s missing all of the charm, character, and writing that made those movies entertaining. So you’re just left with a bland and desperate film

[@badfoody]

exactly..... Gore Verbinski was good with charming settings and charming premises. but the Lone Ranger isn't really that charming

[@SmithMrCorona]

The biggest flaw was the main character. Nobody is terribly interested in the Lone Ranger, and they compounded it by making him a buffoon, just so Johnny Depp could literally act like a twat.

[@jonahfalcon1970]

Answer: they wanted to turn The Lone Ranger into Pirates of the Caribbean in the West.

[@polybius8571]

And I don’t hate that idea, but do it right

[@kitsunepryde507]

I mean Rango its one of my favorites movie, and its basically that

[@jonahfalcon1970]

@@kitsunepryde507 Well, it's basically Uncle Duke as a lizard.

[@joaquinvaleri7022]

​@@jonahfalcon1970and later he become the man with no name as a lizard

[@joaquinvaleri7022]

​@@jonahfalcon1970and you play Red Dead Redemption?

[@BugsyFoga]

It’s fascinating to think in the span of two years Gore Verbinski directed two bizarre westerns that star Johnny depp and composed by Han Zimmer.

[@escapefromtibet2530]

Ah yes, Han Zimmer

[@eric2709]

Rewatched Rango recently because it happened to be on TV, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Think it held up quite well

[@Sacromento80085]

The Lone Ranger Lego sets were the best

[@thehydratedaustralian2127]

The freaking kick ass, I’d sell my firstborn for a second wave.

[@elijahalbiston]

@@thehydratedaustralian2127 I also think they were incredible but wtf

[@thatpersonmariah3997]

I only ever had one of those sets, and wanted to get some more but by the time I went looking for them they were out of production. They were awesome.

[@wiremuwifebash]

I had all of them, even the tiny polybag sets, but I sold them. One of the biggest regrets of my life.

[@Mr.H0LLYW00D]

This movie helped me get over my ex when it came out. My mom asked me if wanted to go cause i was all depressed. movie was long and boring i was able to zone out and reflect on my relationship i had lost while at the theater😂😂😂

[@Bocchi-the-Rock_]

No, sounds like you just didn't give a fuck because you were sad. The movie was pretty damn funny, you literally didn't pay attention lmao you JUST said so

[@Joecbg100]

Ya know what's funny, cannibalism happened in this film and not to the alleged cannibal himself

[@saintgein]

I’m so confused please explain

[@joaofigueiredo3048]

@@saintgeinthere’s a scene where the main antagonist eats the heart of one of his victims. the funny part is that the main character is played by Armie Hammer who allegedly is a cannibal

[@iakatat2]

The problem is they tried to make it campy and funny, but the Lone Ranger was never any such thing. Sure it had some funny moments, but never like that.

[@DavidLLambertmobile]

They seemed to see Young Guns 2 & say hey ... that can work! 💡

[@mariacargille1396]

Yeah, I've always loved the sincerity of the TV show from the 40s and 50s. It was absolutely absurd at times, but it was incredibly sincere

[@hypothalapotamus5293]

Script writer: This film has inspired me. I want to do Pirates of the Caribean but with the lone ranger. Disney: Sounds cool. Script writer 2: This film has inspired me. I wanna do last of the Mohicans, but set in Ohio and make it a comedy. I'm going to call it the adventures of Arthur St. Clair, starring Johnny Depp. Disney: So, who is this Arthur St. Clair? Script writer 2: Don't worry. It's going to be totally politically correct. He's a white guy like Custer, but almost 100 years before Custer and much dumber than Custer and instead of having elite US cavalrymen, he had idiots with guns who were probably suffering from dysentery. It's going to be an Allegory for the direction of Disney. We're going to cast Dallas Goldtooth as Little Turtle and Zahn McClarnon as Blue Jacket... Disney: ...

[@BladeStar-uq6xe]

People making John Carter didn't know the first damn thing about John Carter!

[@elijahblechman8633]

He's an awesome character.

[@ad-sd-vids5332]

The people marketing the films didn’t know anything about John carter, Andrew Stanton definitely cared about it

[@BladeStar-uq6xe]

They didn't get a single thing right. Martian ships have never looked like that in any media previously, the White Martians don't show up until the 3rd book, and, they have no such advanced technology, the Martian's did NOT have tattoos, especially those hideous facial tattoos, the Martian's also were dressed wrong! The Martian's were supposed to be mostly nude, now you can't do that in a PG-13 Movie, but Conan the Barbarian type costumes would work instead of the mismatch stuff we got! It's sad that the knockoff B-Movie was actually better even with the miscast Traci Lords!

[@nooctip]

Lone Ranger films do seem cursed to almost be good, but not quite making it. The trouble here was they based the Lone Ranger on Seths Green Hornet, made Tonto the comic relief, and made too long a movie.

[@jeffgorham8819]

An appropriate connection, since LR and GH are related properties (and, in their radio incarnations, the two characters are related -- Britt Reid (Green Hornet) was the great nephew of the Lone Ranger.

[@DavidLLambertmobile]

I was confused by the devil 🐰 . What the f*&= were those? Did it mean something? Also the John Reid character was poorly developed. The story in the 1981 Legend Of The Lone Ranger was more clear. The actor, LR costume was better too. Armie Hammer's huge white Texas style hat was goofy 🤔 as was the dead crow 🐦‍⬛ on JD's hair.

[@jhmoxl]

its fascinating because the Green Hornet reboot made the same mistake with the Hornet by making him the totally incompetent comic relief character who grows a bit in the third act, and it also failed yet they made the same mistake here. I think the whole thing there showed they didn't really like the source material and the making Tonto the hero then casting a white guy to play him was one of those bizarre decisions that was going to please no one. Cast an American Indian actor and make both he and the Lone Ranger competent and heroic but with different strengths and flaws that need each other and you have a good movie. And for god sakes don't spend more than 100 million on a Western!

[@francesconicoletti2547]

I think there is a book that all Hollywood screenwriters have to read that says something like “ the characters have to show growth throughout the script “. Which is not true . My childhood batman and superman were heros at the beginning of the story and heros at the end. The other problem is if you are a bad writer the easiest way to “ show growth “ is to start with a mediocre character and have them learn something really obvious to become slightly less mediocre.

[@Waffletigercat]

I still remember when this movie came out. My parents went to see it in theaters and sang its praises to high heaven, begging me to go give it a chance too. I caved, and went. All I could really think throughout the entire film was how obvious they had tried so hard to parallel all of the popular elements of Pirates of the Caribbean and it left a terrible taste in my mouth.

[@Yougottubed89]

Let's not forget about Westworld and how that wove western and sci-fi together brilliantly. Not a movie but worth a mention.

[@isenhartproductions2677]

That first season of Westworld was amazing

[@picahudsoniaunflocked5426]

Westworld was originally a movie, the show's a re-imagining of it, & I believe it was based on a book or short story in the first place.

[@MemesToa]

@@picahudsoniaunflocked5426 Westworld was a movie first, made by Michael Crichton. The book you’re thinking of might be Jurassic Park, which uses a very similar premise for the conflict (Amusement park made with experimental technology goes awry, chaos and death ensues).

[@laotasurfs1110]

The problem with modern westerns is not that people don't like westerns anymore, it's that they're being made with the wrong themes. Westerns are about a desire to regress to an imagined ideal past when we were supposedly far less complicated and everyone was allowed to follow their natures. That's why Tarentino can still make a good western -- by my definition, ALL Tarentino movies are westerns. (PS, Pirates of the Caribbean was good because the screenwriters, Elliott and Rossio, were the same guys who wrote Shrek and Aladdin.)

[@perfectallycromulent]

Strange how "everyone was allowed to follow their natures" in these movies means "men shoot people to get what they want." it's only ideal because you think you'll be the person doing the shooting instead of being shot.

[@valhatan3907]

A game that was reignited my interest for western genre is Red Dead Redemption, and. i think it captured every classic element of this genre

[@francesconicoletti2547]

The trouble is what you have described doesn’t need to be a western. It could be set say “ a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away “ . That allows the imaginary past to be more malleabile as peoples’ ideas of true nature changes.

[@dlxmarks]

I think the video was way too broad in how it lumped films together based on their shared setting to blame the overall genre for poor performance. _True Grit, The Lone Ranger, and Cowboys and Aliens_ had nothing in common other than taking place in the 19th century West. One did well because it was a well made movie with a reasonable budget. The other two, not so much. Several actors and filmmakers turned down working on the first _Pirates_ film because the genre had been box office poison for decades but one good movie flipped that around. I feel the same way now when so many people say that audiences have superhero burnout where I think the burnout is really on bad to mediocre superhero films.

[@michaelmayo]

A couple of things more. You didn't mention one of the reasons the budget ballooned was the original story involved a werewolf that stayed in the movie until Dizzy pulled the plug and had them retool it, costing them millions. Another reason, I think, is the misguided attempt at pathos with the opening and closing bookends of Depp as old Tonto telling the movie in flashback to a kid before wandering off into the sunset at the end. This movie had no idea of what it wanted to be, so piled cliches, set pieces, and bad jokes before mercifully ending. It was doomed from the start.

[@DavidLLambertmobile]

Yeah the Young Guns 2 story rip off & wierd images pulled the film down. Armie Hammer's strange wardrobe choices for Lone Ranger were hard to follow.

[@derekmatzek9551]

“Mommy can we get the movie Dead Man!?” “We have dead man at home”

[@bltvd]

I got to work 30 days as a extra on this movie in New Mexico as a railroad worker. It was a blast. Great food and constant weed smoking.

[@SuperMoviemaster21]

Not to mention all the pointless nonsense that they had in the movie that you easily could’ve cut, the most especially that rabbit scene…… And just a lot of other moments with John Reed, have they been cut out then the movie would of course not only be shorter and much better paced and length (which would also help them have more showtimes and make more money :-) been overall more focussed even an enjoyable :-) and the sad thing is, you can actually do it yourself with simple fan editing

[@vonsowards1297]

All in all, I enjoy most of these films, but over all they are a couple steps above passable. John Carter is my favorite. Prince of Persia was pretty good. Lone Ranger was enjoyable. Tomorrowland had a lot of potential but was so boring.

[@TheShowmanMovies]

What about sorcerers apprentice?

[@vonsowards1297]

@@TheShowmanMovies um…. I think I only saw half of that one. It’s was on at a house I was at once. Can’t say I know it well enough to make a judgement call on it

[@sw3aty_forte]

Maybe I am beating a dead horse with this, but the film's score is very well written.

[@-batman-1328]

Honestly westerners don’t work as big bombastic flicks they work as grounded honest adventures

[@picahudsoniaunflocked5426]

Tombstone is pretty Shakespearean + campy.

[@Adam-xd9tr]

I've never seen the movie, but hearing that there are 2 huge action scenes inbetween 2 hours of fluff means this film was doomed to the fate of "the best parts are on KZbin". The train scene looks awesome, but it also looks like "what if Pirates of the Caribbean was in the wild west?" which doesn't help The Lone Ranger stick out. Which it kind of needed to with a budget that ballooned.

[@ashtonndlovu9470]

My guilty pleasure film 😅 I'm a suckered for westerns shot on modern hardware

[@orboakin8074]

It was too expensive. The tone was wrong and the marketing was terrible. Would have been better as a TV show

[@capsjukebox]

John Carter (of Mars) could have worked had Disney had any f*cking idea how to market science-fi or fantasy.

[@kyllepoiencot4361]

I agree mostly with the final analysis. I truly loved this movie but it did feel all over the place in that I didn’t necessarily like that it started in a Princess Bride fashion of being a story within a story and it was overly comedic but also serious and heavy. I also didn’t think that the Lone Ranger was casted perfectly as he was too innocent and too clumsy. I feel that for John Reed to work, he should have been casted more like Orlando Bloom as Will Turner: competent and capable in the world he is being introduced into but still fresh and able to be molded into it. I do however think Johnny Depp did a great job as Tonto. I disagree that the western is dead; it is however not done right. The problem with the genre is the same with the pirates genre in that it hasn’t found it’s modern day footing. Before Pirates of the Caribbean, studios thought that pirate movies were box office poison. If you had the right cast, right crew, right mood and tone, with the right effects, color, lighting, and intentions, you could rekindle the western in the present day. I remember watching it and wanting it to succeed and have a couple sequels even with the problems I saw, but it failed and not to be revisited again.😔

[@cooperv.6083]

The best thing to come out of this movie was having some new wild west themed lego sets. Hindsight (and being grown up with expendable income) is 20/20, wish I bought more of those sets, so so good.

[@isenhartproductions2677]

for real, I'm hoping LEGO will revive the western theme one day but it's seems unlikely

[@sw3aty_forte]

On the contrary, I think the score is very well written.

[@myfriendcameron]

This movie exists as a surreal blur in my childhood. I also remember the Legos because it was cool seeing a cowboy theme. And they also heavily pushed LR in Disney Infinity, something me and the mates have would play all the time. Great video lad keep it up

[@lasercraft32]

The only reason I know Lone Ranger exists is because I remember seeing the Lego sets in the "Lego Club Magazine" as a kid.

[@SvenDoes]

I actually enjoyed this movie a lot. Never knew people found it to be a "flop" until this video 😂

[@luigiboyinblu]

The Lone Ranger was everything Rango directly opposed to as a movie

[@MechaOracle]

A high budget western could work. The biggest problem is that they keep trying to make them as a stereotypical western and expecting people who don't like stereotypical westerns to like these movies. Or they just get incredibly weird with them (Wild Wild West, Cowboys v Aliens, etc...) This isn't like RDR2 where a person is playing a cowboy, this is people sitting still for however long watching someone else play a cowboy. You have to give audiences something more than just "western" for the genre to work in a high budget. Not only is the myth of cowboys more readily known now days, but a vast majority of successful movies of any genre do this sort of thing.

[@leesimmons5453]

The dead bird on Tonto's head didn't help.

[@nile2227]

3:39 “leading man/cannibal” lmao

[@DavidLLambertmobile]

AH like those meaty roles! 🍖

[@bingbong9076]

I saw it in theatres when it came out, I vaguely remember the big train set-piece and absolutely nothing else.

[@DavidLLambertmobile]

I recall the devil demon 🐰 was that part of the werewolf B sub plot?

[@kpowers]

The 1980 Lone Ranger was good. The 2013 Lone Ranger "the classic re-telling of" uh-oh, there you go. Johnny Depp as Tonto was played as a spoof, bad casting. Armie Hammer looked the part, though didn't like the clothes he wore. Once again if you have Johnny Depp you must have Helena Bonham Carter, ehhhh

[@Makoto03]

Great video on the Lone Ranger. Completely forgot about this movie. Ironically Johnny Depp's miscasting was the only interest i had in the film at the time. I didn't care for westerns but was a big Johnny Depp fan. But the reviews turned me off from ever seeing it, then i just forgot about it.

[@joaquinvaleri7022]

Hey Makoto remember me?

[@Makoto03]

@@joaquinvaleri7022 Sorry i have terrible memory. lol

[@joaquinvaleri7022]

@@Makoto03 what happen to you?

[@Makoto03]

@@joaquinvaleri7022 nothing. I'm not sure what you mean.

[@joaquinvaleri7022]

@@Makoto03 you say you have a terrible memory

[@zotfotpiq]

It's so interesting to see a childhood movie through the eyes of an adult. Also, I promise this movie will hit very differently, again, in another 20 years. Looking forward to that review!

[@aimeeinkling]

I wish folks would just realize that Johnny Depp is not as good as he thinks he is.

[@DW3010]

I agree with just about everything you said in this video. It’s not a great movie, and it’s not a horrible movie, it’s just okay. I remember when it came out one of the complaints were Johnny Depp should’ve played the Lone Ranger. But I don’t know if that would’ve worked either.

[@susanscott8653]

It might have worked if it had been written well. 🤔

[@thehahvokexperience]

I love this movie; it's one of my favorites. The action and visuals are incredible and it has one of the best ever Hans Zimmer scores that is CRIMINALLY underrated. Butch Cavendish was also a very menacing villain that I stole every scene he was in.

[@elijahblechman8633]

I'm really happy that somebody loves this movie. Gotta give it a shot sometime.

[@Clownboy15]

@@elijahblechman8633the train chase at the climax of the movie is worth seeing.

[@nobodynothing00000]

Biggest mistake was trying to shoehorn their leading man into the sidekick role with that Captain Jack flavor.

[@Itchyknee88]

In fairness…I found the “high-ho silver” bit to be absolutely hilarious 😂

[@quasarulas3968]

i feel like without any special mythology like the pirates universe (that gave the writers more freedom to explore) there would be nowhere left to take any sequels either way. regardless if it turned out to be a hit

[@ayopinetrees]

Banger series. Keep it up and you’re gonna get real big. Subbed

[@isenhartproductions2677]

Thank you!

[@devindevon]

Johnny Depp as Tonto is probably the only reason anyone DID go to see it.

[@allimone5400]

I was told that Johnny Depp is part Native American, and the markup he was wearing was from his ancestry tribe

[@NoCluYT]

I was gonna say. He definitely did not look white to me. Not fully at least. I'm just surprised by how distant his ancestry. He looks as if one of his parents are full Native American.

[@Thenewboidahlia]

@@NoCluYToh that’s laughable

[@susanscott8653]

I was under the impression that he was part Cherokee, but if there is evidence otherwise, I am happy to stand corrected. He doesn't look white to me either.🤨

[@petermj1098]

@@ThenewboidahliaThe reason he wore the makeup the entire movie because he is obviously a white guy and didn’t show it. Lol

[@chadthundercock4806]

@@petermj1098He’s part black, probably not native

[@alekseev7646]

Even as an edgy teen I liked Lone Ranger Despicable me on the other hand I despise to this day as a franchise

[@indianruckus6412]

Honestly the film had potential…The action scenes were definitely so well put together, especially the train crash…But it seemed to get a little too hard to follow and so many threads with the fantasy and evil spirits thrown out as quickly as it was mentioned and Tonto retelling his time with the Ranger to the kid and then being like “it’s up to you decide”. Undoubtedly was incredibly stupid.

[@subraxas]

I've read that the film needed to earn around $650 MIL at the box office in order to break even; not $800 MIL.

[@gstone8255]

This is a great idea for a video series

[@fynnpeterson8811]

Yooooooo keep it up this is a totally cool idea for a video series two fire movies I love the Lone Ranger lmao good shit

[@BigBossBernie]

The closes thing in genre to Lone Ranger to ever hit movie theaters is Zorro - as a sequel/ prequel/ reimagination, the lates comparable is 1998's "Mask of Zorro" with had a budget of 95 mUSD and a box office of 250 mUSD; adjusted for inflation that comes close to 135.7 mUSD for production and 357 mUSD for box office. The 2005 sequel performed much worse already with a 145 mUSD box office and production costs of 65 mUSD, signalling a dying trend in "masked vigilante western" as a genre. I find it quite baffling that a budget of anything close to 150 mUSD or above was even approved...

[@onslaught147]

On the topic of the real Native American massacre hurting the tone of the movie: I feel like the same thing happened for Blue Beetle. It's a light hearted fun superhero movie. Except the main character's father dies right in front of his family. And we have to watch a close Hispanic family deal with the death of their father. It just utterly kills the light hearted tone they were going for. It creates this depressive cloud that hangs over the entire movie. And yet none of the characters in the movie actually give it the emotional attention is deserves. They act like witnessing their father die is the same as losing a pet. Hell, I've seen families take losing a pet harder then blue beetle's family took losing their father. It just utterly kills what the movie was trying to accomplish and it's a trope by Hollywood that needs to die. Hollywood loves killing family members as just a check list item. Then the character is a bit sad in one scene, then by the next they're already laughing. It just tells me these Hollywood writers live safe, comfy little lives and they don't actually know what it's like to lose someone close. So they use their experience of having a bad day, or having their fish die, and just apply that to something much more extreme like witnesses your parents die. I lost my father. And I'm so fucking tired of seeing movies throw in the "dad dies" as a trope without the movie characters realistically reacting to something like that. It's just cheap and shows the writers as not good writers, but also just not good people as they can't even be sympathetic. Hollywood writing is such shit.

[@charles52able1]

The trailers turned me off to it. I was a huge fan of the lone ranger TV series despite being far too young to have seen it originally. My grandpa had taped the reruns off cable. It's a fond memory of us together watching them after school everyday.

[@stoob.5767]

The way the movie is structured it gives me vibes of a tv show sometimes. Theres alot of bloat because they are trying to tell many different stories and wxplore many different themes. If it was an 8 episode 40 min 1 hour per episode it could explore all that without becoming a bloated movie

[@colorblockpoprocks6973]

its weird to reflect on just how many attempts there were to revive the western genre in the early 2010s. They could try to pick up these properties in current day and, solely due to the success of RDR2, they might actually turn into something.

[@erronking7783]

I liked this movie saw it with my dad

[@abandonedtheatre4910]

Great vid mate ! Covering stuff I reallt enjoy ! Clicking sub now

[@isenhartproductions2677]

thank you!

[@calidara3236]

They always overestimated Depp as a 'box office attraction'. Studio's seem to think that Depp+'wacky' role=instant $$$$$$$ which is obviously not the case but somehow they don't see that and kept casting him in such roles after pirates and those movies all failed pretty damn hard.

[@kojinaoftheinvertedeye810]

My biggest issue with it is: Why Johnny Depp? Like they literally casted Pocahontas better than lone ranger, so... As for the Western is dead argument, idk, I mean I think it has potential, just perhaps not in the ways it's done, most of them in recent memory aren't all that serious or are just not 100% effort like the studios didn't try hard enough, perhaps something more emotional and gripping? Either way I think that westerns have potential they just gotta be done right, not a film but RDR2 did really well.

[@Mr.H0LLYW00D]

Simple: The suits at Disney wanted that Pirates money again. They hired their golden goose... what can go wrong??? 😂

[@francesconicoletti2547]

I have been watching some classic westerns from youtube . They are generally mid to low budget movies. Hero, the girl, the villan , his henchmen, town folk, town set , lots of scenery. As the video mentioned today that would be something like True Grit made for around $35 million. The problem is movie studios do not want to make $35 million movies , they want to make $120 million movies as part of franchises. So the old Hollywood style westerns don’t get made action movie franchises with western themes like this or Wild Wild West do.

[@wemdoe]

I would love to hear your thoughts on John Carter. We enjoyed that movie, but it does have its issues. Wish there could have been a sequel.

[@CountJeffula]

I think one of the under-appreciated issues with potentially reviving Western films is that these stories have, at their core, a sense of wonder at expanding into the unknown. 99.999% of people today don’t have that feeling. They see high home prices, inflation, expensive land, wealth inequality and no opportunity for real growth or expansion. Even farmers see consolidation and people aging out of the profession while their kids move to the cities for jobs opportunities. It hits different when you see the frontier and know you won’t ever experience that (and also realize this frontier was somewhat of a lie to begin with, displacing people and cultures in the pursuit of expansion). Space provides a similar feeling without the sorrow because most people know they will never go to space and accept that. Oppenheimer and other biopics provide a similar feeling of wonder, but they are presented as great men. People we should look up to, but not people we can realistically be. The western hero was someone that young boys aspired to be. When that’s impossible and even children can see it, it doesn’t resonate with audiences. It doesn’t help when actors have perfect makeup and la k the grit that comes from a hard life. Movies like True Grit and The Reverent come closer, but focus on specific people’s struggles with life, which is more akin to the issues people face today. Of course, people may disagree, but I think this is at least one issue Western revival faces.

[@sew_gal7340]

I love your comment btw! I am a millenial and i do agree somewhat, you need to have a heart of adventure to appreciate westerns (i think). I mean i watched the Magnificent 7 for the first time ever a year ago and i absolutely loved it, that movie still hits as good today as it did 50-ish years ago.

[@jacobb5484]

Most successful westerns today are really post westerns. They are about the mythology dying as the west is quickly civilized or acknowledging the corruption and oppression that these "fredoms" are founded on. No country for old men, Red dead redemption, and Killers of the flower moon are the western stories that society connects with.

[@zillauniverse7208]

This tells me that Kevin Costner Horizon movie coming out this year will probably flop at the box office even if it’s a good movie.

[@SeasideDetective2]

I think almost every filmmaker secretly wishes to launch a new franchise, even if it's only a small one. Making movies is serious business in the post-blockbuster era, and the sheer amount of publicity that many films have received - especially in the 1980s and '90s - has been mind-boggling. There are entire collectible and novelty stores jam-packed with forgettable merchandising from nearly-as-forgettable films from 20 years ago or more. Even so, and as downbeat as these videos are, I appreciate honest tributes like this. Most entertainments will have quite a few people who enjoy them, regardless of how "good" or "cool" they are or are not. THE LONE RANGER has one of the most stirring climaxes in recent memory, especially when Depp is confronting Tom Wilkinson on the silver train. Hans Zimmer managed to turn "The William Tell Overture" into something almost completely new.

[@tomeaston3754]

After those remarks, it’s a good thing Tarantino never made a lighthearted action/comedy movie about slavery or nazis or the Manson murders

[@artur6912]

Yup, it would be pretty tasteless to fictionalize the events of a very famous war with an even more famous genocide that happened during it, to make a generic action movie with Brad Pitt. Fortunately, the award winning director would never do something so ugly.

[@pineapplegamer6986]

Those movies have comedy but they are certainly not lighthearted and that’s the difference.

[@davesteller6301]

This movie seemed more like a Parady of the Lone Ranger ratger than a true Lone Ranger film.

[@droumerda]

Before Pirates of the Caribbean, no one was watching pirate movies. So, if the intent was to recapture PotC, I get why they thought they could revive a dead genre.

[@shmackydoodRon]

Disney needs to make a blockbuster based on the Skibidi wars.

[@thewestisthebest6608]

I do remember loving playing the Disney infinity version of this movie with my sister when we were kids They built a pretty cool sandbox old west town for kids to have fun in

[@onbearfeet]

I've been thinking about this movie, as someone who grew up with the radio show (yes, really--I'm not that old, but I was a weird kid). You're right that it didn’t need a giant budget or wacky self-referential comedy. Or Johnny Depp. I imagine, instead, a low- to mid-budget movie with good cinematography (gimme those Western landscapes), non-linear storytelling, and a focus on the relationship between the two leads. Use tropey elements from the old stories and dig into what they mean for the characters. The Lone Ranger wears a mask and uses a lot of disguises? Something's going on with his identity and sense of self, possibly related to his near-death experience. Tonto keeps getting captured/hassled/otherwise abused by villains? He's obviously dealing with a ton of racism, but let's also dig into his life before his trauma and how pieces of that play into the choices he makes now, especially his refusal to assimilate into another culture even when his people are gone. Cast relative unknowns in the lead roles (including an indigenous Tonto, ffs--if you could do that in the 40s with Jay Silverheels, you can do it now). Cut back and forth between the present, where the Lone Ranger is missing and Tonto is getting himself deeper into trouble while working some kind of case, and the past, where we see their relationship develop. Hint that they didn’t get along perfectly at first, didn't always understand each other. Leave the audience to wonder if they’ve had some kind of falling out. Make them genuinely worry. Then, at a key moment where it looks like Tonto can't possibly get out of whatever, one of the "bad guys" who's been lurking mysteriously in the background the whole time basically pulls his face off and turns out to be the Lone Ranger in deep cover. Let the leads hug on screen; they're basically each other's family at this point. Then together they take on the bad guys from the main plot, bring some measure of justice to the victims, and ride off into the sunset before the actual Texas Rangers or other law enforcement can show up and arrest them for owing up the very profitable operations of the richest men in town (seriously, "rich guy who owns the town" was a VERY common villain in the show). Make it episodic, make it character-driven, make it take itself and the period seriously without making everything the color of dust. Have scenes instead of set pieces. Get at least one writer from theater or audio dramas who knows how to write dialogue and minimize the number of locations. All of that is cheaper than a ton of CGI anyway. Make a cult classic buddy-drama Lone Ranger. You'd make back that smaller budget, and launch a much more profitable franchise at the same time. I also have some specific historical theories on why John Reid should be gay, but that's for another time and probably the second movie.

[@cwam1701e]

It had its problems, to be sure - it was too long and the framing device was weird, but there was a lot to enjoy in this movie; I was sorry they didn't make a follow up. The final train/horse chase complete with William Tell overture is outrageous - in a good way!

[@lionspawfilmandphoto]

I had a big issue with a lot of the tonal incongruence in this movie, but the genocide is what made it completely irredeemable. I was completely checked out after than and was only sitting through the end because my ride was still interested to see how it ended.

[@emilyreilhan]

I watched this with my dad soon after it came out. I remember liking aspects of it, the dad dying I found really effective and terrifying, the last action sequence was epic.... everything else I frankly forget. But yeah I remember finding it quite boring, and yeah Armie Hammer was not very likeable lol

[@niktri8312]

Say what you will about this film, but that final train scene is the stuff of legends.

[@legometaworld2728]

Ironically, Tarantino made light of racist atrocities in American history himself *the exact year before* with his western Django Unchained. His point about the genocide scene in The Lone Ranger is valid but the fact that he was saying it specifically gives me vibes of "I'm not racist, guys."

[@sheeplastname430]

I feel like the context of the two movies are too different to compare.

[@SockieTheSockPuppet]

​@@sheeplastname430 I agree. Lone Ranger is supposed to be primarily camp, Django clearly was going for more brutal aspirations.

[@tomekk.1889]

How many times samuel jackson gotta say he's not racist for people to understand 😭

[@ilitardo160]

@@tomekk.1889the word or one man doesn’t suddenly make it true

[@joaquinvaleri7022]

​@@SockieTheSockPuppeti like sock

[@nitomosquito3164]

Would someone happen to know the name of what’s going on at 1:48? I’ve seen it and definitely recognize it but I can’t place it at all.

[@isenhartproductions2677]

its an old short they used to show on the Boomerang network called "Quick Draw McGraw"

[@nitomosquito3164]

@@isenhartproductions2677 Thank you very much. I saw it and I remembered but couldn’t place it for the life of me. Looking back on it, boomerang is exactly the kind of place I would expect to see that.

[@karakreativevlog]

My Dad had these The Lone Ranger posters and giant action figures, the ranger and his horse, and they were beautiful! Toys are just not made the same anymore. I'm still sad my parents told me to sell them on eBay.

[@rambler1475]

I remember the train scene, where they actually played the music, was simply amazing. I remember nothing else about the movie except I thought the guy playing the lone ranger was just wooden and awful.

[@butcherpete2286]

Its important to understand that Western flicks are, by nature, VERY low budget films with a tried and true story line. You're not gonna make a multi million dollar western film and recoup your money. You've GOT to approach it like the Italian show runners did (by the way that's why it's called a spaghetti western, westerns got a revitalization in Italy) and use an absolutely minimum budget to make a film that hits home with an audience.

[@ender7278]

This movie's legacy is a pretty solid line of wild west LEGO sets, which I'm thankful for.

[@kevinkeene1593]

Know I'm definitely in the minority, but I liked "The Lone Ranger". Agree it was too long and outlandish in some parts, but it was entertaining. I enjoyed watching it.

[@spaceodds1985]

Just started watching your Disney flops video, enticing and intriguing. I really like that you don’t dismiss this film outright. Yes, it is a dud, but it is such a spectacular one that I find it interesting and mildly watchable.

[@Trey2dope]

New channel for me, I love it already

[@BradLad56]

It really doesn't matter if Depp has NA ancestry or not. The fact is actors play characters who aren't them. Sure they may sometimes play a role that is similar to who they are in real life but most of the time, they are playing characters who are completely different from themselves. The hallmark of a great actor, imo, is the ability to completely become a different person when they are playing a role, rather than just playing themselves for 100 mins.

[@a.abarker8387]

so mickey rooney as mr yunioshi is fine?

[@BradLad56]

@@a.abarker8387 if he had played him in a more respectful way.

[@a.abarker8387]

@@BradLad56 making yourself look asian when you are white and pretending to be asian for a role when there are asian actors out there who want jobs and have talent is disrespectful in it of itself. the reason we see white people play non-white characters is based in the historical precedence of blackface, yellowface, redface, and the segregation of people of color in hollywood that prevented genuine stories about them being told in favor of stereotypes and minstrel. thats why you dont have an issue of non white actors pretending to be white people on screen. because white people playing non white characters is a jim crow legacy.

[@M24071]

Damn Despicable me did so much more damage to Disney than i thought well done illumination

[@michelleyoung731]

I guess "Unforgiven" was the last western to be well received.

[@jasonlastname129]

Westerns that take place in the American wild west aren't popular, but films and shows that are westerns underneath the covers still thrive. Fallout, cowboy bebop, samurai jack, firefly to name a few are structured like a western and shared themes but have nothing to do with the traditional western setting.

[@nowhereman2003]

I love this I never knew it was so hated

[@superbtrilogy5049]

Didn't know that was Johnny Depp when I watched this movie years ago

[@FashionJohnson]

i rarely enjoy disney films, or like johnny depp, but i liked the lone ranger. then again, i also liked waterworld.

[@kali3665]

I absolutely LOATHED this movie. I felt it did everything it could to make a mockery of the classic Lone Ranger. This film made the 1980 Lone Ranger film look good. At least the 1980 film took the legend seriously, even if it became such a public relations nightmare thanks to the producers' own imbecility. But THIS film -- it was a monstrosity all the way around!! The mysticism was comical, very ill-thought out, and just plain unnecessary (why the heck did they have to make Butch Cavendish a freaking wendigo?). Armie Hammer was virtually forgotten the minute he made his first appearance. Klinton Spilsbury, the Ranger from the 1980 film, may have looked like we envisioned the Ranger, but he brought very little to the role, and he absolutely bored me throughout. I also understand he was a pain in the neck on the set as well. And Hammer was actually WORSE! I didn't care what happened to him at ALL! And his character was just so unlike the Ranger, I have no idea what they were thinking. Yeah, I suppose as an origin, he has to grow into the role. But the movie didn't even do THAT very well! As for Johnny Depp, miscast though he was, he IS the actual star of this film, and he shouldn't be. That's like making the Mertzes the stars of an I Love Lucy movie. Hollywood -- *_DON'T!!_* I suppose I can understand the concept of Depp's Tonto being an unreliable narrator, but what's the point? Why bother? Why couldn't they just do the story straight? Why when we remake a classic TV series (or whatever) into a movie these days, it HAS to be high camp or insulting to that legacy? The Green Hornet movie was the same way, and I hated THAT as well. Treat a legacy picture as the legacy it is or don't do the fleeeking movie! Hans Zimmer's score is the best thing about this movie, especially when we finally hear the classic William Tell Overture. As ever, his score was fantastic, and it was the only thing I appreciated from this thing. Beyond that, there is NOTHING worth watching. After I saw this inanity, I had to wash my mind out by grabbing my collection of old-time radio episodes. The late great Fred Foy: "RETURN WITH US NOW TO THOSE THRILLING DAYS OF YESTERYEAR! THE LONE RANGER RIDES AGAIN!" But not in THIS affront to the western genre. The 1980 Legend of the Lone Ranger respected the legend, if not the actor who still embodies the Ranger to this day, the late Clayton Moore. This film threw the legend into a slime pit.

[@jackkain7141]

Curious if we'll get a The Man from UNCLE entry in this series. Not Disney behind it, but the idea was the same. Also has Armie Hammer in for added amusement.

[@RastaJew]

I loved this movie. Such a great vibe.

[@AgentChachi]

But there’s some pretty good westerns within that same time frame that you overlooked.

[@Pypnlr4ug]

Depp as Tonto was a major miscast. Woulda been better casting Depp as THE villain on par with the Ranger.

[@OldPirate1718]

Gotta love the Millennials and Zoomers here who have no idea or clue about the original Lone Ranger...only one historian claimed it was based on Bass Reeves, and that was never proven correct, yet the 40 and unders believe everything if its repeated enough 😂

[@tracark2255]

womp womp lone ranger is black womp womp

[@spriggylotus4476]

@@tracark2255 TND

[@tracark2255]

@@spriggylotus4476 average caucasian. keep posting them wojaks and pepe memes cokehead

[@tracark2255]

@@spriggylotus4476 im not chronically online so this gives nothing mr caucasian

[@spriggylotus4476]

@@tracark2255 I'm not white thoughever

[@TheL0wner]

chicken pox? when your film crew has an outbreak of a childrens disease something fishy is going on...

[@DavidLLambertmobile]

Could be Rust! 🤠

[@Tymbus]

chickenpox is a really serious illness in adulthood. It's not uncommon for unvaccinated adults or adults who didn't develop immunity after catching it in childhood to get the virus