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The poster for Alexandre Aja's Cobra: The Space Pirate has to be seen to be believed
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. The French publication Premiere.fr has a nice scan of a poster that has been floating around the net for the past 24 hours.
How this poster can look both supremely cheesy and badass at the same time is beyond me, but that's what it does. If he can strike that tone with the flick I'm all for it. Aja made a great slash-n-stalk flick out of the gate with Haute Tension, stayed true to the fucked up wrongness of The Hills Have Eyes and turned in the most glorious tongue-in-cheek slice of fun with Piranha 3-D (even though it has its moments, we'll ignore Mirrors for now).
So, the dude is talented and if he can make a new Snake Plissken-type character for our generation I'd love to see it.
I've never even heard of the source material, but that's not too shocking. I'm not too up on Manga. Maybe some Space Pirate fans can let us know how cool or not this looks from their perspective in the talkbacks below.
Here's the poster. What do you think?
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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Readers Talkback
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BUT, I do know that the idea of space pirates have been around forever in scifi but never used at all to my knowledge. Let's hope this works, and the poster is cool.
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Captain Tightpants
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I've never read the manga, but I saw the anime version many years ago. It was a great character as I recall, and if played right could be in the same lofty realms as Jack Sparrow or maybe more appropriately Spike Spiegel. I did find out that Japanese for "psycho-gun" is "psycho-gun"
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...been awhile since I thought about that movie (and epic love scene) :D
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Captain Harlock.
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I will never understand why this ripoff keeps getting more work when his first movie was 99.99999% complete and utter plagiarism.
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Looks like the Mega Man 1 box art, kinda. Therefore, this will rock, kinda.
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Im still recovering from those damn robots...
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Sorry, that was gay as fuck. Because this poster is gay as fuck. No offense to my gay friends.
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Wouldn't mind that on my wall.
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What did Haute Tension plagarise? I'm genuinely interested as I really liked HT and therefore wouldn't mind seeing the movie you're referring to.
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I only just noticed that. They release posters two years ahead of movies, nowadays?
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Matthew Sweet's "Girlfriend" video:</p> http://www.youtube.co/watch?v=Q9aWPTCc2r0
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9aWPTCc2r0
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Our surgeons did what they could, but it took them two hours just to get the smile off his face.
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Is what my last subject line meant to say.
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it's a movie? Never heard of this and I get a comic book vibe off the poster.
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Theres an annoying contingency out there that has always claimed that Aja plagiarised the Dean Koontz novel "Intensity." there are some definite similarities(a girl visiting her friend and her family's rural home witnesses them all being murdered, escapes in the killer's vehicle, attempts an escape at a gas station). but the ending is entirely different, and (in my opinion, at least) some of those beats are vague and common enough in the horror genre to probably just be coincidence. either way, "High Tension" is a fucking fantastic genre film, and he hit a home run in the viciousness of his "Hills" remake. and "Piranha 3D" is the type of mindless fun that the genre has been missing for too long. so, rock on Aja!
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May 1, 2011, 5:16 p.m. CST
Looks like it was carefully laid out and designed to get the the greatest ka ching factor from a specific demographic.
by Ingeld
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I bet it was better than his stupid novel. All his books are the same. It's like Mad Libs, except you don't get to enter the words. Koontz does and he does it lamely.
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Thanks, buddy!
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Have they even cast the movie yet?
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May 1, 2011, 6:04 p.m. CST
I wish I had seen Piranha 3D in theaters cause at home it kinda sucked
by stu_pickles
but this looks intriguing as hell. I hope there at Lobo style space choppers guys in helmets can drive.
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TITS. Who reads my posts anyway?
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Not some shitty dark "re-interpretation" which is what we'll get if Frank Miller is still at the helm - a project which I hope has died a deserved death since... well... everyone in their right mind knows Miller is a one-trick hack. No, I want a rip-roaring, swashbuckling, wisecracking Buck Rogers, with cool spaceships, neat laser guns, a foxy Wilma Deering. Fistfights and space battles. Epic, but lightheared and fun. And I want it to be Nathan Fillion. There. I fucking said it. I rarely do. I'm not saying it to poke fun at anyone, or bait anyone. I'm saying it because he was the best space cowboy there ever was next to the venerable Captain Solo. And he deserves another shot.
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Hands down probably the most fun I had at the cinema all last year. Ludicrous, gross, funny, icky, nasty, self-aware exploitation with a stroke of wicked genius running all the way through it. And take note, Mr Cameron: it's the kind of flick 3D was made for, and should stay exclusively for. Gimmicky fun.
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The Amazing Spider Man wrapped in less than a year......
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Let's hope this film is fun as hell. I'm tired of bleak horror flicks. Let's have some fun movies, dammit!
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What's the harm? Even if its bad as long as its fun who cares?
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The original anime "Space Adventure Cobra" was used for the early 90's video for Matthew Sweet, Girlfriend, which Is an awesome song and video, go youtube it.
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Aja keeps that intact, he will get my money.
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Love girlfriend. I remember this show from my youth too. Hmmmmm. Aja. I have a feeling this could bea good stoner video.
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May 1, 2011, 6:52 p.m. CST
Intensity (Koontz) > Haute Tension
by The_Floating_Skull_of_Robert_Loggia
Haute Tension's entire first two acts were directly lifted from Koontz' Intensity. The only "original" bit added was the terrible ending. I agree that Koontz's books have been terrible for the past decade or so, but Intensity was a fantastic read. I read it from cover to cover in one sitting as it was the one true example of the overused "you can't put it down" pull quote. When asked if he'd read the book, Aja said he "may have". Koontz was well aware of the plagiarism, but didn't want his name associated with the film. It seems, however, that they'd reached some sort of deal as the IMDB credits now show the writers of the film as Aja and Grégory Levasseur, with a "based on work by Dean R. Koontz" added. As a fan of Intensity, I was absolutely appalled when I saw Haute Tension for the first time (as Switchblade Romance on a British import DVD). I remember scouring the credits for Koontz's name, looking online, and, ultimately, finding dozens of other people complaining about the same thing on various forums and such. Meanwhile, Aja and Levasseur were being touted as geniuses and "the future of horror" despite their much-ballyhooed work being brazenly stolen from one of the best-selling authors on the planet.
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this poster is clearly a subliminal message of some kind. the government wants us all to become space pirates with laser cannon arms and dashing beautiful hairstyles FREEDOM!!!
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I can't wait until an affordable BD of Hills Have Eyes remake is available in region 1. Willl be happy to slide a copy of both that and COBRA on the shelf beside High Tension and Pirhanha remake
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Spaceships, starfields, rubber alien masks and weird other planets have to be a thousand times more interesting than the current slew of District 9 knock-offs. (Skyline, Battle: Los Angeles, etc.)
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While Vincent Cassell watches. "Now go home and touch yourself"
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What? A male version of Samus Aran?
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Does Inensity have a silent, stump-fucking hillbilly killer? Many of us do not watch horror for the plot twists...
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Absolutely awesome manga and anime and already very Westernzied. Cobra's design was based on actor Jean-Paul Belmondo.
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Anal Intruder 3000 from "Top Secret"?
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or his life partner is gonna be real sore.
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It would be hard for him to reload it, wouldn't it?
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And he got an arm upgrade!
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"Piranha 3D" is still my favorite 3D move of all time, potentially tied with "Up!" The fact that James Cameron hates it might just give it the edge though.
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Cobra is absolute grail material in the history of manga and anime. He's a Japanese Han Solo out to kill and fuck his way through life. This mother fucker always SHOOTS first!
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Is that, despite being corny, self-aware, not serious at all, etc....I found that I actually liked and kinda cared about some of the characters. The main kid, generic as he was...I liked him. Same with the Adam Scott character (amazed that Adam Scott managed to be a decent good guy). I think that goes to say something about Aja as a filmmaker. Even in something that's intentionally trashy, he can make likeable characters.
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this poster looks like any other super hero movie - if i squint it looks like a thor poster - doesnt any studio hire actual painters anymore?
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May 1, 2011, 8:46 p.m. CST
"Mmmmm put the cannon in the other arm, no one will notice hes Samus with cock
by bloodawn5
Really, blond dude, space pirates cannon arms? Talking about ripp offs.
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May 1, 2011, 8:50 p.m. CST
Point of Order: Why is there a lens flare between Cobra's head and his gun?
by Doctor_Strangepork
It doesn't appear to be coming FROM the gun arm. Does he have some kind of laser gun ear or something?
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..activate..
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I youtubed some of this stuff, and It seems like I could just be plain, campy fun, just like the only 70's anime like Gachaman or Yatterman.
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...this is an anime. http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=BIXA-9290 It's also featured in a Matthew Sweet video from the 90s. I also believe there is a Sega CD game of Cobra.
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that arm thing is most likely a Rail Gun if Aja is going pseudo-realistic, rather than an energy weapon. And his six-shooter will have cybernetic sighting and programmable bullets, straight out of William Gibson. A combination grenade launcher/ flechette pistol, modeled after a Colt .45 Peacekeeper. All part of the genre....
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May 1, 2011, 11:07 p.m. CST
Wonder if Masters of the Universe's Trap-Jaw will launch a lawsuit and sue this guy...
by Stegman84
Bet ya his lame pirate ass doesn't even have a fly swatter attachment...
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Trap-Jaw wasn't invented in 1978 when they developed Cobra.
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May 2, 2011, 12:24 a.m. CST
This is old school cheese! http://www.crunchyroll.com/cobra-the-animation
by Fatbasterdson
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Even if he has a bionic vibrator thing for an arm...
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http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/121/7/1/zapp_brannigan__the_movie_by_wanderingprophyt-d3fe0mm.jpg
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He's like a James Bond meets Han Solo kind of guy. Space Pirate Captain Harlock, that'd be the best.
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May 2, 2011, 3:16 a.m. CST
"Haute Tension's entire first two acts were directly lifted from Koontz' Intensity."
by buggerbugger
Well, I guess that means that the beginning of 'Intensity' was directly lifted from an earlier Richard Laymon novel, so Koontz can't really claim his novel was plagiarised by 'High Tension' unless he wants to open himself up to the same criticism.
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I heard Owen Wilson was cast for the role, is that him? Anyway I thought that Thomas Jane was the best casting choice for the role, here is a drawing I made with Jane as model. http://gillesvranckx.blogspot.com/2010/11/cobra-space-pirate.html
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I have some of the Viz comics translation of Cobra, that I got when I was fourteen. It was childish next to some of the better stuff I was reading at the time, Akira and Appleseed being my favorites. This makes me want to pull out my comic book collection. I don't remember anything about the story, just a guy with a gun-arm and some leather chick in a thong.
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So it predates most of what people are saying it looks like / ripped off. It's a space opera with a super-hard to kill, cigar chewing, womanizing main character. It certainly doesn't take itself too seriously, and that poster is based exactly in the source material - for example, the blu-ray box cover you can see here- http://www.cdjournal.com/main/news/terasawa-buichi/31894 There was a new TV series (animated) here in Japan not so long ago and as always with these things, the material and fanbase just rolls along overhere regardless of the live action shit thrown at it. The poster (especially the cigar, actually) give me hope that they are at least trying to be faithful, but I stopped giving a shit about live action anime stuff years and years and *years* ago.
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That one was pretty good, I could see the character going into space after that.
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wow, this is almost as surprising as Bin Laden getting killed, I'm aware of the manga but had zero idea that they were making a movie based on it, this is like learning all of a sudden they're making a Maria Holic movie or something for those of you who want a crash course on what Cobra is all about, read this http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/house-of-1000-manga/2010-11-11
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and here's hoping he remains faithful to the manga and all the women are in thongs the whole time, which considering Piranha 3D, is probably likely
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Two years is sadly not unusual. The teasers started coming out on the HULK movie more than two years ahead. Hollywood doesn't seem to get it. You start promoting a film too early and by the time it gets to the cinema people are thinking "What? Hasn't this already come and gone months ago?" Peaking early = not good.
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Cobra's usual expressions were either one of abject terror as half the galaxy's after him, or one of unbridled glee as half the galaxy's after him. He didn't tend to do grim a whole lot.
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Or did I totally miss this?
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This poster should re-ignite cigar bars, yar.
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I'll not need to repeat myself, but you know you've got a cool character that has replaced his left arm with a weapon called the Psychogun.
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I would give my left nut to see Captain Harlock made. Something based on Arcadia would be great.
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a nice big imported cigar in his mouth.
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a nice big imported cigar in his mouth.
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or GTFO
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May 2, 2011, 12:39 p.m. CST
Well, at the very least this will be better than SGU
by THE_CHOPPAH_STRIKES_BACK
Surprised it took this long to put a space pirate on the big screen. If this is good it will be remade in the US for stupid illiterate Americans.
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The recent anime series must have inspired the producers to possibly greenlight this project. Cobra is more Bond than say, another Harlock. Cobra was also the inspiration for Capcom's Dante of Devil may cry. So yeah, he's still relevant.
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it was a japanese anime. very over the top but very good
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Excellent news!! The anime was pretty fun. Imo Thomas Jane (maybe too old) or Jay Courtney for the title role
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Excellent news!! The anime was pretty fun. Imo Thomas Jane (maybe too old) or Jay Courtney for the title role
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Raped my azz because I was taking pictures of the Dark Knight
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May 3, 2011, 5:58 a.m. CST
Why hasn't Dean Koontz sued that piece of shit into bankruptcy yet?
by JackPumpkinhead
It's unbelievable that the scumbag can steal his bestselling book, change its ending, rename it to "Haute Tension", and not sit in a cell today.
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May 3, 2011, 3:18 p.m. CST
If you want space pirates, check out MURKMYRE and NOCTURNIA
by unclemonty666
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Except Samus is a woman
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