The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The power of seven become a league of one.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
1:50 (110 min)
Production
Budget
$78 000 000
Revenue
$179 265 204
Director
Scenario
Composer
Trevor Jones
Producer
Trevor Albert
Actors
Sean Connery
Allan Quatermain
Naseeruddin Shah
Captain Nemo
Shane West
Tom Sawyer
Peta Wilson
Mina Harker
Stuart Townsend
Dorian Gray
Jason Flemyng
Dr. Henry Jekyll / Edward Hyde
Tony Curran
Rodney Skinner / The Invisible Man
Short description
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is set in an alternate Victorian era, where the British government assembles a team of remarkable figures drawn from nineteenth-century literature to stop a masked schemer known as the Phantom. The adventurer Allan Quatermain leads Captain Nemo, vampire Mina Harker, an invisible man, American agent Tom Sawyer, the immortal Dorian Gray, and Dr. Henry Jekyll, whose other self is Edward Hyde. This group of strong-willed individuals must learn to work together, since the Phantom's plan threatens to set the world's powers against one another. The story is based on the comic series by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill.
Stephen Norrington directed, following Death Machine and Blade; James Robinson wrote the screenplay. Sean Connery plays Quatermain, with Naseeruddin Shah, Shane West, Peta Wilson, Stuart Townsend and Jason Flemyng among the cast. The production cost 78 million USD and returned 179 million USD worldwide, a solid commercial result for a large-scale period fantasy.
Reception divided sharply. On IMDb the film holds 5.8/10 from 192,000 votes, and on TMDB 6/10 from 4,524 votes, while critics were harsher, giving it 4.2/10 across 181 reviews. Audiences have been somewhat warmer toward it than reviewers, though neither group rated it highly.
What's left behind the scenes
- The comic also features several completely explicit sexual scenes between Mina and Allan Quatermain (they become lovers in the comic).
- Filming took place over 13 weeks in Iceland, Morocco, Canada (Calgary), the Czech Republic (Prague), Austria (Vienna), the USA, and Malta. Filming began on June 28, 2002. Filming in Prague had to be interrupted because a major flood occurred there in August 2002, destroying sets worth approximately $7 million.
- The film is based on Alan Moore's comic book "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" (1999-...).
- In the film, Moriarty states that the preceding League never existed, but in the comic, Mina in the museum points out a photograph of a previous League that included Lemuel Gulliver, Percy and Margaret Blake (from the novel 'The Scarlet Pimpernel'), Dr. Sin (from the Russell Thorndyke novella), Fanny Hill (from John Cleland's novel), and Nathaniel Bumpo.
- At the 97th minute of the film, Quatermain knocks Moriarty to the ground and then picks up an axe, intending to kill him. However, at the 81st minute, Allan stated that Moriarty could not be killed, as he was needed alive to reveal all his secrets.
- The filmmakers did not include another character in the film – Captain Bond, a predecessor to James Bond, agent 007. This was due to copyright issues, as the film's distributor, "20th Century Fox," does not have the rights to this character; they belong to "MGM." Therefore, the screenwriters introduced a grown-up Tom Sawyer, a character by Mark Twain who was not in the comics, and who became the film’s only American literary hero. The film also changed its villain – instead of Doctor Fu Manchu, we are presented with the Phantom.
- The paper “League” is conventionally divided into two parts. In the first six issues, the protagonists fight against Moriarty and Doctor Fu-Manchu. The film was based more on these. In the second six issues, the same protagonists save Earth from a Martian invasion. Herbert Wells’s novel “The War of the Worlds” served as inspiration here. Along the way, members of the “League” meet Doctor Moreau and his pets.
- The weapons of Captain Nemo’s men – disguised English Stens – Sten (Great Britain). This weapon was used not only by French and Polish partisans against the fascists, but also by Indians against the British (and Nemo, as is well known, fought against Britain).
- At the 57th minute of the film, Dorian jumps out of the moving car and lands on the ground as if the car were stationary, not traveling at high speed. At the 60th minute, Allan also jumps out of the moving car and stops instantly.
- At the 29th minute of the film, the Phantom soldier fires an automatic weapon at Dorian, leaving numerous bullet holes in his clothes. When the fight with the soldiers ends and Dorian descends from the second floor, his clothes are completely intact.
- At the 11-minute mark of the film, Quatermain grabs a table, then uses it to push a hired assassin and impale him on a horn hanging on the wall. It is unclear how Allan had the strength to not only lift the assassin with the table, break the table legs against the wall, but also pierce the assassin's steel armor with the horn.
- In the comics, Mina Harker was not a vampire, but only bitten. She hid her scar on her neck under a scarf.
- The graphic novel also contains references to Bondiana – League operational missions are led by Kempson Bond, conceived by Alan Moore as an ancestor of James Bond. Bond, in turn, answers to Mycroft Holmes. Sherlock Holmes himself is also present in the original source.
- When Quatermain enters the library where he meets 'M', Masonic symbols – a compass and square – can be seen on the doors. We see the same symbols on Phantom's ring.
- Actor Nasirdin Shah personally performed most of Captain Nemo's stunts and also took several karate lessons specifically for the role.
- The film’s director, Stephen Norrington, appears in an episode, a “cameo,” at the beginning of the film – he plays a bartender in an African club and throws the rifle to Quatermain during the attack.
- When the League is in Paris, the camera pans across a wall with a poster announcing an upcoming carnival. The poster features two names – Dr. Alan Moore and Dr. Kevin O'Neill. These are the people who conceived, wrote, and drew 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' comics. This poster effectively duplicates the cover of the comic's first edition.
- When Allan Quatermain is teaching Tom Sawyer to shoot from his rifle, it can be noticed that Shane West’s arm and shoulder are trembling from the strain. The rifle was very heavy. There was a lightweight replica of the rifle used for long shots, and a real rifle made of iron and wood, weighing around 20 kilograms. Shane West recounts that he was very surprised that Sean Connery, who was already 72 years old, seemed to have no problems shooting from this rifle. But for the young, twenty-year-old actor, it seemed incredibly heavy, and West had to strain his arms to hold it.
- The film’s screenwriter, James Robinson, can be seen in a photograph in the dossier that Quatermain is reviewing. He portrays Jonathan Harker, Mina’s husband (who has long since died).
- At the 30th minute, the Phantom soldier takes Mina hostage. When she manages to break free and bite him on the neck, her face gets smeared with blood. Then she attacks the soldier on the floor, and when Mina finishes drinking his blood and licks her lips, most of the blood on her face disappears.
- The film and the comic book on which the film was based differ significantly from each other. The graphic novel is more brutal and grim, with a lot of violence. Tom Sawyer and Dorian Gray appear in the film, but are absent from the comics.
- In Alan Moore's comic, Quatermain has aged, withdrawn from society, and become an opium addict. At the beginning of the story, he is rescued from an opium den by Mina Harker (Mina Murray in the comic) and recruited into the 'League'. Reportedly, in the film adaptation, Sean Connery refused to play an addict, and the screenwriters changed his backstory. Quatermain is found in Africa at a local English club.
- At the 18th minute, Skinner applies white makeup to his face during a meeting with M. In the next scene, when he is riding in the back of a car with Quatermain and Mina, his entire head is made up. When Quatermain, Mina, and Skinner arrive at Dorian Gray’s house and enter at the 23rd minute, the makeup is once again only on Skinner’s face.
- When Allan Quatermain fights off assassins and runs to cover with Reed at the 10-minute mark of the film, a stunt double can be seen subbing in for Sean Connery in this scene.
- At the 93rd minute of the film, Mina shows Dorian a portrait, a glance at which kills him. When 'The League' climbs the staircase in Dorian's house at the 23rd minute, one can notice the empty space on the wall reserved for the portrait, which is significantly smaller than the painting shown at the end.
- At the 73rd minute of the film, Hyde pulls levers underwater to prevent the Nautilus from flooding. When he growls, no air bubbles come from his mouth.
- At the 26th minute of the film, when Sawyer shoots the Phantom soldier, in the next shot, two soldiers are already falling through the railing from the bullet impact.
- The role of Mina Harker was initially intended for Monica Bellucci, but they were unable to secure her participation. Mila Jovovich or Saffron Burrows were then considered for the role.
- At the 27th minute of the film, when the shootout begins, Skinner throws off his cloak and washes off all the makeup. When Skinner picks up his hat from the decanter at the 29th minute, his head is once again completely covered in makeup.
- The first 'M', as in the film, turns out to be the villain and, concurrently, Professor Moriarty. The novel-comic contains numerous allusions to many classic adventure literature works from the late 19th century and their main characters.
- In the film, the Invisible Man was given a different name, he is called Skinner, not Griffin as in H.G. Wells' novel. The heirs of H.G. Wells refused to sell the rights to 'The Invisible Man'. Therefore, the Invisible Man is called Skinner, not Griffin. And also, in the film, he is portrayed as a relatively positive character. In Alan Moore’s comic, he enjoyed killing policemen for pleasure and wearing their uniforms, and also raping boarding school girls at night… Furthermore, in the graphic novel, there is a scene of Mr. Hyde sexually assaulting the Invisible Man, a kind of punishment for betrayal – in the comic, he is the one who turns out to be the traitor.
- In the scene where Quatermain and Sawyer chase the monster Hyde through Paris, they refer to him as a large monkey that has been terrorizing Rue Morgue for many months. As you might guess, this is a nod to Edgar Allan Poe, who wrote the novel considered to be the first detective story.
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