From iO9: the trailer for "The Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec," a new film directed by Luc Besson (the Fifth Element), which appears to be about a female French Indiana Jones in period costumes. With a dinosaur.
iO9 promises that "a pterodactyl threatens steampunk Paris," and I certainly hope the film's got steampunk garnishes, although the usual trappings of steampunk aren't readily apparent in this trailer. But even if the only steampunky thing about it is the locomotive scene, it is certainly more steampunk than a Cheez Whiz TV tube necklace. I'm just sayin'.
Comments
In the original comic book series, she was cryogenically frozen throughout WWI, which sounds rather steam-punk:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Aventures_extraordinaires_d%27Ad%C3%A8le_Blanc-Sec
At least one of the comic books was about a mad scientist, but this summary of the series features more monsters and less technology:
http://www.adele-blanc-sec.tk/
Posted by: minouette | March 21, 2010 1:23 PM
That did not look even remotely steampunky, but it did look entertaining. A bit hyperactive and confused, though.
Posted by: Ketil Tveiten | March 21, 2010 1:59 PM
Adele! I loved those comics as a kid. Aside from the fact that they weren't for kids, and gave me nightmares. Anyway, happy to see there's going to be a movie...and, at least from the trailer, it looks like it'll stick reasonably close to the original in terms of mood and events (I remember the pterodactyl and the mummy).
I guess you could almost call it steampunk, but with lots more steam than punk. The stories were set in the late 19th/early 20th century, and while the assorted mad scientists in the stories stretched the technological possibilities of the time to somewhat beyond their limits, I don't remember anything too far out - a steam driven, crab-type tank and a battleship hidden in an iceberg, that's about how far it went.
.Definitely, but that's true to the spirit of the original comics - which in turn tried to be true to the spirit of 19th century colportage novels. Since these novels were sold in installments, they had to have a twist or unexpected, shocking revelation in every chapter - often with scant regard for coherence. The comics followed that principle faithfully, mixing Assyrian cults, living mummys, resurrected dinosaurs and neanderthals with various technological marvels in the same issue.
Posted by: Phillip IV | March 21, 2010 5:32 PM
OMG I need to see this!
Posted by: Scicurious | March 22, 2010 11:38 PM
Here's the same trailer with English subtitles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6djPGS3RCA
Posted by: blf | March 27, 2010 3:59 PM