Jack Reacher Series (Amazon)

CastorTroy

Deadline says all episodes will drop at once

https://deadline.com/2021/12/reacher-premiere-date-trailer-alan-ritchson-amazon-prime-video-1234883655/

Effects

Terrible acting from the guy playing Reacher. Just total meathead stuff.

Looks absolute muck going by the trailer tbh

Cornier than the shyte of a man whose diet is 100% corn-on-the-cob

Tom Cruise wasn't big but he can act a little at least and doesn't look like his face is made of plasticine with the expressive range of a stroke victim who was big into botox

So the people looking for a big guy got one alright - but he's a big turd by the looks of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSycMV-_Csw

John_Rambo

I think it looks very very true to the books. Which are corny as hell. Looking forward to binging.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118268343#Comment_118268343

I think that it looks ridiculous.

Read a few reacher books before I realised that there are better examples out there (e.g. Victor the Assassin series) and don't really recall the character being a smug snark like the guy in this trailer.

Which also comes across as completely shallow and uninteresting imo.

I would have said that Cruise's portrayal was much better and more interesting than what they "seem" to be going for (trailer is short but that's the angle that they have chosen to show so...) - Cruise's Reacher had a stoic dark edge to the character like the books (even when using humour it was delivered dryly) and not some smug arse.

Never mind the fact that the Reacher character of the books might have been physically big but certainly wasn't a gym-bunny with 10% body fat.

Probably down to the fact that this actor is 6 foot 1 (so not "that big" really) so had to pump up but to me looks more than a bit preposterous.

The supporting cast must be the local midget collective or else Ritchson is in high heels from the way that they have him towering over people in that trailer, along with "clever" camera angles. It's so obvious that it hurts.

The guy is supposed to be going from place to place buying new jocks as he goes yet now he somehow is able to workout constantly and manage to stick to a 10% body fat diet whilst also on the road 😂

FunLover18

Isn't there a novel where he gets shot in the chest but the bullet doesn't penetrate the skin because of his muscle?

I've read fewer of them than you glasso but from what I've heard they're far more ridiculous than you remember 😅

Brief_Lives

Wow, lots of complaining...

Very happy to converse with professional psychic TV critics..

Go watch hawk and dove.. Ritchson does a great job, and all the weird stuff he pops up in,he comes across as a likable guy.

imokyrok

I'm looking forward to this. I've never been able to bring myself to watch TC in the role. He makes my skin crawl even if he wasn't a total physical miscast.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118269333#Comment_118269333

You've never watched them?

Not a big Tom Cruise fan by any means but thought that he did an excellent job with the role tbh

The first film is quite good actually, the second not so much but certainly still watchable.

When watching the films it never seemed like an issue that Cruise is not a big guy

The smug / snarky tone of this lead as portrayed in the trailer is totally off compared to the books imo.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118269306#Comment_118269306

That doesn't change the fact that the tone that they have chosen to highlight in the trailer is very much as odds with the Reacher in the books.

He was never some smug dick.

Mr Crispy

Never read the books myself, but the trailer is definitely leaning towards cheese. Whether it captured the tone of the actual show remains to be seen.

Heckler

Hands up as a huge fan of the books I was the first to bitch and moan about the casting of Tom Cruise but I took it back after a rewatch. He did a good job. The second movie was shite but so was the book.

The Killing Floor that this is based on is the first Reacher novel and its brutal in its violence. This guy looks the part size wise but agree with above. Reacher doesn't have a 6 pack and hes not some handsome model. He's a brute. Back in the early 2000s david Morse played the lead in Hack. Thats how I picture Reacher.

"do you guys recycle ?" FFS. John McClane quippy shite.

A scene towards the end.

"They looked like banshees. Like something escaped from hell. They were a terrifying sight".

The violence afterward is harsh and would be diminished with pithy one liners. Arnies Stick around kinda thing.

After Banshee and Strike Back Cinemax are the only studio who could do Reacher properly.

Then again I was wrong about TC so what do I know !! I really hope its good.

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118269918#Comment_118269918

Books are total cheese, but good superhero books where Reacher rarely comes to harm. He's described in one as a condom full of walnuts after hammering out a swimming pool with nothing but a sledge hammer in one of the books which is the only explanation for his conditioning.

He's described as being very big with a lot of muscle, unbelievable reactions with feats of strength and dexterity that simply doesn't come without working out. He doesn't even stretch out, there's no mention of physical conditioning in the books but he can tell the time in his head. He wakes up and strolls out to destroy the enemy, goes to bed and does the same the next day.

But... that's books and that's TV and that's Hollywood and there great, but realistically, the books are fantasy. He eats pancakes & bacon & gallons of coffee with no exercise except for walking. No sparring, no bagwork, no grappling, no boxing, no weights (seriously) and no consistent physical training.

He relies on his experience as an ex military cop which is psychologically very plausible regarding his dealing with adversaries, but not physically. It's like Arnie in True Lies. You simply don't get heroes like Harry Tasker or Jack Reacher without strength conditioning, constant training, sparring, fighting etc.... It's impossible.

Lee Child should have had Jack Reacher work out somehow. Anybody with knowledge of fitness and strength knows it's impossible to have a character like reacher to continue without conditioning.

The Books are obviously completely unrealistic escapism of the highest order like all these types of books are but the character of Reacher himself in the books does not have a cheesy demeanour and attitude like the guy in the trailer.

seems like a very deliberate decision to go that way as the entire tone of the trailer is the same even with cheesy background music to accentuate this to reinforce the "quippy" nature of it

doesn't appeal to me at all - the tone that that Cruise had in the films was much more stoic and there was humour but delivered in a matter-of-fact way

maybe the creators think that in a longer format such as a tv series the cheesy character is the way to go but it's turn-off to me at this point.

John_Rambo

The cheesy (Rolling Stones) music is the type of bluesy music that Reacher plays in his head.

Heckler

This is going to be the Tom Cruise thing all over again with a different spin. Now he has the size but not the charisma. Reacher in the Killing Floor was like the Terminator. Internalised in thought and pragmatic. Hard to translate to screen. I hope its good but have doubt.

Slydice

Just from all the replies so far then.. Is there a Jack Reacher multiverse of something? 😁

JP Liz V1

Reacher will premiere on Prime Video on Friday February 4th

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118305616#Comment_118305616

I don't think Charisma and Terminator should be used in the one sentence. The Terminator was a robot that had absolutely no charisma.

Honestly, this is good casting, the books are corny & cheesy, Reacher is a larger than life superhero character that's faster, cleverer & (usually) stronger than everyone else. He always gets the girl and then walks off in to the sunset on the "blacktop" after saving the town.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118335288#Comment_118335288

Yeah they're enjoyable pulp soaked in melted cheese.

Reacher would definitely not be above laughing at someone's attempt to restrain him, if it sows doubt in their mind

Loving the projected rationalisations for the Pizza Quattro Formaggi trailer vibe, six pack etc!

Heckler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118275394#Comment_118275394

In the Killing Floor Reacher has just been let go from the army as a Major at 36 where he was an MP. As an MP described in the book he had to arrest to paraphrase, trained killers so the MPs had to be better. Thats why he was tough as balls. The jailhouse scenes from the Killing Floor are of course hero fantasy and I think brilliantly written for the style but no way that could be translated to screen authentically for the network or whatever its on. Gimme Lucas Hood anyday busting heads. If its not Cinemax or HBO it may as well be the A-Team. The walnut condom thing comes a few books later.

I gave up now. Since Lee Child turned the reins over to his brother its gone to total shite. The last 5 true Lee Child books were drab and now Reacher is a bore who walks round murdering with impunity, **** the girl and strolling off into the night.

He did all that in the early books but at least they/he weren't boring.

I'm not saying its gonna be **** but its gonna be ****.

Then I thought the whole Lethal Weapon TV reboot was gonna be a disaster and I was wrong.

Yerra the **** do I know.

John_Rambo

Yeah, I think it's going to be just like the books. Cheesy, easy, fun, implausible, entertaining with some eye candy for everyone.

Agent Coulson

https://youtu.be/u-YNd31tSZg

…

HalfAndHalf

Didn’t even know this was happening but looking forward to it.

Some interesting opinions, have read all the books and the actor looks well cast as the films compared with a 5ft nothing Tom Cruise playing a 6ft 5 behemoth in the same style as his MI character!

Odd people are saying he was never a gym bunny six pack type etc seeing as it is referenced plenty in the books as him being genetically blessed? Seems some posters aren’t overly familiar with the books! 🤦‍♂️

Reacher is described as being 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m) tall, weighing 210–250 pounds (95–113 kg) and having a 50-inch (130 cm) chest.[8][10] In Never Go Back, he is described as having "a six-pack like a cobbled city street, a chest like a suit of NFL armor, biceps like basketballs, and subcutaneous fat like a Kleenex tissue."

Not sure I found the trailer cheesy - the fight scenes come across well with Reacher giving his full of confidence speech before dispatching multiple foes easily, exactly like the books.

Alan Ritchson is a decent enough actor too, he was good enough in Titans.

Either way, everyone’s different but seems a shame to slag it to hell based on a 2 minute trailer! 🤷‍♂️

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118496482#Comment_118496482

That's Banshee levels of the very best violence.

Also, feckers Amazon still using The Expanse in the end ads for Prime

Krombopulos Michael

The fight scene there was pretty decent and seems to follow the story from the books well. I'm definitely going to give this one a go.

Agent Coulson

Drops tomorrow.

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118576725#Comment_118576725

You going to watch the whole series in one night if it's good?

Terence Rattigan

looking forward to this but the last book Better Off Dead was terrible. Reacher books are pure escapism and i expect the TV series to be the same but you do like some sort of convincing plot and storyline. Better Off Dead starts with him walking down some black top, spotting a jeep that appears to have crashed with a girl hanging out of it, turns out its a set up for the girl to get some baddies.....whats the chances? :)