Battle for Paradise: King Kamehameha movie starring The Rock

King Kamehameha movie
No updates yet but this Columbia Pictures project is said to have Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson star as the legendary Hawaiian chief and that Rob Cohen(Dragon:The Bruce Lee Story, Dragonheart, The Fast and The Furious, XXX)is set to direct.

Sounds interesting enough. I'll let the link speak for the movie.

Maybe this film will pave the way for a Hollywood movie on Philippine War Chief Lapu-Lapu? He's the guy that is said to have killed Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Megellan.

I think a film like this would be great for the Asian Pacific Islander community as there has not been a more positive projects like this recently.

I don't wanna see The Rock using his "Scorpian King" sword-wielding or other bladed weapon skills here. Hawaiian warriors have never used swords and is not in thier history. Sharp edges weapons from stone(cutlasses)and the usual spears but no swords. Not many(if at all) natives of islands during the times of early circumnavigating sea exploration were as fiercely trained in bladed weapons as the early Filipino warriors.

EDIT: I do think its fantastic that George Lucas had Pacific Islanders in mind for the ideas of Jango Fett and the Clone Troopers, and quite possibly the Mandalorians themselves.

There is indeed that tribal warrior aspect in such cultures.

 

[image=http://www.realfighting.com/issue7/images/Lapu-2.jpg]
Here is a very nice image of a statue likeness of Philippine War Chief, Lapu-Lapu. He's not all big and brawny the way most Hawaiian warriors (supposedly) are but in perspective its like comparing Achilles to Boagrius in "Troy"


Yeah, size matters not.

 

This could be done well if taken/done seriously. So far Rundown is the Rock's best movie.

 

The Rock ruins everything he is involved; this movie will be terrible. He cannot even maintain an atmosphere of seriousness, let alone actually act.

 

I forsee another 'Scorpion King'-ish movie. At best, worth wasting an afternoon for. At worst, it will suck.

On the plus side, The Rock can actually speak English, unlike the Governor of 'Kah-Lee-Faw-Nee-Yah!' or Dolph Lungren

 

He looks to be alright in the upcoming Be Cool.
I'll see him in that before I make my judgment, because sp far his roles have been crappy, and he simply did not rise above. If he messes up a good role, then I'll know.

 

The thing about The Rock is, people are real quick to dismiss him. And I probably would have too, because I'm not into wrestling. But he's actually pretty good in The Rundown. And I've seen him be surprisingly funny on Saturday Night Live.

I'd worry more about director Rob Cohen. Even with very low expectations, XXX sucked. The Fast and The Furious didn't deserve to be the monor hit it was. Dragonheart actually might be a bit underrated, but that has much to do with ILM's effects. I saw Dragon:The Bruce Lee Story in the theater, but I couldn't tell you much about it now. The guy's just an underwhelming director.

As far as the film's story, I don't know anything about this legendary Hawaiian chief, so it doesn't sound that interesting.

 

But he's actually pretty good in The Rundown

I disageree. It's relatively better than his other roles, but that's not saying much. At the end of the day, he's still "The Rock", the same guy for whatever role he plays. If he wants me to take him seriously as an actor, he better try to become the character he plays, rather than the other way around ("Look, there's 'The Rock' with a sword! Now look at this film, it's the Rock with a stick!". Otherwise, he's just another crappy action star in the long list of crappy action stars.

 

Well, a big part of what made The Rundown better than his other roles is its director. And that's Peter Berg.

[image=http://ffmedia.ign.com/scorpionking/image/peterberg_corkyromano.jpg]
And here's a picture of him as a point of interest because a lot of you should recognize him as an accomplished actor.

The Rock showed pretty diverse acting skills on Saturday Night Live. And what action stars do you really consider crappy, anyway?

 

The Rock showed pretty diverse acting skills on Saturday Night Live

He was funny in SNL, but good acting? Nope. Diverse? I didn't see it, sorry.

 

Well, The only film I've seen him in is The Rundown, and he wasn't bad. So, if he wan't bad, then?

I knew enough to stay away from The Scorpion King and Walking Tall.

 

I used to be a wrestling fan. And I remember that The Rock delivered a monologue better then anyone else. He was a great actor in the WWF. He just needs to find the right roles IMO.

 

The "kamehameha" caught me off gaurd. I thought this was the Dragonball Z thread. But seriously, rip off.

 

You do know that King Kamehameha was a real Hawaiian man right?

This is not ripping off the name of an attack in DBZ, DBZ rather got the name from this man.

-P!-

 

I've never been a fan of staged, fake stuntman-like wrestling(Olympic wrestling is real btw) but I think the Dwayne is capable of somewhat carrying the lead role. I haven't seen "Walking Tall" but from what I've seen of his performances in "The Scorpion King" and "The Rundown". This film will be more serious than those films and that means this will not be some "popcorn movie" fare. I too am skeptical of Rob Cohen as Director. I loved "Dragon; Bruce Lee Story" and enjoyed "Dragonheart" so I remain optimistic. This is supposed to an epic historical film so I hope they treat it right.

Dwayne Johnson is of both Black American and American Samoan descent but he doesn't seem to speak with a either Southern Black or a typical Pacific Islander accent.
Samuel Jackson speaks better English than Nelson Mandela. Both are black, right? Natalie Portman is Jewish(not sure if she is now an American Citizen) but she doesn't have an Israeli accent?

There's a lot of other American Melting Pot cultural films and tv shows out there(Italian, Irish, African American, Native American, even Candian-American). There is a huge Asian Pacific Islander and Asian American audience out in the US. Its about time to see more Asian Pacific history and culture in films and tv. Maybe George Lucas can do something about that after Star Wars. He seems to spend a lot of time in Hawaii= he'll be there on vacation when ROTS comes out.

 

As A hawaiian i would go see the movie but i would be very critical of any divergences from Historical Fact. i was made to study King Kamehameha's reign in depthly as a kid in school.

If the Rock wants to be convincing he's going to have to learn to walk da kine (pidgeon english) because ancient Hawaiian is really hard to learn. If they did do the movie in pidgeon english it will be very hard to understand.

I think they should make a movie about my Hawaiian Hero: Duke Kahanamoku
[image=http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/artofthestamp/SubPage%20table%20images/artwork/athletics/Duke%20Kahanamoku/BIGdukekahanamoku.jpg]
Now that is one good looking kanaka!

 

As A hawaiian i would go see the movie but i would be very critical of any divergences from Historical Fact

Heh, never expect historical accuracy from a Hollywood movie. You'll just end up disspointed/angry/etc.

 

I get worked up too easily

 

This film will stink like a rotten pineapple. Next
on Hollywood's list of Bio-Pics nobody wants to
see will be the sweeping saga (forthcoming pun
completely intended) of my high school janitor. Yes
it's "Battle for Pork 'n beans: The Randy the Janitor,
story starring Ben Affleck. Coming to your lunchroom
this Christmas.

Lord Sockious has spoken

 

Here is a very nice image of a statue likeness of Philippine War Chief, Lapu-Lapu. He's not all big and brawny the way most Hawaiian warriors (supposedly) are but in perspective its like comparing Achilles to Boagrius in "Troy"


I know some very good lookin' kanakas....hawaiian men are ripped...it's so great to be hawaiian. I went to a luau where my friend's warrior dance team performed....it was awesome.
This isn't him but he's cute too
[image=http://www.dddaloha.com/dancer01.jpg]

 

[image=http://images.packworld.com/thumbnails/issues/12.01/images/Departments/punchy.jpg]


How about a nice Hawaiian punch!

 

Nah, now this is a real Hawaiian Punch
[image=http://www.dahawaiistore.com/tshirts/hsmanagray.jpg]

warrior daggers made of real shark teeth I might add...