The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (film)

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a 2003 film based on the comic-book tales of Alan Moore of a rare group of legendary fictional heroes, each one usually a loner, who come together to save the world in 1899.


 * Directed by Stephen Norrington.

Prepare for the Extraordinary.

Allan Quatermain

 * If you can't do it with one bullet, don't do it at all.
 * Automatic rifles. Who in God's name has automatic rifles?
 * Very American. Fire enough bullets and hope to hit the target.
 * [About Hyde] That was naughty!
 * [teaching Tom to shoot] Take your time. [Tom shoots and misses] Too soon, but that was bloody close.
 * [Knocks out an enemy by smashing a liquor bottle on him; looks at the broken bottle] Wicked waste.
 * [He impales an enemy on the horn of a bull head on the wall. The Union Jack then drapes over the dead enemy] Rule Britannia.
 * [last words to Tom, as he's dying] May this new century be yours, son, as the old one was mine.

Tom Sawyer

 * [after seeing Mina kill one of M's men] Boy. They told me European women had funny ways.
 * [Allan is teaching him to shoot from the deck of the Nautilus] Did you teach your son to shoot like this? [turns to see Allan has left]
 * We're alive. If M has any ideas to the contrary, that gives us an edge.

Dr. Henry Jekyll

 * Dr. Jekyll, at your service, sir.
 * [As reflection, to Hyde] Bravo, Edward.
 * [To Hyde, the reflection] What are you talking about?!?
 * No! I will not let Hyde use me again!
 * Now lets not make a saint out of a sinner! Next time he may not be so helpful!
 * [To Nemo, Hyde just tried to strangle him] Your talk is all well and good, sir! But your own past is far from laudable! [leaves]

Edward Hyde

 * Home. Home is where the heart is, that's what they say, and I have missed London so. Its sorrow is as sweet to me as a rare wine.
 * We can do it, Henry, together.
 * [To Sawyer, after he claims not to be afraid] YOU STINK OF FEAR!
 * [As Henry's reflection, while listening to M's and Dorian's message]:Turn it off, Henry... turn it off!!

Rodney Skinner

 * Oh, chemist, eh? Do we get to blow something up, then?
 * [after groping Mina] I've been waitin'all week to do that!
 * [A note from the Nautili] 'Ello, my freaky darlings.
 * This is a charming spot. Does Jack the Ripper live here?
 * I'm feeling a bit of a draft in my nether regions. And I must say, it's quite refreshing.

Mina Harker

 * Not Gray. He's lived long enough.
 * Save your bullets. These men are MINE!
 * [to Dorian Gray] You broke my heart once. This time you missed.

Dorian Gray

 * I've lived long enough to see the future become history, Professor. Empires crumble. There are no exceptions.
 * I'm an immortal, sir, not a gazelle!
 * Sensors attached to bombs. Bomb voyage.
 * [to Mina after impaling her] I was hoping I'd get to nail you one last time...I didn't think it'd be literally.
 * [Fighting Mina, who is also immortal] We'll be at this all day.
 * [Mina has stabbed him in the groin] If that had been permanent, I would have been very upset!

M/The Fantom

 * [to Gray] You think you're better than me. You forget: I've seen your painting.
 * [To Quatermain] Oh, and I'm scarred, Mr. Quatermain, not blind. Drop the gun.

Dialogue

 * Karl Draper: (in German) What do you want?
 * The Fantom: The world, Herr Draper. I want the world.
 * [The Fantom is thrown a rocket launcher by one of his men]
 * Karl Draper: Are you crazy? This place is full of hydrogen gas!
 * The Fantom: Really? That's so frightening. [Fires the rocket at a zeppelin]




 * [After Allan reveals his identity to Reed]
 * Nigel: Shall I toddle off, then, Allan?
 * Allan Quatermain: Yes, of course, Nigel, toddle off.
 * Nigel: Toddling.




 * Sanderson Reed: There is great unrest. Countries set at each other's throats, baying for blood. It's a powder-keg. The trouble of which I speak could set a match to the whole thing: War.
 * Allan Quatermain: Wi-With whom, exactly?
 * Sanderson Reed: Everyone. A world war.
 * Allan Quatermain: And this notion makes you sweat?
 * Sanderson Reen: Heavens, man. Doesn't it you?
 * Allan Quatermain: This is Africa, dear boy. Sweating is what we do.
 * Sanderson Reed: Where is your sense of patriotism?
 * Allan Quatermain: [stands up with his drink] God save the Queen!
 * [the other patrons of the club mutter an apathetic return to the toast]
 * Nigel: God save her, Allan, God bless her.
 * Allan Quatermain: [to Reed] That's about as patriotic as it gets around here.
 * Sanderson Reed: But you're Allan Quatermain. Stories of your exploits have thrilled English boys for decades.
 * Allan Quatermain: That I know. And Nigel has done a grand job reminding me. But... with each past exploit I've lost friends, white men and black... and much more. And I'm not the man I once was.




 * Sanderson Reed: They're indestructible.
 * Allan Quatermain: No, just armor-plated.


 * Allan Quatermain: Automatic rifles. Who in God's name has automatic rifles?
 * Elderly Hunter: Dashed unsporting. Probably Belgian.




 * M: After Africa's veldts, London's climate isn't affecting your mood, I see...
 * Allan Quatermain: Identify yourself.
 * M: I am known by many names, Mr. Quatermain. My underlings call me Sir. My superiors call me M.
 * Allan Quatermain: M?
 * M: Just M.




 * Mina Harker: Am I late?
 * M: A woman's prerogative, Mrs Harker.
 * Allan Quartermain: Please tell me this is Harker's wife with a sick note.
 * Mina Harker: Sick would be a mild understatement. My husband's been dead for years.




 * Rodney Skinner (The Invisible Man): And they'll provide an antidote... well, that's if I'm a good boy.
 * Allan Quatermain: And are you a good boy?
 * Rodney Skinner (The Invisible Man): I guess you'll find out, won't you?




 * Captain Nemo: This is my first mate.
 * Ishmael: Call me Ishmael, please.




 * Nemo: We have trouble.
 * Hyde: Trouble? I call it sport.




 * Dr. Henry Jekyll: No. Hyde will never use me again.
 * Dorian Gray: Then what good are you?




 * Marksman #2: What are you?
 * Dorian Gray: I'm complicated.




 * Allan Quatermain: Ah, you're missing a picture, Mr. Gray.
 * Dorian Gray: And you don't miss a thing, do you, Mr. Quatermain?
 * Allan Quatermain: Oh, sometimes.




 * Allan Quatermain: Now, would you like to learn to shoot?
 * Tom Sawyer: I can already.
 * Allan Quatermain: Oh, I saw. Very American. Fire enough bullets and hope to hit the target.




 * Mina Harker: Nemo worships death. Are we sure we can trust him?
 * Allan Quartermain: He's not the one I'm worried about.




 * M: To that end, I set my wolf among you sheep.
 * Dorian Gray: Growl.




 * Tom Sawyer: [Skinner has been burnt by a flamethrower] Are you okay?
 * Rodney Skinner (The Invisible Man): That's the last time I play with matches!

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 * Allan Quartermain: Chilao!
 * [a target is slung into the ocean. Sawyer hoists the elephant gun]
 * Allan Quartermain: Aim.
 * Tom Sawyer: That's easy.
 * Allan Quartermain: Adjust for wind and target movement.
 * Tom Sawyer: That's easy, too.
 * Allan Quartermain: Here's the part that's not. You have to feel the shot. Take your time with it. You have all the time you need. All the time in the world.

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 * Captain Nemo: Contain your evil, Doctor. I'll not have the brute free upon my ship. Must I take drastic steps?
 * Dr. Henry Jekyll: I am in control.
 * Captain Nemo: I very much doubt it.
 * Dr. Henry Jekyll: Your talk is all well and good, sir... but your own past is far from laudable.

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 * [Clanging metal sounds from inside Nautilus]
 * Tom Sawyer: What is it?
 * Captain Nemo: The sound of treachery.

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 * Allan Quartermain: [after the exploration pod has been stolen] We can track it.
 * Captain Nemo: Track it? I intend to catch it!

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 * Ishmael: Shall I wait, Captain?
 * Captain Nemo: No, bring my lady to me.

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 * Edward Hyde: Yes, Henry. Look, but don't touch. That's your way.
 * Dr. Henry Jekyll: Just shut up. I won't be tricked again.
 * Edward Hyde: Tricked? You've known what I was about each time you drank the formula.
 * Dr. Henry Jekyll: Liar. I am a good man.
 * Edward Hyde: Who's lying now? You want it, even more than you want her.
 * Dr. Henry Jekyll: No.
 * Edward Hyde: You can't shut me out forever. Drink the elixir.
 * Dr. Henry Jekyll: No.
 * Edward Hyde: She barely even looks at you...
 * Dr. Henry Jekyll: Be quiet.
 * Edward Hyde: SHE LOOKED AT ME.

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 * Ishmael: That Skinner's got a lot to answer for!
 * Dorian Gray: Not Skinner - me!
 * [raises his gun and shoots Ishmael]

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 * Allan Quartermain: The Phantom is M. And the hunt is still on.
 * Dr. Henry Jekyll: What are you talking about?
 * Allan Quartermain: The Phantom is M. The same man who recruited us.
 * Dr. Henry Jekyll: [trying to examine Allan's wound] Let me see that.
 * [he is shrugged off]
 * Captain Nemo: But how?
 * Allan Quartermain: We'll get our answers. Where are the others?
 * Mina Harker: [entering] Dorian's missing in action. And Mr. Skinner must have fled when he realized we knew.
 * Allan Quartermain: [concerned] Sawyer?
 * Tom Sawyer: [entering with a bloody lip] He'll live to fight another day.
 * Mina Harker: [advances towards Tom, he draws back] Don't worry, I've had my fill of throats for this

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 * Allan Quartermain: Well, we were the faster, but now we're the tortoise to his hare.
 * Dr. Henry Jekyll: So, we're done?
 * Tom Sawyer: No, we're alive. If M has any idea to the contrary, that gives us an edge.
 * Captain Nemo: The sea is vast, he could be anywhere.
 * Tom Sawyer: Yeah, well, I'm an optimist, now maybe that's a crime to you twisted so-and-so's but it keeps me from going crazy.
 * Mina Harker: Your optimism's out of place.
 * Tom Sawyer: You're wrong! Because we'll get out, man... at least, *I* will. That other agent I told you about... was my childhood friend. We were agents together until The Fantom shot him dead. Now you can be done, but I am not. I will avenge his death.
 * Dr. Henry Jekyll: It's not about any one of us, Tom. It's bigger than that.
 * Tom Sawyer: Yes, it is, Jekyll! The fate for the world is in our hands... the world! So M tricked you, he brought you all together and you walked straight into his trap. But the way that I see it, that's the part he did wrong... He brought you together.
 * Dr. Henry Jekyll: He has a point.
 * Allan Quartermain: And the boy becomes a man... perhaps a leader of men.
 * Mina Harker: And Women.

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 * Allan Quatermain: I may have been overly rude earlier... when I called you a pirate.
 * Captain Nemo: And I may have been overly charitable... when I said I wasn't. But I try to live in the now... where the ghosts of old wrongs do not abide.

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 * Allan Quatermain: I've had women along on past exploits, and found them to be, at best, a distraction.
 * Mina Harker: Do I distract you?
 * Allan Quatermain: My dear girl, I've buried two wives and many lovers... and I'm in no mood for more of either.
 * Rodney Skinner (The Invisible Man): You can send 'em my way.
 * Allan Quatermain: Skinner, shut up.

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 * [Chasing Moriarty, Tom Sawyer bumps into an invisible man]
 * Tom Sawyer: Skinner? [to Quatermain] It's okay! It's Skinner! What the hell are you doing here?
 * Sanderson Reed: What makes you think I'm Skinner, huh?

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 * Captain Nemo: [Seeing one of M's men who has taken a large amount of Hyde's formula] What is that thing?
 * Hyde: He's me on a bad day.

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 * Phantom's Soldier: [To Nemo] Draw your pistol.
 * Captain Nemo: I walk a different path. [draws sword]

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 * Dorian Gray: Ah. The bedroom, Mina. Does it give you memories? Or ideas?
 * Mina Harker: Ideas.

[She stabs him in the groin]
 * Dorian Gray: [gasping] If that had been permanent, I'd have been very upset!

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 * M: I hope I've got your fire when I'm your age.
 * Allan Quatermain: You will not live beyond today. That I promise you.

Quotes about The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (film)

 * I got offered The Lord of the Rings, and I turned it down because I didn’t understand it. I was offered The Matrix — twice — and I turned it down because I didn’t understand it. I don’t understand this movie, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to turn it down.


 * My first response to the script was that it was a bit far-out. But that never stopped me before. It didn’t stop me from doing Zardoz.
 * Sean Connery


 * I don't really mind the movie's lack of believability. Well, I mind a little; to assume audiences will believe cars racing through Venice is as insulting as giving them a gondola chase down the White House lawn. What I do mind is that the movie plays like a big wind came along and blew away the script and they ran down the street after it and grabbed a few pages and shot those. Since Oscar Wilde contributed Dorian Gray to the movie, it may be appropriate to end with his dying words: "Either that wallpaper goes, or I do."
 * Roger Ebert, "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", Rogerebert.com, (July 11, 2003).


 * Of all the comic book properties eagerly purchased by studios following X-Men, Alan Moore's highly-acclaimed melding of Victorian adventure fiction and super-heroics was undoubtedly the most exciting. Teeming with inspired wit and invention, only a supreme effort could screw it up. "Prepare For The Extraordinary" screamed the presumptuous trailer. You should indeed - albeit, crushingly, an extraordinary display creative cowardice and mishandling. The drive to concoct a period X-Men results in a depressingly clumsy action movie, one which treats the audience's intelligence with infuriating contempt.
 * Danny Graydon, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Review, Empire Magazine, (2003).


 * The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a gigantic missed opportunity. What could have been a fun adventure, something akin to The Mummy meets X-Men, is seriously botched by a hideously poor script, that's almost entirely made up of plot holes and implausibilities. This is a movie that actively seems to think that it's audience is stupid. Worse still, the acting is incredibly poor from nearly everyone except Jason Flemyng, who does a decent job as Jekyll and Hyde. Probably the worst part of the film, are the jaw-droppingly bad special effects, that would have been downright appalling in 2003, and a simply dire in 2012. If this is to be Connery's final live-action film, it's a sad way for a legendary actor to go out.
 * Mathew Buck, | Brows Beat Down: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (REVIEW), Film Brain, (June 7, 2012).

Taglines

 * Prepare for the Extraordinary
 * The power of seven become a league of one
 * A Rogue. A Scientist. A Spy. A Hunter. A Vampire. A beast. An Immortal.
 * Waiting To Be Impressed? You're About To Be.
 * An Adventure in a League of Its Own
 * This summer, Join the League.

Cast

 * Sean Connery - Allan Quatermain
 * Naseeruddin Shah - Captain Nemo
 * Peta Wilson - Mina Harker
 * Tony Curran - Rodney Skinner (The Invisible Man)
 * Stuart Townsend - Dorian Gray
 * Shane West - Tom Sawyer
 * Jason Flemyng - Dr. Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde
 * Richard Roxburgh - M