Cowboys & Aliens clips released

We’re just a couple weeks away from the release of Cowboys & Aliens, a new sci-fi flick based on the graphic novel of the same name.

The movie features some well known stars, including Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, and Olivia Wilde. On par with recent marketing techniques for such films, we’ve been getting a lot of spoiling promo material posted to the Internet.

First there is this clip:

Here we get to see some detail for the relationship between Ford’s character and Craig’s, as the latter doesn’t seem to want to help get the townspeople back.

It also means that our protagonists is going to be closer to an anti-hero than the protagonist of the graphic novel. Of course, they’ve already added and changed so much from that plot, I’ll be surprised if any of the minor elements of that plot remain.

Here’s another clip:

This one is more about Wilde’s character and the bit of ‘damsel in distress’ that she gets to run with.

We also get to see some detail of the Alien machines, which are again completely different from the novel.

If you’re not familiar, Cowboys & Aliens is about a small New Mexico town which must work together with some mercenaries and some natives to drive off an alien invasion force.

The official synopsis is thus:

1873. Arizona Territory. A stranger (Craig) with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don’t welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Ford). It’s a town that lives in fear.

But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known.

Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he’s been, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the town a fighting chance against the alien force. With the help of the elusive traveler Ella (Olivia Wilde), he pulls together a posse comprised of former opponents—townsfolk, Dolarhyde and his boys, outlaws and Apache warriors—all in danger of annihilation. United against a common enemy, they will prepare for an epic showdown for survival.

Cowboys and Aliens hits theaters 29 July 2011.