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Movie adaptations of books

Discussion in 'Sensorium' started by Beren, Jul 10, 2011.

  1. Beren

    Beren Lovesick and Lonely Wanderer Staff Member Member of the Week Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    A thread for discussing movie adaptations of novels.

    Granted, there are a lot of challenges involved with adapting a novel to the big screen. I personally think its equal parts:

    1) Pacing - You have more liberty to take your time with the narrative and the pace at which it unfolds, and certainly a lot more time for background and explanation. The movie audience tends to want an entertaining two hour ride, often without any breaks in the entertainment aspect.

    2) Imagination - The beauty of novels is they kinda leave the readers free to visualize how things would actually look if they actually were occurring. You can visualize a character or a setting, within some limitation set by the author's words, however you want. When somebody makes a movie, it is really just somebody else's visualiziation, and I think it can sometimes provoke a bit of disappointment that your vision is not playing out on the screen.

    3) Loss of story points and compacting - Some novels are difficult to pack into a movie without losing some of its key points, events, plot turns, etc. In all fairness, this has to be recognized whenever people trash movie adaptations.


    I'll give three examples ...

    There is of course the famous Stanley Kubrick vs. Stephen King feud over The Shining. I'm glad Kubrick won out more or less, cause no matter how old I get, I still find The Shining disturbing, creepy, and scary as hell.

    Lord of the Rings, overall I loved the movies, but I can't help but notice the good along with the not so good. Some points were done in such a way that their emotional effect even exceeded what was in the books. Examples, Frodo's single tear for Gandalf, Boromir's self-sacrifice. Others make me cringe at times. The worst example for me would have to be the gross misportrayal of Denethor as a bumbling buffoon.

    Dune, another story that when read you realize is immensely difficult to adapt to a movie. For example, Max von Sydow was probably the perfect actor to play Kynes, but the screenplay reduced Kynes to almost an extra when in fact Kynes was easily one of the most important characters in the novel.
     
    Beren, Jul 10, 2011
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  2. The Great Snook Gems: 31/31
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    I actually liked the movie Dune. This put me in the minority with my friends. Although, I was also the only one who never read the book :)
     
    The Great Snook, Jul 10, 2011
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  3. Morgoth

    Morgoth La lune ne garde aucune rancune Veteran

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    There is a very good movie adaptation of "The name of the Rose". Saw the movie first, then read the book. Loved both :)
     
    Morgoth, Jul 10, 2011
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  4. LKD Gems: 31/31
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    I saw Forrest Gump, along with most of the western world. I then read the novel. The movie is only loosely -- VERY loosely -- based on the novel. However, IMHO, the movie was far, far superior to the novel. In fact, I thought the novel was somewhat lackluster.
     
    LKD, Jul 10, 2011
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  5. T2Bruno

    T2Bruno The only source of knowledge is experience Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    The Caine Mutiny was one of the best adaptations I've ever seen. The movie captured all the essential elements and was as good as the book.

    The worst adaptations are the Bourne series -- excellent movies but they are nothing like the books. The movies just used the main character and the titles ... much like "The Spy Who Loved Me" (Ian Flemming refused to allow the content of the book to made into a movie -- he hated the book).
     
    T2Bruno, Jul 11, 2011
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  6. LKD Gems: 31/31
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    Have you ever read the book? It's nothing like anything else Fleming wrote -- IIRC it was an experiment in an alternative style. It would make a fine suspense movie, but it isn't the James Bond that either readers or moviegoers were / are used to seeing.

    Moving on from movie adaptations, how about TV adaptations? The Sword of Truth series was made into a TV show, and I have to say, just one look at the little douche they chose to play Richard, and I was clicking over to MASH reruns.
     
    LKD, Jul 11, 2011
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  7. Gaear

    Gaear ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful

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    Casting - and what they do with the cast - can indeed be an appalling part of some of these endeavors. Take the first Spiderman movie: they cast Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin - the one guy in the world who actually looks like the Green Goblin from the old comic books and cartoons I remember. Then they put a mask on him so you can no longer see that the one guy in the world who looks like the Green Goblin is playing the Green Goblin. He might as well have been played by John Stamos if they were just going to put a mask on him.

    It can boggle the mind at times. You'd think every major production would have an "Oh the F*CK no you don't!" department, but I guess they don't.
     
    Gaear, Jul 11, 2011
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  8. LKD Gems: 31/31
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    Gaear, you and me, let's join forces and become Hollywood consultants. We'll call ourselves "Oh the F*CK no you don't! Inc" and we'll bring common sense to productions everywhere!

    Some douche wants to cast Will Ferrell as Allanon in a Shannara adaptation? Call "Oh the F*CK no you don't! Inc"!

    Some bright bulb wants to cast Gabourey Sidibe as Viconia in a Baldur's Gate adaptation? Call "Oh the F*CK no you don't! Inc"!

    Some tool wants to cast Robin Williams as Mace Tyrell in the next season of Game of Thrones? Call "Oh the F*CK no you don't! Inc"!

    . . . . .

    You get the idea. Big bucks, buddy! And room for any SP members who want to join up.
     
    LKD, Jul 12, 2011
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  9. Gaear

    Gaear ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful

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    I'm with you, LKD! :thumb: Maybe we can get to The Hobbit before it's too late.
     
    Gaear, Jul 12, 2011
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