Books made into movies sorta suck...

[rumborak]

Anyone else always a bit bummed at how a movie adaptation kinda replaces the rich world you yourself created in your head when you read the book? This has happened to me with both LOTR and Harry Potter. I had this rich tapestry of places and characters in my mind, but once I watched the movie it all got replaced by Elijah Wood and Orlando Bloom.

rumborak

[73109]

Not really. I mean, of course we think of characters in our head, but I, like you, replace them with their movie characters if I re-read anything. It doesn't bother me really.

[Ravenheart]

I usually just judge adaptations on their own merits, not by how well they mimic the book, but I know what you mean.

[Jamesman42]

This happened to me with Timeline and The Andromeda Strain. They were decent enough movies and helped create a solid reality to connect what I read to what I saw, but the books are always better. I think it happens because the movie only has so much time to let the story unfold.

[rumborak]

 

Not really. I mean, of course we think of characters in our head, but I, like you, replace them with their movie characters if I re-read anything. It doesn't bother me really.

Really? It definitely bugs me that this "invention" of mine got forcefully replaced by a version that I always perceive as less compelling.

rumborak

[GuineaPig]

The LOTR movies are way better than the books.

[Ħ]

The LOTR movies are way better than the books.

This is so true, rumborak.  Really, Tolkein is NOT a good storyteller.

Really, it depends.  I know all my English teachers in middle school and high school all thought Hollywood ruined everything, but there are some good adaptations, and some that are better than the books.  I would actually argue that most movie adaptations are better than their books.  Conversely, book adaptations of movies are often even worse (Star Wars for instance).

Harry Potter --> movie is better
LOTR --> movie is better
To Kill A Mockingbird --> movie is better
Eragon --> both are terrible
etc.

[ZBomber]

Don't watch the movies then.

[King Postwhore]

I try to read the books after if I haven't read them already.  You can never get a whole book into a movie some things just have to be let out.


But I'll tell you one that does drive me insane, The Lost World.  Spielberg ruined it adding the homage to King Kong.  Man did I hate that.

[orcus116]

The Lost World was similar to the book in name only.

[King Postwhore]

The Lost World was similar to the book in name only.

Yea.  It had the outline but it missed it's chance to scare the bleep out of us.  That book had me on the edge.

[skydivingninja]

The LOTR movies are way better than the books.

Harry Potter --> movie is better

LOL

NO

[orcus116]

I haven't seen 4, 5, 6 or 7 but the Prisoner of Azkaban was a textbook on how not to make a good movie.

[Phantasmatron]

As cool as adaptations would be if they were pretty much word-for-word from the book, they can sometimes be more boring that way.  Like, halfway through the movie the whole "wow this world I imagined is coming to life" thing would wear off and you'd just be like, "But now I already know what happens."

Which is why it's cool sometimes to have movie adaptations that kind of take the same spirit and concept of the book in a slightly different direction.  That way it has the same charm of being the world you imagined, but it's different enough to not make you feel like your imagination is being subverted.  

But then you have movies like The Lost World, which take things in a way different direction (T-Rex in the big city) and don't remain true to the spirit of the book, and take the concept in a totally ridiculous direction and just generally fuck everything up.

[rumborak]

The LOTR movies are way better than the books.

This is so true, rumborak.  Really, Tolkein is NOT a good storyteller.

Did your post run out of green font?

Harry Potter --> movie is better
LOTR --> movie is better

wot.

rumborak

[Durg]

I always want to read the book first and then see how they changed it up for the movie.  I thought Peter Jackson did a great job with the movies.  Of course I haven't read the books again after seeing the movies so I'm not sure if it ruins it for me or not.  I just like being able to watch a movie and know the in between details.  Plus I was happy to see that they left Tom Bombadil out.   

Come to think of it.  I don't think I've ever read a book after I've watched the movie.  It's always been the other way around.  For me the movie is like a bonus feature for the book.  Or a reward.  The only movie I really hated after reading the book was The Pelican Brief.

[chrisbDTM]

I haven't seen 4, 5, 6 or 7 but the Prisoner of Azkaban was a textbook on how not to make a good movie.

i think PoA is the best hp movie by far

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Harry Potter --> movie is better
LOTR --> movie is better
To Kill A Mockingbird --> movie is better
Eragon --> both are terrible

Umm no.

Agreed on the rest though.

[Kosmo]

The first two Harry Potter movies blew chunks and I haven't even given a chance to the rest. Some baby back bullshit they were.

[Durg]

I have yet to see the Shutter Island movie.  But I read the book.  Is the movie any good?


What about The Mist.  That movie was pretty good especially the way they changed the ending.  That ending made me physically sick!

[Durg]

I hope Ron Howard doesn't screw this one up.

https://www.darktowermovies.com/

[njdtfan]

I have yet to see the Shutter Island movie.  But I read the book.  Is the movie any good?


What about The Mist.  That movie was pretty good especially the way they changed the ending.  That ending made me physically sick!

  I have read the book and have seen the movie (Shutter island). I LOVE Scorsese, and thought the movie was good. Thought he could have made the movie a bit more, edge of seat interesting, but you can basically figure out the plot about halway thru (even if you havent read the book).

[lonestar]

Harry Potter --> movie is better
LOTR --> movie is better
To Kill A Mockingbird --> movie is better
Eragon --> both are terrible

Umm no.

Agreed on the rest though.

If it wasn't for Gregory Peck's flawless performance as Atticus, I would agree with you, but as is I'm calling it a tie.  Sidenote- my parents just took of to Ashland to see a stage performance of To Kill A Mockingbird, I am so fucking jealous.  The court scene on stage has potential to be utterly awesome.

[GuineaPig]

I hope Ron Howard doesn't screw this one up.

https://www.darktowermovies.com/

He will.  The production team is just awful.

[Ħ]

The Lord of the Rings novel is so long-winded, full of unnecessary characters, events, conversations, and descriptions.  Tom Bombadil has been mentioned, and I'd like to add that the Saruman/Grima bit at the end of Return of the King was so poorly placed and really stupid.

Peter Jackson did the series a favor and diluted out all the lameness.

[tjanuranus]

I hope Ron Howard doesn't screw this one up.

https://www.darktowermovies.com/

He will.  The production team is just awful.

Probably won't get made anyway.

[reneranucci]

Anyone else always a bit bummed at how a movie adaptation kinda replaces the rich world you yourself created in your head when you read the book? This has happened to me with both LOTR and Harry Potter. I had this rich tapestry of places and characters in my mind, but once I watched the movie it all got replaced by Elijah Wood and Orlando Bloom.

rumborak

Agreed. This happened to me with The silence of the Lambs. . The movie won the Oscar for Best Picture, and even with that, I thought it was dull compared to the book which I read before. Obviously, a movie generally cannot match the depth of a book. A Time to Kill, The Shine, Watchmen: good movies, but nowhere nearly as good as the books. Of course there are some movies that many would think surpass the original books (The Godfather and Schindler's Ark), but reading the books is a pleasure and they do not come as mediocre, whereas movies often do.

[chknptpie]

I prefer LOtR movies over the books. I got so bored reading some of those books. As for HP, I can't even watch the movies. They leave out so much of the underlying stories. My favorite book became a mess of cut and paste.

[reneranucci]

They leave out so much of the underlying stories.

This is the main point of the discussion here, I think.

[Progmetty]

The Da Vinci Code comes to mind. That movie was so bad it was designed to repel people who wanted to read the book.. what a minute, could it have been on purpose?! heh
Great cast but horrible execution all around.

[Dimitrius]

They leave out so much of the underlying stories.

In a movie setting, you only have ~90 minutes to tell a story, which is why this happen. Characters get cut from the movies, characters in the movie become amalgamations of different characters in the book, subplots are ignore. Different medias, different ways to tell a story.

I've always thought that if they were to make a movie of a book and they do the movie page for page as it is in the book, it'd be almost unbearable to watch.

[GuineaPig]

The Da Vinci Code was a terrible movie because it was a terrible book.  And the book itself was already pretty much a movie.

I've never seen The Da Vinci Code, though.

[Progmetty]

The Da Vinci Code was an amazingly interesting book, one of the few times in my life I read a book at one go, 15 hours.

[glaurung]

The LOTR movies are way better than the books.

This is so true, rumborak.  Really, Tolkein is NOT a good storyteller.

[chknptpie]

They leave out so much of the underlying stories.

In a movie setting, you only have ~90 minutes to tell a story, which is why this happen. Characters get cut from the movies, characters in the movie become amalgamations of different characters in the book, subplots are ignore. Different medias, different ways to tell a story.

I've always thought that if they were to make a movie of a book and they do the movie page for page as it is in the book, it'd be almost unbearable to watch.

A movie can be as long as they want it to be. LOtR movies were 210+ and then the extended versions even more.. and people still bought them even though they are so long. I'm not sure a 4hr HP movie would bother me if it did the story justice. Heck, turn it into a tv series like Game of Thrones! That would make it much better!