Great Books Destroyed as Movies

[Twitchin Kitten]

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OK our discussion about War Horse prompted this thread.

Name a book you thoroughly enjoyed that was destroyed when they made it into a movie. Try to say why if you can remember as well.

The first one in a foggy head that popped into my mind today was Starship Troopers, by Robert A Heinlien.

So much was changed from the book that it made it a whole different story. I'm pressed for time as I've got appointments today so I'll add to this when I get back. Anyone knowing those differences that destroyed the thing for you feel free to carry forward until I get home.

[Aurora Moon]

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Do TV shows also count? because then I would count Animorphs amongst the list. that was my top favorite series to read growing up, amongst other things. But the way they did it for the TV series... oh my gawd. people who watch the TV show and hasn't read the book at all is going to think the book is shitty and isn't worth reading!
The book was somewhat dark for a young adult book series, and the author really dealt with the issue of kids being soldiers in an alien war, and not being able to handle it physiologically, really well. the TV show almost pretty much made it into this light-hearted superhero show. It was heavy on the comedy, not so much on the Drama. so the TV show pretty much missed the point of the whole book series-- which was this: A) Wars are brutal, B) gaining superpowers isn't always as cool as it sounds...sometimes it's actually nightmare fuel. C) Especially if you have to live constantly with the paranoia that the enemy could be inside ANYBODY, even your own loved ones.

Then there's the book "lovely bones" which turned into a okay movie but wasn't as good as the book at all.The Lovely Bones had the potential to be a really powerful film had Peter Jackson not pushed the plot and characterization of the movie to the side to make way for his love affair with visual effects.

The film version of The Lovely Bones was packed with capable actors and had the benefit of source material that had already proven to be emotionally impactful and commercially successful but the heart breaking story about a family overcoming the murder of their daughter/sister through the years following her death seemed to take a back seat to the visual elements of the scenes in heaven. This was completely flipped from the book version where heaven was far from the focus of the book. This is a perfect example of the problem with book-to-film adaptions. Instead of maintaining the integrity of the book and thus the emotional connection to the characters, someone obviously thought the imagery of heaven would sell more tickets than a story about overcoming the worst thing that could happen to a family.

[Gunnen4u]

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The only books likely not destroyed by being a movie were the LOTR and Chronicles of Narnia series. Or so far as I know anything to be previously a book.

The Way Back is a great movie, if somewhat altered a bit -- still, it's quite close to the classic adventure tale, The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz. You guys should check it out sometime. The only major departure is the ending.

[Twilla]

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Just off the top of my head, they attempted two movie version of Dean Koontz's "Watchers" which was one of my all time favorite books way back when, and they completely messed up both. It's been so long, I don't remember the specifics but for one, one of the movies starred Corey Haim... there weren't any teenaged boys in the story and they certainly weren't all cute and quirky.

[Twitchin Kitten]

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The Other Side of Midnight.

They totally destroyed that story. It couldn't possibly be a matter of time because the book was not all that long.
I read the book in High school and like you, Twilla, I can't remember specifics but all I know is much of the story was distorted from the book.

Susan Sarandon was a good choice to play the main character, but the rest fell flat.

The only books likely not destroyed by being a movie were the LOTR and Chronicles of Narnia series. Or so far as I know anything to be previously a book.

The Way Back is a great movie, if somewhat altered a bit -- still, it's quite close to the classic adventure tale, The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz. You guys should check it out sometime. The only major departure is the ending.

Altered a bit to fit a time frame for a movie is one thing, but totally destroying the content and storyline are different.


Another one that comes to mid is Orwell's 1984.

I was so jazzed to see they did a movie of this book - which is one of my all time favorites - and when they really chopped it up, I had to go home and read it again, much like getting an 'ear worm' song out of my head. It was required reading in high school and I had already read it once by then.

Animal Farm was another required read. I'm not sure if they even made a movie about that one but if they did, I know they fucked it up totally. And if they do either now, they won't tell the horrors of the lessons he tried to tell.

Funny how we're so close to 1984 than people think these days. I wonder if this is required reading for the kids anymore?

[Twitchin Kitten]

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The only books likely not destroyed by being a movie were the LOTR and Chronicles of Narnia series. Or so far as I know anything to be previously a book.

The Way Back is a great movie, if somewhat altered a bit -- still, it's quite close to the classic adventure tale, The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz. You guys should check it out sometime. The only major departure is the ending.

No Country for Old Men hit it on the mark as well.
There's plenty out there that did a good job from book to movie, but I'm sure there are more that have been destroyed instead.

[Gunnen4u]

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As a general rule, politically significant books are often butchered. I mean, we couldn't have the message of 1984 or Animal Farm getting out to the masses, could we? Usually, it's books that are somewhat right/moderate leaning, or at least those that emphasize the perils of leftward political thinking. Anything else gets a pass or is considered brilliant. Then again, Hollywood has always had a Marxist streak.

I dunno if you've ever read The Forever War, but that was supposed to be an allegory to Vietnam and somewhat anti-war novel detailing how lost returning soldiers found themselves somewhat alienated from society. I bet that'll be well done when it comes out in a year or so on film. Compared to of course, Starship Troopers, which was pro-war for the right reasons, pro-military and philosophically right-wing.

We'll have to see. I sort of hope they do not fuck that one up - even Heinlein thought that book was a very good one.

[Rhubarb]

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Birdsong is a fantastic book, one of my clients gave to me to read.
It is about to become a TV drama- already dreading them destroying it.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley? That has been done to death (no pun intended). I feel sorry for the poor girl, she is buried in the church yard in Bournemouth town centre, by the way.

Winnie the Pooh!!!!! Disney should be taken to court!!!!!!!

[Twilla]

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I've heard that Animal Farm was made into a very good animated feature film by British film makers.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047834/

[Aurora Moon]

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Well, animated films based off books tend to do well... mainly because it's less likely that some actress or actor is going to fuck up the scenes that they're in.
the only worry you have is if the director who's in charge of the production is going to stay faithful to the source material.

of course like any other movie if the director has weird thoughts about "making it more suitable for viewing" or for attracting a wider variety of audiences, then it's most likely going to fail.