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Movie Better than the Book?

Started by Voros, October 19, 2017, 04:04:52 PM

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Just Another Snake Cult

#30
October 24, 2017, 04:25:41 PM
Quote from: Warboss Squee;1003156Rambo comes to mind.  Along with anything by Dan Brown. The movies derived from his novels are shit, but the books are worse.


Years ago there was a great article in Playboy called something like "The Man Who Created Rambo", where the author of the original novel First Blood wrote about what it was like to see a minor creation explode beyond anyone's wildest expectations and his attempts to hold on to some control over it. Pretty interesting and it actually had some good writing and legal advice for wannabe artists.

Dan Brown gets a lot of (Often deserved) shit but I always thought it was actually kinda clever how he took arcane religious/historical conspiracy theories from the weirdo margins and spun a mainstream beach novel for housewives out of them.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Dumarest

#31
October 24, 2017, 07:27:39 PM
Quote from: Just Another Snake Cult;1003283Dan Brown gets a lot of (Often deserved) shit but I always thought it was actually kinda clever how he took arcane religious/historical conspiracy theories from the weirdo margins and spun a mainstream beach novel for housewives out of them.

Yeah , especially the parts he plagiarized and cleverly made into an industry with his name on it. The folks who wrote the original material never figured out how to monetize it.

Dumarest

#32
October 24, 2017, 07:30:29 PM
Quote from: JeremyR;1003136Really? I like the movie, but it essentially cuts out all the funny parts from the book. The movie is sweet and cute, but the book is absolutely hilarious.


The funny thing about the Dragonslayer novel, is that although it was a novelization of the movie, there was a later printing that made no mention of the movie, save in the copyright info. It has a typical fantasy novel cover, not stills from the movie.

I concur; I much prefer the novel of The Princess Bride. There is a lot of funny stuff in there that is not in the film. The film I like fairly well but isn't remotely as good as the book. It's not much more than a cutely self-aware  adventure movie.

Spike

#33
October 25, 2017, 07:06:33 AM
Quote from: Dumarest;1003320I concur; I much prefer the novel of The Princess Bride. There is a lot of funny stuff in there that is not in the film. The film I like fairly well but isn't remotely as good as the book. It's not much more than a cutely self-aware  adventure movie.

A h...but we have a serious shortage of cutely self aware adventure movies!
For you the day you found a minor error in a Post by Spike and forced him to admit it, it was the greatest day of your internet life.  For me it was... Tuesday.

For the curious: Apparently, in person, I sound exactly like the Youtube Character The Nostalgia Critic.   I have no words.

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Tod13

#34
October 25, 2017, 09:10:50 AM
Quote from: Dumarest;1002426Yeah, Andromeda Strain I totally forgot about. The book seemed really short and wasn't especially compelling to me. The movie was pretty cool.

I think all the movies based on Michael Crichton books are better than the books. Crichton writes (really good IMO) books with a message and the characters are one dimensional to serve set purposes in his message. The movies turn those dimensionless props into characters.

Spike

#35
October 25, 2017, 10:16:15 AM
Quote from: Tod13;1003437....The movies turn those dimensionless props into characters.

Sometimes.
For you the day you found a minor error in a Post by Spike and forced him to admit it, it was the greatest day of your internet life.  For me it was... Tuesday.

For the curious: Apparently, in person, I sound exactly like the Youtube Character The Nostalgia Critic.   I have no words.

[URL=https:

Voros

#36
October 25, 2017, 09:28:46 PM
Andromeda Strain the film isn't strong in characterization, one of the strengths in the film is the cold very 70s sf vibe of it all.

Motorskills

#37
October 25, 2017, 10:36:22 PM
Quote from: Voros;1001961This was sparked by Dumarest's statement that he prefers Lynch's Dune to the book.

I completely disagree with this, the book is simply amazing, and the Lynch version does it a huge disservice. Doesn't stop me enjoying it though. :)

That said, Dumarest (and everyone else) really ought to check out the wonderful documentary Jodorowsky's Dune to see what brilliant insanity nearly came about, and how we ended up with the Lynch movie instead.


My vote is for L.A. Confidential. Now I enjoyed the book immensely, but the film nails the book's essence, in a coherent, vibrant, and fast-paced way that causes it to rise above the source material.
"Gosh it's so interesting (profoundly unsurprising) how men with all these opinions about women's differentiation between sexual misconduct, assault and rape reveal themselves to be utterly tone deaf and as a result, systemically part of the problem." - Minnie Driver, December 2017

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Dumarest

#38
October 25, 2017, 10:59:36 PM
Quote from: Spike;1003428A h...but we have a serious shortage of cutely self aware adventure movies!

I will concede the point.

Dumarest

#39
October 25, 2017, 11:02:08 PM
Quote from: Voros;1003584Andromeda Strain the film isn't strong in characterization, one of the strengths in the film is the cold very 70s sf vibe of it all.

Well...haven't seen it in a long while and maybe this is an indicator: I can remember the plot and the unattached single gay guy being the one burdened with the decision, but could not tell you the name of even one character without looking it up.

Spike

#40
October 26, 2017, 10:29:27 AM
Quote from: Dumarest;1003605I will concede the point.

It occurred to me not long after posting that I'd missed the perfect opportunity to play on a quote from the film in question.  I shall let my wordplay stir your imagination all the better by letting you imagine I was that clever the first time, rather than embarrassing myself by saying it now.  Imagine how awesome that was... perfect!
For you the day you found a minor error in a Post by Spike and forced him to admit it, it was the greatest day of your internet life.  For me it was... Tuesday.

For the curious: Apparently, in person, I sound exactly like the Youtube Character The Nostalgia Critic.   I have no words.

[URL=https:

Voros

#41
October 27, 2017, 02:37:33 AM
Quote from: Dumarest;1003606Well...haven't seen it in a long while and maybe this is an indicator: I can remember the plot and the unattached single gay guy being the one burdened with the decision, but could not tell you the name of even one character without looking it up.

Apparently the director Wise was purposefully shooting for that lack of effect from the actors. He certainly proved capable of vivid charaterizations and performances from his actors in his terrific noir and horror films.

Omega

#42
October 27, 2017, 06:33:45 AM
Theres a few where the movie ending isnt as bleak as the books ending. Or certain characters get what they deserve.

Not many though come to mind right off.

George Pal's The Time Machine might be one.

The original Posideon Adventure movie I liked more than the book.

Achaerone

#43
October 27, 2017, 07:09:21 AM Last Edit: October 27, 2017, 07:22:58 AM by Achaerone
Jaws. The Peter Benchley novel is okay, but the first two thirds of it meander through a bunch of subplots that aren't really germane to the central plot. Also, the book, which has to describe everything, just can't approach the suspense that Spielberg builds over the course of the film by spending most of it just suggesting the shark's presence. And the character of Quint is infinitely less colorful and enjoyable in the novel than Robert Shaw's screen performance.

Warboss Squee

#44
October 28, 2017, 07:14:10 PM
Quote from: Achaerone;1003993Jaws. The Peter Benchley novel is okay, but the first two thirds of it meander through a bunch of subplots that aren't really germane to the central plot. Also, the book, which has to describe everything, just can't approach the suspense that Spielberg builds over the course of the film by spending most of it just suggesting the shark's presence. And the character of Quint is infinitely less colorful and enjoyable in the novel than Robert Shaw's screen performance.

Funny thing the suspense was do the stupid robot not working most of the time. Hard to say what we would have gotten if that were not the case.
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