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Movies from other sources

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Post  Greatheart Thu Aug 29, 2013 5:13 am

What movies adapted from books did you like? And which ones did you hate? And why?

Really liked 'Lord of the Rings' even with the extensive changes.

The one I hated most? 'Starship Troopers'. A deep, thoughtful book on culture, military service and many other topics, turned into a really bad teen date movie. Even the F/X seemed second-rate.

Not a fan of 'comic book' movies, but the version of 'Superman' with Christopher Reeve was very good. You could tell that it was done with real love for the original material, which imo is the most important thing.
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Post  samtibbs123 Thu Aug 29, 2013 6:19 pm

I do love how well they have adapted Lord of the Rings,not accurate but well done and enjoyable,  Not that it matches the comics but they did a good job of Green Lantern, and they did Kato credit for sure, most of the Tarzan's were well not Tarzan but I did like John Carter on Mars, but I don't suppose most people ever read those stories to know one way or another so it bombed.  Biggest disappointment, how they did  Eragon, hard to cram 2 books into a 2 hour movie, no wonder it never made it big! sigh!!
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Post  Greatheart Thu Aug 29, 2013 8:10 pm

Yeah, cramming too much into too short a time - a theatrical release- started hurting the HP movies at either 3 or 4.

(I actually started reading the HP books after seeing GoF - just couldn't follow it any more. So, oddly, thankful...)

Worst ever - 'Captain Hornblower', where they tried to cram -3- novels into a 2 hour movie. Even Gregory Peck couldn't pull that one off!

One of the better adaptations is 'Shogun', with Richard Chamberlain. While not as deep as the original, still very good. (You didn't really need to learn the Japanese language, did you? ;-) )

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Movies from other sources Empty Another good one

Post  Greatheart Fri Aug 30, 2013 6:12 am

The 1997 BBC version of 'Ivanhoe'. Not too close to the original, but better in many ways. The scenes between Bois-Gilbert and Rebecca are amazing. (Ciaran Hinds, who recently played Aberforth Dumbledore, is brilliant in this film. "I will have your soul, lady!")

I only have one nit to pick with it, when 'Locksley' from the original gives his better-known name. Should have followed the book on that one. jmo

And the scene when Eleanor mediates between her two sons is special.
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Post  samtibbs123 Fri Aug 30, 2013 6:46 am

So is there a movie version of shogun?? I have only seen the mini series version they had on tv and it was 10 hours or more long. Since I had started reading the HP books because a friends told me I should the movies were just afterthoughts thought they did well on 1-3-5 and 7 hated how they butchered Book 4 and 6, but then if it were me I would have made them all double movies from 4 on and been more accurate in the process, Haven't see the new Ivanhoe will have to see if i can find it. Will have to see if I can find other films I thought they did either well or awful on.
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Post  Greatheart Fri Aug 30, 2013 11:06 am

Shogun was a mini-series, worth investing the time to watch. Sorry I wasn't clearer. The HP movies were uneven, imo. As the books got longer they had to cut more and more. Doing DH in two parts was smart, wish they'd gone longer from PoA onward.
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Post  samtibbs123 Fri Aug 30, 2013 5:20 pm

I agree about Shogun it has been a while since I've seen it though, but remember thinking they had done a good job of it,It has been ages since I saw Jerimiah Johnson, but it was enjoyable for sure, will have to get a copy and watch it again for the memories! the movie Dune was well done but didn't match the book much other than in character names and location, think they were enjoying the shock value too much, it had quite a bit considering the date it was released, I would like to see some of the new teen lit (other than hunger games) turned into a movie but so far not much has surfaced, I think they did a fair job on hunger games but the book says lots more, The Percy Jackson movie was pretty good but not sure if they are going to follow it with a decent sequel.
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Post  Greatheart Mon Sep 02, 2013 2:30 pm

I have high hopes for 'Ender's Game' even though I know they've changed a lot. Been waiting for this movie since I first read it. Liked the first sequel, too, although it probably wouldn't make a great film. After that the series went downhill for me. Never got into 'Ender's Shadow' etc.

I liked 'Last of the Mohicans', not sure how close to the original it was. Only read 'The Deerhunter' from that series.
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Post  Greatheart Sat May 03, 2014 1:10 pm

I've really enjoyed both 'Hobbit' movies, even when they stray from the original. Can't wait for #3.

'Ender's Game' was -very- condensed from the book, but the effects were amazing.

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Post  Admin Mon May 12, 2014 10:42 am

I agree Eragon was a huge disappointment. I think I read somewhere that Paolini said they would probably have to start over entirely if they ever wanted to film the series properly.

There aren't many books to movies that are accurate but I do think the Katherine Hepburn version of Little Women is good, at least it's my fave adaptation of the story.

I had seen the first two HP movies before I started reading, had to reconcile myself to the fact that they are different mediums and viewed the movies as a visual summary of the books to be enjoyed as a companion piece to the series.

I haven't read the Percy Jackson books but the movie was good I thought, and there is a sequel called Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters with plans for a third movie I believe.

I have to say the one movie adapted from a book that I would rather watch than read is The Princess Bride. The book is very difficult and I had to force myself to finish it.

Have to say that the adaptation of Gone With The Wind is brilliant.

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Post  Greatheart Thu Jun 12, 2014 4:53 am

I thought the first two HP movies were pretty close to the books, PoA seemed a bit rushed, and after GoF I started -reading- the books. Too many details skipped over.

(I'd never read the books before the fourth film came out, saw the movies because the woman I was seeing then had two kids who were big fans. We split but I stayed at Hogwarts ;-) )

They are different mediums, and it's interesting, because there are so any good books and so few good movies written as scripts. So a lot of good books get adapted, and then the difference forces changes. Movies have to -move-. In a book you can sneak in a lot of expository writing, in a script that is -death-. "Show, don't tell" is not optional, it's mandatory.

IMO, 'Best Adaptation' is probably the most important Oscar ;-)
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