What book did Hollywood ruin for you?

Discussion in 'Discussion of Published Works' started by Normal, Feb 21, 2010.

  1. lilix morgan

    lilix morgan Member

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    Obviously the first one that comes to mind is Twilight. The first movie was a terrible rendition of the book, and I personally enjoyed the book to an extent. New Moon was better by leaps and bounds, but it still was obviously cutting out parts of the book, and certain-rewording of the conversations made me cringe. I'm excited as much as I am terrified for Eclipse.

    The Harry Potter series ruined it all after the first movie. I loved the first one, and thought they did a tremendous job on it, given all the rich detail they had to stuff into a small time frame. From there, though, they murdered it in cold blood, like Voldemort himself used the Cruciatus Curse on the cast and crew.

    Eragon was the biggest one I can think of, too. I don't even have words to describe the murder that occurred in that movie.
     
  2. MJ Preston

    MJ Preston Banned

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  3. Diablo Robotico

    Diablo Robotico New Member

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    It's hard for me to get into movies based on novels. A few years ago, I was reading "Misery" and decided to watch the movie afterward, but it was dull and I felt like I was just watching the book reiterated back at me. I tried the same thing with "In Cold Blood" and the movie Capote, even though that wasn't exactly a direct adaptation. Capote wasn't a reiteration, but it was pretty awful in my opinion (despite being critically acclaimed).

    Recently, I watched "The Hobbit" cartoon after finishing the book (see: avatar) and while I felt like it just repeated things from the book, it also had some good songs and I was entertained enough by it. I would consider that a good adaptation.

    I've also only seen the first Harry Potter movie. It was enjoyable, even if some parts were cheesy or had weaker acting, but I'm not sure I need to see them all. I have no idea how they fit all of Order of the Phoenix into a single film, but apparently it's also the shortest one, so I'm confused.
     
  4. RJones

    RJones New Member

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    I think it was Lord of the Rings for me. The 1st and 2nd ones were okay but the 3rd one absoultely did not go with the book at all. rather disappointing to me
     
  5. lilix morgan

    lilix morgan Member

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    Surprisingly, OOTP was one of the better movies, despite being the shortest. They hit most of the good points, it was filmed well, and definitely left this HP fan content. I found COS and and GOF to be the weakest ones, with POA right behind them. COS was the worst for me, just because it felt so rushed, especially in the beginning. My mother, who hasn't read any of the books, found the first movie easy to understand, but the second one confused her to no end with the sudden plot jumps and lack of 'connecting the dots'.
     
  6. talknerdytome

    talknerdytome New Member

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    I thought The Other Boleyn Girl was completely ruined, I adored the book and felt the film was flat and left out a lot of the details. I do however love Natalie Portman, so perhaps I just expected too much.

    I also thought the movies ruined the Twilight books. However, even though the movies weren't as good, I feel it's more the 'tweens' that have taken over the franchise because of the films that ruined it. I worry about what they'll do to Breaking Dawn in order to make it suitable for a tween audience.

    I think True Blood has done a fantastic job with the Charlaine Harris series though. I really think of them has two seperate entities, which normally I find impossible. Even though the books are written to an average standard at best, I find the stories compelling.
     
  7. [audra|june]

    [audra|june] New Member

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    Pretty Little Liars. Gahhh
     
  8. tweakyren

    tweakyren New Member

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    Quick review of thread title

    Change to:

    What book have you allowed to be marred by the Hollywood representation of?

    Aren't books books and films films?
     
  9. TerraIncognita

    TerraIncognita Aggressively Nice Person Contributor

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    I don't think they could have made that one more awkward if they'd tried.

    I'd say most of them. Maybe it's because I have a vivid imagination. I think most people with vivid imaginations would agree that movies rarely live up to what you can see in your mind's eye.
     
  10. VisiblePoltergeist

    VisiblePoltergeist New Member

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    So many books... So many...
     
  11. Gigi_GNR

    Gigi_GNR Guys, come on. WAFFLE-O. Contributor

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    I hate when Hollywood cuts big books in half or leaves out important things. Makes me glad that The Deathly Hallows is going to be 2 movies.
     
  12. hownow-n

    hownow-n New Member

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    I still haven't seen the recent Sherlock Holmes movie because RDJ looks like the stepdad I don't get along with, ha. That would ruin the books for me personally xD

    As for movie adaptations that sucked, um... Like many, I wasn't a huge fan of some of the more recent Harry Potter movies.

    And Smoke Signals. That was kinda a lame movie. But the short stories were good. At least the ones I read. Sentence fragment.
     
  13. Banzai

    Banzai One-time Mod, but on the road to recovery Contributor

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    Call me a cynic, but I don't think that's anything but a money-spinner.
     
  14. Lemex

    Lemex That's Lord Lemex to you. Contributor

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    I think people forget about the good book/movie crossovers, and for the most part they are very unheard of. Some of the book-to-movie movies that I've really enjoyed (and sometimes thought better than the book) were:

    >Misery - I also rather liked the book
    >Clear and Present Danger - this was the movie of my early teens to be honest, and I love the book, but the two are very different
    >The Road - which IS the book on film pretty much
    >Johnny Got his Gun - it approached the story from a different angle to the book, and it worked really well
    >Call of Cthulhu - this movie was a low budget version of H.P. Lovecraft's classic short story, made in the style of 1920s cinema, when the story was wrote, and though it is low budget, and the special effects are not in any way good, this is overall a very good film.

    I didn't want to mention Lord of the Rings, because they did leave a lot out, and it's far too popular for me to care to talk about, but other than that I really can't think; and I really don't like Harry Potter enough to comment either.

    Game to anything crossovers also get a bad rep (often deserved) but few people realise that Rainbow Six is a novel-to-game cross over. And there are a few others too.

    The book that a movie really ruined for me was the new Alice in Wonderland - I'm sorry, I really hate that movie. But. It's not even baised on the book, so it should not really be in here.
     
  15. Banzai

    Banzai One-time Mod, but on the road to recovery Contributor

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    Misery is a good example of a great film adaptation. Same with The Shawshank Redemption.

    The Lord of the Rings films were (I think) very good adaptations of the books, and did well with choosing what to leave out (given that some parts were going to have to be).

    And I just think that the Harry Potter films aren't up to standard. None of the (former)child actors and actresses are worth a damn, and their acting really does spoil the films for me.


    Lemex, I wasn't aware that Rainbow Six was one of Clancy's novels. I thought it was just the game.

    Most video game crossovers do suck. Games of films suffer because the whole thing is limited to the parameters of the film, and games made into films often suck because the whole entertainment value was the interactivity, which the film medium can't provide (the Tomb Raider films, the new Prince of Persia, and the godawful Hitman film come to mind).

    But actually, some aren't bad. For example, Silent Hill. I was discussing this with Ashleigh the other day It doesn't quite capture the utter terror of the games (particularly Silent Hill 2), but it seems almost unfair to mark it down on that. If it was an original film, it would be rightfully considered a gem amongst horror films. I think it highlights the fact that films and games are fundamentally different, and operate in completely different ways.
     
  16. Lemex

    Lemex That's Lord Lemex to you. Contributor

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    I agree, 100%. I've always said this - dispite the looks I get from friends and my girl friend.

    And I, myself, really didn't like the Silent Hill film myself. But I'm a HUGE fan of the first two games (and the atmosphere of Silent Hill 4. Also; I'm the sort of person that is very hard to please.

    Yeah, remember the old Rainbow Six game for the PS1? It had - pretty much - the same story as the novel. Which is his least known novel - I only know about it because I happend to come across a Spanish verson while on holiday once, and when I got back I looked it up and read it.
     
  17. Speedy

    Speedy Contributor Contributor

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    I thought Interview with the vampire was a much better movie then what Anne Rice wrote. (Though i read the book second and expected more)

    Stephen Kings, Dark Tower saga has recently changed hands and looks like it'll be turned into a triology and tv series. Epic fail in the process. I'll note it down for ruined already. Even though you can only ruin the first 4 books, not the last 3.

    In terms of Video games, a good comic (The darkness) was turned into one of the most underrated games (Even though it got good reviews - it was a great game.).

    And the recent Batman game was a success from movie to game.

    Game to movie? - I think in time, we'll see some hit cinema with success. At least until people realise that gaming can be a tool for telling stories (Silent Hill) and could be greatly used in cinema. its a shame Bioshock will fail so hard it wont be funny. In theory, it could be as brillant in movie as was game.
     
  18. Evil Flamingo

    Evil Flamingo Banned Contributor

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    Yes! Somebody else actually played The Darkness. Great game, and I think it could be turned into a decent movie as well.

    I don't think Bioshock will fail as a movie if they market it right. It's quite intense as is and has a wonderful storyline. Plus, the attention to detail of the time period in that game is incredible. Every time I play it I find something new hidden in the details. I could be a great movie, but it has to hit the market right.

    But as for games to movies, there is one that I will be ever waiting for, and it's also a goldmine. When Halo finally makes it on screen, I wouldn't doubt if it shattered some sales records. I also wouldn't doubt that it would be an all-around great movie as well. We'll see when the time comes.

    I also believe that if movies aren't marketed highly as "game movies," they will draw in much more viewers. People who know the game will think of it when they hear the movie title, so it's no secret to them. It's drawing in all those other viewers that's difficult.
     
  19. Speedy

    Speedy Contributor Contributor

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    Did you ever see the small footage Peter jackson shot of his "Halo Project"
    I think he made it for Univeral, but they rejected the offer.

    I think halo is a little dead in the water (Sorry, far, FAR to much halo over the last decade for my tastes) BUT it looked so frigging incredible, i wouldnt care. It was win!
     
  20. Evil Flamingo

    Evil Flamingo Banned Contributor

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    Yeah I saw, and was completely amazed by it. But I also heard Bungie had a hand in pulling out of it as well.

    I hope when Bungie finally finds the perfect group and everything for the movie's creation, that they do it on the first game / Halo:The Flood novel. The live-action cuts, awesome as they were, had to do with the third installment, which made me slightly sad, but it was still awesome.
     
  21. ojduffelworth

    ojduffelworth New Member

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    My Sister's Keeper - The movie completely changed the best parts of the book.

    - really? I thought the movie was very moving. I haven't read the book - but i though the movie was first rate
     
  22. Evil Flamingo

    Evil Flamingo Banned Contributor

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    Read the book. You'll understand immediately then, and agree with everything that's been said about it here.
     
  23. Lemex

    Lemex That's Lord Lemex to you. Contributor

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    I played The Darkness too, and I loved that game!
    In all honestly, I liked it over the book - but I loved the idea of the WW1-themed Otherworld in the game.
     
  24. CaKsTeR

    CaKsTeR New Member

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    I'm going to have to agree with Eragon being one of the (if not the) worst movie adaptations. I loved the book, and I feel the movie completely butchered the plotline. I understand that it had a timeframe and that the novel was quite long, but it's still unforgivable how they cut out so many of the most important events of the book.

    Curse you Hollywood, curse you.
     
  25. TerraIncognita

    TerraIncognita Aggressively Nice Person Contributor

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    Agreed. It's adding insult to injury when it's a very good book that they ruin. :mad:
     

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