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Books converted to bad Movies

 
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Futre4



Joined: 27 May 2006
Posts: 274
Location: Jong-he, New Taipei City.

PostPosted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 11:05 am    Post subject: Books converted to bad Movies Reply with quote

Ive just found out the book Im reading (which is great ) is currently being made into a movie namely the Chancellors Manuscript , I fear for the movie version as all too often it is but a poor relation book. Its the same old story for me with many of my faves , too brief, main characters missed out or changed indeed the story can often be almost devoid of any relation to the book.
My question is which movie later comverted to a book that you have loved has most let you down and why?.
I will start the ball rolling - Congo by Michael Crichton - GOD what a mess the book was awsome , and dont get me started on Timeline Mad
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Grace



Joined: 28 May 2006
Posts: 302
Location: Bristol

PostPosted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Stormbreaker - Anthony Horowitz. What a cheeseball of a film.
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molossus



Joined: 30 Jul 2006
Posts: 30

PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2007 12:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny. Made into a garbage film with the bloke from Airwolf and Hannibal from The A-Team!!

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Malop



Joined: 14 Aug 2005
Posts: 205
Location: United Kingdom

PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2007 2:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Now hold on, Damnation Alley is one of my favourite young adult memories.

Big vehicle, guns and giant scorpions, what else do you need?

OK I've not read the book so can't compare the two.
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jolinare



Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 26

PostPosted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 5:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Iron Man by Ted Hughes is an amazing story, and is actually the first book that wasn't roald dahl i'd read, and it actually really got me into reading.

That didn't stop the yanks from *shudder*...doing what they did to it.

the film doesn't even have the title in common, thet called it 'the iron giant' so really all they have in common is that both book and movie are attributed to ted hughes.

I consider that blasted film a form of slander against poor ted hughes' name.

oh, and I, Robot...its not a terrible movie, in fact its quite good. it's nto amazing but dear god...Alan Tudyk! is a robot! But again it has nothing at all to do with the book except for the title and the exploration of the flaws of the three laws of robotics.

but still, I don't think Isaac Asimov would be terribley impressed with will smith's character being "hello, I am the archetypal wise cracking black-joke making slightly irrational character always played by will smith.", and Sonny could have done with more complex characterisation. mind you, saying that at least he wasn't a dreary characterless scientist. I love Asimov, his stories are amazing, it's just that his characters are usually very dull. BASICALLY. the film should have been a lot better.
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girdhar



Joined: 28 Dec 2007
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 4:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

hi,
The recently released movie Sawariyaa based on short story White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

was an extream example of what a movie should not be.
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Last edited by girdhar on Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:11 am; edited 1 time in total
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Alia



Joined: 17 Sep 2007
Posts: 246

PostPosted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 9:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Let me tell you one thing. Nothing, absolutely nothing can compare in this regard to "Wiedźmin". Now "Wiedźmin" consists of two collections of short stories and five novels, it's written in Polish and it's fantastic. The novels came out when I was in high school and I remember waiting for the next one to appear, and then I would sit down and read, sometimes laughing hysterically, sometimes almost crying.
And then there came the film. We went to the cinema with our fellow fans, about 70 people it was, and that was the only thing that saved us - almost from the very beginning we started joking. Man, the film wasn't simply bad, it was terrible. I must admit, music was fine (one of our best rock musicians made it) and some actors were OK. But sfx were tragic - imagine a baby dragon that looks like a rubber duck and you get it. And then the children. When I see films like "Narnia" I'm always amazed that you can find such great child actors. One of the most important characters in the novels is a little girl - and the "actress" that played her must have been someone's daughter or something - I don't know how she could get the part otherwise. And the worst thing. The novels are sometimes very funny, the conversations are simply brilliant. This all got lost, as the script writers wrote their own conversations, which were rather pompous and artificial.
And then, after the film there was the TV series. Also awful, but at least in almost each episode they showed nice naked women (some fans even started counting how many breasts they can see in each episode).
BTW, the books were made into a very good computer game, called "The Witcher". It's been recently published, also in the UK.
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Drizzt



Joined: 07 Mar 2005
Posts: 1081
Location: Easington, UK

PostPosted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 11:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Awesome book is 'The Witcher'. Brilliant, eagerly awaiting next year's release of Sapkowski's other work.

I've seen snippets of the film version of 'The Witcher' on You Tube and it does look... I'll be polite and say 'dated'. Razz

I will be getting the game at some point, been meaning to get it for a while now but I'll definitely have it. The music in the game is excelent, that much I do know. As for a movie... Geralt would definitely be a cool character to be placed on the big screen - so long as it were done well.
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Alia



Joined: 17 Sep 2007
Posts: 246

PostPosted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 6:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Drizzt, nice to hear that you've read it and liked it, although I've heard that the English translation has lost some of the finer points of the original.
As for the game, the intro, made by Oscar nominee Tomasz Bagiński, made Polish fans think - what if someone had the money to fund a whole full-lenght film made by him, too. That would've certainly been better than the disaster that we saw in cinemas.
Anyway, if you ever come upon the full version of the film, by any chance, don't watch it. Even out of pure curiosity.
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Drizzt



Joined: 07 Mar 2005
Posts: 1081
Location: Easington, UK

PostPosted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 9:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was really impressed by the translation. In a couple of places it's a tad iffy (words like 'Prince' and 'Duke' keep switching places) but on the whole I was highly impressed... how it compares to the original Polish is something I'll never know. Embarassed

But, yes, from what I've read in 'The Witcher' I would love to see it transferred to the big screen... I can't wait for 'Blood of Elves'. Very Happy
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Alia



Joined: 17 Sep 2007
Posts: 246

PostPosted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 3:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, the problem with Sapkowski is, he takes some elements from Polish history and folklore, and that is obviously difficult to translate. And also some things, like witchhunts and pogroms, are probably known across Europe but have an additional meaning here. But I'm glad to hear that you liked the translation.
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