the Mighty Pen?

[RobertScorpio]

Lost of scifi movies/fantasy are adaptations of books. some of them have been good....some of them bad. What I am asking here is what is the most 'true' result of a movie being taken from a book and made into a movie, given a few minor adjustments here and there for time elements.

And I don't mean comic book movies..I mean movies like LOTR or others that are based on previously written books that were turned into movies and were faithful to the book as best as they could be. So...I would increase your thoughts by asking for the best adaptation..and the worse (though it could have been a good movie) in terms of following along with what the writer wrote...whew!

Rob
scorpio

 

[Mistral]

Somewhere In Time was pretty right on.
For the worst-I think Nightfall took that prize-but i can't be sure because after 25 minutes I had to turn it off.

 

[RobertScorpio]

Somewhere In Time was pretty right on.
For the worst-I think Nightfall took that prize-but i can't be sure because after 25 minutes I had to turn it off.

I hadn't thought about SOMEWHERE IN TIME..great pick. And yes it pretty much follows the book...great movie too...LOVE the music (I think I've said that a million times on here..oh well)

Rob

 

[Mysterion]

The adaptation that PBS did of The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula LeGuin back around 1978 or 79. Did one of the best jobs I can think of in adapting a book to the screen with the least amount of changes. Although done on a somewhat low budget (c'mon, it was PBS!), it is a very well done and effective movie. Worth finding on DVD.

 

[Rii]

Jurassic Park cleaved reasonably close to the novel, most of the differences were either inconsequential or improvements in the context of the film.

Starship Troopers is a good film but a horrific translation of the novel.

 

[RobertScorpio]

Jurassic Park cleaved reasonably close to the novel, most of the differences were either inconsequential or improvements in the context of the film.

Starship Troopers is a good film but a horrific translation of the novel.

Great picks Rii...

Jaws is another example of a movie that took liberties with the book, but IMO, was better for doing it.

TIMELINE, which I loved as a book, was totally messed up as a movie.

But my pick for really messed up movie version of a book, and also a stupid movie??? RAISE THE TITANIC....oh man. Just thinking of that mess of a movie, based on such a great book, has left me with a feeling of total nausia!!!!

Rob

 

[JoeZhang]

I, Robot is a decent genre sci-fi film, however it's a complete inversion of anything written by Asimov.

So it's completely worthless in that sense but a fine movie.

 

[auntiehill]

Somewhere In Time was pretty right on.
For the worst-I think Nightfall took that prize-but i can't be sure because after 25 minutes I had to turn it off.

QFT. Nightfall was one of the WORST films I have ever seen--barely comprehensible--and a HUGE disappointment.

LIFEFORCE was another giant mess. The novel wasn't bad, actually, and had some interesting, subtle points. The film? It's like they ripped up the book, threw it in the air, and caught a few pages as they fell to the ground. Then they mashed it up into a monsters-from-space flick.
IIRC, about a dozen people die in the book, but in the film, all of London gets wiped out.

JAWS was far better as a film. The novel was pretty pedestrian stuff, actually.

The LOTR trilogy did a pretty good job condensing the books down without losing the spirit and context of the story, IMHO.

The most recent film of The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe did a decent job, I thought.

The Hitchhiker's Guide was so-so for me. I wish it had stuck a bit more closely to the book and included more of the Guide's narration. Without it, you lose too much of that wonderful, dry wit that made the book so special.

But I think Adam's would've loved the opening number with the dolphins.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

Remo Williams! Much better than the Destroyer novels.

 

[RobertScorpio]

Somewhere In Time was pretty right on.
For the worst-I think Nightfall took that prize-but i can't be sure because after 25 minutes I had to turn it off.

LIFEFORCE was another giant mess. The novel wasn't bad, actually, and had some interesting, subtle points. The film? It's like they ripped up the book, threw it in the air, and caught a few pages as they fell to the ground. Then they mashed it up into a monsters-from-space flick.
IIRC, about a dozen people die in the book, but in the film, all of London gets wiped out.

LIFEFORCE was a book? The only thing I remember from that movie is Picard being in it...and some hot looking vampire babe, with a very 'hairy' exterior, walking around.

I kind of liked the plot to Lifeforce, the whole vampire/comet thing, but it just got lost in translations. Hmmmmm...But I did like the naked vampire girl.

Rob