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Old 10-04-2001, 08:27 PM   #21
mistral4543
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Generally, I find that movies will not be able to capture the emotional intensity described in books. [The only exception I've watched so far is "In The Name of the Father", in which Daniel Day-Lewis (being a very intense actor) managed to portray the anguish of the son at the senseless death of his father.]

However, what movies can do is to show the physical landscape in which the plot takes place (eg. English Patient, A Room with A View, Age of Innocence). This helps to affirm my perception (basd on what I read) of the circumstances surrounding the story.

Recently, I bought the "Mansfield Park" VCD and was really disappointed in the portrayal of a particular character. For all those Jane Austen fans, you would know that Fanny Hill is supposed to be a softspoken and shy character. Imagine my horror when she was cavorting around, hitting her cousin Edmund with her jacket (and received a well-deserved scolding, I think). To worsen matters, the script was further changed to let her accept Henry Crawford (an adulterous flirt) before rejecting him "because she wasn't sure". Good thing Jane Austen is no longer alive; I think she would have flipped if she had seen the distortion in portrayal of her heroine.

Anyway, my conclusion has been that when I watch a movie, I should be prepared to read the book after that if I'm really interested in the precise details.

PS: Sorry for this long message, but the Mansfield Park episode really upsetted me; I felt terribly cheated.
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Old 10-04-2001, 10:33 PM   #22
G'kar
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Too Kill a Mockingbird

Gone With the Wind

Wizard of Oz

A whole variety of Stephen King's work

Fight Club

To name a few movies that originated from books....

Some great movies are born from books. Its not whether the book is better or not. It has everything to do with whether or not the movie was done well. Comparing the two is a bit like comparing apples to oranges.
 
Old 10-04-2001, 11:54 PM   #23
John D Harris
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How do you make a 500-1000 page book into a 120 min movie and not lose most of the essince (Sp?) ?


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Old 10-05-2001, 02:14 AM   #24
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The To Kill A Mockingbird movie sucks..
I had to see it because I'm doing TKAM as my literature text and it BLOWS!

Has anyone seen the Dune miniseries though? Very nice indeed..

And the Beach by Alex Garland turned into a pretty nice movie methinks.

Star Wars was originally from a book..and I dont think I'm going to be disappointed by Lord of the Rings this year..

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Old 10-05-2001, 02:16 AM   #25
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Damn John D Harris, I was reading your post and your postcount says 666! Well everyone has to make one of those somewhere..

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Old 10-05-2001, 04:52 AM   #26
Djinn Raffo
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Quote:
Originally posted by John D Harris:
How do you make a 500-1000 page book into a 120 min movie and not lose most of the essince (Sp?) ?


Make it ten hours long!
Remember that Shogun adaption...made for tv. Last time i saw it i was probably thirteen and hadnt read the book. At the time i loved it but after falling in love with the book???...well... I need to find a video store that has the full ten hours for rent...

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Old 10-05-2001, 07:19 AM   #27
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Quote:
Originally posted by Djinn Raffo:
Make it ten hours long!
Remember that Shogun adaption...made for tv. Last time i saw it i was probably thirteen and hadnt read the book. At the time i loved it but after falling in love with the book???...well... I need to find a video store that has the full ten hours for rent...
[/B]
See...that's my point. Maybe a bit unreasonable , but I'd watch 10 hours of a movie (miniseries) to get the full effect of the book included. I'm not saying that I don't enjoy the movies made from books at ALL. I do, I just get so disappointed sometimes when they take "artistic license" and butcher a book to fit it in to two hours. The Stand was EXCELLENT as far as an adaptation of King's work goes. But Battlefield Earth - they butchered it! I know if I hadn't read the book, I'd probably have liked the movie just fine, but they changed EVERYTHING! Even the way it ended with the guy teleporting with a bomb. NO! WRONG! And it didn't cover what happens next or leave it 'hanging' in such a way as to expect another movie. BAH! *pout* I just need to make a great deal of money so that I can go buy the rights to some really good books and be the producer/director of those films. Period.

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[This message has been edited by DragonMage (edited 10-05-2001).]
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Old 10-05-2001, 08:15 AM   #28
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Quote:
Originally posted by DragonMage:
See...that's my point. Maybe a bit unreasonable , but I'd watch 10 hours of a movie (miniseries) to get the full effect of the book included. I'm not saying that I don't enjoy the movies made from books at ALL. I do, I just get so disappointed sometimes when they take "artistic license" and butcher a book to fit it in to two hours. The Stand was EXCELLENT as far as an adaptation of King's work goes. But Battlefield Earth - they butchered it! I know if I hadn't read the book, I'd probably have liked the movie just fine, but they changed EVERYTHING! Even the way it ended with the guy teleporting with a bomb. NO! WRONG! And it didn't cover what happens next or leave it 'hanging' in such a way as to expect another movie. BAH! *pout* I just need to make a great deal of money so that I can go buy the rights to some really good books and be the producer/director of those films. Period.

Dragonmage, thats what me and my father tried to do with the Dune Miniseries. It took us all the way from 8-12 of solid non-stop Dune just to get to the ending scene where Paul kills Feyd
Not fun..there was so much talk that at one point or another my father and I were asleep..
Conclusion: Dont try to watch a miniseries at a whole long stretch. I'm beginning to find out why its called a miniseries and NOT an unedited movie..

And was the Battlefield Earth movie good? I heard that it sucked..

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Old 10-05-2001, 08:20 AM   #29
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Quote:
Originally posted by Kaz:
I've heard that the movie Dune in particular is supposed to be very, very bad when you compare its plot with the book's plot. Anybody seen Dune? I haven't. I also generally avoid movies where I've read the book.

I've seen Dune, Kaz, but I haven't read the books.. But I though the movie was pretty cool, but I'm sure they're a lotta people here who disagree with me.

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Old 10-05-2001, 08:51 AM   #30
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Heya Tracey
reading is a marvel. i've recently re read 'a canticle for leibowitz' a dystopian sort of religious sci fi. very dark. have you read the second part?, not so good but anyway worth reading

and like larry niven a lot esp ringworld. also really like william gibson, me too

Here I will avoid classical books:
IMHO
Battlefield Earth: Book - grade B-, movie - grade C--
Fight Club: A, B+
Dune(1st): A+, A-
BladeRunner: A, A-, I am great fun of P.K. Dick, and the story in movie is DIFFERENT from book (only androids are common),
I believe that all movies based on Dick novels/short stories are far far away from their originals (Blade Runner and Syrius is all I remember right now but I know I have seen at least one more)

Starship troopers: B, B-, but the story is quite different again
Sphere: B+, C+, I cant recall any good underwater movie btw
Jurasic Park: both C
Kongo: this guy is just writing scenarios, not books (very good that Time Line was thrown away ) B,B
Pelican Brief: A-, B+
Firm: A-, B
(another one, writing about the same all the time, I could write his next book
myself)
Bourne: A-, B

Generally I prefer books. In movie scenario writing guy and director has his own vision of story. Reading book I have my own and no surprise they differs.
I am looking forward to see Lord of Rings - but I have heard scaring rumors about Arowana and ...

But the worst thing are books made from movie scenarios!

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