Best/Worst Stephen King adaptation

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uncleiniraq

New member
Noticed that Dreamcatcher has been released on DVD and that it's not getting the best reviews (I wasn't a big fan of the book either).

Now, Stephen King has had so many of his books/stories converted into films that everyone who visits these forums must have seen quite a few of them.

So, what's your favourite and worst Stephen King adaptation? Please keep it to just one of each please (difficult, I know) and a little 'why' would be great. Let's not include any sequels at all because it's questionable how much input King had on any of the storylines, if any at all.

Right, me first:

Best: The Shawshank Redemption (superb story and perfect performances. One gripe: the end. The '?' at the end of the actual novella is better - but the books always are!)

Worst: The Night Flier (20 min 'Outer Limits' feature somehow stretched to an hour and half of pure garbage! The 'meeting' at the end is just laughable!)

Also, wouldn't it be great if there was a new 'Salem's Lot remake for 2004? Such a scary story and there's just the original 1979 made-for-TV for us to watch!


If you need help to remember what you've seen try:

http://www.stephenkingshop.com/movies/index.htm
 
Best: I've not read the book yet, but I thought the movie of The Green Mile was excellent. The truest film adaptation of a book that I've actually read would probably have to be Misery

Worst: Ignoring all the legal issues with The Lawnmower Man, I think the worst that I've seen would have to be The Tommyknockers - the transformation of the people from the book just really wasn't achieved with a bit of cheap makeup!

Personally, I liked the book of Dreamcatcher, even the film started off quite well, but then came the brutal murder of the ending... argh!

JustExhumed: You might be pleasantly surprised about a Salem's Lot remake... http://www.liljas-library.com/salemmini.html
 
got to be the obvious ones - *shawshank redemption*, *green mile* and *the shining*.

the worst i remember would probably be *christine* - although i haven't seen a lot of them.

Iain
 
Best = Shawshank Redemption, Green Mile, IT (Pennywise Still does scare the Shite out of me)
Worst = TommyKnockers, Apt Pupil (Ian McKellen did his best, but still didnt save the movie)
 
Best - IT - just really enjoyed it, Salems lot, and the shining.
Worst - I think it is stephen King - Langolears (?) - I was really enjoying the film until you actually see the darn things
 
Best - Misery by far

Worst would have to be The Dark Half - the book is sensational and you can't put it down, the film made me want to be put down (naff I know but I've been working too much lately and my brain is mush :p )
 
Best - Salems lot excellant adaption
stand by me good allround film
shawshank redemption one of my alltime top 10 movies
Misery good acting
Carrie Classic film
The shining excellant acting again and chilling
worst - It one of my fav books too
Dreamcatcher just didnt work on film
Tommyknockers terrible tv movie
Lawnmower man just crap
the stand excellant book again didnt work on tv
 
Best: Would have to choose between:

Stand By Me - the whole thing reeks of SK, even the bits that aren't directly adapted from the "The Body" novella, so it is tremendous entertainment.

The Shawshank Redemption - again, the adaptation is so sympathetic to the spirit of the original, that the stuff invented for the film actually is intistinguishable from the stuff from King. A classic!

IT - I can't understand why some people haven't liked this - it's soooo much better than the source. It removes the frankly iffy kiddie sex scenes and the rubbish about cosmic turtles and tiny doors of the ending of the book (I suspect that SK was in the middle of his substance issues at the time), and the young and older versions of the characters are so beautifully realised...

Worst:

Kubrick's "The Shining" - dull, pretentious, and so devoid of feeling that I wonder why he bothered...
 
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