Films of Books

I agree. I love the books and films, but I find the books so much more exciting; we get so much more detail, and it really disappoints me when a part you loved in the book doesn't feature in the film.
 
We Can Remember It For You Wholesale " is nothing special"?!?! :eek:
Total Recall was an awful mess, while the short story is great! Oh, how different things could have been if David Cronenberg had been allowed to make his version!

The film of Minority Report was quite different to the story, and probably better I reckon - the only adaptation of a PKD story that was better than the original story. But it was only just better.
Blade Runner, while being a great film, I thought was not as good as Do AndroiRAB Dream of Electric Sheep, which had a lot more depth to it.
A Scanner Darkly was a perfect adaptation of the book I thought - both film and book being excellent.
Screamers was a good adaptation of Second Variety.
Imposter was an awful film of a quite good short story.
Paycheck wasn't as good as the story.

As soon as a finished reading Hannibal I though "they're going to change the ending in the film" - so they can continue the franchise. Anyway, instead of that we got the pointless prequel Hannibal Rising, both the book and the film being totally boring.
 
the horse whisperer is one of my favourite books and i didnt really like the film version. they changed the whole ending!

high fidelity is one time where i preferred the film to the book.

its very difficult though as i find it easier to identify with characters when i read about them in books, i create my own vision of them. if they aren't portrayed as i imagine them when i see the film then its ruined for me.
 
Yes they did - but it wasn't very good.

If you scroll down to the "Books" Forums there is a book club thread there and we are discussing "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood at the moment - perhaps you might like to add what you think of it.
 
I'd certainly like to see a Cronenberg version, but the version we got is much underrated in my view. For example it had a "pill choice" scene long before The Matrix did, and better too.

I wasn't keen on either. The best thing about the book was the way in which the 3 predictions of the future were reconciled. The film threw that away in favour of some nonsense about human free will which completely reversed what PKDick was saying.

Indeed. I listened to the director's commentary, and it became plain he should never have been allowed near it. He was clueless.
 
I agree - there are some great moments in it - The pill choice scene, the false bomb head scene (very PKD - straight out of Ubik). It could have been a masterpeice. As it was, it was enjoyable but throwaway, and disappointing afer all the hype about Cronenberg writing and directing. I don't blame Paul Verhoeven; I blame Dino De Laurentiis. And maybe Ronald Shusett.
I read somewhere that there are half a dozen or so David Cronenberg draft scripts. I wish someone would put them on the internet!

Paul Verhoeven does seem a bit ignorant of the meanings in the films he makes - I'm basing this sweeping statement on the commentary to Starship Troopers by Verhoeven and writer Edward Neumeier, where everything PV says about the story is contradicted by EN - "actually Paul, that's not what I meant in the script" - it's very funny. PV's a great director though - I love his stuff.


Edit.
Sorry, I just re-read your post and realised you were talking about the director of Paycheck. John Woo wasn't it? The ending of that film was dreadful - but that was the scriptwriter's fault.
PS Whatever happened to John Woo's remake of the Lost in Space TV series?
 
If I remember rightly that was something Douglas Adams was keen on. I think he liked the idea of the books changing and not staying the same. Like, the tv series was different from the radio which was different from the books but he was always happy with that idea, and so changing things in the film kept the spirit of that going. At least that's what I remember hearing! Obviously it still isn't going to please everyone even if it did please the author!
 
I still liked the original radio version best.

Mind you I just LOVED the book "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" by Douglas Adams.
I wish they'd make a film of that.
 
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