Movies based on books - a good thing or not?
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Movies based on books - a good thing or not?
Whatcha think?
- StephenKingman
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- Fran
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Apart from anything else directors have to edit because of time restrictions and because film is a totally different story telling format.
That said the book normally outstrips the film IMO.
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Oddly enough, I've worked in both the film & book industries. What little I've learned about movies/books can be summed up in a few tips:
1. Movies based on PLAYS or written by playwrights are generally good
2. Movies that are totally different than the book (like "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest") are more often good than not
3. Virtually all movies are bad, so don't worry too much if you can't find a good one.
4. Bad movies can be the most fun to watch...and since most movies are bad, they're still fun even if they're brainless entertainment developed for the junior-high mentality.
5. In general, stick with books.
Scott Givens
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So you're going to tell me a movie like 'Good Will Hunting' are bad?Browsers wrote:Notty:
Oddly enough, I've worked in both the film & book industries. What little I've learned about movies/books can be summed up in a few tips:
1. Movies based on PLAYS or written by playwrights are generally good
2. Movies that are totally different than the book (like "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest") are more often good than not
3. Virtually all movies are bad, so don't worry too much if you can't find a good one.
4. Bad movies can be the most fun to watch...and since most movies are bad, they're still fun even if they're brainless entertainment developed for the junior-high mentality.
5. In general, stick with books.
Scott Givens
Browsers' Bookstore
Find us on Facebook!
- Shadowpapoose
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The exceptions to the rule are the LOTR series and Stardust...I actually liked Stardust the movie better than Stardust the book, which is saying a lot because I LOVE Neil Gaiman
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Sometimes I do like the book better, but I have also had instances where I preferred the movie to the book.
It really just all depends on how it's done. Straying from the book isn't bad so long as it's done right. Making a movie by the same name, calling it "based on" and then it having absolutely nothing to do with the book whatsoever...tends to turn me off.
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- Shadowpapoose
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I did the same thing, I just finished reading both of her Howl's books and I loved them!Edana wrote:I'm not keen on movies based on books, so if I've read an amazing book and a relating movie is released, I won't watch it. I read the critic reviews instead. Then again I've watched a movie and just had to find the book it was based on... like the animation Howls Moving Castle. The movie led me to Diana Wynne Jones and she is a great writer.
- Fran
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Agree with you bobjuck ... generally I prefer to have the book read first and then watch the movie. But I always approach the movie on the basis that it's one persons interpretation of the book ... maybe not my interpretation but equally valid. But being human it does annoy me when a director seems to produce a film that bears no relation to what I envisaged when I read the book & I hate when they turn brilliant gritty characters into poor imitations & this tends to happen a lot with female characters!bobjuck wrote:For me it depends on the order, if i read the book first, i will watch the film, but if i saw the film first, well, i don't think i will read the book. Well, i just can't read so many words to find a reault i've already known.