Changes to books made by movie producers - WHY?

[Virtus_Probi]

Originally Posted By: gman2304

In the movie, didn't he offer the same coin flip to an old man who was a clerk in a store? But decided not to kill him. My memory isn't what it used to be. Great movie by the way.



Chigurh did offer the coin flip to the guy at the gas station, and the "lucky" guy guessed correctly...but, at that point, Anton was under no obligation to kill that man. The guy had angered Chigurh by asking if they had any rain up his way...when Chigurh asked what way that might be, the guy said he saw from his car that he was from Dallas. Obviously, no hit man wants anybody to connect his face, his car, and his location, and this all leads up to the coin flip "for everything". Never mind that it was not even Chigurh's car...
Carla Jean was a different story, as Chigurh had told Llewelyn Moss (her husband) that she would be killed if he did not return the case full of money personally (while also making it clear to Moss that there was no way he would be spared). I don't see any wiggle room here in Chigurh's pitiless moral universe, as Llewelyn did not return the money and, therefore, Carla Jean just "had" to die. By taking pity on a poor young girl who had really done nothing wrong and offering her the coin flip, Chigurh broke his own rules, and I'd imagine the character would have seen this transgression as leading to his own misfortune shortly thereafter.
I agree that this was a great movie, one of the best I've seen. There is a fair amount cut out from the book that I did not miss too much, but some background info about Sheriff Bell that made his desire to help Moss more plausible...might have just been clutter in the movie, though.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Originally Posted By: spackard
Well, no one has made a successful translation to a movie out of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. As in, the book is an exhaustive philosophical challenge to a socialist-style government of society, and the movies don't really scratch the surface.


The people who read books are a different audience from those who watch movies, in general. To be financially successful you have to craft your work to the audience. For an extreme example, look at GHT, whose only world is video.


IMO you really nailed it.

I cannot recall any movie that measured up to the original book. Reading is quickly being forgotten...


I can only think of one: The Hunt For Red October.

 

[OneEyeJack]

One movie that did justice to the book and the author Frederick Forsyth, was the original movie by Fred Zinnemann, "Day of the Jackal". One part of the movie that was better was that I did not have to attempt to pronounce all those French police department names.

Zinnemann and Forsyth worked together to get all the details correct and it really shows. You can even watch the movie first and then read the book and enjoy the experience.

The second "Day of the Jackal" had nothing to do with the book and was not worth watching.

 

[KrisZ]

I don't know about novels as I haven't read one in decades. But as far as books go, I have yet to see a movie that would beat a book.

 

[Number_35]

The one that probably disappointed me most was Shooter, based on Stephen Hunter's novels Point of Impact and Time to Hunt.

The books were absolutely brilliant (as are almost all of Hunter's) and the movie probably would have been OK had I not read the books previously. I can't stand it when the actors are not at all consistent with what I imagined the characters to look like.

Any other Hunter fans?

 

[Number_35]

One movie that I thought matched the book well was To Kill a Mockingbird. Both were outstanding.

 

[Silk]

Shannara is being made in New Zealand - perhaps that's the problem. The Sword of Shannara was one of my favorite books when it came out, but I didn't follow through with the rest of the books...maybe I read one or two. Although I haven't seen it, one movie that couldn't possibly measure up is Jack Reacher - short arse Cruise is NOT Jack Reacher.

 

[Number_35]

One movie that did justice to the book and the author Frederick Forsyth, was the original movie by Fred Zinnemann, "Day of the Jackal"./quote]Forsyth is absolutely great, isn't he? What a writer! It's always hard to tell with him where the history ends and the fiction begins. At some point you know it's transitioned, but it's very well done' I really liked The Odessa File and The Fist of God.

 

[Number_35]

Originally Posted By: Silk
Shannara is being made in New Zealand - perhaps that's the problem. The Sword of Shannara was one of my favorite books when it came out, but I didn't follow through with the rest of the books...maybe I read one or two. Although I haven't seen it, one movie that couldn't possibly measure up is Jack Reacher - short arse Cruise is NOT Jack Reacher.
Arg!!! I agree, I didn't know about this, but it just wouldn't work! Jack Reacher is a big guy in the books.

 

[Number_35]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
I was pretty disappointed in the recent miniseries made from 'Childhood's End' for different reasons. Plot-wise it actually stayed very close to the book (the beauty of having 6-ish hours of film time), but somehow there was a change in the whole tone and feel of the final act of the story.





Rather than coming off as a bittersweet yet amazing transition that happened to the human race and allowed the 'children' to head out to explore the universe, like it was in the book, it was just sorta unpleasant and the sadness of the 'normals' time coming to an end dominated completely. And the sadness of the fact that the Overlords were a species somehow incapable of making the transition that the humans made, and instead were tasked with repeatedly helping other species make the transition that they knew they never could make was completely brushed over in about 2 sentences.

So far, NOBODY has really translated an Arthur C. Clarke book very well. '2001' was a visually beautiful but exposition-free mess that only worked if you'd read the book. Or were high, I suppose... '2010' was probably the best and Clarke himself was involved, but it was still weak sauce compared to the book and one entire sub-plot had to be abandoned to save time.
Didn't know about the mini-series. I read Childhood's End for the first time when I was in Gr 6 - thought it was really cool. Saw 2001 in the theatre a couple of years later and it baffled me. Read the book and then thought I understood the movie in retrospect, but that only lasted a few weeks. Can't read Clarke anymore ... too weird. I never got into Asimov, but have read through most of Heinlein's books several times. They've aged really well. The weird & perverse books (i.e. most of his later ones) I never did like, but most of his juveniles & early books have aged very well. Any other Heinlein fans on BITOG?

 

[NHHEMI]

I get what a lot of you are saying but I think you missed my point. My point is I dislike it when major/massive changes are made that change the book's storyline. That would be new people, shifting of events, adding things in that were never there, etc...

It isn't about can the movie be as good as the book nor is it about not being able to do some of the things in the book on screen( I doubt there is much that can't be done these days though ).

The Shannara Chronicles have absolutely butchered the book the Elf Stones of Shannara. I don't see why. Do the movie using the book and it would be great. The changes and additions they have made so far do not make the story better than the original.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: Number_35
Originally Posted By: Silk
Shannara is being made in New Zealand - perhaps that's the problem. The Sword of Shannara was one of my favorite books when it came out, but I didn't follow through with the rest of the books...maybe I read one or two. Although I haven't seen it, one movie that couldn't possibly measure up is Jack Reacher - short arse Cruise is NOT Jack Reacher.
Arg!!! I agree, I didn't know about this, but it just wouldn't work! Jack Reacher is a big guy in the books.


Not just big...he is HUGE. About 6'5" and ~270lbs, as I recall. He has 10" and most of 100lbs on Cruise. Dwayne Johnson (The Rock-6'4" and ~265lbs) would be a MUCH better choice.

Actually...another good choice (rom way out in left field) would be the 6'4" Jonathan Frakes.

 

[Silk]

And Lee Child was happy with him playing Reacher - strange how the authors accept these changes.

 

[artificialist]

Every time Marvel Comics or DC Comics uses their superheroes in a movie, there is always flood of rants from people who read the comic books first.

I have heard that the same thing happens in Japan when comics get converted to anime or anime gets converted to comics.

I never paid much attention to comic books, so I never listened to any of the rants made by comic book readers.

 

[Toy4x4]

Has anyone ever read "The Jungle Book" by Rudyard Kipling? And by that I do not mean the Disney cartoon, but the one he published in 1894. My mother bought a copy in the 1950s (I think) and I don't know how many times I've read it.

 

[DoubleWasp]

Originally Posted By: Silk
And Lee Child was happy with him playing Reacher - strange how the authors accept these changes.


I'd bet almost any author would be happy to have an A-List actor portray their character in a feature film.

"One Shot" was not the first movie-bait Jack Reacher novel that he wrote. I'sure he couldn't have been more excited.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: Silk
And Lee Child was happy with him playing Reacher - strange how the authors accept these changes.


I wonder how big the suitcase of greenbacks to Child was...........

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: DoubleWasp
Originally Posted By: Silk
And Lee Child was happy with him playing Reacher - strange how the authors accept these changes.


I'd bet almost any author would be happy to have an A-List actor portray their character in a feature film.

"One Shot" was not the first movie-bait Jack Reacher novel that he wrote. I'sure he couldn't have been more excited.


Clive Cussler was so mad about the butcher job done on Sahara that he sued to prevent the release, and offered to eat the entire production cost himself if they wouldn't release it! (They should have taken the offer, because the movie bombed.) Having read the book, the movie redefined "butcher job".

There will probably never be another Cussler book made into a movie, considering that this makes TWO dreadful conversions.

 

[DoubleWasp]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: DoubleWasp
Originally Posted By: Silk
And Lee Child was happy with him playing Reacher - strange how the authors accept these changes.


I'd bet almost any author would be happy to have an A-List actor portray their character in a feature film.

"One Shot" was not the first movie-bait Jack Reacher novel that he wrote. I'sure he couldn't have been more excited.


Clive Cussler was so mad about the butcher job done on Sahara that he sued to prevent the release, and offered to eat the entire production cost himself if they wouldn't release it! (They should have taken the offer, because the movie bombed.) Having read the book, the movie redefined "butcher job".

There will probably never be another Cussler book made into a movie, considering that this makes TWO dreadful conversions.


Hence why I said, "almost" any author.

The Dirk Pitt series cannot and will never be properly translated into film. There are too many Dirk Pitt moments that are so far from being politically correct, or just straight up ridiculous that it has no place on mainstream screen. It would come out wrong no matter what.

Sahara captured nothing of the essence of Pitt or the series. All of the characters in the movie were lame or wooden.

It's obvious to me that they just wanted to cash in on the Dirk Pitt name, and wanted nothing to do with the actual character or material. They knew the books sell, and figured people were going to come in droves to see the movie. They made it safe, soft, and generic.

I was reasonably impressed that Jack Reacher stayed as cold and violent in the movie as in the books. The movie as a whole? Meh.

 

[andyd]

Some movies are better than the books. Fried Green Tomatoes made a great movie. So did Stand by Me. The Grapes of Wrath movie is very close to Steinbeck's novel.
As for Lee Child, he has lost much of his creds with me. He has reached a formula for Reacher. Not raising a stink about casting Cruise as Reacher was a big mistake. Reacher is almost twice the size of Cruise. Dwayne Johnson would back a much Reacher. I think Frakes is bit too old. Reacher is about 40.