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Adaptations that you think are better than their source material.
- Thread starter El Bombastico
- Start date
Yeah...unfortunately "Japan/alternative foreign nation will economically conquer the US" is a pretty common trope in a lot of cyberpunk.
Agreed on S1. It's mostly a 1:1 adaptation, but with the advantage of GOT's amazing production and casting, uninhibited by the showrunners' worst tendencies as writers. S2 is debatable... it's pretty fucking good though.
Since day one. Funny enough there were tons of movies, books, comics, etc that, that xenophobic idea bled into.
Thanks for reminding me of this, I really enjoyed the anime.Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo. The biggest and most impactful change this adaptation makes is that you follow the story through Albert's point of view instead of the Count's. This changes the story from first and foremost a tale of revenge to something of a mystery and like I said, it doesn't make it better than the already amazing original book, but it's a fascinating experience and one I highly recommend to anybody who is a fan of the book. They have many lines lifted directly from the story, there are some other minor changes but most of these barely have any real effect on the story (one of them being that it's set in the far future but honestly that basically doesn't have any effect on things really) some other secondary characters have some of their stories changed as well. Regardless, while not better, I think this adaptation is at the very least as good as the original tale.
The Persona 1 manga by Shinsuu Ueda.
This is the only good Persona thing that exists, but more specifically it's the absolute best way to experience Persona 1 because Persona 1 is a rough game with plenty of good ideas, and you're not getting the banging OST in the only commonly available version of P1 either, so there's nothing lost sticking to the manga.
One of its most immediately cool aspects is that it has most of P1's cast going on the journey at the same time (in the game you had four mandatory characters with one optional) and even works in the Snow Queen Quest, essentially a second game, into its own ongoing plot. The manga enriches every single facet of Persona 1 as a story and slips in casual worldbuilding dialogue and even facets from character profiles into the story when it can, while giving to the player avatar protagonist a name, a voice and a personality that feels like an introspective look at the kind of character who leads this kind of RPG in the first place. It not only has the nothingburger protagonist become a fleshed out character in his own right, it does so without a sacrificing a single element of the story's true main character (that would be Maki), it adds him in meaningful ways, and then gives Maki a character arc of her own with a resolution that totally differs from the game ending and, frankly, hits way harder.
And all drawn in that iconic 90s shoujo manga artstyle. The P1 manga rules.
This is the only good Persona thing that exists, but more specifically it's the absolute best way to experience Persona 1 because Persona 1 is a rough game with plenty of good ideas, and you're not getting the banging OST in the only commonly available version of P1 either, so there's nothing lost sticking to the manga.
One of its most immediately cool aspects is that it has most of P1's cast going on the journey at the same time (in the game you had four mandatory characters with one optional) and even works in the Snow Queen Quest, essentially a second game, into its own ongoing plot. The manga enriches every single facet of Persona 1 as a story and slips in casual worldbuilding dialogue and even facets from character profiles into the story when it can, while giving to the player avatar protagonist a name, a voice and a personality that feels like an introspective look at the kind of character who leads this kind of RPG in the first place. It not only has the nothingburger protagonist become a fleshed out character in his own right, it does so without a sacrificing a single element of the story's true main character (that would be Maki), it adds him in meaningful ways, and then gives Maki a character arc of her own with a resolution that totally differs from the game ending and, frankly, hits way harder.
And all drawn in that iconic 90s shoujo manga artstyle. The P1 manga rules.
Actually hated both this book and the movie but I hated the movie slightly less.
The book was great and the movie was almost a 1:1 adaptation (except for the dumb Ironman part which was only joked about in the book).
Starship Troopers like a lot of folks have said. Even the "bad" ones like 3 and Invasion (fuck 2 though) are tolerable compared to how shit the original book is.
Also, A Scanner Darkly. Book's great, but the film just works so well. It's a mostly really faithful adaptation and the changes it does make (like shifting some of the minor side characters' dialogue and stories to Freck) are mostly for the better.
Also, A Scanner Darkly. Book's great, but the film just works so well. It's a mostly really faithful adaptation and the changes it does make (like shifting some of the minor side characters' dialogue and stories to Freck) are mostly for the better.
nah it's true. just read a real book instead of picture books.
OP
OP
That's a good call, I can't think of another abridged series that built something of actual value on the source as opposed to just funny jokes
Last of the Mohicans the movie (dir. by Michael Mann) is better than the book (based on my recollection of reading it when I was much younger). It was weird reading the book after seeing the movie and barely recognizing anything that was happening.
On the plus side, I did learn what the one Mohican's name was: Uncas.
Also:
edit: this is some fucking amazing guitar playing
On the plus side, I did learn what the one Mohican's name was: Uncas.
Also:
edit: this is some fucking amazing guitar playing
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OP
OP
Yeah, the book is all but unreaable nowadays with some of the problematic shit in it.
And the ending scene where
Chingachgook utterly WRECKS Magua's shit in less than a minute
I enjoyed Wes Studi in that role. Every time I see him in a movie I'm like ooo they got Magua in here this gonna be good.
And yea, fantastic scene.
OP
OP
And Total Recall (Arnie's version, of course) while we're at it.
Another great example.
PKD stories make great seeds for adaptations. I'd kill for a good movie or miniseries version of Electric Ant.
I haven't read the graphic novels Umbrella Academy is based on but from what I hear they're not all that great while the show fleshes out a lot of elements like the Commission, Vanya's descent into her White Violin persona, amd Klaus time traveling to Vietnam.
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I was really disappointed by Clarke's 2001 novel after watching Kubricks masterpiece that added so much depth.
I'm a Spider, So What / Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka?
The manga
The light novel is written like Haruhi (completely non-chronologically) and the anime, while not as bad, also puts things out of order.
The manga is chronological which really helps make sense of the story and avoids the 'gotchas' littered everywhere in the LN where the whole goal of the disorder is to fool a thought into the readers only to prove it wrong later.
The manga
The light novel is written like Haruhi (completely non-chronologically) and the anime, while not as bad, also puts things out of order.
The manga is chronological which really helps make sense of the story and avoids the 'gotchas' littered everywhere in the LN where the whole goal of the disorder is to fool a thought into the readers only to prove it wrong later.
The 1995 video game adaptation of Harlan Ellison's short story I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream is a really impressive adaptation. The short story is famously bleak, and the game honors that, while also providing a lot more character development. While it does have a "good ending" that some purists might find antithetical to the original story, it still fits the tone of the story and feels fairly rewarding for the player. It helps that Ellison himself helped write the game, and even voiced the main antagonist AM, despite not being a fan of videogames in general.
The game, and story are products of their time, and feature a lot of horrible events and imagery. It is a story that is unpleasant by design, and many might not want to subject themselves to it. I only mention it because it is a really interesting adaptation.
The game, and story are products of their time, and feature a lot of horrible events and imagery. It is a story that is unpleasant by design, and many might not want to subject themselves to it. I only mention it because it is a really interesting adaptation.
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Children of Men (the film) > Children of Men (the book)
The book is strong in its own ways, but the story feels much better in the scale and relative social class/significance of the key characters in the film. There are some changes in the film that seem arbitrary and maybe for the worse, but ultimately the film is a better story I think.
The book is strong in its own ways, but the story feels much better in the scale and relative social class/significance of the key characters in the film. There are some changes in the film that seem arbitrary and maybe for the worse, but ultimately the film is a better story I think.
OP
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The only part of the novel I do like and wished they kept is explaining that the Mayor is in bed with the mob which was why he wants the beaches to stay open.
But yeah, the rest of the book is crap, everyone's an asshole except maybe the Brody kids.
Overall better, idk, but the 1996 romeo and juliet. The modernization is cool. Like, Montague's longsword is now a shotgun.
This is the best answer. And Uncas is the coolest.
Also, Random, but once on a different forum I could not use the name "Chingachgook" because it was considered a "slur" lol.
This is the best answer. And Uncas is the coolest.
Also, Random, but once on a different forum I could not use the name "Chingachgook" because it was considered a "slur" lol.
It also still blows my mind 20 years later people, including some critics, don't realize that, or worse, expose themselves as fascists cause they get upset the film isn't more true to the books lol
Even season 1 made the source material worse by Benioff/Weiss's injection of their own storytelling and deviations, and 9 times out of 10 it made things worse.
The early adaptations are solid, but I sort of wish we could all just wipe our collective memories, swap the actors playing Rob and John, and bring in some actual good writers and show runners to reboot the series, with mostly the same cast.
Would much rather read the novels another time than watch the early seasons
The Death of Superman in BvS is better than the comic version. The comic seriously has Supes and Doomsday die by them both punching each other at the same time like the end of a corny boxing skit.
OP
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Man, that opening narration done by Harlan Ellison as AM really sticks with you.
I don't have an example but OP I applaud how brave you are with the first take.
I don't know that you won me over but at the very least I like that you took the stand.
I don't know that you won me over but at the very least I like that you took the stand.
I've never actually read them, so I can't fairly say that they are worse, but based on excerpts and lore the Godfather books are...well, they're really something. Very pulpy, much raunchier and at times downright bizarre.
Kind of curious to give one a try, I could see it being a fun read, but yeah, they aren't exactly high art. The movie definitely made the right call in their changes.
Kind of curious to give one a try, I could see it being a fun read, but yeah, they aren't exactly high art. The movie definitely made the right call in their changes.
This ain't it, chief, and I was in line day one when this dropped.
Is this considered one of the better shonen anime at this point?
i enjoyed invincible season 1 enough that I tried to read the comic. Didn't get very far before I decided I didn't like it enough to potentially spoil future seasons of the show
I think the fact that the mayor wants to keep the beaches open for the economy and only relents when his own children are put in danger actually makes the movie more relevant than ever.
