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Adaptations that you think are better than their source material.
- Thread starter El Bombastico
- Start date
Scott Pilgrim.
The movie took the indie rock/hipster scene vibe from the first volume and ran with it, rather than getting weighed down by poorly executed drama like comic book volume 3+.
And the movie absolutely executed with precision. This shit blew my mind that it even appeared in a major production in 2010 because it felt so obviously knowing of the life I was living at that point. I still have a huge huge huge soft spot for the house party/local legend/hangout vibe undertones of the movie.
Also the early embrace of nerd chic, which was in 100% full-force in my local community.
Dug it dug it dug it.
This is the only film other than Speed Racer that I left the theater amazed it even existed in the first place.
The movie took the indie rock/hipster scene vibe from the first volume and ran with it, rather than getting weighed down by poorly executed drama like comic book volume 3+.
And the movie absolutely executed with precision. This shit blew my mind that it even appeared in a major production in 2010 because it felt so obviously knowing of the life I was living at that point. I still have a huge huge huge soft spot for the house party/local legend/hangout vibe undertones of the movie.
Also the early embrace of nerd chic, which was in 100% full-force in my local community.
Dug it dug it dug it.
This is the only film other than Speed Racer that I left the theater amazed it even existed in the first place.
Adaptation because 'The Orchid Thief' while having a story was notorious for lacking forward motion.
Cloud Atlas. Some parts of the book were too much of a drag and needed better structuring.
Shawshank Redemption was way better than 'Hope Springs Eternal'
No Country for Old Men was elevated by performances more than the book.
American Psycho was a much better satire/dark comedy film as opposed to what the book was.
Hidden Figures was better as a film; elevating the three women better than the book did.
Die Hard elevated Nothing lasts forever. The book isn't bad but the film is way more iconic.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (film) was better than Who Censored Roger Rabbit (book)
The Fly (Cronenberg) was better than The Fly (Neumann) which was better than the book (Langelaan)
Jaws was better as a film then as a book
Forrest Gump and probably the world according to Garp were both better than their source materials.
Cloud Atlas. Some parts of the book were too much of a drag and needed better structuring.
Shawshank Redemption was way better than 'Hope Springs Eternal'
No Country for Old Men was elevated by performances more than the book.
American Psycho was a much better satire/dark comedy film as opposed to what the book was.
Hidden Figures was better as a film; elevating the three women better than the book did.
Die Hard elevated Nothing lasts forever. The book isn't bad but the film is way more iconic.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (film) was better than Who Censored Roger Rabbit (book)
The Fly (Cronenberg) was better than The Fly (Neumann) which was better than the book (Langelaan)
Jaws was better as a film then as a book
Forrest Gump and probably the world according to Garp were both better than their source materials.
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Fuck that. Just that like the Star Wars PT and TROS, I'd rather have nothing which my imagination can fill instead of dog shit.
Goes for all of JoJo animated, tbh. I've read all of them and watched the anime tons of times. The anime is way better paced and smoother than the manga. Part 4 for example -- the switch of Cinderalla and Sheer Heart Attack is WAY better for the pacing and tension of the storyline than in the manga. Also a shout out to them combining 3 fights in like a single day thing. That was awesome.
Steins;Gate 0 anime
It kept everything I liked about the VN while removing the downright idiotic parts
It kept everything I liked about the VN while removing the downright idiotic parts
Like Kagari getting plastic surgery to look like Amane Yuki in one route
lol, I was just joking and I do feel the same way, I'd rather TROS or the last 2 seasons of GoT not exist and fill those blank spaces with some head canon
agreed, although I do prefer Steins;Gate OG VN over the Anime
There is sort of unavoidable Orientalism to a lot of cyberpunk, which Neal Stephenson in Snow Crash both lampooned and also sort of reinforced and further popularized, if unwittingly.
It's an archaic trope that reflects American economic anxieties of East Asia, mostly Japan (as well as Hong Kong), during the 80s particularly and is largely baked into the genre. It's hard to even parody it - at least its most popular form - without also propagating it.
The Boys. They changed something which hopefully won't lead to that horrible near ending of the comic.
Trainspotting is another one - the book is more of a compilation of short stories featuring both the main characters and some largely unrelated characters with a vague narrative running through the whole thing.
The movie tightens this up by focusing on a core story while still tying in some of the "episodic" elements of the book (like that bit with Spud) and leaving out most of the random standalone chapters, and is all the better for it.
As an added bonus, the sequel included some of the missing bits I really liked in the book.
The movie tightens this up by focusing on a core story while still tying in some of the "episodic" elements of the book (like that bit with Spud) and leaving out most of the random standalone chapters, and is all the better for it.
As an added bonus, the sequel included some of the missing bits I really liked in the book.
The Shawshank Redemption is a widely accepted one. Even Stephen King thinks that Darabont took what he wrote and ran with it.
Same here. Re-reading parts of the comics cemented that for me, I much preferred how the movie handled the idea of CW than how the comics did.
I think a lot of the mentions in this thread follow a similar pattern, where a film takes something written as a serial or in fairly long form, and boils it down to its most interesting core concepts/conflicts while cutting out a lot of stuff that's either unnecessary or is tying in other stuff.
Civil War in the comics suffered, like many big crossovers, in that it had to weave together several dozen characters and provide character moments for them all, hooks to take forward, consideration for how it affects a line of dozens of books etc. Civil War as a film though, has kinda two lead characters, a main cast of a dozen or so. Really it's more about a schism within one group of heroes (and two in particular) in reaction to something rather than the effect of an enforced nationwide policy on a community of dozens of meta humans spread across all manner of groups and individuals.
And so the film works better as a standalone work, because Rogers and Stark both exemplify one side (although the pushes to bring them to blows can feel a little quick, but hey, it's what the audience is there for). Whereas the comics have to take into account superhero minutae like 'this affects street-level heroes with secret identities and vulnerable dependents way more than openly famous heroes like the Avengers and the FF'. Which is great for those following the comics universe as a whole, that's part of the appeal of the setting, but does mean just reading the crossover is harder to follow for someone who isn't buried in current comics lore and doesn't know who half the characters are.
same. movie came out when my 20s were wrapping up so it was like a swan song to that life chapter
Dang, I was expecting a spicy hot takes thread, but honestly there's a lot of solid picks in here.
I'll elaborate somewhat on something I think a lot of people are implying: as long as it isn't made on a shoestring and a dream, a Stephen King adaptation is probably going to beat the book. He's an incredibly prolific writer with tons of ideas, but it's pretty obvious he's more interested in getting books to print than really agonizing over the details of the narrative, and it just doesn't take an incredibly critical eye to pore over his works and find tons of ways they can be improved.
The same goes for Michael Crichton, and I imagine it's probably true of Tom Clancy as well, though I've never read his works. I think it's just sort of a mechanical reality that when you're churning out work that quickly it's fairly easy for someone who actually puts a few years of effort into adapting it to (excepting for incompetence) end up doing more with the material.
I'll elaborate somewhat on something I think a lot of people are implying: as long as it isn't made on a shoestring and a dream, a Stephen King adaptation is probably going to beat the book. He's an incredibly prolific writer with tons of ideas, but it's pretty obvious he's more interested in getting books to print than really agonizing over the details of the narrative, and it just doesn't take an incredibly critical eye to pore over his works and find tons of ways they can be improved.
The same goes for Michael Crichton, and I imagine it's probably true of Tom Clancy as well, though I've never read his works. I think it's just sort of a mechanical reality that when you're churning out work that quickly it's fairly easy for someone who actually puts a few years of effort into adapting it to (excepting for incompetence) end up doing more with the material.
Are you me because I had the exact same reaction having read JP (at 10 years old what was my dad thinking?) and The Shining before seeing the movies. I can better appreciate the movies in retrospect but it was certainly a strange feeling seeing them so soon after reading the books.
I just really hate Civil War's premise - both comic and film - but I think the movie was a better version of it even if I still despise the idea of heroes fighting each other for "reasons."
Plus it was basically just Avengers 2.5 as a movie. Nothing wrong with that concept but I still wish Steve had gotten a final movie that was more his than "75 friends featuring Captain America."
idk. It's just one of the MCU stories I never look forward to revisiting.
I just learned about Chanell Williams and JKR doesn't exist anymore. Give her the series and make player hater McGonagall the main character.
Her Maggie Smith is impecible, her humor is hilarious, she is a fantastic actress in those little shorts, and she's not problematic. And we can not only get rid of the bigoted creator, we can make the bigot fans leave the property since Williams is black.
She's my headcanon Harry Potter now.
Her Maggie Smith is impecible, her humor is hilarious, she is a fantastic actress in those little shorts, and she's not problematic. And we can not only get rid of the bigoted creator, we can make the bigot fans leave the property since Williams is black.
She's my headcanon Harry Potter now.
Harlan Ellison was just playing himself.
i'm a big fan
Wonder if we'll ever see more adaptations of his work in different media. His works don't lend themselves very well to that, though the I Have No Mouth game was a strong effort.
I've always been curious to see if "Repent Harlequin!" said the Ticktockman could be adapted someday. Guess it might be considered not worth it in general or just too difficult to pull that off successfully, similarly to Blood Meridian, especially nowadays when trying to get any kind of decent budget for these endeavors.
I have to disagree with this because the movie avoids nearly all of Scott's inner struggles and realizations of self which to me is the crux of the story.
Annihilation is leagues better than the book, which is already pretty good imo
Also, I haven't read the book myself, but I believe Stephen King says he likes Flanagan's Doctor Sleep movie better than his own book (unless I've mixed that up with another King adaptation)
Also, I haven't read the book myself, but I believe Stephen King says he likes Flanagan's Doctor Sleep movie better than his own book (unless I've mixed that up with another King adaptation)
Alfonso Cuaron's film adaptation of P.D James's book of the same name.
while the book is fantastic and a insanely important piece of literature, i love the movie more.
yes, the movies has big plot changes and guess what? i agree with those.
btw the brazilian title for the movie is way better lol, it's Filhos da Esperança, basically Children of Hope which conveys the vibe much better.
Most recently The Boys. I tried to get into the comics before S2 started and eventually stopped. Both narrative and art style are garbage to me. It's written like some teen expressing their artistic view by being as "in your face" as possible with sex, language and violence, but it's actually written by a full grown man. Yes, it's pure satire, but that series is also the definition of trying too hard. The tv show actually has some level of care put into it with both drama and satire. I'm curious what they do with the Little Nina character in the show, because that's where I pretty much where I wanted to quit the book.
The Face of Another and Woman in the Dunes are both masterpiece level films adapted from good but not great books. What's most interesting is that the author (Kobo Abe) wrote both screenplays and made a lot of extremely smart structural changes to improve them for the medium/in general. Had already written a strong film with the same director (Hiroshi Teshigahara) before that though.
Having spent the last 3 years working on a slew of adaptations, I can say that in general it's significantly easier to turn a bad to middling book into a good script, if only because you respect it less and are willing to be less precious.
Having spent the last 3 years working on a slew of adaptations, I can say that in general it's significantly easier to turn a bad to middling book into a good script, if only because you respect it less and are willing to be less precious.
The Hunt for Red October. They took an already solid book and pretty expertly trimmed the fat to work in a movie form. Something that would most certainly NOT be done today is cutting sequel hooks involving a spy in the Russian Government that was a big focus of the next book.
I just finished the show on HBO and it was surprisingly moving. I understood it was a post apocalyptic story in the wake of a pandemic but even with the grim framing, it was so hopeful and generous to its characters. They make so many obviously bad decisions but the show wants you to see their humanity and understand why. There's so much unlikely camaraderie and being able to connect to people you instinctively distrust.
So since it was based on a Canadian novel, I joked that oh of course that's what a Canadian would think about humanity but when I went deep diving, I was surprised that the book was bleaker and there was a lot less focus on the characters and relationships that seem to define the message of the show. Just no good making assumptions.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory is better than Dhal's book, if only by being less racist. Also Charlie has a much better arch through the story by tempting him with slugworth.
Agree but I do think Dhal's songs are better.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory is better than Dhal's book, if only by being less racist. Also Charlie has a much better arch through the story by tempting him with slugworth.
Entirely possible. There's one or two songs from the film I like more, but I don't want to undersell what Dhal created as it was enjoyed enough to be made into a very good movie. I enjoyed their renditions in the burton film, especially Mike Teevees.
Only problem with Mike Teevees song in Burton is they leave out a LOT of the lyrics.
Ya, they kinda of do that for a lot of the songs. I mostly blame that one for being near the end. Shame too, it's got a good sound to it.