Movies based on Books (Current: The Wolverine)

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John
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Movies based on Books (Current: The Wolverine)

Post by John » Fri Mar 29, 2013 4:52 am

I can't believe they butchered it so bad!

It's just how I pictured it!


┬┐What do you think?


Much discussion has been had on translating our favorite novels onto the big screen. I know we have some big LotR/Hobbit fans here. And I imagine plenty of Muggles building their March Madness Quiditch (spelling?) Brackets enjoyed the Harry Potter big screen series as well.

What are your thoughts? What books do you want to see made into movies? What movies destroyed the book you loved so dear!?

Personally I am a Tom Bombadill fan and I'm so sad he didn't make the LotR cut. I also wished they had the scouring of the Shire at the end of "Return of the King". It was one of my favorite parts! I enjoyed them as movies, but not sure if I like thinking of the comparison to the books.

EDIT: I'll change topics about every week unless the topic dies early or seems to be alive and thriving longer than a week.
Last edited by John on Wed Jul 31, 2013 9:18 am, edited 6 times in total.
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Re: Movies based on Books

Post by thinkslogically » Fri Mar 29, 2013 5:37 am

I really liked the Lord of the Rings films (although one ending would have been fine - not sure we needed three of them!).

I didn't like the hobbit as much. It was well done in many ways, but the tone felt confused... On the one hand you've got dwarf refugees trying to reclaim their stolen homeland, and on the other they are ridiculously slapstick. Surely dwarves don't always need to be the comic relief? And Gandalf / Radagast were the same - far too ridiculous at times for my taste, and yet things like the council at Rivendell were super-serious and back to the tone of LotR. A middle ground would have been nice I think rather than oscillating between 2 extremes all the time!

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Re: Movies based on Books

Post by John » Fri Mar 29, 2013 5:50 am

I definitely liked the more vibrant colors in the Hobbit, ascetically speaking. I think while there was a lot of dark serious tones in the LotR, I think the Hobbit is being aimed at a younger crowd, hence the immense comical events between all the dwarves. That being said- I couldn't agree more thinks on that they seem to make dwarves the laughing stock of fantasy. It takes away from some of the more regal concepts. They do a good job between Balin and Thorin at showing glimpses of the majestic strength of dwarves. It seems almost everyone else are basically middle earth 3 stooges.
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Re: Movies based on Books

Post by DrinksTooMuchCoffee » Fri Mar 29, 2013 8:49 am

As for the LotR movies, the first time I saw them I did enjoy seeing LotR as movies. The second time the differences from the novels (which I may have read again, along with the Silmarillion, in the meantime) and some of the execution, which I guess I might call Hollywood cartoony, built up and I didn't enjoy the experience much. I did give the extended versions a go, and the "movie moments" were less frequent and so I guess I liked them more, but I stalled out halfway through the Two Towers and haven't bothered to get back to them. Perhaps one could put it as I would have liked more Old School Biblical Epic and less Hollywood Fantasy/Action. I'm okay with having to rearrange and edit the story to fit the movie format, but the presentation would too frequently slap me in the face. That's not to say I hate all Hollywood Fantasy, but I didn't want it here. And I'm afraid if I saw the Hobbit I'd have to burn Jackson's house down. ;) But that's to offer the dissenting opinion here.

Most movie adaptations of novels I don't bother to see, so can't really offer much else, or I wasn't a big fan of the novel even if I had read it, or I read the novel afterwards, or I've forgotten what I thought about the differences. :)

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Re: Movies based on Books (Current: LotR/Hobbit)

Post by John » Fri Mar 29, 2013 9:26 am

I have to admit, one thing I loved was Smeagol/Gollum in both LotR and the Hobbit. My favorite part of LotR was the travels during the Two Towers with Sam, Frodo, and Smeagol. The interactions were captivating and Sean Astin did an amazing job on Sam and Andy Serkis was wonderful as Gollum.

Above all else, in the books and the movies, my favorite scene has to be the interaction between Bilbo and Gollum during the time when the dwarves are captured by the goblin king. The quiet beginning for the long road to Mordor, the riddle game was absolutely excellent. Martin Freeman, also in "Sherlock" presented by BBC, was one hundred percent the Bilbo I expected and wanted to see in that scene with Gollum. Favorite FAVORITE scene translation from the book so far.
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Re: Movies based on Books (Current: LotR/Hobbit)

Post by RocketScientist » Fri Mar 29, 2013 11:50 am

I love them both. You have to remember that the Hobbit book was targeted at a younger audience as well. It's much lighter in tone, and the dwarves spend a lot of time hiding behind Bilbo. Pretty much his whole job was "You go in first, Bilbo. We're right behind you." I thought they downplayed that aspect in the movie, actually. And I'm really looking forward to seeing the sections with Thranduil and the wood elves, and how they interact with the dwarves.

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Re: Movies based on Books (Current: LotR/Hobbit)

Post by DrinksTooMuchCoffee » Fri Mar 29, 2013 3:44 pm

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Edit: and oops, didn't realize the floor wasn't open for bitching about whatever; please disregard. I'll spoiler it. :)

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Re: Movies based on Books (Current: LotR/Hobbit)

Post by John » Fri Mar 29, 2013 6:33 pm

Haha I just love passionate movie opinions. I love seeing what cinema's imagination can come up with! It's like having Picaso, Michaelangelo, and Van Gogh all draw a forest. Same concept but they will all look different. I love it.
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Re: Movies based on Books (Current: LotR/Hobbit)

Post by DrinksTooMuchCoffee » Fri Mar 29, 2013 6:51 pm

I might should add there are still parts, maybe even on balance over half, of the LotR movie I do actually like, both as a movie and an adaptation, but then there's some orc with a very British accent, or Gimli comic relief, or shield surfing, and next thing you know I'm in jail for arson. ;)

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Re: Movies based on Books (Current: LotR/Hobbit)

Post by lingrem » Sat Mar 30, 2013 6:20 am

I thought the films were done beautifully..

Although I was grumpy that they left out Tom Bombadil. I understand why they did, but he is my favourite.
I also did not like how COMPLETELY they changed Arwen. I think the movie Arwen is a better version, because it's not nearly as horrible, but I was mad that they changed stuff around anyway.

And the person playing Pippin was PICTURE PERFECT for my image of Merry, and Merry was pretty close to how I imagine Pippin. So I keep confusing the two of them.
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Re: Movies based on Books (Current: LotR/Hobbit)

Post by RocketScientist » Sat Mar 30, 2013 7:44 am

I never liked Tom. He weirded me out. Granted, Aragorn going "here's some swords for you" didn't make anything like as much sense as getting them from the barrows, but still.

And I really like Liv Tyler, so more for her to do is good. (I should have added her to the list of actresses I like.)

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Re: Movies based on Books (Current: LotR/Hobbit)

Post by DrinksTooMuchCoffee » Sat Mar 30, 2013 9:55 am

Oooh, now a Terry Gilliam LotR would have been a thing. This thread led me to learning he almost was picked for the Harry Potter movies, which seems like it would have been great fun if he weren't strangled by the studio. I can imagine me thinking a Gilliam LotR an abomination of an adaptation but loving it as a movie, heh.

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Re: Movies based on Books (Current: LotR/Hobbit)

Post by TinSoldier » Sun Mar 31, 2013 2:11 pm

DrinksTooMuchCoffee wrote:
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Edit: and oops, didn't realize the floor wasn't open for bitching about whatever; please disregard. I'll spoiler it. :)
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I loved the LotR movies, and I never liked Tom Bombadil all that much anyway.

However, the more I think about The Hobbit movie, the more I dislike it. There were aspects of the movie that I liked, but there were more that I hated. I could make a list but it might take a bit.
RocketScientist wrote:I love them both. You have to remember that the Hobbit book was targeted at a younger audience as well. It's much lighter in tone, and the dwarves spend a lot of time hiding behind Bilbo. Pretty much his whole job was "You go in first, Bilbo. We're right behind you." I thought they downplayed that aspect in the movie, actually. And I'm really looking forward to seeing the sections with Thranduil and the wood elves, and how they interact with the dwarves.
See, I thought that The Hobbit book was much lighter hearted than the rest of the LotR series, and that the movie totally missed that mark.

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Re: Movies based on Books (Current: LotR/Hobbit)

Post by John » Sun Mar 31, 2013 2:26 pm

For me I grade LotR and The Hobbit a B- for LotR and B for The Hobbit as far as success in transferring the books to screen
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Re: Movies based on Books (Current: LotR/Hobbit)

Post by TinSoldier » Sun Mar 31, 2013 2:39 pm

John wrote:For me I grade LotR and The Hobbit a B- for LotR and B for The Hobbit as far as success in transferring the books to screen
Really? Because I would grade LotR an A and the Hobbit a C+. *shrug*

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Re: Movies based on Books (Current: LotR/Hobbit)

Post by DrinksTooMuchCoffee » Sun Mar 31, 2013 2:42 pm

TinSoldier wrote:
John wrote:For me I grade LotR and The Hobbit a B- for LotR and B for The Hobbit as far as success in transferring the books to screen
Really? Because I would grade LotR an A and the Hobbit a C+. *shrug*
Imaginary me watching the Hobbit: "Azog's dead; this can't be happening. That there REALLY didn't happen in the book. Okay, bird poop? You must die, Peter Jackson!" ;)

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Re: Movies based on Books (Current: Harry Potter)

Post by John » Wed Apr 03, 2013 1:03 pm

While my trip with the books was a bell curve, with the 4th book being my favorite, I would say the movies progressed fairly linear as far as how much I liked them. The first Harry Potter was my favorite, just because I feel like it really set the entire mood very well- just like the first book pulls you in.

I greatly dislike when they make 1 book into 2 movies, but I think that in this case they did it along the lines of the book enough where it wasn't "just" for the bonus $$. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that played into it. Overall I really enjoyed the film, the characters, and how the mood darkened through the series. Any pet peeves I have don't outweigh the performance of the series in general.

What do you guys think?
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Re: Movies based on Books (Current: Harry Potter)

Post by Arydra » Wed Apr 03, 2013 4:57 pm

I dislike and like some of the changes that occurred throughout the series. Hagrid's hut always moving away from the castle was annoying, the same with the Death Eater's masks. I understand that they kept changing directors, but still. It was annoying.
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Re: Movies based on Books (Current: Harry Potter)

Post by lingrem » Thu Apr 04, 2013 5:01 am

I was initially resistant to Harry Potter, and is in fact the first "craze" that I really joined in with afterwards, (with knowing it's huge popularity), and I watched the first film first. I decided I'd watch ALL the movies first and then read the books, because the books are always better and I didn't want to be annoyed with the movies.

I made it a good chunk of the way too... I caved in at Order of the Phoneix, as I'd just watched Goblet of Fire in theatre, was bored, and found my roommate had OofP kicking around. So it was the first book I read. In a lot of ways, I still wish I'd made it all the way to the end with the movies, because I was disappointed in the fact that there was no Peeves. I understood why they left him out, and loved the series and thought they did an excellent job. I still really like the first one the most.

(and believe it or not, but I seem to fail when it comes to King's Cross - I STILL haven't found platform 9 3/4s! But the station was under construction when I was there though...)
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Re: Movies based on Books (Current: Harry Potter)

Post by RocketScientist » Thu Apr 04, 2013 11:57 am

I liked the movies for the most part. It always felt like we were running through the books, skipping half the things, but the parts they included were good. I don't know which of the movies I liked best, though. I liked the later director(s?) better than the guy who did the first couple. But I had a huge sad when Richard Harris died, and that kind of interfered with me getting attached to Michael Gambon as Dumbledore. I would have liked him a LOT better if Richard Harris hadn't set the bar.

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Re: Movies based on Books (Current: Harry Potter)

Post by John » Thu Apr 04, 2013 1:13 pm

I concur completely about Richard Harris. He was perfect for the roll. I am glad they didn't hook Sir Ian McKellan for it though. He get's all the wise old man with powers gigs.
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Re: Movies based on Books (Current: Twilight)

Post by Alavar » Mon May 27, 2013 1:16 pm

http://das-sporking.livejournal.com/151750.html

http://das-sporking.livejournal.com/152028.html

:D

Edit: So is it Twillight or it isn't?? I never read actual books, but I caught the movies. They were... meh.
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Re: Movies based on Books (Current: Twilight)

Post by John » Wed Jul 03, 2013 10:29 am

Anyone have any other requests for review? Message me, keep's me honest to update :)
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Re: Movies based on Books (Current:PercyJackson/Lightning Th

Post by friedkitty » Wed Jul 03, 2013 10:41 am

I thought they left waaay to much out of this one. I know they have to for time constraints and whatnot, but I really felt cheated. That said it was a good movie, and I will be interested to see how the sequel turns out. (Don't ask me for specifics, it's been a while since I've seen it, but I remember this being my feeling at the time. I'll have to go back and reread/rewatch to give a full review.

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Re: Movies based on Books (Current:PercyJackson/Lightning Th

Post by Wolfie » Wed Jul 03, 2013 10:57 am

Just as a movie... it was alright. Not the best I'd ever seen, but neither did I want my money back.

As a comparison to the book? I wanted to stand the director, producer, and script writer next to each other and beat them with a 2x4 til my arm got tired, then switch hands. You can't change that much of a book for a film and you really aren't supposed to leave out parts that are intrinsic to character development. Plus, I think that certain scenes were better left the way the book had them... like the final fight with Aries.
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