Personal rant: Unnecessary changes from books to movies

[Dentarthurdent]

Speaking of books butchered for TV...

The Dresden Files.

Full stop.

Yes. I was showing someone pictures from my Dresden Files fanart folder and there was one of the Blue Beetle and he goes "He drove a Jeep!" and I was like "No. Just no."

Chronicles of Narnia. <snip> In my opinion, it could have been the best of the movies thus far in the series, as it was, it was nearly unwatchable.

The sea serpent is pretty much all I can remember, because we watched it in 3D and it was...uh...somehow too real and followed us home and we had to do a hell of a banishing to get rid of it...*shudder*

Lord of the Rings! I liked the first part though Elrond certainly didn't look "as noble and as fair in face as an elf-lord, as strong as a warrior, as wise as a wizard, as venerable as a king of dwarves, and as kind as summer" but Faramir in Two Towers! Wasn't he supposed to be incorruptible in contrast to Boromir?
I own Return of the King but have never had the nerve to begin watching it.

THIS. OMG. <MOVIE-ONLY SPOILERS IN WHITE> They completely ruined Frodo and Sam's friendship in ROTK...at one point Gollum grabs some lembas bread and crumbles it over Sam's cloak as he's sleeping, then when Frodo wakes up he says Sam's been eating all their rations, and Frodo believes him and tells Sam to "go home" and tells him "you can't help me anymore", and Sam starts walking away, and gets a sort of landing on the Stairs where he sees the lembas that Gollum dropped and gets all angry and starts climbing back up, so that Frodo is alone in Shelob's lair. They also decided when Frodo is standing on the brink and Gollum takes the ring that it makes more sense for the two of them to get in a physical fight over the ring and they both fall over the edge. Frodo is of course rescued. But there's all kinds of other BS that Jackson perpetrated; that's just the part that makes me the angriest.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - EVERY adaptation changes something, but it's justified. The author specifically wanted it that way.
<snip>
- One change that I would say was justifiable was the complete omission of everyone's favorite weirdo in yellow, Tom Bombadil. I really don't think the general moviegoing public was, or is, is quite ready for him >_> I maintain that he would have scared off too many of the Normals.

The HHG movie is bad. I can't say it's not a faithful adaptation, because there is no such thing, but it's just...so many bad jokes, so much weirdness, and when did this freaking story become about ZAPHOD for zark's sake?

Tom Bombadil...yeah. I like that part of the books, but it doesn't really add too much to the story that was hurt by leaving it out of the movies.

[Andara Bledin]

I just thought of yet another adaptation decay victim that hasn't been mentioned yet: Sailor Moon.

My first gen Japanese, Sailor Moon, cosplaying, went to Japan to see the musicals multiple times, anime-nerd (she had a blog where she took her Haru and Michi [Neptune and Uranus] dolls on adventures to places like Disneyland) friend considers them two complete different series and she likes them both.

I...actually kind of liked the Dresden Files TV series. But then, I haven't read the books yet.

I liked the show, too, and had read the books fairly recently before it aired.

There was a lot of stuff that got changed for no good reason. Like my friend, I consider them two different stories with the same inspiration. Plus, Butcher has said pretty much that.

That, and I'm a Paul Blackthorne fan.

I was fine with Elrond though. I thought he did a good job. I saw the trailer for the Hobbit today, and it rocked. I hope the got the same guy for Elrond.

Hugo Weaving. Aka Agent Smith from The Matrix.

Yeah, I'm a fan of him, too.

I'd really like to see if Legolas is in it, at least as a cameo since he's the son of the Elvenking.

He is.

Yup. Fan.

I'm sure she's somebody's love interest.

According to the wiki, Jackson has stated there will be no romantic connection between her and Legolas.

Anyway, I'm pretty mellow when it comes to adaptations. Some stuff I just cannot stand (the changing of major character traits [Han Solo edit, etc), but other stuff I'll let slide (in The Dresden Files, they changed Karrin's name because there is an actual Karyn Murphy in the Chicago police department).

^-.-^

[Jay 2K Winger]

The HHG movie is bad. I can't say it's not a faithful adaptation, because there is no such thing, but it's just...so many bad jokes, so much weirdness, and when did this freaking story become about ZAPHOD for zark's sake?

When they cast Sam Rockwell and he proceeded to be awesome in the role.

<-- Sam Rockwell fan

[firecat88]

According to the wiki, Jackson has stated there will be no romantic connection between her and Legolas.

Thank God. The last thing the movie needs is a random, unnecessary romantic side plot that detracts from the main story.

[Rodimal]

XMen, X-2, X-3.

[EricKei]

The HHG movie is bad. I can't say it's not a faithful adaptation, because there is no such thing, but it's just...so many bad jokes, so much weirdness, and when did this freaking story become about ZAPHOD for zark's sake?

Oh, I agree. They might as well have called him "Phil" ~_~ I didn't much care for Marvin's odd design, either, as it has been long established that our favorite Paranoid Android is at least somewhat human-looking, if metallic.

I was just saying that there's a reason that every adaptation changes certain things -- Adams explicitly required it. I do think they went too far on this one, tho, as awesome as the "rag doll" mini-scene was ^_^

As for LoTR, yeah, there were some pretty egregious changes -- I do believe that, in the hands of any other director, even another fan of the work, it would have been worse. For an extreme example or two, imagine if it were done by Michael Bay ("Okay, now once the Ring falls into the volcano, we're gonna set off about five million dollars worth of explosives...") or M. Night Shamalamadingdong ("OK, here's our out-of-left-field plot twist on this one...Right before they go into Mordor, Gollum fights Frodo and demands the ring, and goes 'Join me, Luke Frodo...*WE* are your father'...")?

I maintain that the version we got is as close as anyone's ever gonna come to the original work.

[PhiSigGirl1988]

Regarding anime dubs, Cardcaptor Sakura to Cardcaptors. The English dub is horrible. Name changes, moving episodes around out of order to include the main male character from the beginning, cutting out any themes of romance, etc. Not to mention that they seemed to have completely changed the personalities of some characters.

Regarding books to movies, the film adaptation of "Something Borrowed" really irritates me now that I've read the books.

[PepperElf]

OMG THIS.

First thing that comes to mind is the Percy Jackson movie.

The book is clearly written for children. The character is 12 iirc and when they go to vegas they are entranced by games at a "game casino".

in the movie they aged him to 18, turned the "addicting games" into lotus drugs, and implied that his best buddy was going to screw Persephone's brains out.


yeah way to sex up a kid's story.



and Howl's moving castle.
What war? There was no war in the story. And Howl had family in England that he visited through the funny door thing.

Plus in the commentary version... the american director raved about how creative Hayao Miyazaki was in inventing that door with the handle that opens to different locations when you spin the dial.

Um. Dude... IT'S IN THE BOOK. Miyazaki didn't invent it - Diana Wynne Jones did!

and ... interestingly enough there's a sequal called "Castle in the Air"... and a Miyazaki movie titled "castle in the sky"... O_o orly? could be just coincidence especially since CITS is nothing like CITA but it's a bit too close to me...

[Andara Bledin]

and ... interestingly enough there's a sequal called "Castle in the Air"... and a Miyazaki movie titled "castle in the sky"... O_o orly? could be just coincidence especially since CITS is nothing like CITA but it's a bit too close to me...

Not quite.

First, the movie is titled Laputa: Castle in the Sky, with the American release dropping the name Laputa. And the concept comes from Jonathan Swift, not Jones. It's from Gulliver's Travels, in which it was a technologically superior flying island, rather than just a Castle. Not to mention that Laputa came out four years before Castle in the Air was published, so if it's "a bit to close," then you need to turn your eyes back to Jones, not Miyazaki.

^-.-^

[Geek King]

Not quite.

First, the movie is titled Laputa: Castle in the Sky, with the American release dropping the name Laputa. And the concept comes from Jonathan Swift, not Jones. It's from Gulliver's Travels, in which it was a technologically superior flying island, rather than just a Castle. Not to mention that Laputa came out four years before Castle in the Air was published, so if it's "a bit to close," then you need to turn your eyes back to Jones, not Miyazaki.

^-.-^

And if you really want the anime fans to go all rage-y and foam at the mouth, we can discuss Kimba the White Lion vs. Disney's The Lion King.

[PepperElf]

Yes. I was showing someone pictures from my Dresden Files fanart folder and there was one of the Blue Beetle and he goes "He drove a Jeep!" and I was like "No. Just no."

i'd have loved to see the blue (but not really blue) beetle.

although one change they did make that I... well honestly i kinda liked was Bob. Terrance Mann was rather charming as Bob.

[Dentarthurdent]

i'd have loved to see the blue (but not really blue) beetle.

although one change they did make that I... well honestly i kinda liked was Bob. Terrance Mann was rather charming as Bob.

http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&se...files#/d32h3dz The Blue Beetle picture in question

Yeah, have to agree with you there, he was an awesome Bob.

[Andara Bledin]

Yeah, have to agree with you there, he was an awesome Bob.

Much love for the TV Bob. <3

^-.-^

[dragon_wings]

Dammit. Now I have to go watch the series. I started it a while back (before I read the books) but stopped watching for one reason or another.

[cashierbex]

Its true about Starship Troopers, can't make that into a movie. But the movie was just whoa. I'll watch it again. Cause I did enjoy it a bit. I'll give it a second go around and maybe the other 2. I'll try to not think about the book too much and get into the cheesieness of it. I love cheesy movies.

Never read Lord of the Rings. Don't have patience for it. Never read Jurrasic Park. Hell never knew it was a book till recently .