Thursday, May 15, 2008

why do they bother?


While I think most thinking people will agree that books are generally better then the movies based on them, I just gotta wonder why Hollywood bothers saying a movie is based on a book, when it is totally different. I just finished "I Am Legend". NOTHING like the movie. Well, I mean it's about a guy who survives a plague that affects almost everyone else in the world, but that's about where the likeness ends.

Did you read Under the Tuscan Sun? In the movie, Diane Lane does move to Tuscany but the whole flavor of the story is changed because her character is so different from the protagonist in the book. I mean...why buy the rights to the story and then alter it so drastically?




A Good Year, was another story changed drastically from the original book. They changed the main character to suit Russel Crowe's personality. Sure it's sexy, but it's not the book!
I dare say there's a hundred examples I could think of like this.....

I understand why they sometimes need to edit a story...the Harry Potter books....Gone With The Wind....terrific books but so long and involved there was just no way to put it all in a movie. The studios at least had the good sense to keep the story lines the same! But why name a movie after a book and then totally erase the book's original story? I have got to wonder if the folks that decide these things are dumb or just arrogant.










3 comments:

smilnsigh said...

Being a fan of the 'Twilight' series of books, I fear some, for the film of the first book... 'Twilight.' -sigh-

But I will keep my hopes high. :-)

Mari-Nanci

sheila from life @ #17 said...

arggghhh...books made into movies is such a Pet Peeve of mine...it has gotten to where if I absolutely love a book, I just won't see the movie...

cases in point...Breakfast at Tiffany's, Practical Magic, ditto your Under the Tuscan Sun...those are the only ones that spring to mind right this second...

well, I did go see the LOTRs...I mean, I had to go see those :) (and might I say, except for the whole cutting out of Glorfindel so Arwen can save Frodo at the ford...and leaving out Tom Bombadil...Bravo, Peter Jackson :)

okay..did I sort of geek out there for a second? LOL!

Books I Loved That I Won't See the Movie:

Cold Mountain, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Dark is Rising...and I'm sure there are more...

...did I say this is a Pet Peeve of mine :) ?

Wendster said...

I'm with Mari-Nanci on Twilight. I just finished the first three books and saw the characters they cast for the movie. At least I like their choices for Edward and Bella. I hope they cast Jacob well, too.
Hollywood ... I went along with an old friend while she met with a producer and pitched her book to him ... they are VERY direct: "That won't work in this market." They are tough because they know what sells. They can't afford to have a movie flop, so they aren't big risk takers.
But I agree with you. I usually love the book MORE than I love the movie.
Narnia was very enjoyable, but it didn't hold a candle to the book.