Comments on: Six Films that Improve the Source Material

By: Alex C

Alex C — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:04:02 +0000

Tge Godfather movie franchise perfectly expands upon Mario Puzo’s original novel. No doubt.

By: Efren 111

Efren 111 — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 16:06:32 +0000

I think Watchmen is far superior from the book, its very respectful to the source material except for the mayor change of what The Comedian had discovered, on the comic he discovers a gigantic puppet that would be used to fake an alien attack, in the movie its based around the exile of Dr. Manhattan. A better choice by far.

The Crow is a far better film than the graphic novel too, it added some great elements, and just has just a more consistent story ark.

By: cutter9792

cutter9792 — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 15:59:14 +0000

Fight Club the movie is better than Fight Club the book, but it’s another apples to oranges thing. The film is crafted by the incredibly talented and unforgiving director David Fincher, and the book was written by the amazingly creative and disturbingly-minded Chuck Palahniuk.

I still enjoyed the movie better though.

By: Mr. Carter

Mr. Carter — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 15:41:07 +0000

Comparing the Iliad to the movie Troy is exactly as you said: Apples and Oranges. I’ve read the Iliad multiple times, (actually, this past weekend I was a part of a Homer-a-thon, in which we read the Iliad straight through for 24 hours, as a dramatic reading), and saying that the film improved upon the conflict of men is grossly inaccurate.

The Iliad is not simply “the conflict of men,” nor “petty grudges and hubris.” It is an epic that spans nations, carries historical implications, and was a piece that was performed over a period of three days, to an audience that knew the story. The Iliad is about the wrath of Achilles. End of story. “Sing goddess, of the wrath of Peleus son, Achilles.” That is how the poem begins. The poem ends with the burial of Hector, not Achilles death. It is a tragedy, and a ware of men and fate. Achilles struggles against his fate, neglects it, but is ultimately overcome by it. By removing the gods, the movie is nothing more than mindless action. There are no greater forces moving these characters.

I could go on, and I would enjoy a dialogue/email exchange with you. I’m a Literature Prof. And I always relish the opportunity to discuss works of art, so that we might find the truth of them.
I Enjoyed your article!
Peace,
Mr. Carter

By: Kev

Kev — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 15:27:21 +0000

Let’s go easy here. It’s convenient to always take the book’s side since it’s more of an investment to read than watch and books will always have more material (not always better material). I’ve had one friend tell me straight-faced that I’m a philistine for having watched the Harry Potter movies but not having read the books and this same friend tell me I’m a chump for having read the Lord of the Rings because there’s no way they could be better than the movies (I still loved the movies.) I think the OP had an even handed approach to the article. Though I would have thrown in Connery/Caine “The man who would be King” as being an improvement on an already good short story.

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 15:13:59 +0000

I enjoyed Speilberg’s War of the Worlds very much, until the tacked on happy ending. We’d said good-bye to the character of Tom Cruise’s son, and the movie should have as well.

Then ending of Fight Club the movie is perfect for the film, and the book ending is perfect for that medium I think.

By: gadiv

gadiv — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 22:39:02 +0000

Just wanted to say that the Lord of the Rings movies are worlds better than the books for a number of reasons, but the one most worth mentioning being the total excision of Tom Bombadil from the screen.

By: Pugiron

Pugiron — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 10:36:00 +0000

The Tom Cruise War oF The Worlds was crappy in every sense of the word. It was one more Tom Cruise ego stroke and the fact none of the family of main characters dies dissapointed every non-Scientologist that saw it. You are obviously a moron to think that movie was better than anything short of a root canal done without pain killers.

By: Schrodingle

Schrodingle — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 01:57:29 +0000

These were pretty awful choices. Every one of these movies was so bad I couldn’t watch them a second time.

David Lynch’s Dune would have been a good choice. He added some truly epic visions to that movie that were not part of the book. A good example being the scene where the worms surrounded Paul after he took the water of life but didn’t attack.

By: jaws

jaws — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 14:39:30 +0000

Jaws.