# A Rose By Any Other Name -- unacknowledged TV/movie adaptations **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2007, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-by-any-other-name-unacknowledged-tv-movie-adaptations/407953 "2007-06-14T03:44:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-by-any-other-name-unacknowledged-tv-movie-adaptations/407953/1 "2007-06-14T03:44:34Z")
I would say the best TV or movie Nancy Drew is Veronica Mars, not any of the movie and TV shows that had an actual Nancy Drew character. I would say the best Gor adapation is Deathstalker, not either of the two actual Gor movies (Gor and Outlaw of Gor). Second best adaptation: Amazon Queen. I would say that the best movie based on William Gibson’s works is “Strange Days,” not “Johnny Mnemonic” or “New Rose Hotel.” (The X-Files ep “Kill Switch” is a topnotch Gibson, but it’s also very X-Files). None of the works I’ve cited were in any way official versions of the works they happen to be the best examples of, nor am I accusing them of plagiarism. What I think DID happen was that the writer/director/producer … whoever the creative driver behind the film was … “got” the original work with an understanding that none of the actual adaptors did, or as in the case of “Johnny Mnemonic” managed to translate their understanding to the screen in a way that the original author didn’t. Because the work is the result of superior understanding, it tends to outshine “official” versions. I’m sure there are other such works, where a movie or TV show proclaims itself to be a brilliant adapation of a book, short story, or other movie/TV series, even though it is clearly not a plagiarized version of the original. Any nominees? Or care to dispute my nominees? ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-by-any-other-name-unacknowledged-tv-movie-adaptations/407953/2 "2007-06-14T03:47:23Z")
John Carpenter’s brilliantly creepy movie _In the Mouth of Madness_ is an excellent H.P. Lovecraft tribute that outshines any of the other poor attempts to directly adapt Lovecraft’s works to film. (I have not seen the recent silent version of _The Call of Cthulhu_, though.) ---
**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-by-any-other-name-unacknowledged-tv-movie-adaptations/407953/3 "2007-06-14T13:03:05Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou] (I have not seen the recent silent version of _The Call of Cthulhu_, though.) [/QUOTE] You really, really should. It’s excellent and subtle. As for another unacknowledged but blatantly obvious adaptation, the anime series [Record of Lodoss War](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lodoss) is based heavily on _Dungeons & Dragons_. Of course, Gary Gygax had Tolkien’s works in mind when he created D&D, so that makes it a second-generation adaptation… ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-by-any-other-name-unacknowledged-tv-movie-adaptations/407953/4 "2007-06-14T13:45:15Z")
There is a mystery novel, _Brat Farrar_ by Josephine Tey. Pretty good. The plot goes like this: A confidence trickster meets a young man, nicknamed “Brat” Farrar . Brat closely resembles an heir to a fortune who dissappeared without trace several years ago. Conman persuades Brat to pose as the heir in order to inherit the fortune. He meets with initial doubts from the family, especially the heirs younger twin brother. But he eventually manages to persude most of them. As Brat gets to know the family better, he becomes more uncomfortable about conning them. Meanwhile he’s finding out what happened to the real heir. So, at the end, the family realise he’s not the heir, but they know that the family’s blacksheep cousin got a girl pregnant years ago, she ran away. They speculate that he is most likely the product of that union. Turn the characters of that book into monsters, and you have almost exactly the plot of the first Addams Family film. It wasn’t acknowledged, but the resemblance is too close to be coincidence. It’s certainly a rip-off. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-by-any-other-name-unacknowledged-tv-movie-adaptations/407953/5 "2007-06-14T13:52:22Z")
I suppose _Apocalypse Now_ was too openly _The Heart of Darkness_ to qualify for the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-by-any-other-name-unacknowledged-tv-movie-adaptations/407953/6 "2007-06-14T14:30:20Z")
_thirtysomething_ was never a favorite. (In fact, I’d forgotten the series name–so I Googled “yuppie tv show.”) But I happened to tune in to one of their Christmas shows. And realized the episode was inspired by “The Dead” (James Joyce.) ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-by-any-other-name-unacknowledged-tv-movie-adaptations/407953/7 "2007-06-14T14:51:44Z")
[QUOTE=Peter Morris] Turn the characters of that book into monsters, and you have almost exactly the plot of the first Addams Family film. It wasn’t acknowledged, but the resemblance is too close to be coincidence. It’s certainly a rip-off. [/QUOTE] Eek! You are so right! I love the book (and BBC movie) Brat Farrar. I totally never noticed the resemblance until right now when you pointed it out. ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-by-any-other-name-unacknowledged-tv-movie-adaptations/407953/8 "2007-06-14T14:53:02Z")
I think that **Aliens** was a better “Starship Troopers” than _Starship Troopers_. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-by-any-other-name-unacknowledged-tv-movie-adaptations/407953/9 "2007-06-14T15:00:52Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou] John Carpenter’s brilliantly creepy movie _In the Mouth of Madness_ is an excellent H.P. Lovecraft tribute that outshines any of the other poor attempts to directly adapt Lovecraft’s works to film. (I have not seen the recent silent version of _The Call of Cthulhu_, though.) [/QUOTE] I will have to check that out. I’m a big fan of Lovecraft, when he’s done right, which as you say is not often, in the official versions. I know a lot of other films have elements that are definitely borrowed from the Cthulhu Mythos, the Hellboy comics for example. Wouldn’t be surprised if there were other examples of Lovecraft adaptations out there. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-by-any-other-name-unacknowledged-tv-movie-adaptations/407953/10 "2007-06-14T16:26:09Z")
[QUOTE=xnylder] You really, really should. It’s excellent and subtle. As for another unacknowledged but blatantly obvious adaptation, the anime series [Record of Lodoss War](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lodoss) is based heavily on _Dungeons & Dragons_. Of course, Gary Gygax had Tolkien’s works in mind when he created D&D, so that makes it a second-generation adaptation… [/QUOTE] I’m sure there are a LOT of Tolkein borrowers out there, especially in the gaming world. “World of Warcraft” to cite another example. Neither one is even close to plagiarism, but clearly the idea of groups of warriors allied with the “light” (the Alliance) vs. groups of warriors allied with the dark (the Horde) with both groups including mythical or supernatural creatures, is getting to be a widespread meme. Now that I think about it, there’s a hentai called “The Words Worth Saga” that has the same set up – forces of light and forces of dark in opposition, both with mythical creatures/supernatural powers. The major difference between LOTR and WOW and Wordworth is that in LOTR the forces of darkness are all evil all the time and the forces of light are all good, all the time. In WOW and Wordsworth, there are good and bad folk on both sides. ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-by-any-other-name-unacknowledged-tv-movie-adaptations/407953/11 "2007-06-14T17:35:14Z")
Up until _Casino Royale_, I thought _The Incredibles_ was the best James Bond movie in 3 decades. Up until _The Incredibles_, I thought _The Bourne Identity_ was the best James Bond movie in 3 decades. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-by-any-other-name-unacknowledged-tv-movie-adaptations/407953/12 "2007-06-14T17:53:43Z")
[QUOTE=AtomicDog] I think that **Aliens** was a better “Starship Troopers” than _Starship Troopers_. [/QUOTE] Alien (the first movie) was a very obvious copy of [the Thing from Another World](http://imdb.com/title/tt0044121/). The writers of [Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure](http://imdb.com/title/tt0096928/) quite obviously had seen “Doctor Who” (and his time-travelling ‘phonebooth’). ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-by-any-other-name-unacknowledged-tv-movie-adaptations/407953/13 "2007-06-14T18:50:58Z")
[QUOTE=The New and Improved Superman] Alien (the first movie) was a very obvious copy of [the Thing from Another World](http://imdb.com/title/tt0044121/). [/QUOTE] And an even more obvious copy of [_Voyage of the Space Beagle_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Voyage_of_the_Space_Beagle) (enough so that the author sued 20th Century Fox over the movie). ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-by-any-other-name-unacknowledged-tv-movie-adaptations/407953/14 "2007-06-14T18:58:17Z")
**Congo** my Michael Crichton (later made into a movie), has a plot that is errily reminiscent of award-winning children’s book **The Twenty One Balloons** by William Pene DuBois. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-by-any-other-name-unacknowledged-tv-movie-adaptations/407953/15 "2007-06-14T21:34:03Z")
[QUOTE=Quercus] I suppose _Apocalypse Now_ was too openly _The Heart of Darkness_ to qualify for the OP. [/QUOTE] Well, in the sense that Coppola did acknowledge the story’s debt to “Heart of Darkness.” Prolly had something to do with the fact that “Heart of Darkness” is out of copyright. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-by-any-other-name-unacknowledged-tv-movie-adaptations/407953/16 "2007-06-14T21:45:37Z")
[QUOTE=tanstaafl] And an even more obvious copy of [_Voyage of the Space Beagle_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Voyage_of_the_Space_Beagle) (enough so that the author sued 20th Century Fox over the movie). [/QUOTE] I read “Voyage of the Space Beagle” years ago but it’s been many years and I don’t remember the Ixtl story at all. I suppose the Alien could be a carbon copy of the Ixtl. But there is a big difference between the two stories from the git-go: the Space Beagle is an exploration ship full of scientists, soldiers and explorer types, whereas the Nostromo was a commercial ore vessel whose crew was the interstellar equivalent of working stiffs. Changed the whole dynamic of the story. I’m a big fan of A.E. van Vogt, but I have my doubts about plariarism. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Hildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Johnny\_Hildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Hildo)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-by-any-other-name-unacknowledged-tv-movie-adaptations/407953/17 "2007-06-14T22:13:16Z")
What’s that TV show where a plane crashes in the middle of nowhere and the survivors are faced with a series of difficult and unique challenges? Oh yeah, Peter Benchley’s [Amazon](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0205737/) (1999). ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-by-any-other-name-unacknowledged-tv-movie-adaptations/407953/18 "2007-06-14T23:56:37Z")
Yeah, but that’s such a general description that I can’t see a connection. I mean, is every political intrigue story a ripoff of Macbeth, just because it involves a power struggle? ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-by-any-other-name-unacknowledged-tv-movie-adaptations/407953/19 "2007-06-14T23:57:39Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny Hildo] What’s that TV show where a plane crashes in the middle of nowhere and the survivors are faced with a series of difficult and unique challenges? Oh yeah, Peter Benchley’s [Amazon](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0205737/) (1999). [/QUOTE] Well, there’s also _Lord of the Flies_ for that matter. There was also a TV movie from the 70s or early 80s the title of which I can’t find now about a jetliner that crashes on an island somewhere and they are forced to fend for themselves when rescue does not arrive. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2007, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-by-any-other-name-unacknowledged-tv-movie-adaptations/407953/20 "2007-06-15T00:27:21Z")
[QUOTE=The New and Improved Superman] The writers of [Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure](http://imdb.com/title/tt0096928/) quite obviously had seen “Doctor Who” (and his time-travelling ‘phonebooth’). [/QUOTE] Well, yes. But that’s a parody, perhaps _homage_. Not the same thing as a rip-off. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-rose-by-any-other-name-unacknowledged-tv-movie-adaptations/407953.md?page=2)