# Bad movies from good books **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2011, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-from-good-books/573612 "2011-03-05T20:09:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-from-good-books/573612/21 "2011-03-07T08:34:35Z")
> [@Lobot](#): > > The most recent version of _Alice in Wonderland_ was stunningly bad in parts, though people seemed to respond to it. But its biggest crime was that it was neither a literal adaptation nor a film that at least tried to get to the spirit of the text (like _Dune_). It wasn’t even an attempt to parody the original text (like _Starship Troopers_). > > It was an attempt to shoehorn elements from the book into a by-the-numbers screenplay format. The Mad Hatter has no rhyme nor reason to his behaviour in the book because he is a figure of nonsense, not because he’s in pain after witnessing mass-murder. Inner motivation–a concept usually required of good character development–is totally absent from the book for a very good reason. Screenwriters adapting unusual books need to know when rules must be broken. > > Giving characters reasoning behind their actions is so contrary to Carroll’s intent (as is giving the story a “message”) that it was essentially a film bearing no similarity to the book except on the most superficial level. BINGO! See also I am Legend as it totally changes the theme of the book (he becomes a monster himself) and Minority Report. Oh God Minority Report was a 2 hour rape of the Phillip K. Dick. The biggest difference is that in the movie Tom Cruise finds personal happiness and closes pre-crime. In the book, the character commits the murder as predicted. He sacrifices himself in order to save pre-crime. You know, the motivation of the main character is the polar opposite of book it is based upon. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-from-good-books/573612/22 "2011-03-07T09:23:38Z")
I hated the movie adaptation of “The Shining” - but loved the book. Also “The Stand” and “the Firestarter” were pretty bad. ---
**Author:** ![phantom\_lamb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@phantom\_lamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phantom_lamb)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-from-good-books/573612/23 "2011-03-07T09:59:40Z")
Hitchhiker’s Guide comes to mind. The movie was embarassing. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-from-good-books/573612/24 "2011-03-07T10:18:45Z")
“A Wrinkle in Time?” One of my favorite books ever. The movie actually made me cry because it was so horrifyingly bad. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-from-good-books/573612/25 "2011-03-07T10:28:30Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > For those of us who haven’t read the Starship Troopers book the film was amazing. 🙂 Naw, it still sucked. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-from-good-books/573612/26 "2011-03-07T10:29:32Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > “A Wrinkle in Time?” One of my favorite books ever. The movie actually made me cry because it was so horrifyingly bad. There was a MOVIE? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-from-good-books/573612/27 "2011-03-07T10:54:04Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Naw, it still sucked. For anybody on here who says it sucked, I’m sure I could find 2 people elsewhere who, like myself, liked it. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-from-good-books/573612/28 "2011-03-07T10:55:09Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > I hated the movie adaptation of “The Shining” - but loved the book. > > Also “The Stand” and “the Firestarter” were pretty bad. The Stand was fairly awful but it wasn’t made into a movie. It was a miniseries. ---
**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:** [March 7, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-from-good-books/573612/29 "2011-03-07T14:39:58Z")
The 1995 film version of [the Scarlet Letter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scarlet_Letter_(1995_film)) is usually considered the classic case of a hack screenwriter trying to “improve” a classic work of fiction. For those of you who slept through English class, Hawthorne wrote the story so that it intentionally reflected a Puritan mindset - Hester Prynne, a devout Puritan, accepts the communities’ punishment of her, in fact genuinely believes that by giving into lust, she is forever tainted by sin, and that her daughter (born out of wedlock) is possibly tainted as well. She accepts whole-heartedly the notion that she brought her troubles on herself. The narrative arc of the story is more concerned with whether or not Reverend Dimmesdale (whom Hester had “carnal relations” with) will confess his own sin publically. But of course, a modern day (and likely Demi Moore herself) realized how foolish all this sounded, so they rewrote the character of Hester as an age-of-Oprah style “empowered WOMYN” who rebels against the _hypocrisy_ of the religious community and holds her head up high in the face of OPPRESSION. To further drive home the point, sub-plots concerning a quasi-lesbian slave, and a “Native American” tribe are tossed in. Liberally sprinkled with titty shots & scenes of “wontonly lustful” groping. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-from-good-books/573612/30 "2011-03-07T14:58:53Z")
There is no way 3D is going to bring The Great Gatsby to life. So I’m preemptively hating it. “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past…and it’s coming right at us!” ---
**Author:** ![CCYMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/87869e/32.png) [@CCYMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCYMan)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-from-good-books/573612/31 "2011-03-07T15:17:01Z")
I’m surprised no one has mentioned _The DaVinci Code_. I loved this book. It was one of those books that I couldn’t put down - it was so packed with action that I just had to read _one more page_ to find out what happens next. So I remember thinking that if a movie has to leave stuff out and condense the story even more, then WOW, it’s going to be a dizzying, non-stop, thrill ride. But somehow Ron Howard managed to make it plodding and boring. I couldn’t believe it. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-from-good-books/573612/32 "2011-03-07T16:23:28Z")
The Grinch (How the Grinch Stole Christmas). The Whos had a key party, for the love of pete. I wanted to punch that movie in the cock. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-from-good-books/573612/33 "2011-03-07T16:45:14Z")
The Neverending Story. Twice. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-from-good-books/573612/34 "2011-03-07T16:49:56Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m surprised no one has mentioned The DaVinci Code. _De Gustibus.._ and all, but the reason I didn’t list it was that I don’t think of _The DaVinci Code_ as a good book. More examples \*\*Nightflyers Murders in the Rue Morgue\*\* (several times over) \*\*Off on a Comet Robur the Conqueror In Search of the Castaways The Time Machine A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court\*\* – many, many times over. A pet peeve of mine, as I think you could get a wonderful film out of this. **The Food of the Gods** (twice at least) **War of the Worlds** many times over \*\*Nightfall The Tenth Victim The Running Man Immortality, Inc./Immortality Delivered\*\* (filmed as _Freejack_) **Brave New World** (the first time, anyway) **The Terrornauts** (really awful SF film written by John Brunner, based on a Murray Leinster story, _The Wailing Asteroid_. I’ve never read it, but it can’t have been anywhere near as bad as the film. But – Brunner? Leinster? Two stars of SF worked on it, and it came out this bad? ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-from-good-books/573612/35 "2011-03-07T17:04:03Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Ahem. Starship Troopers. If there is ever an award for this category of film, it will be called The Troopie. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-from-good-books/573612/36 "2011-03-07T17:15:36Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > If there is ever an award for this category of film, it will be called The Troopie. The award would be in the form of an Oscar-style figuring presenting the head of Paul Verhoeven on a platter. Most of the ones I thought of are taken, except Casino Royale (1967). ---
**Author:** ![\_Undecided\_Adrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/eada6e/32.png) [@\_Undecided\_Adrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Undecided_Adrian)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-from-good-books/573612/37 "2011-03-07T17:33:24Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > I am Legend as it totally changes the theme of the book (he becomes a monster himself) … Do you know the [alternative ending](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-rJsnXsgMo) that they filmed? This makes it a much better movie for me. ---
**Author:** ![Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dread_pirate_jimbo/32/3897_2.png) [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Jimbo)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-from-good-books/573612/38 "2011-03-07T17:56:18Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > For anybody on here who says it sucked, I’m sure I could find 2 people elsewhere who, like myself, liked it. I’ve read the book and seen the movie and liked both, although the movie has only a passing resemblance to the book, so I try to keep them separated in my mind. But the movie has a bunch of gratuitous violence and explosions, a little gratuitous nudity, some decent special effects, and NPH as a telepath in a Nazi uniform. What’s not to like? ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-from-good-books/573612/39 "2011-03-07T18:05:08Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > I hated the movie adaptation of “The Shining” - but loved the book. > > Also “The Stand” and “the Firestarter” were pretty bad. I think “anything by Stephen King” is the winner here. It’s a shame, since he tells such good stories. But I think it’s because he tells them so well, the reader has his/her own mind movie, and nothing on film could do it justice. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-from-good-books/573612/40 "2011-03-07T18:09:23Z")
> [@Sateryn76](#): > > I think “anything by Stephen King” is the winner here. Hmmmm…Carrie, The Body, Misery, Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile were not so bad. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-from-good-books/573612.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-from-good-books/573612.md?page=3)