# Book to movie-Worst adaptation **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 1, 2018, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710 "2018-01-01T21:23:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/1 "2018-01-01T21:23:53Z")
I am a fan of Preston & Childs _Pendergast_ series, and I happened across an adaptation of the first book-“Relic”. Imagine my surprise when I discover that, of all the characters in the book Aloysius Xingu Leng Pendergast is the one they drop. It’s like doing a version of “The Wizard Of Oz” sans Dorothy, in my opinion. What movie from a book have you seen where your basic reaction is “What the hell did they do??” ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/2 "2018-01-01T21:26:50Z")
[Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Even_Cowgirls_Get_the_Blues_(film)) I win. What’s the next thread? ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/3 "2018-01-01T21:32:50Z")
Certainly the list of contenders for the top spot should include Tim Burton’s _Alice in Wonderland_. It’s amazing to look at, but the shoehorning-in of dreary ‘heroic fantasy’ tropes completely obliterates the quirky charm of the Lewis Carroll classic. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/4 "2018-01-01T21:37:19Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > [Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Even_Cowgirls_Get_the_Blues_(film)) > > I win. What’s the next thread? Not so fast, buckaroo-Your link says that the movie stunk like skunkweed, and that the book was horribly dated, but not that the former deviated much from the latter. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/5 "2018-01-01T21:38:22Z")
You can pick almost anything written by Stephen King but, “Graveyard Shift,” is a standout. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/6 "2018-01-01T21:43:12Z")
The Bonfire of the Vanities. [4.5\* for the book](https://www.amazon.com/Bonfire-Vanities-Tom-Wolfe/dp/0312427573/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8), [1\* for the film](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099165/). It’s not even the same story. All the acerbic commmentary that made the book great was left out or changed in the film. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/7 "2018-01-01T21:51:16Z")
The Sum of All Fears. Changes almost everything including the villain, I assume due to post 9/11 fears of stereotypes. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/8 "2018-01-01T21:54:47Z")
Every version of “The Call Of The Wild” where Thornton lives and reunites with Buck. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/9 "2018-01-01T22:06:14Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > You can pick almost anything written by Stephen King but, “Graveyard Shift,” is a standout. “Trucks” to “Maximum Overdrive” is another stinker. However, there’s been some great films in there too, like “Green Mile” and “Shawshank Redemption”. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/10 "2018-01-01T22:11:30Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > “Trucks” to “Maximum Overdrive” is another stinker. > > And how. > > However, there’s been some great films in there too, like “Green Mile” and “Shawshank Redemption”. Two words: Frank Darabont. Also, “The Mist.” If you haven’t seen, “1922,” yet, I highly recommend it. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/11 "2018-01-01T22:18:14Z")
I have to say that I actually LIKE the movie (I know, I know), but Logan’s Run (both the movie and the subsequent tv show) uh… i’m gonna go with ‘miss the point’ of the book(s) by a significant and almost charming degree. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/12 "2018-01-01T22:18:29Z")
_Starship Troopers_, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/13 "2018-01-01T22:19:11Z")
Off the top of my head… _Moby Dick_ (1930) – Opens with page one from the novel… but “Call me Ishmael” is not the first line! Ishmael isn’t even in the film! WTF?! _The Fountainhead_ (1949) – Book unreadable. Movie so bad it’s good. Does it matter if it wasn’t intentional? _Kiss Me Deadly_ (1955) – An uncommon case of taking shit writing, violating its integrity and turning it into something great. _The Quiet American_ (1958) – Graham Greene’s indictment of U.S. policy in Indochina (published in 1955!) turned into a distasteful whitewash of same. _Casino Royale_ (1967) – Bearing only superficial resemblance to the novel, the film is an extravagant scattershot farce; so overdone, it’s grotesque…and yet there is a certain beauty in the grotesque. More prime ‘60s babeage than any other flick also helps. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/14 "2018-01-01T22:20:27Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > _Starship Troopers_, of course. Of course. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/15 "2018-01-01T22:49:42Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > You can pick almost anything written by Stephen King but, “Graveyard Shift,” is a standout. Not as really horrible as the Dark Tower series. ---
**Author:** ![Latimera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/latimera/32/497_2.png) [@Latimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Latimera)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/16 "2018-01-01T22:49:55Z")
The Lawnmower Man. As noted in the Wikipedia article: “the movie is supposedly an adaptation of Stephen King short story of the same name, but aside from a single scene, the two are completely different.” [The Lawnmower Man (film) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lawnmower_Man_(film)) ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Burden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/958977/32.png) [@Jack\_Burden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Burden)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/17 "2018-01-01T23:15:55Z")
My immediate thoughts were Starship Troopers and Logan’s Run, but those were called out above in consecutive posts. Offered for your consideration: John Irving’s brilliant and heartbreaking **A Prayer for Owen Meaney** adapted into the execrable **Simon Birch**. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/18 "2018-01-01T23:16:58Z")
Is there any chance Colin Wilson’s, “Space Vampires,” is as dreadful as _Lifeforce_? I’ve seen a lot of versions of, “Dracula,” but the only one that comes close to the novel is the Louis Jordan take. Langella’s movie is _yuck!_ And Coppola’s, though very well done, might as well be a _Twilight_ flick. Pile on. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/19 "2018-01-01T23:24:12Z")
So is the OP looking for movies that wildly deviate from the books, or just movies that suck by comparison to their source material? The first thing I thought of was Burton’s Alice. I’m not one of those people who insists the movie must be exactly like the book, but I’d prefer it to at least capture the spirit. The moment where the Mad Hatter breakdanced (?) is quite possibly one of the worst things to ever happen on film. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/20 "2018-01-01T23:33:41Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Is there any chance Colin Wilson’s, “Space Vampires,” is as dreadful as _Lifeforce_? Any movie with Mathilda May walking around naked can’t be all bad… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710.md?page=2)