# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/61 "2018-01-02T14:33:01Z")
I feel like expanding The Hobbit into 6 hours of CGI battles didn’t do the book any favors. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2018, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/62 "2018-01-02T14:35:15Z")
I’ve said before that Robert Sheckley has to be the most ripped-off science fiction writer ever. But to add insult to injury, his stuff has been very badly adapted. The Italian film _The Tenth Victim_ wasn’t a really great adaptation of his story _The Seventh Victim_, but I have to admit that I didn’t expect much from it. Still, it’s arguably a high point in adaptations. His wicked little _Immortality Delivered_ (AKA _Immortality, Inc._) got turned into the appalling **Freejack** , which wasn’t materially helped by the presence of Mick Jagger and Anthony Hopkins. His spy spoof **The Game of X** became the Disney movie **Condorman**. This became a cult film in its own right, but there’s practically nothing there of Sheckley’s aside from the North-by-Northwest schtick of an ordinary guy being mistaken for a secret agent.\* Worst of all was the “Masters of SCience Fiction” adaptaion of his story _Watchbird_. You’d think this story, published in the 1950s about the hazards of a too-watchful fleet of drones would be timely and interesting, but they managed to screw it up and give it a garbled ending in place of the twist Sheckley used. Fortunately, it wasn’t broadcast on US television with the rest of the package. I finally saw it on the hard-to-get DVD set, and was severely disappointed. imdb lists several other adaptations, which I haven’t seen, but have little faith in, given the track record. > **[Robert Sheckley - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0790533/)** > > Robert Sheckley. Writer: The 10th Victim. Robert Sheckley was born on 16 July 1928 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for The 10th Victim (1965), Freejack (1992) and The Prize of Peril (1983). He was previously married to Gail... I see that they’ve announced a version of his _Mindswap_. I was never a fan of that book, so I won’t mind too much when they manage to screw that one up, too. \*The Pixar Toy Story short _Small Fry_ has a fictional “Condorman” Happy Meal toy in it: [![](https://www.pixartimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Toy-Story-Small-Fry-Condorman.jpg) ](https://www.pixartimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Toy-Story-Small-Fry-Condorman.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/63 "2018-01-02T14:35:59Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I feel like expanding The Hobbit into 6 hours of CGI battles didn’t do the book any favors. Totally right. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2018, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/64 "2018-01-02T14:37:54Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I feel like expanding The Hobbit into 6 hours of CGI battles didn’t do the book any favors. On the other hand, making it into a Rankin-Bass TV movie didn’t do it any favors, either. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/65 "2018-01-02T14:40:10Z")
Oddly enough the parts I liked best about The Hobbit were the scenes that were not part of the book. I also disliked the CGI battles but enjoyed the musings of the council and the adventures of Gandalf and Radagast. However, I do think they missed the _tone_ of the books: it is much more like a fairy tale than LotR. Epicness was appropriate for LotR. Too much scope and explanation kills the feel of a fairy tale. The desolation of Wilderland works well in this context, and having too much explicit side action makes it feel overly “lived-in” for the tone of the story even if the events actually did take place. But taken alone, the journey of Gandalf to the stairway/tomb/crypt in the first movie was my favorite scene in the trilogy. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/66 "2018-01-02T16:21:50Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > After the first adaption of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, nobody should have remade it. Especially with Johnny Depp in the title role. > > eTA: Speaking of Stephen King, what about Children of the Corn? Wow…Johnny Depp played the chocolate factory? ---
**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 2, 2018, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/67 "2018-01-02T16:26:21Z")
^ No, ya silly goose, Charlie! (Or was it Michael Jackson?) ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/68 "2018-01-02T16:27:22Z")
Some cable station aired a half hour version of Wheel of Time a few years ago, buried at like 3am in the morning. I can’t imagine it was any good, not that I actually saw it. Apparently just a quick POS churned out to retain the rights. ---
**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 2, 2018, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/69 "2018-01-02T16:28:15Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > [Your dark days are here](https://nerdist.com/the-stranger-in-a-strange-land-tv-series-will-live-or-die-by-how-much-it-groks/). I wouldn’t hold my breath-The last press release from SYFY about this was back in late 2016. ---
**Author:** ![chulio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@chulio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chulio)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/70 "2018-01-02T16:58:52Z")
I did not see a movie because I could not get my brain around it. A long time ago I listen to audio-books when I used to drive endless hours and liked Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books I knew Jack as a 6’5" big tough guy. The thought of Tom Cruise playing that part just won’t work. It is also interesting that I would read those books but do not really see those kinds of movies in general. Maybe people enjoyed the movie but I can’t ruin the Jack Reacher in my mind. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/71 "2018-01-02T17:14:34Z")
When you say “worst”, do you mean worst job following the book or just the worst result? There is, to be sure, some correlation there but the two are not the same thing. For instance, “The Dead Zone” didn’t exactly follow the book, but I thought the movie pretty decent. (Maybe even prescient.) ---
**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 2, 2018, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/72 "2018-01-02T17:22:54Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > When you say “worst”, do you mean worst job following the book or just the worst result? There is, to be sure, some correlation there but the two are not the same thing. For instance, “The Dead Zone” didn’t exactly follow the book, but I thought the movie pretty decent. (Maybe even prescient.) Worst job following the book. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/73 "2018-01-02T17:46:18Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > You can pick almost anything written by Stephen King but, “Graveyard Shift,” is a standout. I agree about books by King. On one hand, some of them (e.g., _The Dead Zone_) turn out pretty well, even though they depart significantly from the book. On the other hand, _The Dark Tower_ needs to be destroyed with fire. The whole shift to concentrate on a (deservedly) minor character in order to appeal to YAs made me want to hurl. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/74 "2018-01-02T17:54:11Z")
“Contact”, the film and book had a fair amount of both similarities and differences, but the most egregious difference was in the resolution. In the books final scene, Ellie Arroway finds mathematical/scientific proof of God. In the movie, she asks the Congressional committee to “take me on faith” in regards to whether she actually took the trip. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/75 "2018-01-02T18:42:10Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > You can pick almost anything written by Stephen King but, “Graveyard Shift,” is a standout. I agree!! ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/76 "2018-01-02T19:39:29Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Either of the Jack Reacher movies. Tom Cruise just doesn’t cut it, even when they found a leading lady who didn’t tower over him. Both are pretty faithful adaptations of their source material, and decent movies. I get that Tom Cruise isn’t huge and blond. I just don’t think that’s super essential to the character or stories. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/77 "2018-01-02T20:17:03Z")
I think adapting Lord of Light into a movie about a hostage rescue mission veered a bit too far. 🙂 While I agree they don’t follow the books (sometimes at all) I do like a lot the movie adaptions that became The Natural, Freejack, Forrest Gump, The Princess Bride, and RAH’s The Pupper Masters. I’m sure it helps that I never read the books. I read and enjoy I Am Legend but I also love the Omega Man. It’s so different it’s really a different story, plus they did the book the honor of not using the title, unlike that Will Smith abomination. I did read The World According to Garp, and Irving would probably strangle me for saying this, but the movie was WAY better. The book is a mess. The movie cleaned it up, and added touches that I would argue improved the story. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/78 "2018-01-02T20:28:20Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > Starship Troopers, the Puppet Masters, pretty much anything written by Robert Heinlein. > > I dread the day somebody tries to make a movie of _Stranger in a Strange Land_. RAH’s writing style is such that something is lost as soon as you transfer it to another medium. Having said that, Puppet Masters was probably the best candidate to try, and it didn’t work. Project Moonbase isnt bad, just dated. No, many of his Juveniles would work well. Have Spacesuit will Travel. The StarBeast. I just reread SiaSL, and also tMiaHM, and the amount of rather incoherant, inconsitent and quite frankly wrong political monologging turned me off, and they used to be a couple of my faves. But yeah, altho Starship Troopers can be fun if you think of it as a film that just happenes to have the same title as a RAH novel, it is a horrible adaptation. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/79 "2018-01-02T20:33:44Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Most adaptations of H. P. Lovecraft have been pretty abysmal too, until the past few years. The Lovecraft Society’s version of \*\*The Call of Cthulhu[/B[ and **The Whisperrer in Darkness** , and the new German version of **The Colour out of Space** aren’t bad, but everything else I’ve seen has changed his stories so radically as to be completely unrelated. Oddly, or perhaps not so oddly, the best HPL film is one NOT based on any of his tales- \*Cast a Deadly Spell. \* ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/80 "2018-01-02T20:37:40Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I feel like expanding The Hobbit into 6 hours of CGI battles didn’t do the book any favors. Yes, and that horrible love match.☹ But I still love the film due to the much needed inclusion of the White Council vs the Necromancer, which was actaully the “story behind the story” for the Hobbit. Not to mention some great acting and scenery. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710.md?page=5)