# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2018, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/81 "2018-01-02T21:28:38Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Worst job following the book. Followup question: _Blade Runner_ (movie) has nothing in common with _The Bladerunner_ (novel) other than being a variant title. So the movie pretty much sets the bar for not following “the novel”. Does this count? (It also doesn’t follow “the other novel” at all well.) ---
**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, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/82 "2018-01-02T21:37:44Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Followup question: _Blade Runner_ (movie) has nothing in common with _The Bladerunner_ (novel) other than being a variant title. > > So the movie pretty much sets the bar for not following “the novel”. Does this count? > > (It also doesn’t follow “the other novel” at all well.) It’s not a trick question, so no trick answers, please. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/83 "2018-01-03T06:05:51Z")
> [@chulio](#): > > 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. I’ve listened to every Reacher novel (Like you, NOT my cup of tea, but when read by the perfect narrator, Dick Hill, I love them). So I have a pretty firm picture of Jack Reacher in my mind, all six and a half feet of him. I’ve imagined what I would have said if Tom Cruise had come to me and said: Tom: “There’s a character I want to play… Jack Reacher.” Me: {Huge, wet spit-take, spraying Dr. Pepper all over Tom} But give the movies a chance. Mr. Cruise nails the intensity, and the movies are true to the fun twists of the books. You’d think I’d’ve learned to reserve judgment on casting since I muttered “Batman is going to played by _Mr. Mom?_ Sheesh…” (“What? Now by _that kid from Newsies_? Sheesh…”) ---
**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 3, 2018, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/84 "2018-01-03T09:11:28Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Oddly, or perhaps not so oddly, the best HPL film is one NOT based on any of his tales- \*Cast a Deadly Spell. \* The Lovecraft-inspired film “In the Mouth of Madness” is also a decent adaptation of HPL’s style. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/85 "2018-01-03T10:02:42Z")
actually what people hate the most about the depp chocolate factory is whats the most faithful part to the book the fact that despite all the wonderful things he does hes a immature judgmental dick (like Roald dahl himself) they just bury it with the sort of abused child back story ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/86 "2018-01-03T10:19:11Z")
Probably not the worst adaptation ever, but the movie version of David Brin’s _The Postman_, with Kevin Costner in the title role, really stunk. The book wasn’t up there with Brin’s Uplift books, but it was still quite good. (I just re-read it last month.) ---
**Author:** ![Snake\_Plissken\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Snake\_Plissken\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snake_Plissken_1)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/87 "2018-01-03T18:04:31Z")
‘Be Cool’ by the master, Elmore Leonard, was awesome. The movie with John Travolta, Uma Thurmond and Vince Vaughn was horrendous. Billy Bob Thornton’s version of Cormac McCarthy’s ‘All the Pretty Horses’ was so bad even he didn’t like it. ---
**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 3, 2018, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/88 "2018-01-03T18:13:40Z")
^ I’ve heard of you; I heard you were dead. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/89 "2018-01-03T18:17:10Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Oddly, or perhaps not so oddly, the best HPL film is one NOT based on any of his tales- \*Cast a Deadly Spell. \* And thank you for reminding me of that movie. I look for it on DVD or iTunes every now and then - it has never been available - until just now when I found it on iTunes. There’s the one scene I quote to people a bit. That’s where Clancy Brown’s character has sold out Lovecraft (Fred Ward) to David Warner’s character, who intends to summon Cthulhu. HPL: What do you get out of this? CB: I get to be King of the world! DW: Yes, it will be a blasted, ruined, DEAD world, but you’ll be the most important thing in it. CB: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/90 "2018-01-03T18:32:13Z")
Every Dean Koontz book made into a movie has been terrible. ---
**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 3, 2018, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/91 "2018-01-03T19:02:11Z")
> [@Doyle](#): > > Every Dean Koontz book made into a movie has been terrible. Especially all 23\* versions of _Watchers_. \*I exaggerate…slightly. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/92 "2018-01-03T20:10:20Z")
> [@GinoC](#): > > “World War Z” by Max Brooks was an outstanding oral history of the zombie wars turned into a ho-hum Brad Pitt zombie flic. The only real resemblance between the two was having the same title. I read the book … so I knew better than to watch the film … ---
**Author:** ![believr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a4c791/32.png) [@believr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/believr)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/93 "2018-01-03T20:48:37Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I feel like expanding The Hobbit into 6 hours of CGI battles didn’t do the book any favors. I could not agree more. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/94 "2018-01-03T22:41:57Z")
The movie version of _A Sound of Thunder_ was horrible both in terms of fidelity to the short story and the quality of the end result. The Syfy version of _Childhood’s End_ though maybe 70% accurate to the novel, and a reasonably good product, was still a disappointment because of unnecessary changes that necessitated even more changes. As a result some very moving parts of the novel were lost and some BS mysticism was shoe-horned in. ---
**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 3, 2018, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/95 "2018-01-03T23:03:16Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I’ve listened to every Reacher novel (Like you, NOT my cup of tea, but when read by the perfect narrator, Dick Hill, I love them). So I have a pretty firm picture of Jack Reacher in my mind, all six and a half feet of him. > > I’ve imagined what I would have said if Tom Cruise had come to me and said: > Tom: “There’s a character I want to play… Jack Reacher.” Me: {Huge, wet spit-take, spraying Dr. Pepper all over Tom} > > But give the movies a chance. Mr. Cruise nails the intensity, and the movies are true to the fun twists of the books. I get that Tom Cruise does not look at all like the character described in the book. But hair color and physical size are not essential to the character. Reacher is a badass smartass loner nomad ex-cop with a major chip on his shoulder for any petty authority. Lee Child could have written basically the same books and made him a 5-foot tall redhead, or a medium-build black guy, and they’d be… basically the same. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/96 "2018-01-03T23:06:24Z")
> [@Mavic\_Chen](#): > > Any film version of “Gulliver’s Travels”. > > Films: Gulliver is a giant in a world of tiny people. > > Book: Four parts with significantly different worlds, including sentient talking horses. Didn’t the Ted Danson TV version do all four parts? I read the book after I saw that and thought it was actually not too far off. Just checked: It’s on youtube. Yep, they did all four parts, including the horses and the Yahoos part. ---
**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 4, 2018, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/97 "2018-01-04T01:43:15Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Didn’t the Ted Danson TV version do all four parts? I read the book after I saw that and thought it was actually not too far off. > > Just checked: It’s on youtube. Yep, they did all four parts, including the horses and the Yahoos part. Agreed. I mentioned this in post 56 above. And, as I pointed out there, the Harryhausen version, while not really faithful, at least did Brobdingnag as well. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/98 "2018-01-04T12:24:36Z")
The book to movie adaptation I was most disappointed by was Mira Nair’s “Vanity Fair” with its “girl power” version of Becky Sharp. To be fair, I gave up on it after half an hour, so it might have improved after that. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/99 "2018-01-04T12:56:41Z")
No mention of what Redford did to “The Horse Whisperer?” People in the theater were staring at me, I guess I made a scene. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710/100 "2018-01-04T13:01:24Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > I get that Tom Cruise does not look at all like the character described in the book. But hair color and physical size are not essential to the character. Reacher is a badass smartass loner nomad ex-cop with a major chip on his shoulder for any petty authority. Lee Child could have written basically the same books and made him a 5-foot tall redhead, or a medium-build black guy, and they’d be… basically the same. If we are beating this horse, in the novels it is deliberately and repeatedly emphasized how most people are intimidated by Reacher’s physical size and shape (this is played with on rare occasions such as when he has to fight a guy the size of André the Giant who is all muscle). Just at first sight by his appearance. Now, I am not saying it is impossible to portray such a thing with an actor who is 5-foot-nothing, but you would have to find one with seriously crazy eyes and body language to believably convey that a squad of football players or bikers would think twice before messing with him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-to-movie-worst-adaptation/805710.md?page=6)