Well I saw Forrest Gump the movie well before I read the book, and while I generally enjoyed the film, I absolutely despised the book. Hated every page of it and was angry with myself for not just throwing it away; but I couldn’t put it down cause I just had to know how much worse it was going to get.
There definitely exists a very readable book named Blade Runner
I completely agree about Memoirs. it was a fantastic book and I was so excited when I heard there was going to be a movie. Then I saw the movie of the same title and STILL an waiting for a movie about that book.
Phantom of the Opera. (I thought of this because I’m currently reading Gaston Leroux’s novel.) I realize the movie is actually from the broadway show but it’s amazing how little it resembles the novel.
Oh, c’mon, The Scarlet Letter! I win.
I’ve never understood this complaint about I, Robot the movie.
Asimov himself retconned the three laws and included the Zeroth Law:
“A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.”
which is what the big bad computer brain was acting upon in the movie,
So she’s acting to save humanity by enslaving it in accordance with the Zeroth law.
So where’s the break with Asimov’s laws?
Agreed. Yeah, Verhoeven went 180 from the book by making it a SATIRE of fascist beliefs and culture, as the book was an homage to the same. The problem Heinlein seemed to have with the Nazis was the same problem the Poles of the 1930s had with them: sure, they’re right-wing bastards, but they aren’t OUR right-wing bastards.
And it was shameful that those kids were sent up with naught but rifle-caliber machine guns. Imagine what would happen to a Bug hit by an RPG! Or Bofors could crank up production of the Carl Gustav 84mm recoilless gun. Shoulder-fired, Bugs wouldn’t know what hit 'em. Did the defense budget not allow it after building ships that could be flown by Denise Richards?
But isn’t it a huge morale builder to be flown to your death by Denise Richards? I would ride her anywhere.
I agree. The problem with “I, Robot” the movie is not exactly the plot, but a philosophical point:
Asimov’s idea with his tales of robots was to write the exact opposite of the stereotypical “science gone wrong” story, what he called “the Frankenstein Syndrome” where technology and science go awry and become the enemy of mankind. Asimov’s standard plot for one of his stories would have a robot unjustly accused of something by anti-robot Luddites and Susan Calvin using her brains to find the truth. Now, that’s missing the point with an adaptation.
Susan Calvin, by the way, was a plump middle-aged woman lacking social graces. Somehow having Bridget Moynahan playing her sounds like a parody of how lame Hollywood is.
Frankenstein is, of course, another example of movies that got it wrong - James Whale’s 1931 movie is a masterpiece, but has precious little to do with Mary Shelley’s original.
:eek: Have some standards, dude! From everything I’ve seen of her, she’s got the brains of a maggot (she was married to Charlie “I’ve spent over $50K on hookers, its starting to add up” Sheen), fer Og’s sake!
As to the OP, I’ve got to say the Star Wars prequels. (I know, I know, Lucas claims that the prequels were written first, if that’s true, then the script must have been written in freakin’ crayon!)
Well it kinda makes more sense if you make the connection
George Lucas IS Darth Vader.
The first (Last) movies were good because they had a finite amount of Darth Vader, with actual hired talent directing/writing it.
The porcquel not so much. Its about George wanting to Leon Natalie Portman, wich is understandable but a bit ewwww.
No offense, Westrogothia, but it took me a moment to parse that. I realize that English is probably not your first language, and it can be a real bitch to figure out, so I can understand how easy it is for you to screw things up (I’ve got a penpal in Sweden, who will occassionally send me things that he’s written whilst he’s drunk, and trying to figure out what the hell he means, while fighting my email reader’s [Opera] inability to correctly render certain things in English is a bit of a challenge, especially if I’ve had a nip or two myself).
For those folks playing at home who might be wondering what “Leon Natalie Portman” means, allow me to refer you to the excellent movie Leon: The Professional in which a very young Natalie Portman asks Jean Reno to teach her to be an assassin so that she can whack the guys that killed her infant brother. At one point during the film, Portman’s character professes her love for Reno’s (and its in the “I wanna be your Lolita” way, not “I think of you as my father” way, trust me). And, lets face it, any man who wouldn’t want to tag a legal Natalie Portman is probably a little “light in the loafers” if you know what I mean.
So, yeah, I agree with what you’re saying, I just wish that if Lucas was going to subject us to his badly written pr0n, he didn’t edit out the naked boobies part of it.
I came in here to mention the James Bond movies- as fond as I am of them, after Live And Let Diel they stopped having anything at all to do with the novels, and even You Only Live Twice (One of my favourite Bond movies) doesn’t have a lot to do with the novel besides being set in Japan.
How is my usage of “Leon” indicative of my poor english? Im not claiming english as a first language or even beeing good at it Im just wondering.
If you have some knowledge about movies Leon and Natalie portman is a pretty obvious connection. If not its not my english that has failed you but your movie-fu.
And I made up porcquel too. Its a portmantau of “George wants to pork Portman” and pre-quel" and also an allusion to the “por qué” of spanish as in what the hell george.
I’m really surprised nobody has mentioned “Adaptation” yet.
We Were Soldier. It was suppose to be based on the book “We Were Soldiers Once, and Young”.
The movie was little more than another war movie. The book had a theme and a message that was totally lost when making the movie. The only scene that could have made a connection between the two was cut from the movie and is in the extra scenes on the DVD.
The movie was one huge “swing and a miss.”
Hey, if I lived in the maggot-brained world of Starship Troopers, I’d be pretty sure Denise would be as good as it gets.
Is there a notably intellectual hot chick doing movies in Hollywood now?
What does fascism have to do with the book “Starship Troopers”?
I thought movie Jurassic Park had more in common with the book The Lost World than with its own book, and vice-versa.
The movie Get Smart, while not based on a book, was based off an intelligent and creative 60s spy series, but ended up being another generic James Bond/Mission Impossible comedy ripoff.
MASH* the movie had some differences with the book, but was overall fairly faithful to at least the spirit of it. Now, the TV series, esp. Hawkeye Pierce, is a different story…
Duly noted for future reference.