Quote:
Originally Posted by Psycom5k
My problem with screen adaptations of novels is that, in my opinion, they just don't get the story right when they make the movie. And by all means that doesn't mean that is true for everybody, they could be spot on in some peoples minds. But not many people all perseve the book in the same way. I have not once seen a movie based off of a novel that was exactly how I pictured it while I was reading the book. So more often than not, after seeing the movie I get dissapointed at how badly they botched it. Especially since almost everytime knowing that I prolly will be dissapointed, I still get excited hoping that they movie will be awesome, and I am always let down. Which just plain sucks.
So in my opinion, I don't think that they should make adaptations of novels. Just leave them they way they are, they're better as a book.
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You have to bear in mind that a movie is usually going to be 2 hours long at most, there's no way to get an entire novel down to 2 hours without losing a lot of the source material unless you turn it into a mini-series e.g. Stephen King's: The Stand (and even then, there's still a hell of a lot in the book that isn't in the adaptation)
I think for the most part they do a good job of deciding what to keep and what to lose from a novel, and it helps that the author usually has some input in the decision making/writing the screenplay which keeps the story alive
You also have to remember that books and movies, being such completely different mediums, have different requirements from the 'end user', all you really need to enjoy a movie is eyes, ears and an interest in the topic, to enjoy a book you need an imagination, the story has to play out in your mind, and how you imagine something and how others picture it will never really be the same, so there will always be some disappointment
I feel that as long as you can accept the huge differences between a novel and a movie, and think of the movie as an 'outline' to the full story you can still enjoy both, i'll often buy a book after seeing a movie because i know it will be so much better, even if the end results don't bear much resemblance to each other
A couple of novels i'd like to see made into movies:
-Midnight by Dean Koontz, i agree with Miss O on that, it would make a great movie, as would Fear Nothing, and Seize the Night, both by the same author
-The Wyrm, Stephen Laws
-Ghost Train - Stephen Laws