A Closer Look at Film Adaptations

Last time, I wrote about just how difficult it is to create a successful adaptation. The example I used was David Lynch’s Dune, a box-office bomb that failed to bring Frank Herbert’s epic vision to the big screen. Today, I’ll go through my personal favourite, least favourite and controversial adaptations – not just of novels, but of a variety of different media. I’m only picking five from each category, so since this is far from a definitive list.

 

The Good

Below are the best of the best: fantastic movies that managed to adapt the original source material without it leading to major detrimental changes to the plot, and that, at least mainly, avoided the wrath of either fans of the original or the creators themselves.

 

Blade Runner

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first, shall we? Blade Runner is a fantastic movie. Beautifully directed, expertly scripted, and with a huge number of iconic performances. It’s one of the best science fiction films ever made. What often gets overlooked, though, is just how well it was adapted into film. The original novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, contains a myriad of different ideas that were excluded from Blade Runner, the most important being the religious movement of Mercerism. In spite of the big changes, Blade Runner stays true to the main plot of the novel, so much so that Philip K Dick, who lived only to see a test reel and read the screenplay, said that they had captured his “own interior world”.

 

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), The Thing (1982), and The Fly (1986)

I may be cheating a little here by putting three films together, but these movies share a similar timeline: pulp science fiction stories, first adapted for cinema in the fifties, and then again in the seventies and eighties. I count these three films amongst the best horrors ever made, and I would say that they improve upon the original stories by making small changes: the setting and ending of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the discovery of the alien in The Thing, and the transformation method of The Fly, for instance. Of the three, The Thing is actually the closest to the source material – and I’d suggest the original novella, Who Goes There?, to any science fiction fans looking for an underrated gem.

Great posters, too.

 

American Psycho

Reading American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis is like being bludgeoned to death by an incredibly well-written brick. It’s a brutal and uncompromising critique of late 80s Wall Street ideals and is an important and powerful work of literature. It is dark, funny, ultra-violent and absolutely brilliant. It was given an equally controversial adaptation in 2000, starring Christian Bale. I mention Bale as he was the main reason why I think the adaptation works: an astute casting choice and an inch-perfect performance. The adaptation was relatively faithful to the novel, bar a few of the more gory moments, but somehow doesn’t quite have the same power as the book. That said, it is still an intelligent, funny, and thought-provoking movie.

 

Jurassic Park

This was once the most successful film ever made, and for good reason – the best special effects of the time, a bright and vibrant directorial style, and a story that was exciting for adults, but still family-friendly. And that is the biggest change that was made between the novel and the film. Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park is quite a different beast: darker, longer, with more detailed scientific exposition.

Spielberg’s film streamlined the plot and cut a number of characters. The most interesting example is that of the lawyer, Gennaro. Rather than the weak, frightened character seen in the film, the Gennaro of the novel has a much more active role, and contributes a lot more to the plot. However, in the film Gennaro was combined with another character called Ed Regis.

 

LA Confidential

Curtis Hanson’s LA Confidential is a near-perfect film noir. It includes a smoky atmosphere, great performances (particularly those of Kim Basinger and Guy Pearce), is aesthetically wonderful, and most importantly has a genuinely intriguing and hard to decipher mystery. It’s a work of art, and is so good that the novel’s author James Ellroy counts it as one of his favourite crime movies. And Ellroy is a hard man to please; he was particularly scathing of another adaptation of one of his novels, The Black Dahlia.

 

The Controversial

The films below are those that deviated heavily from the subject matter, plot, or tone of their original material, and in doing so were heavily criticized by the original authors or fans of the intellectual property. In spite of that, I still consider them to be good films.

 

The Shining

“Wait, The Shining?” I hear you cry. “But that’s one of Kubrick’s greats!” Well, yes it is. But people didn’t always feel that way. The Shining was nominated for Razzies, and received a lot of negative reviews. Stephen King himself was highly critical of it, both because of the removal of large amounts of the supernatural and the way that Jack was built as an incredibly unsympathetic character from the off. Over time, both the critical reception and King’s own feelings on the film have softened, but at the time this was far from the controversy-free masterpiece that we know today.

 

Total Recall

Daft one-liners, extreme violence, nudity, explosions, and a hulking Austrian: Total Recall may well be Arnold Schwarzenegger’s best movie. It’s also another Philip K. Dick adaptation, this time of the short story We Can Remember It For You Wholesale. There are very few similarities between the two, however; you won’t find any three-breasted mutants or action-packed fights on the surface of Mars. The short story instead is much stranger, and like much of Dick’s work deals with the way that perception and reality differ. That said, I love both: Total Recall is a great action movie, and …Wholesale is a unique and interesting read.

 

Watchmen

I must confess that I love this film. It’s directed perfectly for a more fantastical comic book movie, the casting was excellent (particularly Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian), and, personally, I think that the changes made to the main plot work. I think Zack Snyder keeps the overall message of the film on-track and is as faithful as he could have been. I can also understand where the criticisms come from: gone are the wonderful, intertwining story arcs, the multimedia storytelling and the full development of some characters. Watchmen was always said to be ‘unfilmable’, and to an extent I agree – I think that Snyder did as well as anybody could do, and as it stands, I think he did a great job.

 

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

This film, with Gene Wilder in top form as the inscrutable sweet-maker Willy Wonka, is a cult classic. Loved by kids for its vibrant colours, dreamlike locations, and the wish fulfilment fantasy of owning a chocolate factory, not everyone was a fan. And by that, I mean Roald Dahl, the author of the original book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Dahl, who was writing the screenplay but could not keep to deadlines, was absolutely furious with what the final film did to his novel, and afterwards refused to give over rights to a sequel.

 

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy         

Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy took $2,917 million at the box office and won 17 Oscars. But not everyone enjoyed the epic fantasy trilogy. There was huge criticism over changes made to characters, events, and themes of Tolkien’s original trilogy. In particular, the changes made to the characters of Merry and Pippin, and the cutting of the hobbits’ return to The Shire to find it under the control of Saruman, brought on the anger of Tolkien fans. As it stands, Peter Jackson’s trilogy is still one of the biggest achievements in film history – but perhaps not a true reflection of Tolkien’s fantasy series.

 

The Bad

Finally, here are the adaptations that just don’t work. Heavy deviation that is detrimental to the overall quality of the film, cluttered and unforgiving screenplays for the uninitiated viewer, and total thematic change are all included below.

 

Max Payne

This adaptation of the 2001 videogame should have been an automatic hit. The storyline, a mix of hard-boiled detective, corporate conspiracy, and good, old-fashioned action was perfect as it was, and game’s pulp, graphic novel art style meant that it really should have been an easy adaptation. Unfortunately, it fell into the trap that claims many a videogame film: over-complication of the story. Rather than stick to the watertight plot of the game, changes were made that turned Max Payne into a convoluted mess.

 

The Golden Compass

Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series has a number of complex themes right underneath the surface. Most important of all are the discussion of religion, and the development of children into adulthood through increased responsibility. All of this disappeared, though, in 2007’s adaptation. Worst of all, though, was the way in which Roger’s fate was changed – I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who has yet to read the novels, but it makes a dramatic difference to the tone of the story, and it was a change that really jarred with the original.

 

The Last Airbender

Avatar: The Last Airbender was one of the best kids TV shows in the last twenty years. It had deep, interesting characters, an interesting art style, a wonderful setting, and – most important of all – a completed and impressive story arc. Unfortunately, it did not convert well into a feature film. There was scathing criticism over the casting choices – Avatar was set in an Asian-influenced world yet the film had a primarily western cast – and over absolutely appalling dialogue, wooden characters, and a nonsensical plot.

 

We Need To Talk About Kevin

A controversial choice, this – but hopefully I can explain myself. We Need To Talk About Kevin received fairly good reviews upon its release, and the praise of Lionel Shriver. However, I feel it falls down by being thematically different from the original. I spent a large proportion of the book thinking about whether I believed my narrator; was she reliable? The framework of the novel was strong, as well: it was separated into different letters. Instead, the film gave us an unconventional, time-jumping structure and little hint that the film was showing anything other than the absolute truth. Although fantastic-looking, We Need To Talk About Kevin could not achieve the same effect as the original.

 

The Bonfire of the Vanities

Finally, here is the infamous The Bonfire of the Vanities. The novel by Tom Wolfe tapped into the political, social, and racial sentiments of 1980s New York – from the rich and powerful of Wall Street to the marginalised of Harlem and the Bronx. The film, though, was a huge box-office bomb. Part of the reason it failed to capture the same power as the novel was the casting choice of Tom Hanks as Sherman McCoy. McCoy, an intensely unlikable character in the book, was softened in an attempt to make him more likable. In the end, it meant that The Bonfire of the Vanities was a weakened-down comedy-drama, and a far cry away from the incisive original novel.

 

So, that was a brief look at what I consider to be some of the best, most controversial, and worst adaptations. Up next, I will take you through the adaptations that I would love to see happen.

The Dark Knight Rises: A Fan’s View

Yesterday you got my spoiler-free review of The Dark Knight Rises. Today, though, expect many spoilers as I go through the movie with my Batman fanboy hat on.

First up, let’s talk about Bane. Nolan stays fairly faithful to his comic book character – the frightening intelligence, incredible strength, charisma, etc. But there were a few changes made, and necessary ones at that. Bane no longer has an addiction to Venom, the super-strength drug of the comic. His history is tied more to that of Ra’s al Ghul and the League of Shadows, too. For a long while in the film, you are even lead to believe that Bane is the son of Ra’s al Ghul. Personally, I thought that was a neat touch, and makes the eventual reveal of who really is the child of Ra’s al Ghul more spectacular.

Ra’s al Ghul’s epic beard dislikes you, Bruce.

Bane also has most of the immediately quotable lines in the film. His speech in front of the prison is absolutely breathtaking, and moments such as “do you feel like you are in charge?” are so intimidating you end up squirming in your chair whenever he is onscreen. There’s also the underlying subtext of Bane, Talia, and the League of Shadows. They recruited the down-and-outs, the nameless of society, the poor. What did they promise them? That the city would be theirs. There’s a distinct anti-money, anti-capitalist bent in the film, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence given the 99% and Occupy protests. The League of Shadows bastardized and manipulated this movement to suit their agenda – an astute choice of reasoning from Nolan.

Then you’ve got Nolan’s Selina Kyle. The announcement of Anne Hathaway as Kyle/Catwoman caused a lot of concern amongst the fanbase, much in the same way that Heath Ledger’s as the Joker did. Thankfully, she doesn’t disappoint and turns out to be my favourite Catwoman. Why? Well, first off, I don’t think the name ‘Catwoman’ was mentioned in the entire film. Most importantly, though, is the fact that the more ridiculous backstory about her ‘reincarnation’ as a cat (in the likes of Batman Returns and the Catwoman movie) has gone. She’s an expert thief with tremendous skill, and that’s that. The rest of her character? Well, it’s character depth. Nothing supernatural, nothing science fiction, just a human being. And it works brilliantly.

It works in Burton’s films, mainly because of all the gothic awesome.

Other than that, I loved Scarecrow’s cameo appearance. It would have been a shame if he hadn’t appeared, given Cillian Murphy’s role in the other two films. A nice little touch, particularly given his ties with the League of Shadows. Meanwhile, John Blake’s reveal as ‘Robin’ was a wonderful touch. There were plenty of rumours surrounding his character from the off, but his true identity was kept a secret (at least to me) until I saw the film. It keeps an important tie to the ideals of the first film – an idea is more powerful than a man. Bruce Wayne is ‘dead’, and Batman is ‘dead’. But there is the possibility of his return through John Blake – as a new Batman, a Robin, or a Nightwing. Will it happen under Nolan’s stewardship? It’s really beside the point. The circle is complete.

And more important is that it leaves the door open, at some point, to a return to the trilogy from Nolan. I don’t expect a quick fourth film in, say, three years’ time. But, I do have a little dream of Christopher Nolan directing an adaption of The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller’s glorious imagining of the future of the Batman universe. In ten to fifteen years, after Nolan’s directed a Bond film or two? I certainly wouldn’t be against it…

I’d like to see Hush in a movie too, but it’ll always be a long shot.

The comic book storylines also had an obvious influence on The Dark Knight Rises too. There’s a clear parallel to Knightfall, where, most memorably, Bane breaks Batman’s back and takes over the city. But there’s also plenty from No Man’s Land, a series where Gotham is cut off from the rest of the country by a terrible earthquake. Somehow Nolan has managed to tie both series together, along with making it an important part of his own, unique universe.

Nolan is the best thing about this series, obviously. His direction is flawless, unique, and theatrical. Most importantly, aside from a few quips the series takes itself very seriously. There’s none of the wisecracking of The Avengers, for instance. The lack of dependence on CGI to make the films work also keeps its grounded feel, with none of the tacky quality of Marvel’s own films. The Dark Knight Rises continues the series’ amazing set-pieces and iconic moments. The Joker standing in front of a burning pile of money, or the original film’s training with Ra’s al Ghul have been joined by some incredible scenes. My personal favourite was when Batman’s symbol is lit up to show his return to Gotham, perhaps due it its similarity to a scene in The Crow. The films are classic, traditional storytelling at its finest.

“OMG! The Dark Knight Rises is soooooo 1994!”

Of course there are a few gripes to be had. There’s plenty of cliché to be found – but the way the film is made, these clichés only seem to add to the experience. One personal thing that confused me was exactly how Bruce Wayne was able to get from his prison to Gotham in about a day, and in particular how he was able to get back into Gotham when it was under such surveillance. I’ve now just accepted it as ‘he is Batman, he can do pretty much anything’.

Finally, I’m going to share with you something I can’t unsee. At the end of the film, Batman flies off over the sea with a nuclear bomb, trying to get rid of it. I couldn’t help but be reminded of this scene from the original Adam West Batman film:

Sometimes, you just can’t get rid of a bomb. Now we know how Bruce Wayne survived – clearly a brave dolphin helped him out.

I’m genuinely sad to see that the Nolan Batman trilogy is over. All three of them are amongst my favourite films and I genuinely think it’s the best trilogy in film history. Whoever takes over the Batman franchise after Nolan is going to have a tough time on his hands.

Why I Love The 90s: Dinosaurs!

In early 1990s, it became apparent that people were, like, so yesterday. Animals? Like, hello! 1985 is calling and they want their present-day snoozefest back! You know what’s cool? What’s hip? Things that had died 65 million years ago.

I’m sure you remember this cultural trend. Dinos were pretty much everywhere. Films, comics, cartoons, video games – if you were a kid then you probably owned at least three dinosaur-related things and loved them.

Of course, some of it was good, and some of it was bad. So – let your old pal Rob take you on a whirlwind tour of the best (and worst) dinosaur offerings.

Let’s start with the big hitters: In 1988, we had The Land Before Time, an animated movie from the mighty Don Bluth, and executive-produced by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. The movie was fantastic, heartwarming, and more than a little sad. A great Don Bluth animated adventure. It was, unfortunately, followed by about ten thousand sequels.

The Land Before Time 27: Littlefoot goes to the Podiatrist

TLBT can be seen as the granddaddy of the whole movement. It predates most of the major players and was a huge, huge success. However, the biggest Dinosaur-themed event was obviously this:

DA DA DAAA DAA DAAA, DA DA DAAA DAA DAAA, DA DA DAAAAAAAA, DA DA DAAAAAAA!

Jurassic Park was awesome. It’s still one of my favourite films. It’s still one of the best blockbuster movies ever. It had everything a kid needed: adventure, wonder, graphic violence, harm being done to annoying kids, brilliant hats, helicopters…not going to lie, I am still excited about the possibility of Jurassic Park 4.

Between the two, there were several other dinosaur adventures of…mixed results.

 

Dinosaurs!

“You know what would be funny? A sitcom about Dinosaurs! They can be played by New Yorkers in giant suits! And they can be really creepy!”

“Yeah that’s totally a good idea…wait, how shall we end the show? Oh I know, with the FRICKIN’ DINOPOCALYPSE! That totally won’t scar people for life!”

 

Barney The Dinosaur!

I never really ‘got’ Barney to be perfectly honest. He had the cold, dead eyes of a killer. I felt as though his show was a little like Hotel California.

“You can never leave, children!”

For me, the best thing Barney did was help to inspire Death To Smoochy (one of the most underrated movies ever made, do check it out).

 

Denver, The Last Dinosaur!

Here’s one you may not know, or may have a vague, subconscious memory of. Let the title sequence refresh your memory. Warning: contains a GUITAR PLAYING DINOSAUR and many awesome 90s pop-culture references.

 

Dino-Riders!

So. Much. Awesome. Seriously, just look at this:

The tag-line of the toy/cartoon was ‘HARNESS THE POWER OF DINOSAURS!’

The only way this could be improved is if Batman was somehow involved. I know the show was made to try and sell the toys, but quite frankly, I don’t care. It didn’t do Transformers any harm.

 

Extreme Dinosaurs!

Speaking of cartoons to sell toy lines, here is Extreme Dinosaurs, one of the many ‘we want to be the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ series about. There will be more on that phenomenon in a later post. But for now, enjoy some brilliant wisdom from these anthropomorphised cool 90s Dinodudes:

(FYI, I think that using the phrase ‘Cretaceous!’ to mean ‘awesome’ is brilliant)

 

Theodore Rex!

Cyberpunk and dinosaurs team up to bring this crapheap of a film. That same duo was tried with the Super Mario Bros movie in 1993, to similar results.

 

Dinosaurs For Hire!

Originally a comic series, Dinosaurs For Hire came to my attention as a Sega Megadrive game. It involved Dinosaurs in sunglasses shooting people with shotguns. I don’t know about you, but that’s the kind of thing dreams are made of. If you don’t agree, I think there might be something wrong with you.

 

Primal Rage!

As part of the super-violent videogame trend that was personified by the likes of Mortal Kombat and Lethal Enforcers, along came this beat ‘em up where you could pit dinosaurs against giant apes and the like. It was…passable in my opinion. I never saw it in an arcade up apparently the arcade version was a lot better than the one that hit the home consoles.

Notice ‘Ape Skull Mountain’ in the background

 

To finish, I’ll leave you with this, the best thing to come out of the dinosaur craze: the music from the first stage of Jurassic Park on the NES. It’s actually the BEST SONG EVER.

 

Thanks for reading. Let me know what your favourite dinosaur-related things were from the 90s! Up next: something videogame-related.

Bahstun! The Final Post

So here it is, my friends. The final part of my overly-long blog series on my trip to Boston. I thought about writing about the remaining attractions but I can sum it up as follows:

Harvard’s Natural History Museum has the best collection of dead animals I have ever seen and they’re all comical.

Going up to the top of the Prudential Centre led to a breathtaking view over the whole of Boston and some hilarious immigration-based things.

So, time to briefly round up everything else that caught my attention:

Boston is the friendliest place I have ever been. Seriously. A city full of people that hold open doors for people carrying heavy objects, chatting to folks, and moving bags so people can sit down on the trams. It was heaven. Speaking of which, the tram system is very easy to use and cheap.

Architecturally, Boston is amazing. It evokes the kind of feeling that you got as a little kid when visiting a big city: brilliant buildings, even better skyscrapers. Think about when you went to London when you were around seven years old – it’s like that. Except it doesn’t smell of shit, it’s not covered in vomit, and the people aren’t incredibly rude all the time.

Our hotel was super cool. Hotel 140 in Boston’s Back Bay, great location, decent room, friendly staff, and they even made a little rose out of toilet paper every time they cleaned the room.

EPIC.

American TV is bloody brilliant. When we were watching the tellybox, it was primarily Animal Planet. An hour-long show called Too Cute that is made up entirely of wide-angle-lensed footage of baby animals? My Cat From Hell, where a tattooed musician tackles evil devil-cats in lovely suburban homes? Finding Bigfoot by running around woods shouting and setting off flares? Oh sweet lord I have found perfection.

Added to that, American sports are boss. Ice Hockey is the greatest thing to ever exist. I actually am now taking an active interest in it, as opposed to just enjoying playing video games like Mutant League Hockey on the Sega Mega Drive. The time zone difference also means that it’s pretty easy to watch ol’ British sports as well. I woke up in the morning, and with breakfast was able to watch Liverpool lose to Arsenal.

There is a beautiful array of tat to buy if you look hard enough. Have you ever thought ‘I would really like a shirt with some coffins and The Boston Massacre written on it’? How about a massive quilt based around the constitution? A mug with Michelle Obama flexing her arms? A plush lobster holding a sign that says ‘say no to pot’? Or maybe a dog coat with ‘I bite New Yorkers’ written on it? If you have, then this is the place for you.

Shopping, in general, is very nice. For those of you who aren’t well-versed in American shopping, Head to Marshall’s to buy cheap clothes. Being a horrible tourist, I needed to buy some souvenirs based around Boston sports, so got myself a Bruins hoodie with four-leaf clovers on it and a somewhat more subtle Red Sox t-shirt.

Newbury Comics is a very cool shop and I highly recommend it. There are two shops in Boston – one on Newbury Street, and another one in Quincy Market. Interestingly, I’ve been to much better comic shops over the years. But, go there to buy awesome music, geek culture thingamibobs, t-shirts, and epic hats.

I am almost as cool as this kid.

Finally, everywhere has its flaws. For me, the main flaw was that Adele was friggin’ everywhere. Possibly even more so than the UK. If it was possible, I think she could run for President and give Obama a run for his money. Would probably do better than Mitt Romney.

And that is where I will leave it. I had an awesome time – the best holiday I have been on and certainly the most interesting city I have been to. I’ve actually taken interest in applying for PhDs in Boston, because of the sheer quality of higher education there (not just Harvard, but MIT, Northeastern, Boston U, Berkelee College of Music, and countless more) and because it is such a great place to be. So, if you have the chance, go there. If not for the culture side of things, go for the chance to drink Mountain Dew, eat Nerds and Lucky Stars, and hear people talk in the most epic accent ever.

The giant, golden bosom beckons you to Boston!