books that are turned into movies

[Koosh]

I have yet to see a movie based on a book that I didn't enjoy the book more...

I'm kind of a Clancy nut (I just finished reading all the "Ryanverse" novels) and ALL of Tom Clancy movies were MURDERED from the book... Patriot Games and Hunt for Red October followed it closely enough, but The sum of all fears, and Clear and present Danger are so drastically different that the only thing they share are the titles and BASIC premise.

Oh well... Movies and books are two different medias, and they shouldn't be treated the same. Unless you want a 30 hour boring (and LOTR is only a 9-10 hour movie ) movie, don't ever expect literal translations. Every movie is made to MAKE more money then it spends, and to do that you need to draw the audiences in with something you can't get from the book, otherwise they'd just buy that.

[BobTheCow]

Re: books that are turned into movies

Originally posted by illshowumyramrod
Furthermore, my question is why don't they make movies of these authors. They would be so much more fun. I've heard rumors of a Orson Scott Card movie, but nothing else.

Because they don't have nearly as large a fan base as LOTR. LOTR was wildly popular from the minute they hit the shelves, among many different age groups, among readers of many different genres. It had (and still has) appeal to the masses.

These other authors you speak of, although they may have excellent books, just don't have nearly the same support that LOTR does. Therefore, making a movie out of it would be more of a risk, with less chance of success.

Wow... it's like, economics, and stuff...

[illshowumyramrod]

I've been alive for like fourteen years, or something like that, and I have been reading since i was 10, and new of LOTR when I was 11.Before LOTR the movie came out I didn't see as much people read as i do now. I also don't know much, maybe Thordic the literature major can clear this for me, but I think (I am only 14, give me a break) that it began selling when commercials came out for Fellowship of the Ring.

[BobTheCow]

I definitely don't have any numbers or anything to back me up on this... but I think that yes, although the movies may have helped sell the books (a little), it was mostly the other way around. Lots and lots of people have read the books, 99% of those people loved them. Those are the people that were REALLY excited for the movies.
Not to mention they're pretty darn good movies, even if you HAVEN'T read the books!!!
( I never did get around to reading Return of the King...)

[Lakeview Bulldog]

I am not a big fan of the LOTR trilogy. I thought many of the parts in the books were mind-numbingly boring. I thought his style was wordy and dry, and I am saying this as a huge fan of Asimov. I read quite a bit. I read the pop culture Mech Warrior books for fun, but I also have read books like Bram Stoker's Dracula and many of the Ender's Game books. I also like Of Mice and Men and 1984.

I am of the opinion that any Ender's Game books would make a HORRIBLE movie. There is no way that a movie could portray the psychological battles Ender is facing. That book is first and foremost the psychological landscape of a 10 year old boy who is placed in an impossibly difficult situation. How would you use special effects for that?

Just for the record I hated Lord of the Flies and the Scarlet Letter. The forced reading of books like these has killed reading for many highschool kids.

[Eric Cartman]

Well as far as the movies selling the books goes, I have no doubt that there has been a serious spike in the sales of the books since the movies came out. When I looked it up the other day, I saw that The Hobbit was first published in 1937 and the LOTR trilogy was published in 1953 (correct me if those dates are wrong). You can bet that there were a hell of a lot of sales during the 5 decades before the movies came out.

I'll agree that Tolkien's style can be a bit wordy and sometimes dry. I skipped over all of the songs the last few times I read the series, but I still think it was an incredible epic and I enjoyed every minute of it. As I'd be reading about Frodo & Sam, I'd become enthralled with what was going on with them and when the book switched over to what was happening with the other characters I'd get ticked. I didn't care about them anymore! I wanted to know more about Frodo & Sam! By the time the book switched back to Frodo & Sam, I didn't care about them anymore. Now I wanted to know what was going on with Legolas & Gimli etc. Tolkien's ability to capture my interest like that is why this will remain one of my favourites for the rest of my life. Once I've seen the third movie, I plan to read the whole thing again.