Last Week’s Discussion:
Movie Adaptations
It really shouldn’t have taken me quite so long to get around to having this discussion because movie adaptations are a HUGE topic for readers. Everyone’s all excited that a book got picked up. And then… we’re angry. But why is that? Why is it so hard to make even a half-way decent adaptation of a book? Let’s chat!
Nicolle said:
“This problem happens with movie adaptation of video games too; the games can be super engaging and fantastic, but movie adaptations of the games are just kind of bleh. 😞 So I prefer books and games over their movie adaptations.”
B.L. said:
“They are generally bad, but keep in mind your average best-seller that gets picked up for a film adaptation is about 280-500 pages, which is roughly a 5-8 hour experience (unless you’re some kind of speed-reading cyborg) that gets distilled down to a 90-120 minute film.”
Sophie said:
“The worst is a bad casting (especially because you portrayed the hero a certain way) and when they take too much liberties with the book. Will I still watch them? Yes. And be disappointed probably.”
Jessica said:
“but MOSTLY because it brings out band-waggon fans; the people who LOVE Harry Potter but don’t know who Peeves is (as Bookmark Chronicles said)… or the folk who LOVE Game of Thrones but don’t know Lady Stoneheart… etc, etc, etc. Books over movies anyday.”
Adrienne said:
“I think it depends on the book and the movie with this honestly. I don’t think everything from the book needs to be on screen, but the feel of the book, the major plot points, and the character personalities need to be there. […] So, in this situation, I think going book by book, movie by movie, and judging individually would be best.”
Trent said:
“First, movies and books are entirely different art forms. It’s impossible to compare them. The problem occurs if you love a book and then you go to see the movie expecting it to be the book you love. It can’t be. It’s impossible. A movie can and should only be judged and rated based on other movies.”
Tanja said:
“My main problem with film adaptations is their visual power over my mind. Once I have seen the characters in the flesh, my imagination is unable to form its own ideas about a person or scene. I think it narrows my reading experience and pleasure. For that reason I have decided NOT to watch the movie version of a book unless I am sure I don’t want to read it.”
Shanah said:
“If they’re going to do an adaptation – get the authors opinion! Don’t just make it the director and screenwriters call. They always miss the most important things that matter most to us book readers!!”
Rae said:
“[…] it really doesn’t make sense to me to leave out something so simple as the definition of an avox in the Hunger Games lol. They definitely could have fit that in there. The only movie that I like more than the book is A Walk to Remember”
Well, it would seem that most people agree with me: movie adaptations are more of a let down than anything else for a reader. Yet, there are a few good ones out there. The hardest part is getting the appropriate blend of reality to match the fiction of the book and that’s just not gonna happen sometimes. So some have boycotted movies and others… Well, they’re just preparing themselves for the let down in advance. Me? I’m just gonna critique the Hell out of ’em! 😂
Check out this week’s discussion on Thursday at 10am EST:
Emotional Responses
Melanie Noell Bernard 
There’s always more in books that add to the story, but I’ll still like to watch a good film 🙂
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Oh yeah! Books can always fit more, but I guess I almost wish that the movies would deviate more from the original (and make it known that they plan to) because then I wouldn’t be so disappointed. Hahahaha!
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I agree, but the way I look at it is I respect each for what they bring. The film is always based on the book and is only naff if compared to it. Other than that I like it. For example I read the Martian and watched it. I preferred 99%of the book but the film ending was better. But I think they’re both great 🙂
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hasn’t read the Martian yet No spoilers!!! I LOVED the movie, though. It really excited my sciencey side. Hee hee! 😀
True. Movies are usually only bad because we are comparing them to the books. HOWEVER! Many YA movies have just been garbage in general, whether compared to the book or not. Mockingjay #1 & #2 were AWFUL and SUPER slow. And I watched The 5th Wave (haven’t read the book yet), but I wasn’t really all that impressed with it either. So… some fault could be attributed to the actual movie and not just the book comparison. :p
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I’ve not seen the hunger games films or read the books. I’ve heard people rave about both.
No Martian spoilers here. Just read it and don’t read my recent pussy until after you’ve read it 🙂
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Good to see I don’t have a typo in my comment this time! 😆
And it’s nice to read what others think too. 😀
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Hee hee! 😉 Maybe I’ll start editing for people since you brought it up. Hahaha!
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You could! 😆
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Looks like I completely missed the discussion last week! I agree with some of the concerns raised about book to movie adaptions. I think that reading a book is a completely different experience compared to watching a movie. When we read, we fill in visual information with our imagination. When we watch a movie, everything visual is presented to us. I think part of the frustration in watching a movie based on a book we’ve read is that the characters/scenes are different on screen than what we’ve imagined. Chances are the director and screenwriter’s interpretation is different from our own!
This week’s discussion sounds really interesting. Looking forward to it 🙂
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Aww! That’s okay. I almost miss the discussion posts every week too. Oh wait… I host them. >.> <.< cough
Totally. Though, technology has really helped to expand the ability to re-create worlds, but the same could be said about any two readers, as well. Everyone sees something different. Thus, it’s impossible to please everyone. I’m more worried about the lack of adequate casting or implementation of vital information. Those, in my opinion, are more important than visual.
Does it? That’s awesome! Now… if only I actually would sit down and write it. >.> Oops.
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