Adaptation

New question. Again found on LJ Writer’s Block.

How do you feel when an adapted film’s story deviates from the original material?

It depends.
I, personally, prefer the Lord of the Rings movies to the books. Now… please don’t misunderstand me. It’s not that I don’t like the books, I do, however they do have a lot of stuff in which isn’t strictly necessary to the plot. There are some excellent character and background stuff but it’s not needed when making a movie adaptation. Same with Harry Potter. Loads of great stuff in the books but it isn’t really needed for the movies.
It’s best in these situations to think of the movies and books as completely separate entities, which they are and remember the key word:  adaptation.
They are not meant to be the books, word for word, page by page in movie form. That just wouldn’t work for a great many books.

However there are times when they don’t even try to keep the movie like the book and just take the concept and run with it. I get very annoyed then.
For example… I love the book “Yes Man” by Danny Wallace. It’s great. A very funny book about him as a person and how saying yes to situations changed what was going on in his life. Also if you’ve read “Are You Dave Gorman?” and “Join Me” the book makes even more sense.
However the movie Yes Man is completely different. It’s turned into a fictional story about a divorced guy and has a completely different message than the book. I, personally, didn’t like it.
Now… other people that watch Yes Man might like it as they might not have read the book and therefore have no idea about the source material. However for me Yes Man the movie just takes the basic concept within the book and does it’s own thing with it.

So film adaptations are complicated. As with all films it is about compromise and finding a balance between the source material and the story you are trying to tell. Finding the core of the source material and the characters then planning out the film accordingly. It’s very difficult and I take my hat off to those who can and do perform this job well.

Remakes

Is there a film that you think is perfect in its original form and should never be remade? (From LJ’s Writer’s Block.)

There are many films that should never be remade because it was their originality that made them great. When a film is released plays a huge part of how well it will do and how popular it will become. A film which captures a specific moment in time wouldn’t do as well if remade because what made it popular and great has been lost. I think perhaps some movie producers forget that when they do remakes.
All they see is “Oh that film made in 1952 did really well and people still love it. Lets remake it for today’s audience.” *facepalm*
It won’t work.
It would be like trying to remake classic Film Noir now, it would fail so badly. You could have a brilliant script, fantastic cast and it still wouldn’t work. Why?
Film Noir captured a feeling and attitude which has been lost now. It’s faded away. We can still watch those movies and love them but a remake wouldn’t/couldn’t work.
Hmm, gone on a mini rant there, I should probably name some movies now…

Firstly let me say that I don’t think any movie is perfect. I can’t recall many films which I’ve watched where something couldn’t have been changed to make it better in my opinion. Whether that be casting, editing, script or whatever, I think there is always wiggle room. That’s because making a movie is about compromise.
Very very very rarely do the makers get everything they want to make the film they want. Things get in the way, things like cast members, budget, the weather, technology, etc. … you get the idea. So they have to compromise and do the best they can with what they have.
Most of the time what they turn out is brilliant, perhaps better than they imagined, but is it perfect? No. Nothing is perfect. Life isn’t perfect so how can a movie be? People aren’t perfect so how can they make something perfect?

The wording of this question is wrong then for me. So I’ll answer the question of: is there a film which shouldn’t be remade?
Yes, lots.
Examples that I can think of just off the top of my head are: Jaws, Casablanca and Citizen Kane.
(There are of course many more.)

Also worth mentioning are films which were damn good (not using the word perfect) and should have been left the hell alone.
Star Wars. Brilliant film. Just as close to perfect as you can get really in terms of cast, direction, feel and story. It came out at the perfect time as well, nothing like this had really been seen before.
Then you get a second one. OK… not as good as the first but it added to the story and it was good.
Then a third one joined in and this was good too. Still not as good as the first but better than the second.
Then came the prequels and Star Wars was ruined forever. These prequels to me are like lazy remakes. Producers like how much money the original has made and want to cash in without remaking it.

Halloween did this too. They milked an awesome film for all it was worth until finally the original  was remade and it sucked.

I’m sure people have their own examples and I didn’t intend to go off on a bit of a rant about the movies but there you go. I did and you read it. Sorry. 😉

Best Science Fiction Movie Ever?

Time for some more questions. I came across this one at LJ’s Writer’s Block again.

What is the best science fiction movie of all time, and why?

I don’t think it is possible to answer this question properly. Everyone has there own opinions about what makes a great film and where science fiction is concerned the arguments tend to become quite heated. There are many science fiction movies which are excellent, all for different reasons, but could I really name one of them the best of all time? No. That’s silly. Time isn’t done yet… so lets just leave that to future movie buffs.
Right, so I’m going to list some of my favourite science fiction movies instead.

• Forbidden Planet. No matter how many times I see this I’m still amazed by it. So many films and television series made afterwards took their cues from this movie. The plot is, of course, The Tempest but wonderfully reworked (only slightly though). The special effects, although they look dated now, were state of the art and yet are never the focal point of the movie as tends to happen so much today.
• Star Wars IV: A New Hope. The original Star Wars before it was faffed with by George Lucas trying to squeeze more money out of it. The plot is beautifully simple, one of the best and most classic stories you will find, and the special effects were (and still are – again without faffing) mind blowing. It works as part of the original trilogy but also as a stand alone film and I wish I could get a copy of the proper original now. 😦
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. I love it. The plot is cool, the drama and tension are just right and the effects never overwhelm the story. They are there to compliment and further the plot not as set pieces. Yes, some of the acting is hammy but lets be honest isn’t that why people love Star Trek? It’s a proper meal instead of a snack. 🙂
• District 9. Brutal, real and intelligent. This film blew me away when I saw it for my birthday in 2009. It’s heartbreaking, brilliantly put together and again the effects never overtake the drama. They are tools not cast members.

Yes, that is a short list but those are the ones which immediately sprung to mind.
Are any of these films perfect? No. Not at all. However are they brilliant? Yes, in my opinion they are.
I know there are loads of movies out there which I’ll think of later and kick myself for not remembering right now. However I think this list is a decent one. 🙂

Pick a genre, any genre.

All right, I’ve come up with the idea of answering questions to get my creative and analytical juices flowing. So I’ll be posting a few of these up and if anyone wants to contribute by asking me a question then please feel free to do so.

Here goes. Short one to begin with.

If you could watch only one genre of movies (or television) for the rest of your life, which genre would you choose, and why? (Question taken from LJ Writer’s Block)

I’ll have to say Science Fiction.
Science fiction is a genre of “what ifs” and tells stories about what is happening now even though science fiction is often (but not always) set in the future. By setting stories in the near or distant futures and using technology as a way of getting a point across or expressing concerns science fiction can cover a broad range of narratives. Science fiction is speculative fiction, meaning it takes a contemporary issue and projects and expands this in a logical way, because of that it can incorporate elements of many different genres within it such as action, comedy or romance.
So if I were limited to just one genre then science fiction would be my first choice. It would be like having the best of them all. You can have moments of comedy, you can have two characters fall in love, the hero can do some action scenes and it can scare the pants off you just like any horror.
Most of what I watch is science fiction in some form anyway so if I did only have to watch that genre for the rest of my life there wouldn’t be a huge change. 😉