What's the worst novel-to-film translation you've seen?

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What's the worst novel-to-film translation you've seen? (Discussion)

oLahav said – Wed, 14 May 2008 18:01:41 -0000 ( Edit Link )

We all know books are great, and movies are good too. But then, when some books are translated into a movie, the magic is lost.

What are some of the worst movies based on books you’ve seen that completely destroy the books they’re based on?

Harry Potter and the third Lord of the Rings come to mind… but the absolute worst one in my opinion was Marathon Man. They changed the major plot twist and the ending, which were perfect in the book, and most of the first half didn’t translate into the film at all. Plus, I never liked Dustin Hoffman.

So, what other movie that used to be a book shouldn’t I watch?

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lala said – Sat, 07 Jun 2008 09:05:26 -0000 ( Flag Edit Mark / Unmark Best Link )

You’ll never find it because it’s so old-But I read Exodus by Leon Uris and it was such a good book that I was thrilled when I heard there was a movie. That movie was a sacrilege! I spit on it!
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Malgosia said – Mon, 09 Jun 2008 23:02:39 -0000 ( Flag Edit Mark / Unmark Best Link )

Love in the Time of Cholera. Great book, HORRIBLE movie. They turned a deep and thought-provoking book into a high-budget latin soap opera.
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windwind said – Wed, 11 Jun 2008 22:02:55 -0000 ( Flag Edit Mark / Unmark Best Link )

I have to say “The Firm”. They changed the ending…it was awful
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windwind said – Wed, 11 Jun 2008 22:03:08 -0000 ( Flag Edit Mark / Unmark Best Link )

I have to say “The Firm”. They changed the ending…it was awful
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ameliorator said – Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:38:13 -0000 ( Flag Edit Mark / Unmark Best Link )

I know there are some that are some offenders escaping my mind, but I wanted to add that I hate it when crucial scenes are cut out of films. Specifically I’m thinking of High Fidelity. There’s a scene where John Cusack’s character goes to look at a collection of records that a disgruntled wife is purposefully selling for less than it’s worth to get back at her cheating husband. You know that John Cusack’s character isn’t that great of a guy, but that cut out scene, where he can’t morally bring himself to buy a collection for less than it’s worth, because the guy spent his life collecting it really helped me understand the character in the Hornby book of the same name. Grrrr! At least you can still see the scene if you have the DVD.
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chandra_avinash said – Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:34:41 -0000 ( Flag Edit Mark / Unmark Best Link )

Oh, by the way – Eragon the movie was perhaps the worst. The book was fine – if you take into account the author’s (teen)age, etc. The movie was downright horrible.
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deniseyj said – Mon, 22 Sep 2008 08:16:49 -0000 ( Flag Edit Mark / Unmark Best Link )

I would have to say I have 2 – the first being Bryce Courtney’s “The Power of One” (what the?) and “The Horse Whisperer” (ok film but too different to the book)
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1. chandra_avinash said – Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:30:17 -0000 ( Flag Edit Link )
  
  I saw “The Power of One” a long time back – around 10 years ago. Is the movie really that bad? I’m wondering how awesome the book would have been.
  
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xmonkee said – Mon, 24 Nov 2008 09:34:32 -0000 ( Flag Edit Mark / Unmark Best Link )

I have a movie whose BookQuality/MovieQuality ratio will annihilate all your puny examples: DUNE

It’s the big daddy of bad movies from good novels. Perhaps the most celebrates SF novel of all time, translated in the movie by one of my favorite directors (Lynch), what the hell went wrong? Everything was changed, all the characters turned from philosopher warriors to little girls, i can’t even go on with this rant, i’ll probably kill my computer in anger.
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1. JohnPhilipGreen said – Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:42:12 -0000 ( Flag Edit Link )
  
  Nice one. I totally agree.
  
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JohnPhilipGreen said – Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:46:53 -0000 ( Flag Edit Mark / Unmark Best Link )

I would also like to add (though I don’t think this beats DUNE), The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, but Douglas Adams. They made it into a film in 2005.

This was a tremendously fun book, but it is just to wild and random to translate into a film. They shouldn’t have tried—its almost ruined my fond memories of the book (and its sequels).
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1. oLahav said – Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:45:33 -0000 ( Flag Edit Link )
  
  I agree that the book was a thousand times better than the movie. But the movie wasn’t that bad… Marvin was done well, Alan Rickman did a pretty good job with him (to be honest, that’s really all I care about though).
  
  Ever tried listening to the old original radio recordings or the old English TV show? I think the books are the best of the bunch.
  
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hcraig said – Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:13:34 -0000 ( Flag Edit Mark / Unmark Best Link )

I really enjoyed The Hitchhiker’s Guide as a movie, but I think that mostly has to do with my love of Mos Def.

Some books just doesn’t translate well to movies, no matter the best of intentions. I enjoyed both the movie and the book, but for very different reasons, and I don’t feel that the movie was bad. It just couldn’t live up to the book.
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Yorrick said – Wed, 28 Jan 2009 23:47:38 -0000 ( Flag Edit Mark / Unmark Best Link )

Wuthering Heights. Completely and utterly awful and irrelevant.

I do not usually criticize movie adaptations of books harshly because they are never exactly the same but come on.
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